Projects

Oil Submersion

Intro

After dipping our hands in water cooling then taking it to an extreme, we decided we needed something different. When overclocking our watercooling setup, we found that odd components would start overheating. I was never able to overclock version 2.3 very far because the northbridge would become too hot for the stock cooler. If i really wanted to take water cooling to the next level, i could have stuck a block onto each component, but being cheap, and knowing there were more alternatives, decided to foray into oil submersion.

The benefits of oil submersion are that, because everything is in contact with oil, like air, all are cooled evenly. In times of changing temperature they also warm up and cool down at an even rate. this allows for massive overclocking sicne the oil is being cooled and is in contact with all components no single piece has its own private temperature spike. Also, oil, mineral oil in particular can absorb massive amounts of heat and being that we eventually used 10 gallons of it, we could run our computer for at least 2 hours before even having to worry about dissipating the heat.

Which brings us into the downsides of oil: It was just as hard to lose the heat as it is to absorb it; this will be touched on later. Second, oil is not the cleanest thing to work with, expect it to get EVERYWHERE and it stains clothing, so if you do decide to undertake this, beware. Another thing to consider is logistics of having a computer in 10 gallons of oil, do not expect it to be moble or really moveable in any way. Make sure the tank is well supported and not in a place easily kicked, knocked, bumped or otherwise. I can only imagine the mess that would make. Also, parts recovered from oil will most likely remain slick forever, inbetween build version 2 and 3 we ran the components open air for three months or so, and they never did get all the oil off them, they also became serious dust magnets.

Below is each project laid out with the components used, the build process as well as problems, things we learned, and conclusions that spurred us onto the next project.

Version 1.0 - March 09'

The Computer

Processor: Intel P4 3.2ghz
Ram: 1.25gb DDR1 generic
Motherboard: MSI 915GM
Graphics: EVGA 7800gt
Hdd: Seagate 7200rpm 80gb
PSU: OCZ 700w

components used, the build process as well as problems, things we learned, and conclusions that spurred us onto the next project.

Version 2.0 - March 09'

The Computer

Processor: Intel Q9550 2.83ghz
Ram: 8gb DDR2 Gskill
Motherboard: Asus Rampage Formula 775 x48
Graphics: BFG 9800gtx OC
Hdd: 2x Samsung 7200rpm 250gb
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 850w

components used, the build process as well as problems, things we learned, and conclusions that spurred us onto the next project.

Version 3.0 - September 09'

The Computer

Same as version 2.0

Build process and inferences to come, until then, please enjoy the final construction photos.


The full monty, while the radiators are not mounted in an optimal spot for cooling, they look the best where they are, and they are the most protected in this location.


Here is the top view of the system, you can see from this angle how the motherboard tray was mounted to the plexi using a combination of adhesive silicon and screws. As a note, silicon alone was not enough to hold the tray to the plexi; don't try it.


Here is how I mounted the hdd's. It was more successful on version 2 because this time, i drilled the holes wrong! this system still works, but it is much more precarious whereas i did not have to worry about the drives in version 2. As of this writing, i have yet to have the drives come off this mount, but I won't be surprised when it happens.


Just a close up of some cable management.


Shows where the Blu-Ray drive is mounted - on the rear of the left side.