Build for oil cooled computer

S

Sutekienzeru

New Member
Im working on this new build and just wanted to know what you guys think of it. it will be going into a fish tank and cooled by mineral oil.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131295
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121269
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341009
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...d_480_Radiator.html?tl=g30c95s667&id=wr79IBnV

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6...wer_12V_Water_Pump_501280.html?tl=g30c107s153

I didnt provide a link to the tank but i didnt find it necessary, if you see any problems or critics please dont hesitate to say so.
 
I have nothing against it, but why would you want to build a computer that goes in a fish tank!!!

With regards to your post, generally, people ask for advice on what to put in a case. Now if you said you were putting that in an Antec 900 or something, I'd say that was fine. But, because your build is different, we need the following information.

What case/tank will you be putting this in?
How will it be waterproofed?
How big is the tank and how much water does it hold?
Why the hell are you doing this?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't oil flammable? Any gaming, any whumpf, the computer goes up in flames. Also, I don't think that many manufacturers cover their components against water damage. If your casing/waterproofing leaks, it could be a very expensive lesson.

PS Everytime a fish dies or shits, it dies or shits in your computer! LOL! :)

EDIT: This is certainly one of the most exclusive and original ideas for a PC that I have ever heard about!
 
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azwebs said:
I have nothing against it, but why would you want to build a computer that goes in a fish tank!!!

With regards to your post, generally, people ask for advice on what to put in a case. Now if you said you were putting that in an Antec 900 or something, I'd say that was fine. But, because your build is different, we need the following information.

What case/tank will you be putting this in?
How will it be waterproofed?
How big is the tank and how much water does it hold?
Why the hell are you doing this?

PS Everytime a fish dies or shits, it dies or shits in your computer! LOL! :)

EDIT: This is certainly one of the most exclusive and original ideas for a PC that I have ever heard about!
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Mineral oil is non-conductive. I don't think a fish wants to swim in it :P.
 
This sounds good. Ive seen people do it before. Just make sure the oil stays cool any flowing. The parts will be a little sticky when you upgrade :-)
 
I don't think a fish could swim in oil, let alone want to.
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My stupid idea. . .

Anyway, I've just done some research and now I see what you mean.

You mean to have a normal fish tank, with water and fish, and have a seperate compartment inside housing your computer components, surrounded by mineral oil (non-conductive, like petroleum liquid).

OR

You mean to have a smaller fish tank, with no fish, housing your computer components, filled with mineral oil.

Maybe this thread will help anyone that hasn't seen or heard of an aquarium PC before.

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=107598

Bad me, shouldn't link to another computer related forum. . . sorry.
 
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1. mix in Oil based food coloring = epic
2. Even a 10 gallon tank is just unfeasibly large. It would take up too much room and it wouldn't look all that cool.
3. I would hate to have to upgrade that thing in a few months...

He said "fish tank" not "tank with fish in it." A "fish tank" is just a term for "aquarium tank." So I don't think fish will be involved BUT it would be awesome to have your computer in a separate compartment inside a tank while your fish swim around...
 
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I was once worked in a takeaway shop. I made them fishies swim in hot oil :)

The tank full of oil thing was done on the forum before. Theres a big thread somewhere.

From memory, with the hard drives/ cd drives outside and not in the oil, it all worked well. Except he didnt have an adequate way to call the oil so after leaving it overnight the oil heated up to a temp that made it pointless to have it in oil anyway.

And for those of you who are wondering, he isnt putting it in a case in the tank. he is just putting the parts in the oil.
So that any heat will transferred to the oil. As far as components go, except for the cd/hard drives which need to spin, everything else will cope just fine in oil.

The only thing is, you'd want to take the fan out of stuff such as your graphics card. After a while of having to force through the thick oil, it would probably give up.
 
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Kesava said:
I was once worked in a takeaway shop. I made them fishies swim in hot oil :)
Click to expand...

LOL :D Swimming in hot oil. . . die fishie die!

Kesava said:
The tank full of oil thing was done on the forum before. Theres a big thread somewhere.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen that thread, so maybe I'll search around for it in a minute.

Kesava said:
Except he didnt have an adequate way to call the oil so after leaving it overnight the oil heated up to a temp that made it pointless to have it in oil anyway.
Click to expand...

