Pride and Shame all in one build. Warning...large pics.

[acturisme]

Sigh...

 

Ok.  I can do this.  Several years ago I built an oil cooled pc in the style of Puget Systems mineral oil cooled pc.  It was ill advised, expensive, and difficult.  But...I'm a better builder for having tried.  I think it's time I shared this story.

 

I don't know where I first heard about this build.  But here's the link. http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php

 

I was enthralled at my first glimpse of the thing.  So I got some materials together.  Finding the fish tank was easy.  

 

 

In this photo you can see the fish tank, the lian li tray, the fist tank decorative stones and the 12v marine bilge pump I used to pump the oil.

I had NO IDEA what I was really in for.  None.  

I anticipated the need for a radiator.  Thus the pump.  Here's what I found.

 

 

That's a radiator out of an old furnace a/c unit.  I'm not proud of it.  That's what I could afford at the time.

 

Here's the old tower that I was converting.  I don't remember all of the spec's.

 

 

Rockin' that 3.5" floppy.

 

 

What management again?  Ohh and lookit!  An Eide cable!  I remember those.

 

This was the testing hardware I used to be sure I wasn't being taken for a sucker.

 

I'm sorry I don't have more in-process photos to show but I wasn't thinking about posting this to any forum at the time.

 

 

Can you tell it was October?

 

 

Somewhere between "I did it!" and "What have I done?".

 

 

This was more than a little overwhelming.  You can see that:

 

1. I'm insane.

2. I'm unorganized.

3. I'm not concerned with neatness at this point.

 

 

Now here's the interesting thing.  As crappy of a build as it turned out to be, I still achieved some goals.

 

That rad. is so big and the loop inside is so long that the temps never got above 7 degress F over ambient.  Even during testing.  Now I know I don't have any screenshots of testing or benchmarks BUT I'd not lie to you.  That was a cooling freak's dream.  And the components had very similar temps throughout the system.  I guess the oil spread the heat out more evenly than air would being inside a closed loop system.  When I later added fans (no photo) the results were even better.  Here's some things I did learn.  The pump would pump 2 loops very slowly but that didn't seem to make a difference.  The bilge pump wasn't built for quiet operation.  Skimming the warm oil off of the top and returning it to the system at the bottom had the best results.  The system worked this way for several months before the fish tank broke.  A 12v power supply will run a bilge pump.  Fans will not burn out in mineral oil.  Not even the video card blower.  People who think outside of the box should buy an extra box.  More photos.

 

 

Sorry about the flash.

 

 

Months later a crack developed in that system and 4 of the 6 gallons of oil got all over my floor.  What a mess.  Learn from my mistake.  If you choose to do a build like this use some type of containment.  

Thoughts, comments, Q's.

[Hyydrah]

I wonder if it's safe for a fish to swim in your rig.  :P

[acturisme]

Only robotic fish.    B)

[Guerrero]

dat radiator

[mapexlegend]

I think the radiator is sweet! gives it a real industrial look!!!! I think you should keep it, maybe polish it up then it would be awesome!

[JoshM]

cable management is over rated! jokes

But looks awesome!

[Theo]

Bro, mad respect, ghettoest build ive seen in a while!

[alpenwasser]

4 gallons of water oil on the floor? Thinking about how much of a mess my

water loop makes when I screw up during draining and I get a liter or so on the

floor that really must have been one hell of a mess. :o

But awesome experiment, mad props man! :)

[acturisme]

I think the radiator is sweet! gives it a real industrial look!!!! I think you should keep it, maybe polish it up then it would be awesome!

LOL.  This build is about 4 or 5 years old.  I don't have it anymore.  Trust me if I ever decide to try this again, I'm going straight to the junkyard to find a copper rad.  :lol:

[acturisme]

4 gallons of water on the floor? Thinking about how much of a mess my water loop

makes when I screw up during draining and I get a liter or so on the floor that

really must have been one hell of a mess. :o

But awesome experiment, mad props man! :)

Mineral oil, my friend.  Imagine spilling that much baby oil and you have an idea of the real mess.

[alpenwasser]

Mineral oil, my friend.  Imagine spilling that much baby oil and you have an idea of the real mess.

Haha, I was thinking oil and writing water. *facepalm*

[Jay123]

Dat rad

[Woodypc]

Well it looks/ed cool well done.

[atrash]

Mineral oil, my friend.  Imagine spilling that much baby oil and you have an idea of the real mess.

 

any plans of doing another similar build in future?

[acturisme]

any plans of doing another similar build in future?

Well... i don't know yet.  I've the funds to do it.  And it's tempting to try again.  I think I'd need to do a great deal of planning first.  Any suggestions from the community would be welcome.  Tell you what.  Get over 100 different LTTers to post a reply saying I should and I will.

 

Edit:  Also, I'll document the build and post all the photos with descriptions and directions.

[alpenwasser]

Tell you what.  Get over 100 different LTTers to post a reply saying I should and I will.

Well, count me in. Although I think you really should do the build for yourself and

not for others. If you want to do it, do it, if not then don't. Don't let people coerce

you into something you don't necessarily feel enthusiastic about, and don't refrain

from doing something simply because not enough people are interested.

Anyway, that's just how I do it, but of course this decision is yours. And as said,

I would definitely be interested in such a build log.

[LonliestofAll]

You should try this in an actual computer case, seal it, build it, fill it, and over clock it to the extreme with a car radiator.

(while writing this post I was writing it to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by daft punk)

[albino_enchilada]

I wonder if it's safe for a fish to swim in your rig.  :P

It's oil....

[atrash]

Well... i don't know yet.  I've the funds to do it.  And it's tempting to try again.  I think I'd need to do a great deal of planning first.  Any suggestions from the community would be welcome.  Tell you what.  Get over 100 different LTTers to post a reply saying I should and I will.

 

Edit:  Also, I'll document the build and post all the photos with descriptions and directions.

 

If you have the time and money, and most importantly, PASSION to undertake such endeavour(strong word eh ;)), then why not. Since you had a pretty good experience building one, maybe you can do a new build+tutorial(like tips/pros & cons,etc) for oil cooled pc and ask the mod to pin it once it is complete. It can be a guide to people who would like to try build oil cooled pc. ^_^

[Hyydrah]

It's oil....

I know, but there must be some species of the millions out there that can.

[acturisme]

I know, but there must be some species of the millions out there that can.

With my luck it would live in oil and eat copper. ;)

[LonliestofAll]

With my luck it would live in oil and eat copper. ;)

That's just great it made me rofl literally.