Many years ago, some people built entirely passively cooled systems by immersing the entire system in several gallons of high grade mineral oil. Those setups (I believe they were pentium-IV PCs) seem to work quite well. Main downsides of such systems were 1. you better made triple sure that all parts are correctly installed and working because 2. anytime you needed to change anything hardware-related, you had to drain and then thoroughly degrease the MoBo and all connectors you wanted to work with. Also, any fans had to be disconnected, and yes, some care was required to not have sparks flying. That being said, the fluid they are using in this build might be worth a try for a truly silent HTPC setup. Minus the fish on top.
But that's not mineral oil.. It's heavier than water.. Only thing I found that could have this effect is corn syrup (1.4g/cm3). But I don't know how safe it is around electronics.. and fans, pumps and such.. Maybe that's why there is no pump.
That's why I find this approach so interesting! Using a chemically inert, non-flammable liquid with good heat capacity instead of mineral oil would allow one to dispense with any kind of active cooling. Remove the gimmicky fish and fish tank, use a better heat-conducting and -radiating case made from (corrugated?) aluminum with a window so I can see what's happening, and a 100% passive cooled, silent PC is very much possible. Would love to see AnandTech try, and give us a build list plus step-by-step!
High heat capacity fluid does not magically remove the need for cooling. If you;re dumping 300W of heat into your working fluid, at some point you need to sink 300W of heat to the environment (i.e. surrounding air). Thermodynamics has no free lunches!
Agree on the thermodynamics, but about 20-30 liters of mineral oil or an even more inert liquid in a case that allows for good radiant heat exchange works. One has to be careful to allow for good thermosyphon action, but this can work without forced air cooling if your case has enough surface and is made from a material that conducts heat well, like aluminum.Exibit A: oil-filled electric radiation heaters can comfortably handle 2000W of heat.
In my excitement, I overlooked the "low boiling point" part. That wouldn't work for me. Any suggestion for a more inert/non-flammable liquid that has low vapor pressure at 40-50 C? The built in the article seems to also use the water phase on top to reduce or prevent evaporation losses.
Those poor fish! Gigabyte has some sick people working there if they're willing to do that to them just to put up a shoddy, throw-together liquid cooling setup for hardware that ultimately can do fine keeping cool in any standard case filled with air.
The fish are in no danger, they have been living in that tank for over 2 months. They take secial care to keep the water at a suitable temperature and keep the fish alive. If that setup was any harm they would be dead by now
I'm not willing to spend 2 months living a few inches above a tank filled with Fluorinert so I certainly wouldn't put some fish through that just to have a wizbang thing to put on display that already works properly in a box full of air. It seems sadistic to do that for a marketing display at a trade show.
Sadism would require that they care about the fish, at least in the sense that they enjoy them suffering. Personally I'd probably live a few inches above a tank if they paid me enough!
der8auer has used this 3M fluid in his recent submerged demo PC-build, it is however not available to endconsumers in the EU as it doesn't pass the regulations. Therefore this is a dead duck.
I bet there's 2 tanks.. 1 for fish and 1 for the cooling liquid, they just polished the edges on the bottom of the fish compartment bofore glueing it, but didnt polish edges on the rest to make it seem like the fluids are on top of eachother.. Just an illusion!
Surely they could have come up with a better solution than pushing air through those tower coolers in series? Like turn them 90 degrees and give it an inch of gap for air intake?
