Project: 775 Fathoms

[TheGreatSatan]

I've seen these great videos on Youtube about making an Aquarium PC using Mineral Oil. The concept of a computer being soaked in any kind of liquid is so intruiging to me, so I have to try it. Fortunately, I have all of the internal components so I really just need the tank and Mineral oil.

The tank is 5.5 gallons

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090725.jpg

I ordered 5 gallons of Mineral Oil from ValleyVet. It's easiest to get it from a Veternarian Supply store than locally. Vets use this stuff for animal laxative!

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090737.jpg

The motherboard, CPU and the most of the rest were once a part of my R2-M5

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090726.jpg

It's a perfect fit

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090727.jpg

Specs are:

Foxconn Motherboard
Intel Q9400
2GB DDR2
550 Watt PSU

I'm using a GeForce 6600 becuase my 3800 X2 was too long fit in this tank

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090728.jpg

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090730.jpg

I'll need a motherboard tray and backplate to hold it all together, so I'm using this real cheap case

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090734.jpg

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090735.jpg

Yep, it posts

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090732.jpg

[AmEv]

Gotta disable them floppiez!

Good luck! Hope nothing gets fried!

[xr4man]

i haven't looked too deep into how these are made, but i sort of expect those fans aren't going to work real well in liquid. are they supposed to remain active?

[TheGreatSatan]

Yes. Puget systems did the original and their fans have been spinning for years with no problems

[xr4man]

hmm, ok.

i just would have thought that the extra resistance of the fluid would cause them to pull too much power cause a failure of some sort. but i'm not gonna argue something that obviously has been working that long when i don't have a full knowledge of it. nowhatimean?

[TheGreatSatan]

I guess the oil keeps it lubed :D

[AmEv]

Jiffy Lube: The Well-Oiled machine
Just had to :D

[Twigsoffury]

So how long until you start overclocking?

[TheGreatSatan]

I guess I'll see if the motherboard even can. I never tried on this chipset

[Twigsoffury]

I guess I'll see if the motherboard even can. I never tried on this chipset

If its got voltage regulator cooling its pretty much g2g.

probably slap a bios update on it though before you go about clocking.




Oh keep a look out at the TMI on the chipset/processor/gpu some types of TMI will fall apart over time and you'll start to see bits of it floating in the tank.

[TheGreatSatan]

Here's the specs from the deactivated Newegg page

Foxconn P45A-S (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186148)

[Twigsoffury]

Here's the specs from the deactivated Newegg page

Foxconn P45A-S (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186148)

oh yea go ahead and clock it to the moon.

If its got XMS OC profiles for the memory, the rest of it overclocks as well.


Intel Q9400's overclock like Satan....almost like.....a...... Great satan!


http://xtreview.com/images/E8600vsQ9400/Q9400%20overclocked.png

[TheGreatSatan]

Here's the cut out motherboard tray

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090739.jpg

I added a handle to the tray as well, just in case I need to pull the whole thing out

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090741.jpg

Then I put the motherboard on

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090742.jpg

And dropped it all in

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090743.jpg

I picked up some necessary fish supplies that no tank should be without. First thing anyone needs is lots of pretty rocks

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090746.jpg

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090747.jpg

What's a fish tank without bubbles?

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090748.jpg

And an aquarium check valve that stops water from going back up the hose to the pump

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090749.jpg

I got a basic pump

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090750.jpg

And the tubing as well

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090751.jpg

The pump and check valve will sit outside of the tank

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090752.jpg

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090753.jpg

The rock fits best on the bottom left side

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090754.jpg

Now everything is in and functioning.

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090756.jpg

I'm using the hard drive that was originally paired with the motherboard and processor, so I won't have to reinstall Windows. From what I hear, a mechanical hard drive is best outside of the case, because the oil may penetrate the seal. An SSD would not have this problem

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090757.jpg

I'm displaying this at my work too and will add the oil while I'm there. I don't want to carry in an Aquarium PC into work full of mineral oil sloshing around.

[AmEv]

PLEASE record yourself putting the oil in, and the customers' reactions!

[msmrx57]

:stupid: Especially the reactions. :D

[f8l_0e]

TGS, you are the man!

Might I suggest, though, putting a small amount of the mineral oil in a glass with those rocks and your bubble stone, run it for a while and then test its conductivity. The package for the bubble stone says it's made of fused alumina. I'd be worried about it leeching into the fluid and making it conductive.

[TheGreatSatan]

Good idea +Rep

[Twigsoffury]

Good idea +Rep

or random floater rocks whacking a blade off your fan or getting lodged in the video card.

http://i41.tinypic.com/ou60bs.jpg


however a couple of them weighted foam fish might be hilarious floating in the tank getting harrased by the fans every so often.

[TheGreatSatan]

I brought the tank to work and filled it with Mineral oil and it all works fine

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090783.jpg

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090784.jpg

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/p1090785.jpg

The only thing that scares me is the temperature. After 6 hours of being on the glass surface is very hot. Here's the core temp reading:

http://www.pcmodhouse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/temps.jpg

[Notyab]

Well then liquid cool it if it runs hot






....


:suspicious:

:D

[d_stilgar]

Great build. I think the best way to top it off would be to get an aquarium cover to hide all the cables on top. Also, add those silly fish.

What do you think is getting the temp so high? Could it be having the PSU in there as well? Maybe you should add a little pump that spurts the mineral oil in the air a bit, or a fan blowing over the top of the tank to try and remove some heat.

[AmEv]

Pump and rad?



*Oh, what were the customers' reactions when you filled it up?

[TheMainMan]

Your temps do seem a bit high. I've got a Scythe Mugen cooling it but a 10-13 degree gap seems a little big. My ambient is probably around 18 degrees in the computer room. http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo92/TheMainMan79/CoreTemps.jpg
Moving the psu to the other end of the tank might allow for better circulation around the cpu.

[AmEv]

Just trying to get your post count up, eh, TMM?????????

[OvRiDe]

Mineral oil will not shed the heat with out some assistance. It WILL absorb the head and distribute it rather quickly but once oil starts absorbing the heat it will not dissipate it and it will just get hotter and hotter. I have seen instances where a large tank is used so that the volume of oil can absorb more of the heat before the temps climb, but more often in submerged systems like this I believe a pump and radiator is used to circulate the oil and help cool the oil back down. If you look at the Puget system it has a 3x3 120mm fan radiator attached to cool the oil down.

From http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php :

http://cdn.pugetsystems.com/images/submersion/V4/models/gallery/enormouscooling.jpg

http://cdn.pugetsystems.com/images/submersion/V3/gallery/full/radiator_side.jpg

[Fuganater]

Thats a big rad....

[Twigsoffury]

I seen smaller radiators on a toyota car.

[TheGreatSatan]

I added a bubble stone and it's really cool to watch the bubbles passing through the PSU and around the video card. Customers are in total awe when they see it. I'm constantly being asked how the computer runs while in water...

[AmEv]

"Oh! The computer runs AMAZINGLY well in water! With more direct connections to circuits, it's blazingly faster!"
-.-