Review

3DXtreme, May 1, 2007
Vigor Gaming Monsoon II Lite TEC CPU Cooling System Review

Supplied By Vigor Gaming

Author: Dean Nottis

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Introduction

Central Processing Units are in dire need of a cooling revolution. With each new generation we see temperatures climbing and while there are breaks in this trend where we see a change in the manufacturing of a particular product however nothing has made any notable gains in dropping the overall heat generated. A few degrees here and there when we see a shift but the fact remains that we still need to cool CPUs and air cooling for the hardcore overclocker just won’t cut it. Moving to a water-cooled solution can be expensive; generally a $200+ investment wouldn’t be unusual while high end air coolers can be had for $50 - $70.

Vigor Gaming has filled this void with the Monoon II Lite which incorporates a TEC (Thermoelectric chip). The Monsoon can provide near water cooling without the hassle of installing a water cooled setup. Until recently however, the Monsoon II Lite wasn’t as affordable as it is now, making this an even more attractive product for those looking to push their processor for every last bit of performance that can be squeezed from it. We found the Monsoon II Lite for a mere $115 at Newegg at the time this article was published.

Just in case folks are familiar with a TEC the basics of a TEC can be summed up: The thermoelectric cooler, or Peltier Cooler, is a solid-state heat pump that uses the Peltier effect to move heat. The modern commercial TEC consists of a number of p- and n- type semiconductor couples connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel. These couples are sandwiched between two thermally conductive and electrically insulated substrates. The heat's pumping direction can be changed by altering the polarity of the charging DC current.

So by incorporating a TEC into the base of an air cooler we can benefit from the cold plate and lower CPU temperatures. The limitation here would be that the TEC is an 80watt TEC rated for 16v, in this application it will only get 12v from the PSU and in turn will provide 50watts of cooling. For processor running stock speeds, that should be ample, especially an Intel Conroe that at stock produces about 65 watts. However, when overclocked will the Monsoon II Lite be able to perform?

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