Folding farm sized (ie multi cpu) cooling

[WarriorII]

Geo thermal is an excellent method of cooling. The only restrictions on it are that of the person who wants to do it. It is a costly thing to set up. But once you get it running, you save money and nerves. I say, if you don't mind digging up your basement for installing some copper pipe, go for it.

This is why I suggest a radiator system.

I mean really, who in thier right mind...... oh wait, nm.

We're all not in our right minds around here.

 

[striker85]

This is why I suggest a radiator system.

I mean really, who in thier right mind...... oh wait, nm.

We're all not in our right minds around here.

The only thing is that the amount of surface area in a radiator cooled system for 16 computers would be pretty large. But hey, if you can afford to run 16 computers, chances are you have the space and money.

Those crazy people and their computers.

 

[WarriorII]

I've seen several people running "larger" rad's.

One guy, reciently, used a smaller Toyota radiator.

Side mounted on his case I believe. (& no fans)

 

[Silver]

Have contemplated this one myself. Leaving it inside means cooling the air and venting to the exterior means moving a/c air outside. Water would seem to be the answer. Evap cooling might be a solution but with 16 or even my 8 we are talking a descent sized evap cooler. I have considered my crawl space and am still playing with that idea. Geothermal would definately be a good approach though costly and/or labor intensive. Depth to constant temp, run length based on btu load? I do not have the answer to that question.

On a side note, evap cooling was so effective I am considering an experiment in cooling my sons 8 x 10 bedroom. 8 to 10c temp drop with interior temps of around 84C. Exterior evap to interior rads with 12v fans and room pickup for fans. Just a thought.

At any rate, watt load (or preferably btu load as the internet could be used to calculate the rest based on geothermal house cooling more easily), depth and length of run would be the starting points for me.

 

[jcw122]

I hear bong evaps. have a HUGE capacity for cooling, like to run multiple computers off a single bong system.

 

[pscout]

Thanks all ... here is a pic of the current setup ... no secrets here

 

[Silver]

I hear bong evaps. have a HUGE capacity for cooling, like to run multiple computers off a single bong system.

Now I did run a dual 150w tec setup on the p4 at 4Ghz (alot back then) on evap but the system did have the ability to heatup the water benching. Cooling was only to the cpu's. For an interior bong setup this was a substantial load but 16x oc'd and running 24/7, I would think a sizable setup would be required to do that. At stock speeds something more reasonable might be achieved.

For the sake of easy math we use 150w x 16 would be 2400 watts. Kinda like trying to cool a 2400 watt electric heater to ambient or there abouts.

In the room cooling deal a closed door, small area, relatively low differential between desired temp and 'normal' using recirculated air, sedate single person, no electronics to speak of or relatively short run time, might work.

Now geothermal cooling of the home might be the answer to cooling the rigs. cost would be low to operate. Installation, well that might be another story. Was reading on that last summer but kinda gave up when it required plumbing a good portion of the back yard.

 

[-aDaM^]

Thanks all ... here is a pic of the current setup ... no secrets here

I would never guess thats 16 Pcs

 

[Silver]

Bet that is one heck of a setup in the winter.

Now, a quick check (and I could be way off) : 150w x 16 = 2400 watts = approx 8200 btu/hr. To achieve that load through geothermal would reaquire how many feet at what constant temp depth? I would think pipe material, girth and as a result volume would have an impact.

Lets see, in a house setup 3tons would equate to 4 to 6 feet in depth with 1500 to 1800 feet in length. Ton conversion to Btu anyone? Good idea would to be run it into a pond of at least six feet in depth however the closest pond to us is a good 1000 feet and does not belong to us. A verticle hole could be done as well at 150 to 200 feet in depth. Of course at that depth you are cooling a small home using cooling loops.

 

[pscout]

I like the geothermal idea ... just not sure how to size it.

I would not dig up my basement ...i have a big yard right outside that room.

Large diameter copper pipe 3/4" maybe with some metal lathe as a heat spreader to reduce length needed. Corrosion would be the issue if i didn't do copper lathe i suppose. But i don't think i would care if it only lasted 5 years. Not sure if i will be in this house much longer than that.

2 good sized pumps for redundacy ... running 120v presumably.

Maybe i will try a car rad too ... but with global warming, temps in toronto are higher than 80 ... at least they were last summer so I think the temps on a rad would not be very good since my intention would be to run it outside the house.

It sounds like the maintenance of an evap or bong would be a problem since i am away at the cottage a lot in the summer ... although the float idea might work ok.

Time to do some more reading ....

 

[Silver]

I would run redundant floats on an evap. Heck with 16 cpus, I would run redundant on everything....just so if....and I'm not there....

 

[pscout]

I would never guess thats 16 Pcs

There is a second set of shelves behing the visible ones.

There is room for about 20 rigs there .... 2 per shelf on the visible ones and 3 on the ones behind them.

