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Dielectric fluid cooled computers are crazy, why aren't they more common? Is it because it is dark arts?
- Thread starter Slayven
- Start date
I've thought about doing one as someone who has had a custom loop for a few years now but fuck at that maintenance. Also you obviously don't have a lot of options in terms of cases so aesthetics are basically out of the window. I wouldn't mind doing one as a project strictly for the experience but it wouldn't be my primary computer.
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These look like a Tony Stark middle school science fair project.
Until one of them gains sentience and starts attacking parents, that is.
Really cool, though. As long as you don't spill that stuff.
Until one of them gains sentience and starts attacking parents, that is.
Really cool, though. As long as you don't spill that stuff.
Aren't these specialized fluids particularly expensive? Since you need several times the volume of liquid compared to the computer I can see why it is impractical, if so.
I know oil works as well though.
I know oil works as well though.
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Shows how average tony stark is. Hank Pym cured cancer with a toaster oven when he was 6.
These aren't terribly uncommon but they are wildly impractical imo. First there's the weight meaning moving it as a single person for non lab use, is genuinely a chore. Then the reality that if you want to service or replace anything on it, there's way more considerations to make and steps to take than just popping off the side of a case.
They do look cool however, especially the ones that have sunken castles in them for added fun.
They do look cool however, especially the ones that have sunken castles in them for added fun.
Now I want to make a computer and fish tank combo. Split by only a piece of glass. Put the fish in the front and the computer in the back.
I wonder if the liquid gets too warm though and would seep the heat to the regular water side hmm... oh well, I'm not doing this anyways lol.
I wonder if the liquid gets too warm though and would seep the heat to the regular water side hmm... oh well, I'm not doing this anyways lol.
Oil cooled electronics are common place in industry (every transformer on a power line is filled with oil for both insulation and cooling), but they're not very practical in a consumer setting. You could probably take the time to design a case with a more efficient use if space for the oil, but it would still be a pain to make any changes. And God forbid you get a leak.
I build my own systems and I gave a lot of thought to building one of these a while back but considering the issues I had with my water-cooled bay systems it scared me off. Whenever you're dealing with fluids in a project like this leaks are eventually going to happen regardless of how vigilant you are in heading them off. The probability that you'll need to drain the PC to move it would be a pain also.
Now when I do water-cooling I buy the self-contained units like Corsair's water cooling series, they're great.
This too. It shouldn't be common but still.
Back when I went all-in on building my first gaming rig, I considered doing this. Ultimately decided against it though, which was probably one of the few good decisions I made with it.
I still like the idea, but I'll pass. Maybe if I magically inherited enough money to retire and live an otherwise stress-free life, I might reconsider.
I still like the idea, but I'll pass. Maybe if I magically inherited enough money to retire and live an otherwise stress-free life, I might reconsider.
Rust is OXIdation. Guess a necessary molecular component of the process?
I got into fish tanks for a while and wanted to get some tips so I found a guy on YT who had the same tank as mine and posted almost daily. It was like watching a diary of the slow progression of a person losing control of their life and I would imaging maintaining one of these would take a similar level of effort.
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That much is true lol
My old transparent case with a whirlpool cooling bay was a definite conversation piece and I would imaging that something like this in your living room would be a thing to see. Thinking about it some more since the fluid wouldn't be moving it's probably not as hard to maintain as I imagined but still it would be hard to recommend to someone unless they're very committed to the craft.
That's pretty awesome technology. Seems to be the most useful in commercial settings like with server racks, when you're spending 20% of power just on the fans, this kind of system might make sense. I also imagine they have cases that make it easy to just slide entire core components out if you need to do any maintenance.
For people saying maintenance would be a problem if this was for your personal PC, if you're not changing components that often, wouldn't not having a fan mean no dust or any sort of buildup? Maintenance might be close to a non-issue, even with a fan when I had my gaming PC back in the day there wasn't a whole lot of maintenance except getting dust buildup out
For people saying maintenance would be a problem if this was for your personal PC, if you're not changing components that often, wouldn't not having a fan mean no dust or any sort of buildup? Maintenance might be close to a non-issue, even with a fan when I had my gaming PC back in the day there wasn't a whole lot of maintenance except getting dust buildup out
Yeah, that was one of the positives I was thinking about earlier. Maintenance is already rare, I haven't touched my latest build since it was finished except to refresh the cooling paste and blow out some dust so this setup would be much less to worry about.
I first saw one of these at PAX and thought it was the coolest thing in the world until assessing how much of a chore it would actually be to maintain, drain, and deal with upgrades. But sure your PC doubling as a fish tank looks snazzy from afar.
Gosh, Lain.
I bet that was a very regular machine.
But could Hank Pym build an arc reactor in a cave out of spare parts?
Considering that something like Fluorinert looks to cost around $2k a gallon from googling around, I'm guessing that's why.
I suppose you could use mineral oil, but that could be really messy. In either case, a leak would be a huge pain to clean up.
I suppose you could use mineral oil, but that could be really messy. In either case, a leak would be a huge pain to clean up.
I had to attend the big annual VMware event last year for work, at it some guy I was seated next to in a seminar insisted on showing me a video about his company's use of this for some ultra mainframe they built with IBM. Can't remember dude's company name. But I thought it was kind of cool if a pain to maintain. There's already plenty of ways to reduce and remove heat from large systems.
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He built a infinitely expanding mansion from a dead woman's body
just make the case big enough that you can jump in with a diver suit to replace parts. this way you don't have to drain the case.
If you're not planning on replacing your parts and you're absolutely confident that everything is sealed up and water tight, I see no issues with this technology. I'd be happy saving 20% of my PC's electricity bill, especially if I decide to take up my 3D hobby and make it into a career.
I think you'd have to have a built in release valve and hold your PC case over the bath if you ever needed to upgrade or perform maintenance.
Think this is a much better solution than Microsoft storing servers under our oceans.
I think you'd have to have a built in release valve and hold your PC case over the bath if you ever needed to upgrade or perform maintenance.
Think this is a much better solution than Microsoft storing servers under our oceans.
Anyone want to go into business with me making water/airtight PC rigs for the use of this fluid? š