Using a Peltier propelled TEC ceramic pad for CPU cooling makes a lot of sense when looked at briefly, but the side effects of TEC cooling are somewhat hazardous upon closer examination.

First off, depending upon the size of the TEC's capacity, measured in watts, it can draw anywhere from four to six amps of power from a PC's ATX power supply.

Four to six amps may not sound like much, but when you consider the fact that most 300W ATX power supplies in typical desktop PCs only generate eight to ten amps worth of juice in total, a power problem becomes clear when opting to use most TECs.

The need to propel all of the system's peripherals, fans, the CPU, the TEC, the various media drives and other components requires a stronger power supply than 90% of the units included in the typical ATX cases that most PC owners currently operate.

Another strong byproduct of Peltier cooling via a TEC is water condensation buildup.

As temperatures drop to below freezing levels, the portions of the TEC pad itself that are not in direct contact with the hot CPU core tend to freeze the moisture in the air around them which accumulates on the pad's surfaces.

When CPU activity then goes up dramatically, as it would if you were to begin playing a CPU-intensive 3D game after reading your email for a half an hour (which takes very little CPU power, and hence doesn't heat up the TEC's cold side as much) then the ice that had built up would begin to melt and drip downward onto the CPU's contact pins, the mainboard and other areas.

Not good.

So if you were looking to incorporate a Peltier-driven TEC based cooling solution for your overclocked CPU, you'd need to guarantee two major items at the very beginning of the search:

You'd have to have a power supply that generates 12 amps at 12 volts to power a 6 amp TEC along with the rest of your PC's parts. You'd need a completely vacuum-sealed area covering the TEC and CPU entirely to prevent any air moisture from making contact with the TEC and then freezing/melting.

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