Mineral Oil Cooled PC: Where to Begin

[Wubnaught]

Soooooo, this title is fairly self explanatory. I would like to make a super simple mineral oil cooled PC. (Easier said than done I know.)
 

I have a few year old DELL Optiplex desktop that I plan to be the sacrificial lamb so that I don't have to spend money on all new parts for this, especially because there's a high chance that I will mess up. 

 

My basic plan right now, is to completely disassemble the Dell Desktop and then basically drill a few holes in the side, use nut and bolt to attach the motherboard, then seal with some form of glue so it doesn't leak oil. Then just have everything else sort of rest inside the case. If I end up using the mechanical hard drive, I will keep it outside of the case (5 gallon fish tank), but if I invest in something small like a 60gb SSD, I'll probably store it inside the tank. This is clearly not going to be a gaming pc, but more of a cool project that I can show off later.

 

So my basic questions would be, do any of you fine ladies and gentleman have any tips for me before I embark on this adventure. (I.E. where to get about 5 gallons of cheap mineral oil, or if theres a certain kind I should use. Do's and Don'ts.) All help and tips, or comments telling me how dumb I am are all welcome. 

 

Thanks for all of your help in advance, I know this is probably the only forums I could take this to.

 

-Wubnaught

[I_Got_Lost]

Good Luck on this

After slicks video update i looked around and found this nice website for cases it helps.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php

[Createinator]

I would suggest you do something new and innovative. We have all seen mineral oil submerged PC in the past few years. Since you have a sacrificial lamb, why not try some other non-conductive liquid to create an all new submerged PC?

Personally, I have no idea and no motivation to create and manage such a machine and I will not be able to guide you in any way. Best of luck in your tech adventure, be sure to create a build log!

[rhyseyness]

@Slick

[TheDigitalRealm]

Yeah, this is messy, has been done before, and isn't a novel thing any-more. I don't think there are many on the forums, other than Slick, who could offer any advice. 

[ericlee30]

Yeah, Mineral Oil cooled PC were more of a fad then anything back in the day, they really are not in anymore, fun little projects if you have some random PC components lying around. but in this day and age, really no need to do it to new hardware, liquid cooling is better then ever in 2014

[acidydragon]

They make special cases for it (If you're going to submerge it, you might as well SEE it.)

You can find them if you search.

 

The temperatures achieved are nothing super special, and if you're looking for cheap, don't go this route.

Mineral oil itself is fairly expensive, and doesn't offer a ton of cooling.

 

This is something to say you've done it, and something to show off.

Either get a pretty case for it, or try something different.
 

-Inserted Acids two cents.-

[nishank93]

One advice I can give is please check whatever glue you plan on using for resilience in an oil environment. The last thing you want is leaks or gooey stuff floating in your oil.

[rjbarker]

^^^ Yeah I think you basically kiss your HW goodbye after submerging in this goo.....novelty for sure....have fun!

[Wubnaught]

Haha I posted this a month or 2 back and now Linus and Slick announced on the WAN show that they're doing a mineral oil PC build. I'm super pumped.

Thanks @Slick and @LinusTech

[NeatSquidYT]

Water and oil cooling aren't really that important nowadays. Just get a Noctua NH-D14 or something for your CPU, and a non reference GPU if you want low temps.

[FloRolf]

Water and oil cooling aren't really that important nowadays. Just get a Noctua NH-D14 or something for your CPU, and a non reference GPU if you want low temps.

Waht?

Watercooling is becoming really really big right now. Just look at all the new AIOs that came out.

And then stuff like the G10 and the whole 295x2.

Air cooling is very good, i agree on that, but water gets cheaper and better all the time, especially with temperature based selfoverclocking graphics cards.

Oh, and on topic:

Where can i subscribe to see your project?

[B NEGATIVE]

Soooooo, this title is fairly self explanatory. I would like to make a super simple mineral oil cooled PC. (Easier said than done I know.)

 

I have a few year old DELL Optiplex desktop that I plan to be the sacrificial lamb so that I don't have to spend money on all new parts for this, especially because there's a high chance that I will mess up. 

 

My basic plan right now, is to completely disassemble the Dell Desktop and then basically drill a few holes in the side, use nut and bolt to attach the motherboard, then seal with some form of glue so it doesn't leak oil. Then just have everything else sort of rest inside the case. If I end up using the mechanical hard drive, I will keep it outside of the case (5 gallon fish tank), but if I invest in something small like a 60gb SSD, I'll probably store it inside the tank. This is clearly not going to be a gaming pc, but more of a cool project that I can show off later.

 

So my basic questions would be, do any of you fine ladies and gentleman have any tips for me before I embark on this adventure. (I.E. where to get about 5 gallons of cheap mineral oil, or if theres a certain kind I should use. Do's and Don'ts.) All help and tips, or comments telling me how dumb I am are all welcome. 

 

Thanks for all of your help in advance, I know this is probably the only forums I could take this to.

 

-Wubnaught

 

 

Ditch the mineral oil and use Flourintert or Novec 649,better performaing and doesnt eventually ruin the caps on the board.

 

Also,get the acrylic tank welded,not glued. You can weld it yourself with Tensol or equivalent wicking solvent.

[NeatSquidYT]

Waht?

Watercooling is becoming really really big right now. Just look at all the new AIOs that came out.

And then stuff like the G10 and the whole 295x2.

Air cooling is very good, i agree on that, but water gets cheaper and better all the time, especially with temperature based selfoverclocking graphics cards.

Oh, and on topic:

Where can i subscribe to see your project?

My build? I can make a guide if you like. Youtube or forum?

Also, by water cooling I meant loops. Unless you're using titans and an LGA2011 Xeon, loops aren't necessary for their price. AiOs are a different topic IMO, as they are very worth it

[Wubnaught]

Water and oil cooling aren't really that important nowadays. Just get a Noctua NH-D14 or something for your CPU, and a non reference GPU if you want low temps.

Yeah I've gone over this before, I'm not doing it for anything more than the nostalgia. I just frankly think it's really cool. I would never totally invest in brand new parts or anything for something like this nowadays.