Also out of sight are 2 ups'es and that case on the floor is a wc rad box ... houses the pump, 4 fans and a dual core rad powered by an old ibm 486 server psu that is part of that case. It used to cool sig rig in adjacent room but now cooling a 920 on shelf above it.

@ Silver ... 4 of the rigs are pentium d's ... all running around 4 ghz ... my measurments on their power consumption ranges from 240W to 275W.
The p4 HT rigs average 170W each.
So your cpu thermal estimate of 150 W sounds right for the p4 HT's, and maybe should be 225W for the D's. All measured dual folding of course. All OC'ed and above stock voltages.

 

[Silver]

@ Silver ... 4 of the rigs are pentium d's ... all running around 4 ghz ... my measurments on their power consumption ranges from 240W to 275W.
The p4 HT rigs average 170W each.
So your cpu thermal estimate of 150 W sounds right for the p4 HT's, and maybe should be 225W for the D's. All measured dual folding of course. All OC'ed and above stock voltages.

I'm a little jealous on the D's but we won't go there. There was a fellow did this a couple of years ago on the net (or at least something similar). Rented a backhoe and burried a tank I forget how many feet into the ground. He was thrilled with it as when he was done it was unobtrusive and kept the cpu on his single unit fed with a constant temp water supply. You (and I, though half as much) have the problem of running newer hotter cpus at higher speeds and multiples thereof. Geothermal is very efficient and cost effective once installed. Getting from here to there though is the problem. Wife (and I (kinda)) consider this a hobby and family expenses have to be weighed against this. I should have the cc paid off soon though and am waiting to see what results/used prices etc may bring in the fall (conroe?).

Back on track, I'm thinking. So far though geo seems to be the way to go. Much easier if we had 35w cpus pushed to 100w (1600) total. Cut load in half.

 

[pscout]

I am also coming at this cooling challenge by reducing the total number of rigs.

I have another D i picked up failrly cheap (265 us) on ebay ... and will sell 2 p4 HT rigs. Will get at least the same , if not hgher folding output, and will save both power and cooling. Also found my 551 consumes as much power as the D's at same oc as my 920 and only produces about 60 % as much folding output, so it is going to get swapped for a D.

/edit ... yes conroes certainly seem to offer a lot of promise on this front.

 

[Silver]

I'm really inefficient, paying less on the front end and more on the electric. Celly Ds, xeons, 754s and p4s. Sure helps keeping the heater off in the winter though. A timered vent cover and fan might be nice as opening the cover and turning on the fan at dusk and shutting it about mid morning to go on air would most likely provide air cool enough to keep the a/c off but for the few hours from say 11 am to 8 or so pm.

 

[-aDaM^]

if got got the cash go get this and I think your temps will be good.

16 x Swiftech Apogee Blocks
Lots of freakin tubing
4 x BIX-3
32 x Delta Fans
4 x Iwaki MRZ-30 full voltage

Have 4 Seperate Loops, and youll be good Just a matter if you got the money and will

 

[Silver]

But where does he dump the heat. Eighty degree days means the house heats up and or the a/c bill goes up or he dumps it outside where 80 degree air is used to cool the water. Problems.

/edit ... yes conroes certainly seem to offer a lot of promise on this front. And if that does not work out then maybe some x2's on asrock ($40 refurbed) boards with vmods. Either way, dually is in the relatively near future. Have'nt laid my hands on one yet.

 

[-aDaM^]

But where does he dump the heat. Eighty degree days means the house heats up and or the a/c bill goes up or he dumps it outside where 80 degree air is used to cool the water. Problems.

/edit ... yes conroes certainly seem to offer a lot of promise on this front. And if that does not work out then maybe some x2's on asrock ($40 refurbed) boards with vmods. Either way, dually is in the relatively near future. Have'nt laid my hands on one yet.

Im going to think of something

 

[pscout]

if got got the cash go get this and I think your temps will be good.

16 x Swiftech Apogee Blocks
Lots of freakin tubing
4 x BIX-3
32 x Delta Fans
4 x Iwaki MRZ-30 full voltage

Have 4 Seperate Loops, and youll be good Just a matter if you got the money and will

I don't think I really need the best blocks around ... when you are dual folding you can't reliably get the same level of OC as you would with other loads. So my folding stable fsb is 5-10% lower than max 'stable' oc.

As for tubing, I would do most of it in 1/2" copper and only the last 6-12" in clearflex.

And while i am finding i am losing a bit of hearing, I don't want to lose it all by having 32 deltas running A few very large fans would be more tolerable.
The 200 cfm 120v fan in the window is bad enough!

Plus, for the summer, the heat has to leave the house.

As silver commented, I have an almost too toasty basement in the winter. But with the lenght of winters these days, i need to be exhausting heat for 6-8 months out of the year.

Pumps will need some more some research.

 

[WarriorII]

I FOUND IT !!! from 2003..... phew!

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1093/

I have a couple of other links from articles for your reading enjoyment too.