I did think that might be a problem, but seeing as I've never built, seen or even heard of one of these before now, I wouldn't be that surprised.

Hope all goes well for you.
 
Probably a good idea to remove your graphics card fan, and have any moving parts externally (eg away from the oil).

EDIT: Sorry for the double post, and I didn't see your edit before I posted Kesava.
 
I cant find the thread i was talking about either haha. but it was very long. There is another that i found where a guy put his mobo in oil and then in a fridge.

In order to cool down the oil you'd have to have a sort of water cooling setup.

As in have a hose in at one side pumping water out and through the radiator and then back in the other side. Or something like that.

However the guy had that running and still couldnt keep it cool. So you would have to have something decently powerful in order to keep it cool and make the project worthwhile. you should drill a whole in once side of your fridge, and another out the other side. Then have a container full of oil, and then that oil is pumped back out into the tank.

Haha all of this is pretty stupid, the stuff i have suggested I mean.
So unless you can come up with a decent cooling solution and not just a small watercooling radiator or something, then the project isnt gonna work out.
 
I have an idea...it could be a little expensive. Have a water-cooling system for the CPU with the oil around everything else. The oil would help the radiator keep the water at a normal temp while keeping the rest of the computer cool as well.
 
Kesava said:
I cant find the thread i was talking about either haha. but it was very long. There is another that i found where a guy put his mobo in oil and then in a fridge.

In order to cool down the oil you'd have to have a sort of water cooling setup.

As in have a hose in at one side pumping water out and through the radiator and then back in the other side. Or something like that.

However the guy had that running and still couldnt keep it cool. So you would have to have something decently powerful in order to keep it cool and make the project worthwhile. you should drill a whole in once side of your fridge, and another out the other side. Then have a container full of oil, and then that oil is pumped back out into the tank.

Haha all of this is pretty stupid, the stuff i have suggested I mean.
So unless you can come up with a decent cooling solution and not just a small watercooling radiator or something, then the project isnt gonna work out.
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It might sound stupid, and it probably is, but here goes.

Get a beer fridge and use silicone to glue the door shut, then put the tank inside the fridge. You should still be able to see it through the door, or you could get one of those massive 6ft glass fridges for $1300! LOL :D
 
gamerman4 said:
I have an idea...it could be a little expensive. Have a water-cooling system for the CPU with the oil around everything else. The oil would help the radiator keep the water at a normal temp while keeping the rest of the computer cool as well.
Click to expand...

I suppose that could work. It's a lot better than my idea!

Basically, this whole idea is a ripoff. It's just for those people with lots of money that want to be different from everyone else. That's fine, but why not just get an Antec 900 and be done with it!

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268 @ £66.96
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec 900 @ $109.99
 
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Actually yeh the beer fridge isnt too bad an idea if it wasnt too expensive haha. I mean if it has a glass door and you silicone that up. Then remove the top so you have access, fill it with oil, and it should be able to keep the whole thing very cool while you can see it through the door.
Otherwise im not sure what would cool it enough because a normal water cooling radiator doesnt. What about a car radiator? :)
 
Basically what I'm saying is, with a normal water cooling radiator, it is proven to not cool the oil enough. So to achieve better temps them with air cooling, you will need to find a sensible, decent system that can cool that amount of oil.

As to what you could actually use, im not sure as i'm not that well acquainted with radiators and so on.
 
On a small tangent, I've been planing on how to make a working mini fridge a computer case. Biggest problem is the cables coming in and out of the fridge and not having them imbeded in the thing. (would need to be upgradeable after all)

As for the oil cooled case, they just make me nervous, but that are awsome. A good thing to do is get some epoxy, a glass cutter, and make the thing from scratch, or mod an exsiting tank.
 
One way to do it is to make the tank itself a better radiator by replacing one or several sides with aluminum sheet, thus reducing thermal resistace. Furthermore, you could add heatsinks like this on the aluminum (the air side will be more effective, but either side will help). Then you just need to circulate the oil for even heat transfer/distribution. You could also add active cooling -- like placing TECs between the heatsink and aluminum -- without the risk of condensation.

As for the mini-fridge, I wouldn't recommend it. You'll most likely overload the compressor unless you have a workhorse of a mini-fridge.
 
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