Is oil cooling realistic?

[MilchstrabeStern]

So I'll be moving to Ithaca this summer for graduate school and they are providing $1000 for a new computer. Since I already have a laptop I am happy with, I was thinking of building a desktop I could use for gaming and work.

I really liked the mineral oil cooled aquarium PCs, but I also understand the obvious problems with these systems. What if something goes wrong? Replacing the parts wouldn't be too difficult, but returning a broken part after it's been submerged in oil, is that even possible? Can the oil be removed? I mean it's not volatile, so drying isn't really going to happen. At best I guess you could hope that it would all drip out with the help of gravity.

Also, what is the long-term effect of cooling your PC with oil? Are any components going to degrade faster? How often does oil need to be changed?

So is oil cooling realistic or not? I like the idea and am willing to take risks to obtain the desired product.

Thanks,

- Bryan

 

[Luke]

with only a 1000 build, don;t even think about oil cooling. For one the computer would not be worth it. Oil would probably not do much, and would be a constant headache. I have never seen some one do it, so i don't know how well it works. Do you plan on ocing>?

 

[MilchstrabeStern]

Well that's the thing. I could potentially make my 1000 dollar system perform more like a more expensive system by the advantage of extreme over clocking given by the oil cooling. More importantly is the massive aesthetic appeal for my little apartment though. I mean how many people have an aquarium filled with a computer?

 

[Luke]

^just because it is cooled well (if oil even works well at all) it does not mean you will be able to oc alot. It depends on your hardware.

 

[meat_helmet]

If your doing if for aesthic purposes, just buy an old computer and chuck it in an aquarium with some fish...

The only oil test rigs i have seen looked like crap. It would be a massive headache to put together and maintain, and it probably wouldnt be that great at cooling.

Anyway, what would be the point in spending that money on a budget system and then overclocking when you could spend it on a better PC and then oc that...getting you way more performance.

I'm pretty sure only test systems have been put together and have not been used over long periods of time...so theres no way of knowing the effects over time.

 

[hikaricloud]

Oil isn't worth it. Period. Just get good air cooling. Or if you REALLY want to, a water cooling loop.

 

[MilchstrabeStern]

Haha, ok, all good advice. I just needed some people's advice to make sure I didn't do anything stupid.

 

[Gothch1ck]

I've seen the oil and water submerged cooling I think your talking about (water was special and didn't conduct)

In the reviews I saw, it's cooling was "compared to mid level air cooling" but without the noise. Also the liquids tend to get cloudy and murky and very "deep sea" look after a very short time, and would either require just overlooking it, enjoying LEDs on the main board or something, or a filtration unit to be added to cycle and clean the coolant... which if your going to do that.. just normal liquid cool the sucker, much easier.

The Aquarium Tank look was on my high wants for a while, and I will have one, but I am not going to make my High-End rig into one, just leftover parts to make a "kinda working" PC instead.

Also no recommended if you plan to put fish in. The fish will die quickly. Poor fishies.

 

[Jumping_Bean514]

The temps achieved with oil cooling are terrible. People don't do it for overclocking reasons they do it mainly because its cool and different, with the added benefit of it being silent. It's not terribly difficult or expensive especially if you already own a fish tank.

YouTube - Vegetable Oil PC

 

[Trotter]

I would go for decent air-cooling and build a decent gaming rig. A grand can build a whole lotta computer. By not shelling out part of that for a water loop and the accompanying headaches (especially with moving it around), you can have a great system, monitor, and sound system. Make it your media center, aswell.