I've built 2 Oil cooled computers in the past using plastic tubs filled with oil cooled by radiators, and today, I was thinking about building another one.
I'm curious as how people accomplish this other than myself, but also, if it would be efficient to fashion a simply copper box, with heatsinks of the sides and use it as the medium for holding the oil. Would there be a downside if it actually did cool the computer? Or is would it be best for me to just stick with the traditional solution alone?
Also, I've heard that synthetic motor oil works well, but I'm yet to try it.
Cooking oil? Make a little fryer so you can make some fried oreos or something while playing games.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Why reply?" - lazyV))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=.soder;16298182]Cooking oil? Make a little fryer so you can make some fried oreos or something while playing games.[/QUOTE]
Hurf durf, you think you're funny don't you?
[editline]04:53AM[/editline]
BTW, you usually use an aquarium combined with a motherboard tray to accomplish it
[QUOTE=Aurora93-Alt;16298492]Hurf durf, you think you're funny don't you?
[editline]04:53AM[/editline]
BTW, you usually use an aquarium combined with a motherboard tray to accomplish it[/QUOTE]
I've thought about it, but theres no practical reason to do it. A plastic storage tub works just as well and saves me $46.99. Appearances aren't all that important for overclocking.
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;16298905]I've thought about it, but theres no practical reason to do it. A plastic storage tub works just as well and saves me $46.99. Appearances aren't all that important for overclocking.[/QUOTE]
Doesn't an oil cooling rig hit a critical temperature sense there is no way to radiate the heat? From what I have seen is the temperature will slowly build up to like 50c over time but never go past it. I know that there is a large threshold for most oils and once that is passed, it explodes.
Get a radiator?
[QUOTE=Xenos;16299153]Doesn't an oil cooling rig hit a critical temperature sense there is no way to radiate the heat? From what I have seen is the temperature will slowly build up to like 50c over time but never go past it. I know that there is a large threshold for most oils and once that is passed, it explodes.[/QUOTE]
You buy a radiator for cooling it, there are several DIY kits out there, I've never bought one, only modeled mine after them. No risk of fire with mineral oil, it's flashpoint is about 350 F.
[editline]12:58AM[/editline]
[url]http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php[/url]
This is a great example of one of said kits.
[editline]01:00AM[/editline]
Pictures:
[media]http://www.pugetsystems.com/gfx/submersion/gallery/SubRad3.jpg[/media]
[media]http://www.pugetsystems.com/gfx/submersion/gallery/Oct2008/cooling_module_rear.jpg[/media]
[quote]How well does this setup cool? AMAZINGLY well! In this system, we put in the best hardware -- an Intel QX9770 overclocked to 4.6GHz, 8GB of DDR3-1600 memory, and a NVIDIA GTX280 video card. It ran at 50C under full load, and that was with our fans on the low setting! The graph below shows the temperatures we saw as we ran 3DMark Vantage, then let the system idle. You'll notice the temperature barely changes at all -- the radiator handles the heat with ease![/quote]
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;16299226]You buy a radiator for cooling it, there are several DIY kits out there, I've never bought one, only modeled mine after them. No risk of fire with mineral oil, it's flashpoint is about 350 F.
[editline]12:58AM[/editline]
[url]http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php[/url]
This is a great example of one of said kits.
[editline]01:00AM[/editline]
Pictures:
[media]http://www.pugetsystems.com/gfx/submersion/gallery/SubRad3.jpg[/media]
[media]http://www.pugetsystems.com/gfx/submersion/gallery/Oct2008/cooling_module_rear.jpg[/media][/QUOTE]
At what temperature does mineral oil freeze?
Because replacing the radiator with a industrial sized water chiller. could cool all the components down to lower then ambient temperature.
[QUOTE=Riot_police;16308718]At what temperature does mineral oil freeze?
Because replacing the radiator with a industrial sized water chiller. could cool all the components down to lower then ambient temperature.[/QUOTE]
It freezes at -22F(-30C) but the temperature where the oil slows is 50F(10C).
[QUOTE=Riot_police;16308718]At what temperature does mineral oil freeze?
Because replacing the radiator with a industrial sized water chiller. could cool all the components down to lower then ambient temperature.[/QUOTE]
That's a really good idea. I'm curious how well you could overclock with that concept.
You'd just modify the chiller so it would use the oil container as a reservoir. Brilliant.
[editline]02:34PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=mgear;16309172]It freezes at -22F(-30C) but the temperature where the oil slows is 50F(10C).[/QUOTE]
Would the oil slowing be a problem?
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;16310673]Would the oil slowing be a problem?[/QUOTE]
It most likely wouldn't. Unless it turned to the consistency of molasses. Even then it would probably still run fine.
[editline]03:54PM[/editline]
The only problem you might run in to is the fans working too hard and possibly burning out.
I'm curious now how hard it would be to use an a/c unit or water chiller to cool a computer. I'm going to go do some research, I'll post what I can find.
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;16311260]I'm curious now how hard it would be to use an a/c unit or water chiller to cool a computer. I'm going to go do some research, I'll post what I can find.[/QUOTE]
Why not just, build the oil computer, then put it in the freezer. Since water doesn't mix with oil, it would rest on the top, above the components.
