der8auer tests Intel TEC solution on AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

Posted on Tuesday, November 17 2020 @ 11:07 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
German overclocker der8auer got his hands on one of those thermoelectric cooling (TEC) solutions based on Intel's new Cryo technology. While TEC is nothing new, and was known for several big disadvantages, it seems it's back for another spin as Intel and a couple of cooling makers are pushing new solutions.

der8auer decided to use the EKWB EK-QuantumX Delta TEC cooling solution on an AMD Ryzen 5950X processor. To achieve this, he had to use some workarounds because the cooler requires deep software control to work properly, and the software is only compatible with Intel CPUs. As such, der8auer used a second machine with the Intel Core i9-10900K to control the software. Intel says the software is needed to prevent condensation, which was quite a problem with previous-generation TEC coolers.

You can watch the video below. A writeup was posted by TechPowerUp. The cooler was able to keep the 5950X at pretty low temperatures:
All in all, the results were interesting, to say the least. The 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen 9 5950X saw single-core-load CCD temperatures in the 90 °C department with the TEC solution disabled - which promptly dropped down to only 50 °C with the cryo cooler actually operating. With a game load, the 5950X achieved up to 5.050 GHz in single-cores on its automatic boost profile. The entire chip often boosted to 4.8 - 4.9 GHz on all cores at once (with variances between the CCDs) whilst under this cooling solution and workload. With the TEC operating in its unregulated mode - which means, with no considerations for CPU operating temperature and power usage for the cooling process - saw the Ryzen 9 5950X achieving 2 °C core temperature results, and boosted frequencies up to a staggering 5323 MHz on all cores - before crashing.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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