Oil Computer, for those who know a bit about it.

Altanore · 01-22-2006, 07:57 AM

After seeing all these oil cooled computers, i'm thinking of trying it out for the fun of it. Show it off to my relatives and friends. I have an old pentium 1 compaq pc in a box collecting dust and thinking of trying it on that. If something goes wrong, well, not a big loss.

Anyway, I'm just wondering if theres anything special I need to do? Can I just buy some vegetable oil from the store, poor it in a fish tank or something and dump the motherboard etc in and it will work? I know not to put the hard drive and CD rom in. Power supply im not too sure if I want to put in.

If all works well, I probably will buff it up a bit with LED fans to move the oil around and lights etc.

Thanks in advance.

shupola · 01-22-2006, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Power supply im not too sure if I want to put in.

remember that oil does not conduct electricity. dont know if thats what youre talking about

Altanore · 01-22-2006, 08:05 AM

ah, I guess it's safe, just got a bit nervous since I read that the oil could only handle so much? Guess thats false?

bigsaucybob · 01-22-2006, 01:15 PM

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/..._out_the_fans/

i dont think u put the psu in. they didnt. also most psu's ahve fans in them which wuld be pointless in the oil.

s_m_w_d · 01-22-2006, 02:27 PM

I also said before that is was going to do it with my xbox for fun!
Big fish tank
yeah you can put the psu, you could also put in the fans aswell but there would be alot of resistance because of the thickness of the oil but it would help circulate the heat! the drives are the only thing that cant be put in are the cd drive(s)!

Oil-submerged rig

[-0MEGA-] · 01-22-2006, 02:31 PM

you'll need to take the fans out of the PSU if you want to put that in the oil as well.

Hairy_Lee · 01-22-2006, 02:36 PM

synthetic motor oil would be a better option because it causes less corrosion. you can put the psu in there if you want but you need to make sure that the fans are either removed or disconnected as the extra resistance of the oil will make them run slower and they'll draw more current.

other than that you just need to make sure everything is suitibly mounted and the tank is sealed... it might be worth putting a drain point in the bottom so you can empty it if you want to.

bigsaucybob · 01-22-2006, 02:55 PM

do u plan on putting leds, in the oil?

Altanore · 01-22-2006, 05:50 PM

Thanks for all the reply's.

I just probably won't put the psu in it. I was planning to put some fans in so the oil is able to move around, or maybe I can put in something else.

Perhaps I can modify it's current computer case, add a case window, and seal it, that will probably look more attractive then a fish tank and it lets me mount stuff away from the oil.

Yes, I do plan to put LED's, and other lights etc in.

Can I use any motor oil? Any paticular brand? I know there are other liquids that are much better but they are almost $500/gallon so not really worth buying.

Hairy_Lee · 01-22-2006, 05:56 PM

i'm not aware of any particular brand that would be benefitial, its only what i've read elsewhere. however, considering you're looking at keeping costs down cooking oil wouldn't hurt and its very cheap.

if you plan on sealing your case i would pay a great deal of attention to it as it is very difficult to do well

01-22-2006, 07:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
Altanore Gold Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Age: 20 Posts: 255	Oil Computer, for those who know a bit about it. After seeing all these oil cooled computers, i'm thinking of trying it out for the fun of it. Show it off to my relatives and friends. I have an old pentium 1 compaq pc in a box collecting dust and thinking of trying it on that. If something goes wrong, well, not a big loss. Anyway, I'm just wondering if theres anything special I need to do? Can I just buy some vegetable oil from the store, poor it in a fish tank or something and dump the motherboard etc in and it will work? I know not to put the hard drive and CD rom in. Power supply im not too sure if I want to put in. If all works well, I probably will buff it up a bit with LED fans to move the oil around and lights etc. Thanks in advance. __________________ Processor: AMD Athlon64 3200+ S939 Ram: 2x 1GB PC3200 Corsair DDR @dual Channel Video Card: PCI express ATI Radeon X800XL 256mb DDR3 Overclocked Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Drive: LG 16x16 DL DVD±RW w/Light Scribe Hard Drive: Western Digital Sata 120GB 7200rpm, 2x Seagate 320GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA II, WD 150GB Raptor 10k RPM, SATA, 250GB Lacie External HD Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Power Supply: Enermax 535W FMA2 Cooling: Many fans, Thermaltake Bigwater SE.

01-22-2006, 08:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
Altanore Gold Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Age: 20 Posts: 255	ah, I guess it's safe, just got a bit nervous since I read that the oil could only handle so much? Guess thats false? __________________ Processor: AMD Athlon64 3200+ S939 Ram: 2x 1GB PC3200 Corsair DDR @dual Channel Video Card: PCI express ATI Radeon X800XL 256mb DDR3 Overclocked Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Drive: LG 16x16 DL DVD±RW w/Light Scribe Hard Drive: Western Digital Sata 120GB 7200rpm, 2x Seagate 320GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA II, WD 150GB Raptor 10k RPM, SATA, 250GB Lacie External HD Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Power Supply: Enermax 535W FMA2 Cooling: Many fans, Thermaltake Bigwater SE.

