Passively cooled fish tank computer

[FakeGamerGuy]

Because I keep getting questions on this, here is the current cost of the build:

 

10 gallon fish tank - $10 on CL

XSPC Raystorm water block (AM3 and similar) - $55

120 GPH fountain pump - $15

XSPC G1/4" to 1/2" barb fittings - $12 (4 pack)

XSPC FLX Tubing 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD - $17

PT Nuke - $8.50

Distilled water - $1.50/gal

 

This is the bare minimum required for my setup and costs $117.50 plus applicable tax and shipping not including water. That said, the pump pushes enough water for one block when the board and tank are on the same surface. When one is higher than the other the flow suffers significantly because the water has to travel over the tank walls (about 10 or 12 inches), down to the board, then back over the wall into the tank. The pump is 120 GPH at 0 feet. At 2 feet that drops to 66 GPH (45% drop) and at 3' it drops to 20 GPH (83% drop). Maximum lift is rated at 3 feet 1 inch so I'm assuming at that level it's trickling at best and that doesn't take into account restrictions. TL;DR unless your waterblock is at the same height as the pump, a couple inches lower, or 2 feet higher, you'll need a more powerful (more expensive) pump.

 

I've also purchased compression fittings to replace the barbs. The barbs required hose clamps which are way too ugly to put inside my computer. Just to get it running the barbs served their purpose. Compression fittings ran $13/ea for a total of $26. If you get these from the get-go your total (not including the upgraded pump) is $128.50 plus water.

 

I'll likely need to get additional hose so there will be more cost there, plus there's tax and shipping. Depending on what you already have and where you live this build should be doable for between $100 and $150. It's an interesting way to cool your machine but the practically is novel. Yes it works but if your house isn't air conditioned summer might cause issues. It's 95 degrees today which means that with my machine off the water is likely to reach 80 degrees pretty easily. You also have to account for the fact that your case will likely need grommeted holes to run your tubes through which means that you will need to modify your case or buy a new one with the appropriate holes. Yes, you can run the system with the side panel off but then you introduce noise from your GPU(s) which defeats the purpose of the build. Yes you can water cool your video cards but the amount of heat added to the system is approaching outrageous at that point and active cooling or expensive passive cooling starts to become a requirement.

 

I'll continue to post updates and benchmark data including heat vs time charts as I finish the build and live it it day-to-day.

[FakeGamerGuy]

The past few days I've been thinking, trying to figure out why my water got so cloudy when I moved the system upstairs. The variables were location (now by an open window), the introduction of PT Nuke to the water... that's all I could really think of. But as I sat here watching the water I noticed that the cloudiness is actually particles floating in the water, being pulled around by the currents from the pump. It's actually kind of hypnotizing to watch. That lead me to think it was dust or pollen from the window but I've had glasses of water sit there and never once get like this. Then I remembered that I didn't wash the blue glass rocks that I put in the bottom of the tank. They probably collected dust from sitting in warehouses and store shelves over time and dumping them into the tank put all that dust in my loop. Now I get to figure out out how I can filter the dust out with this dinky little pump, otherwise I have to empty and refill the tank which I'm really not wanting to do.

 

 

Otherwise the only issue I've had with this as a daily-use system is the heat from our bizarre summer weather. Once it cools down (or I introduce active cooling back to the loop) it should be better. That said, I've never seen it above mid-50s C so it's not like it's running hot or anything.

 

Also, my H440 should be here in the next few hours so my system can actually have a nice home.

[W-L]

-SNIP-

 

You might want to move it away from the window, most biocides are light sensitive and why coolants need replacing, not to mention that usually makes algae grow when tanks are near sunlight.

 

Maybe run the water through a coffee filter or add in a small inline water filter.

[FakeGamerGuy]

You might want to move it away from the window, most biocides are light sensitive and why coolants need replacing, not to mention that usually makes algae grow when tanks are near sunlight.

The idea was to put it in the corner away from the window, I just don't have enough tubing right now. 

[FakeGamerGuy]

System is in it's new home. Nice and quiet, looks good, I'm pretty happy.

