"The ever increasing heat output of CPU's has been a topic of much debate of late. Each new chip introduction drives the wattage up another notch, only to be followed soon after by yet another increase. The runaway heat race has more and more people asking the questions, "How hot is too hot?" and "Is this as hot as it can get?"
With each generation of chips someone theorizes that we've reached the end of what can effectively be cooled with conventional air cooled heatsinks. While we probably haven't reached the maximum yet, clearly the cost and complexity needed to keep the hottest of CPUs cool with conventional air cooling are greater and greater. As heat output continues to rise, the need for a more effective — and cost effective — cooling technique becomes more pressing. With the Intel Prescott P4s at ~110W and climbing , the need is here and now.
The AC4G system from ActiveCool employs one of the likely alternatives to the conventional heatsink and fan: Thermoelectric Cooling. Thermoelectric Coolers (TEC) are nothing new, but Active-Cool aims to put the technology to work in a new way, to keep both the temps and the noise down."
Source :
SilentPcReview
May 9, 2004, 05:44 PM