I thought too much light causes damage to the environment in a tank because the cooling system was not introduced than . Since it has been , I am using this. But we have to be careful to allow for good thermosyphon action, At the same time I need a suggestion about /non-flammable liquid that has a low vapor pressure at 40-50 C
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
25 Comments
Back to Article
eastcoast_pete - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Many years ago, some people built entirely passively cooled systems by immersing the entire system in several gallons of high grade mineral oil. Those setups (I believe they were pentium-IV PCs) seem to work quite well. Main downsides of such systems were 1. you better made triple sure that all parts are correctly installed and working because 2. anytime you needed to change anything hardware-related, you had to drain and then thoroughly degrease the MoBo and all connectors you wanted to work with. Also, any fans had to be disconnected, and yes, some care was required to not have sparks flying. That being said, the fluid they are using in this build might be worth a try for a truly silent HTPC setup. Minus the fish on top.The Chill Blueberry - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
But that's not mineral oil.. It's heavier than water.. Only thing I found that could have this effect is corn syrup (1.4g/cm3). But I don't know how safe it is around electronics.. and fans, pumps and such.. Maybe that's why there is no pump.The Chill Blueberry - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Although it seems heavier still. nearly 1.8 to 2g/cm3 if we look at the fluid displacement.eastcoast_pete - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
That's why I find this approach so interesting! Using a chemically inert, non-flammable liquid with good heat capacity instead of mineral oil would allow one to dispense with any kind of active cooling. Remove the gimmicky fish and fish tank, use a better heat-conducting and -radiating case made from (corrugated?) aluminum with a window so I can see what's happening, and a 100% passive cooled, silent PC is very much possible. Would love to see AnandTech try, and give us a build list plus step-by-step!edzieba - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
High heat capacity fluid does not magically remove the need for cooling. If you;re dumping 300W of heat into your working fluid, at some point you need to sink 300W of heat to the environment (i.e. surrounding air). Thermodynamics has no free lunches!eastcoast_pete - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
Agree on the thermodynamics, but about 20-30 liters of mineral oil or an even more inert liquid in a case that allows for good radiant heat exchange works. One has to be careful to allow for good thermosyphon action, but this can work without forced air cooling if your case has enough surface and is made from a material that conducts heat well, like aluminum.Exibit A: oil-filled electric radiation heaters can comfortably handle 2000W of heat.edzieba - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
As the article says, it's Novec or Fluorinert.CaedenV - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
I think you are referring to pudget systems... the company still exists, but the mineral oil project seems to be dead :(https://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/aquarium/mATX/cus...
GhostOfAnand - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Surely this will result in three-eyed fish.Poor fishies. :(
eastcoast_pete - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
In my excitement, I overlooked the "low boiling point" part. That wouldn't work for me. Any suggestion for a more inert/non-flammable liquid that has low vapor pressure at 40-50 C? The built in the article seems to also use the water phase on top to reduce or prevent evaporation losses.edzieba - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Just pick a different Novec formulation with the desired boiling point: https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1091997O/3m-no...PeachNCream - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Those poor fish! Gigabyte has some sick people working there if they're willing to do that to them just to put up a shoddy, throw-together liquid cooling setup for hardware that ultimately can do fine keeping cool in any standard case filled with air.de3tr0yer - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
The fish are in no danger, they have been living in that tank for over 2 months. They take secial care to keep the water at a suitable temperature and keep the fish alive. If that setup was any harm they would be dead by nowPeachNCream - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
I'm not willing to spend 2 months living a few inches above a tank filled with Fluorinert so I certainly wouldn't put some fish through that just to have a wizbang thing to put on display that already works properly in a box full of air. It seems sadistic to do that for a marketing display at a trade show.GreenReaper - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Sadism would require that they care about the fish, at least in the sense that they enjoy them suffering. Personally I'd probably live a few inches above a tank if they paid me enough!Achaios - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Υοutuber Jayz, a watercooling expert, would be someone who would probably do something like this given the motivation.jrs77 - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
der8auer has used this 3M fluid in his recent submerged demo PC-build, it is however not available to endconsumers in the EU as it doesn't pass the regulations. Therefore this is a dead duck.boozed - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
I have one question. Is the coolant denser than fish droppings?Tilmitt - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
Don't the fish crap on the rig? How do they clean it?Sn3akr - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
I bet there's 2 tanks.. 1 for fish and 1 for the cooling liquid, they just polished the edges on the bottom of the fish compartment bofore glueing it, but didnt polish edges on the rest to make it seem like the fluids are on top of eachother.. Just an illusion!boozed - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
Observe the ripples in the boundary between the two liquids...RealBeast - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
Ian, how about you get Gigabyte to do a giveaway through AT now that they are done showing this off?And they can keep the fish, I'll just put another rig in the upper tank. I've had poor luck with fish. :)
CalaverasGrande - Saturday, June 16, 2018 - link
You people act as if you dont remember Cray Research computers. Such as the Cray II which had liquid cooling.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray-2
Gunbuster - Monday, June 18, 2018 - link
Surely they could have come up with a better solution than pushing air through those tower coolers in series? Like turn them 90 degrees and give it an inch of gap for air intake?Allen solly - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
I thought too much light causes damage to the environment in a tank because the cooling system was not introduced than . Since it has been , I am using this. But we have to be careful to allow for good thermosyphon action, At the same time I need a suggestion about /non-flammable liquid that has a low vapor pressure at 40-50 C