01-22-2006, 01:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
bigsaucybob Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: ny Age: 17 Posts: 3,890	http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/..._out_the_fans/ i dont think u put the psu in. they didnt. also most psu's ahve fans in them which wuld be pointless in the oil. __________________ Equipt NOW

01-22-2006, 02:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
s_m_w_d Platinum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Ireland Age: 21 Posts: 934	I also said before that is was going to do it with my xbox for fun! Big fish tank yeah you can put the psu, you could also put in the fans aswell but there would be alot of resistance because of the thickness of the oil but it would help circulate the heat! the drives are the only thing that cant be put in are the cd drive(s)! Oil-submerged rig __________________ Nzxt Apollo chassis Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.66 2x Crucial 1GB @1066MHz EVEA nForce 680i SLI BFG 8800 GTX @ 768 MB 20" Samsung LCD " @ 1680 x 1050 60Hz 3DMARK05:12133 Comming in 2008 my computer but better Last edited by s_m_w_d; 01-22-2006 at 02:29 PM.

01-22-2006, 02:31 PM	#6 (permalink)
[-0MEGA-] Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Concord, NH Age: 19 Posts: 25,227	you'll need to take the fans out of the PSU if you want to put that in the oil as well. __________________ Pentium Dual-Core E2200 @ 3.3GHz Gigabyte P35-DS3L ATI HD 3870 GDDR4 @ (875/2272) 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2-1000 500GB SATAII HD w/16MB SilverStone 750W +12V@60A 3DMark06: 11515

01-22-2006, 02:36 PM	#7 (permalink)
Hairy_Lee VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Age: 25 Posts: 2,553	synthetic motor oil would be a better option because it causes less corrosion. you can put the psu in there if you want but you need to make sure that the fans are either removed or disconnected as the extra resistance of the oil will make them run slower and they'll draw more current. other than that you just need to make sure everything is suitibly mounted and the tank is sealed... it might be worth putting a drain point in the bottom so you can empty it if you want to. __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 EVGA nForce 650i Ultra mainboard EVGA 7950 GT KO SC 512Mb w/ Zalman VF-900Cu 2Gb of OCZ GOLD XTC SPECIAL OPS Eition Notebook - Acer Aspire 9300 - Turion TL-60/ 2 Gb RAM/ Geforce Go 7600 128 Dedicated (400 Mb turbocache)

01-22-2006, 02:55 PM	#8 (permalink)
bigsaucybob Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: ny Age: 17 Posts: 3,890	do u plan on putting leds, in the oil? __________________ Equipt NOW

01-22-2006, 05:50 PM	#9 (permalink)
Altanore Gold Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Age: 20 Posts: 255	Thanks for all the reply's. I just probably won't put the psu in it. I was planning to put some fans in so the oil is able to move around, or maybe I can put in something else. Perhaps I can modify it's current computer case, add a case window, and seal it, that will probably look more attractive then a fish tank and it lets me mount stuff away from the oil. Yes, I do plan to put LED's, and other lights etc in. Can I use any motor oil? Any paticular brand? I know there are other liquids that are much better but they are almost $500/gallon so not really worth buying. __________________ Processor: AMD Athlon64 3200+ S939 Ram: 2x 1GB PC3200 Corsair DDR @dual Channel Video Card: PCI express ATI Radeon X800XL 256mb DDR3 Overclocked Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Drive: LG 16x16 DL DVD±RW w/Light Scribe Hard Drive: Western Digital Sata 120GB 7200rpm, 2x Seagate 320GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA II, WD 150GB Raptor 10k RPM, SATA, 250GB Lacie External HD Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Power Supply: Enermax 535W FMA2 Cooling: Many fans, Thermaltake Bigwater SE.

01-22-2006, 05:56 PM	#10 (permalink)
Hairy_Lee VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Age: 25 Posts: 2,553	i'm not aware of any particular brand that would be benefitial, its only what i've read elsewhere. however, considering you're looking at keeping costs down cooking oil wouldn't hurt and its very cheap. if you plan on sealing your case i would pay a great deal of attention to it as it is very difficult to do well __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 EVGA nForce 650i Ultra mainboard EVGA 7950 GT KO SC 512Mb w/ Zalman VF-900Cu 2Gb of OCZ GOLD XTC SPECIAL OPS Eition Notebook - Acer Aspire 9300 - Turion TL-60/ 2 Gb RAM/ Geforce Go 7600 128 Dedicated (400 Mb turbocache)

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