Dont forget to change the oil in your computer...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Fun for the computer heads around here. Tomshardware took all the fans out of a pc in a clear case and filled it with vegetable oil.

Worked great, the oil came up to 104 degrees F and remained there, system was stable.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/index.html

 

[JohnP]

() - Tom does some neat projects -  IIRC Tom is a medical doctor with a high level of interest in computers.  The cooking oil is probably cheaper than that used in the Cray Supercomputers of yesteryear! 

Very interesting solution to the noisy fans of many pcs - a little messy though...

JohnP

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah, and you have to drain your computer to change the video card and wash the oil off your hands afterwards.

 

[ladelfina]

All I can think about is how it might get kinda rancid.

Why not mineral oil?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Actually they recommended motor oil.

I'm sure over the next 20 years there will be many reciprocated diatribes on the relative merits of a system filled with 10w40 vs a system employing pure Marvel Mystery Oil.

 

[SteveR]

My not use antifreeze instead of oil? Seems like oil would be more of a fire hazard.

I wonder how high you can overclock the processor in one of these systems? 8)

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Substance has to be non-ionic and non-conducting to work. If you read the article everything worked ok but they had to glue and silicone seal the processor as it would croak once the oil worked its way under the processor. I suspect antifreeze would have some conductive abilities, but I could be wrong.

They tried deionized water, but couldnt find any without sufficient impurities to cause trouble.

As far as overclocking...I would think quite a bit although I'd like to see short term measurements of processor temperature and graphics processor temps. You might need some kind of pump to circulate the oil/whatever to more rapidly dissipate immediate heat production. Hey, you could get a little fountain, have one of those little cherubs peeing motor oil into your pc case...maybe one of those aquarium treasure chests burping up bubbles.

Wow, the possibilities boggle the mind...

 

[justin]

Is this a new Rube Goldberg machine?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Step one has been completed...I've gotten Mrs () to convince me that we should buy a new computer...which means...I can do whatever I want with the old one.

Hmmm...I saw home depot had some 1/8" thick plastic sheeting...and I have all that leftover silicone caulking from redoing her house last year...

 

[HFWR]

You could surf the net AND deep-fry a turkey, all at the same time...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Heyyyyy....I have that old electric turkey fryer I dont use anymore. Dangnabit, I have to dig that out of the shed (no small task) and measure my motherboard...

 

[Nords]

I'm guessing that all the drives were "external". Unless they used an extremely low-viscosity oil?

Reading that article is a colossal PITA-- two pages of content spread out among 11 ad-clogged screens.

It reminds me of reading JG's posts...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah, you cant get good clean free content anymore. What you get (especially from the named sources) is content free goodness.

I didnt see any drives in there, thats what I was looking for too. I know some drives have 'breather holes' in them, which wouldnt bode well for an oil filled case. Actually they might not anymore...last time I saw a 'breather hole - do not block' was on a Quantum disk drive.

 

[JohnP]

Nords and () - the power supply and the hard disk were on top of the case - neither the PS or HD was immersed in the oil. Cables from these items are seen to go into the oil and connect with the usual connectors. I suspect that the oil is dielectric at 200 MHz used on the motherboard but not at the 120 Hz in the PS.

The Video card output seems to be in the conventional place at the back of the case - looks like a fluid-proof connector.

This fluid submerged electronics was used on the Cray supercomputers of 20 years ago.

JohnP