[QUOTE=mgear;16311357]Why not just, build the oil computer, then put it in the freezer. Since water doesn't mix with oil, it would rest on the top, above the components.[/QUOTE]
What? I'm not quite sure where water came in exactly.
Condensation from the freezing. Maybe the power goes out, and the freezer gets hot. Then water would form on pretty much everything.
What about silica oil or something. It doesn't degrade and rot over time like cooking oil or vegetable oil.
[QUOTE=mgear;16311583]Condensation from the freezing. Maybe the power goes out, and the freezer gets hot. Then water would form on pretty much everything.[/QUOTE]
I read about freezers and such, and really according to what I've read, there's no benefit to using them.
Read this:
[quote]Fairly often someone comes up with the idea of using that old mini fridge to cool their computer (guilty of this myself). Unfortunately, without considerable modification to the fridge, there is no way this will actually work. The most common plan is to put a reservoir inside the fridge, and then water cool the computer with water that is chilled by the fridge. Another popular plan is to put the motherboard and its components directly inside the fridge. While this seems like a good idea at first, it just won't work. The reason for this is that the phase change system in the fridge can't cope with the heat load of a modern processor, let alone an entire system.
Lets start by looking at the heat load a mini fridge is usually under. A large mini fridge (3.2 cu ft) has a surface area of around 1.85 meters squared. Its walls are made of 1" Styrofoam, with a metal or plastic casing. Assuming there is free convection on all surfaces of the fridge, and the fridge is at 4 degrees C in a 22 degree C room, the heat transfer out of the fridge is around 20 watts. (this value is probably a little high, I haven't counted a lot of the smaller thermal resistances)
When you put something in the fridge, this temporarily increases the load on the system. A good mini fridge can cool several liters of beer....err... water down to drinking temperature within an hour or so. The phase change systems inside these fridges do have the capacity to remove fairly large amounts of heat, unfortunately they don't have the capacity to do so continuously. The biggest problem with a mini fridge is its condenser. The condenser of a mini fridge differs quite greatly from the condenser of a standard phase change system for a computer. In a system made for a computer, the condenser is like a fairly large radiator, with a lot of surface area, and a good fan blowing across it. This allows it to dissipate a large amount of heat, while the fluid exiting it is barely above room temperature. The condenser on a mini fridge is generally just a series of pipes with very little surface area. To make things worse, it is usually built right into the side of the fridge, under the metal casing (feel your fridge when the compressor is on, one side will be warm). This condenser is not able to handle large heat loads for any sustained period of time, and will not generate very low temperatures.
If you have an old mini fridge laying around and you really want to use it to cool your computer, your only real option is to change the condenser. Once you are doing this work though, you may as well just make a direct dye system and get some real cooling going. The compressor from a mini fridge is usually big enough for a DD system, but be warned that these compressors are not made to run continuously so it will need some decent cooling on it, and it probably won't last all that long.
There are a lot of smaller coolers made for holding a 12pack or some lunch meat or whatever you want, that people will consider using because they are usually very cheap. These don't use a phase change system like larger mini fridges, but use a small pelt. These coolers have a lower cooling capacity than even a mini fridge does. They usually use a small (10-50 watt) pelt, with the hot side passivly (or sometimes) actively air cooled. They have no chance of working, even with considerable modification.[/quote]
:/
[editline]03:29PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Pandamobile;16311615]What about silica oil or something. It doesn't degrade and rot over time like cooking oil or vegetable oil.[/QUOTE]
Supposedly Fluorinert is the best liquid to use with submersion cooling. But it's expensive as hell, and mineral oil probably works just as well anyway.
[url]http://forum.corsair.com/v2/showthread.php?t=25976&highlight=fluorinert[/url]
Opticool is a good alternative too apparently.
[QUOTE=mgear;16311357]Why not just, build the oil computer, then put it in the freezer. [/QUOTE]
Then drill holes in it to get the cables out? Sounds like a bad idea. Plus, it would take up space that could be used for food and you'd have to do all your computing in the kitchen.
[quote=mgear;16311357]Since water doesn't mix with oil, it would rest on the top, above the components.[/quote]
Oil is [I]less dense[/I] than water. The water will sink to the bottom, [I]with the components[/I].
[QUOTE=ROBO_DONUT;16313059]Then drill holes in it to get the cables out? Sounds like a bad idea. Plus, it would take up space that could be used for food and you'd have to do all your computing in the kitchen.
Oil is [I]less dense[/I] than water. The water will sink to the bottom, [I]with the components[/I].[/QUOTE]
You realize that there are mini-fridges, and you can just close the door on the wires, because of the flexible rubber thing.
Think you're supposed to use mineral oil.
[QUOTE=mgear;16313329]you can just close the door on the wires, because of the flexible rubber thing.[/QUOTE]
Good luck trying that with a VGA/DVI cable.
Oil cooling in a PC? Now ive heard everything... YOU USE WATER/OIL COOLING IN AN ENGINE! GAH!
it's not new
I didn't think this could be done with household parts, I'm impressed.
[QUOTE=Kai365;16315923]I didn't think this could be done with household parts, I'm impressed.[/QUOTE]
It's really easy. Hell, I might just write a guide later for you all! ;)
That would be nice, I've never really considered doing it, but it would be very nice to know.
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