 

 

 

The pump isn't strong enough for me to put the case on the ground and the hoses aren't long enough to put the case anywhere else. Maybe when I have more hose to play with I can try rotating the machine 90 degrees so it's in the same corner but with the window in a better position.

[Badger906]

hopefully you don't change your mind and add fish! lol the extremes of conditions would be horrific for all but the most hardy of fish.

maybe a lobster they don't give a shit.

as an aquarium nerd I'd recommend a planted tank lol

[FakeGamerGuy]

hopefully you don't change your mind and add fish! lol the extremes of conditions would be horrific for all but the most hardy of fish.

maybe a lobster they don't give a shit.

as an aquarium nerd I'd recommend a planted tank lol

No, no fish. I have no interest in adding additional responsibilities to my schedule.

 

As an aquarium nerd, what would you suggest I do about the dust in the water?

[Badger906]

No, no fish. I have no interest in adding additional responsibilities to my schedule.

 

As an aquarium nerd, what would you suggest I do about the dust in the water?

buy a super cheap hang on back water filter. you can get them on eBay for like £15/$15. they'll clean the water and have a added surface skimmer that will remove any particles that float to the surface.

If you add carbon it will also help and stop the water smelling/becoming discoloured. 

[linuxfan66]

Would plants be viable in the tank?

[Badger906]

Would plants be viable in the tank?

yeah plants would thrive. they'd need a supply of co2 but a cheap compressed can and diffuser would do the trick in a tank below 50l.

most plants would survive in temperatures of 15-40c warmer temps maybe an issue but I've never experimented with higher.

a grow lamp. would also be recommended.

[FakeGamerGuy]

Would plants be viable in the tank?

I think the biocide would say no.

[Stefan1024]

Soooooooo you made big progress

 

Running a 125 watt CPU all day lang with prime95 and only hitting 50°C is actually a VERY good result for passive cooling! My target is to keep all components below 80°C in full use and 90°C peak in stress testing. And I just manage to do so (GPU: 79°C, CPU: 90°C, peak stess test temperature with 30°C ambient) :unsure:

 

It is a shame you can't (or rather should not) heat up your CPU over 60°C. Otherwise I would have said will the tank to the top and add the GPU to the loop, since they are fine at 80°C.

On the other hand you can still improve the passive cooling a lot by adding a heat sink. There are a lot of cheap extruded heat sinks out there, salvaged from old power amplifiers. I got >250 watts capable heat sinks for 150$. Since you are not living in switzerland you should find them a lot cheaper. As a heat exchanger you can use 2-3 CPU or GPU waterblocks from an outdated socket for 5$ or so.

 

Nevertheless good work! I like to follow your experiment.

[0ld_Chicken]

Soooooooo you made big progress

 

Running a 125 watt CPU all day lang with prime95 and only hitting 50°C is actually a VERY good result for passive cooling! My target is to keep all components below 80°C in full use and 90°C peak in stress testing. And I just manage to do so (GPU: 79°C, CPU: 90°C, peak stess test temperature with 30°C ambient) :unsure:

 

It is a shame you can't (or rather should not) heat up your CPU over 60°C. Otherwise I would have said will the tank to the top and add the GPU to the loop, since they are fine at 80°C.

On the other hand you can still improve the passive cooling a lot by adding a heat sink. There are a lot of cheap extruded heat sinks out there, salvaged from old power amplifiers. I got >250 watts capable heat sinks for 150$. Since you are not living in switzerland you should find them a lot cheaper. As a heat exchanger you can use 2-3 CPU or GPU waterblocks from an outdated socket for 5$ or so.

 

Nevertheless good work! I like to follow your experiment.

welcome back man!  the forums have missed you

[Stefan1024]

welcome back man! the forums have missed you

Haha, thank you

[FakeGamerGuy]

Because of work stuff I'm probably not going to be making much more progress for a month or two. I like the idea for the passive cooling using amp heat sinks, though. I'll look into that in a bit.

 

For cooling my GPUs, I have a non-standard PCB and I'm hesitant to use generic GPU waterblocks that don't cool the MOSFETs and stuff. My plan for that is to just get a GTX 960 or something along those lines since I'll get more processing power and less TDP compared to my 2 GTX 560 Tis with the option to do add a proper cooler later on.

