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Oil-Submerged Computer (PICS!!)

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Snokamel

Registered
Joined
Jul 21, 2003
Something that might interest you all. I'm still working on making it look a lot nicer, but it is very functional and stable. Very quiet for the amount of cooling it provides. Temps on the Athlon MP's can get up to the low 50's C, but that will probably be fixed by using a better fan on the pelt heatsink assembly. Questions? Comments? Enjoy the pics:

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(SORDAC= Submerged Operation Dual Athlon Computer):D
 
WOW :eek:

And.... how are the temp? OC ability?

And.... is it a good idea to keep CPU fans on there? To they struggle to spin in the oil? Or is the oil relatively viscous?
 
Absolutely awesome!

Can we have more info like load temperatures and all that stuff?
 
Unfortunately, OC options on a dual system are limited- FSB is the only thing that's adjustable. The default is 133 Mhz. Windows is stable at 138, so that's what I run. Not much of an OC, I know. This gives me around 1750 very very hot Mhz per processor though, which is what insipred this idea. At these speeds the temperature hits the mid 50's during 100% load for each processor and then stabilizes. Idle hangs around the mid 40's. The oil is just a few degrees lower in both cases- my first observation about oil cooling was that case temps are much higher and CPU temps are much lower than they would be with an air cooled system.

The CPU fans run MUCH slower in the oil, even though I'm using food-grade mineral oil that's as thin as water. I'm talking about 300-400 RPM...I can almost see the individual blades moving. They might not be doing much for cooling in oil as they would in air, but they probably help with circulation and will look pretty interesting when I find a clear tank to replace the opaque one I'm using now.
 
you are going to go through a lot of fans:D but wow, that is awwwsome.:clap:

EDIT: will a tank for fishies work?:D
 
I've been looking for a fish tank that's small enough for this system- they are apparently pretty scarce. If anyone has a clear 14"L x 12"W x 6"D tank they wouldn't mind parting with, I would be very interested. Also, does anyone know of a species of fish that can live in oil? If I got my hands on some, I would certainly have to remove the CPU fans ^_^
 
Thanks for all the responses! I left the pelt and pump running while I was at work today. Got back, booted up. Processors are 30 C a piece at load, oil is 25 C. It's cheating, I know, and in a few hours the temps will be much higher, but I'm thinking that I could just leave the pelt and pump running 24/7, so that the oil is being cooled when the computer isn't on. Only downside will be my energy bill :rolleyes:
 
Good job.. I think you would get lower temps with that cooling without the oil though. I saw a review on Pimprig.com of some oil stuff like this.
 
I don't see how the cooling system could work without oil...do you mean if I used a peltier chilled watercooling system?
 
I have been thinking about a divided fishtank, with water on the front side and oil in the back, with the MB submerged in it. It would look like the fish and computer were in the same thing, and still work (and not kill the fish)
 
Well, you would get better temps with just the pelt aircooled with those HSF if they can handle it, or even with just the HSFs on air.
 
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