[Stefan1024]

Because of work stuff I'm probably not going to be making much more progress for a month or two. I like the idea for the passive cooling using amp heat sinks, though. I'll look into that in a bit.

For cooling my GPUs, I have a non-standard PCB and I'm hesitant to use generic GPU waterblocks that don't cool the MOSFETs and stuff. My plan for that is to just get a GTX 960 or something along those lines since I'll get more processing power and less TDP compared to my 2 GTX 560 Tis with the option to do add a proper cooler later on.

Take your time. The heatsink should be >200x150x40 and weigth 3kg or more to fit your need. Also the finns must be >5mm apart from each other to be sutable for natural convection. Also the higth is more important than the width.

TDP whise you should be able to cool 200 watts ore more, since you can dump ~100 watts into the water.

For comparison: my 300x400x84 heatsink can keep a GTX980 under 80℃ (30℃ ambient).

[CobbleWalker]

Wow, there is some truly amazing science! I love the method to this madness! It's awesome! Keep it up!

[FakeGamerGuy]

Did a fresh install of Windows 10 on the system. Fire Strike is now 5503 and Sky Diver is now 15,968

[FakeGamerGuy]

Starting today I'm working from home so I decided I should probably re-enable the power saving features of the motherboard and CPU. Rather than staying pegged at 4.2 ghz all day the chip will be bouncing around between 1.4 ghz and 4.8. After working for a couple hours the CPU is registering a temp of 35 C according to speed fan. I'll report back after a full day of work but at the moment the cooling system is working amazingly.

[FakeGamerGuy]

I think in the next few days I'm going to do a photoshoot of the build. It looks really neat at night.

 

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[0ld_Chicken]

I think in the next few days I'm going to do a photoshoot of the build. It looks really neat at night.

 

snip​

that looks sweet!  almost like a picture a company would put out to tease an upcoming product.  very mysterious!!  I took a couple shots of my pc with my dslr in the dark yesteday for the first time and it looked awesome!  

[FakeGamerGuy]

I mentioned previously that when I put the glass rocks in my tank I forgot to wash the dust off of them which made the water extremely cloudy. The correct things to do would be be replace the water or buy a standard fish tank water filter (or have the water run through coffee filters attached to the return line, which I don't have any of). All of those solutions require some kind of money investment which I couldn't justify at the moment. There had to be something around the house to remove the dust from the water, though.

 

 

My solution was to fold a microfiber cloth in half, then attach it to the return line with a ziptie. So I did, letting it cycle though for a few hours.

 

 

Not bad, I think! Some time tomorrow I'll probably remove the cloth, clean it, then put it back on for a while longer. It looks like shit and is only a bandaid solution but it does have other benefits like diffusing the water into the tank which makes it silent and the surface appears to be perfectly still.

 

I decided to have some fun with my off-camera flash and experiment with firing it through the water and through the sides. I'll have to play with it s'more but initial results are interesting.

 

[0ld_Chicken]

I mentioned previously that when I put the glass rocks in my tank I forgot to wash the dust off of them which made the water extremely cloudy. The correct things to do would be be replace the water or buy a standard fish tank water filter (or have the water run through coffee filters attached to the return line, which I don't have any of). All of those solutions require some kind of money investment which I couldn't justify at the moment. There had to be something around the house to remove the dust from the water, though.

My solution was to fold a microfiber cloth in half, then attach it to the return line with a ziptie. So I did, letting it cycle though for a few hours.

Not bad, I think! Some time tomorrow I'll probably remove the cloth, clean it, then put it back on for a while longer. It looks like shit and is only a bandaid solution but it does have other benefits like diffusing the water into the tank which makes it silent and the surface appears to be perfectly still.

 

I decided to have some fun with my off-camera flash and experiment with firing it through the water and through the sides. I'll have to play with it s'more but initial results are interesting.

 

 

nice fix!  I love that shot and kinda want it as my wallpaper 

[FakeGamerGuy]

nice fix!  I love that shot and kinda want it as my wallpaper 

Here's a 1440px version.

 

[0ld_Chicken]

Here's a 1440px version.

it is now my wallpaper