Submerged Oil Cooling, The Parts
We're getting your PC all oiled up. So, now that you know a little about what submerged oil cooling is, what do you need to do it? I've got that answer too.
First things first, know that if you're considering this it WILL void your warranty. You are literally dumping your PC components in oil. Tell that to the manufacturer when trying to get warranty service and you'll be lucky if they just hang up the phone on you, if not laugh at you.
As I noted yesterday, the first thing you'll need is mineral or baby oil, and lots of it. That will ultimately be the single largest cost. Most cooking oils contain some bit of water in them. That would mean dipping your stuff in a liquid almost guaranteed to short out everything once you flip the switch. Pure mineral oil or baby oil is a costlier per ounce than cooking oil, but much cheaper than the coolants you likely use with water cooling. A gallon of mineral oil averages somewhere around $20. A gallon of non-conductive coolant would run you at least $40, probably closer to $50.
But its buying the quantity that you'll need which does the real damage. You will probably need at least 20 gallons. I'll get to the why in a moment. But doing the math, you see why submerged oil cooling can be a daunting endeavor just from that bit of upfront cost. 20 gallons at $20 a pop is $400. That's just the oil.
Now your case. You won't be using one. You'll be using a tank. Technically any waterproof container large enough to hold your motherboard and PC components will do, but unless you know something other than a fish tank, or are willing to build something yourself, then you'll need to hit up a pet store. The question is, how big of one do you need.
In my example earlier I noted 20 gallons of oil. That would be a 20-gallon tank. A regular rectangle 20-gallon fish tank averages about 20 inches long x 15 inches wide x 18 inches high. That's plenty of space for just about any motherboard. But you also have to take into account the space you need for the other components. Essentially all the volume you would need in a regular PC case you have to account for in whatever tank you're using.
You don't want to just barely fit the components either. You'll want a little room so you can get the oil moving about. If you have too compact a space, the oil kept in too narrow or constricted a space, it won't be able to cool itself as effectively. The entire tank will build up too much heat and thus your hardware will bet too hot.
A little science now; air is a fluid. Yes, if you go back to middle or high school or whatever grade level that was, you’ll see that according to scientists, air is a fluid. Like any fluid, it reacts to temperature changes and moves accordingly. Hot air will warm cold air the same as hot water spreading through warm water. That, in this case, makes oil the same as air. Now, as we’ve learned over the years, passive cooling is not as effective as active. In other words, you have to get the fluid moving. Letting the air sit around your computer bits only allows heat to build up. The heatsink on your CPU/GPU helped move the heat away from the component by way of transfer through the metal. The problem with this back in the day was that it moved it from the immediate component, but that heat them built up in the heat sink and the air around it, heating up the other components. Adding the fan helped to move the air around the heat sink away, allowing the cooler air to fill the void. The more efficiently the fan does this, the more cooling the component receives.
Liquid cooling replaces the fan at the component sight, transferring the heat away via the water rather than the air. But if you just have the water cycling about, it will eventually collect as much heat as it can handle and cooling performance drops off again. The radiator serves as the new sight from which the heat is extracted from the water, releasing it into the higher volume air outside the computer case, and thereby once more increasing performance. Adding fans to the radiator increases this performance once again by accelerating the heat transfer.
You definitely need a pump to avoid literally deep frying your PC. You'll want one strong enough to handle pushing a thick and viscous liquid like oil. But you don't necessarily need it to be rushing oil about like a raging river. Having a radiator is somewhat optional. If the tank is large enough and the pump moves the oil fast enough, a radiator is unnecessary. Most times however you'll want a radiator to help the process along more effectively. You'll want one whose inner chambers aren't too tight. Keep in mind that water cooling radiators are made for liquids that are nearly total water. Oil is considerably thicker, so you must make judgments to suit.
So that's all for the parts, for the most part. When I get back to this on Tuesday, I'll be going over the cost structure of S.O.C versus water cooling.
First things first, know that if you're considering this it WILL void your warranty. You are literally dumping your PC components in oil. Tell that to the manufacturer when trying to get warranty service and you'll be lucky if they just hang up the phone on you, if not laugh at you.
As I noted yesterday, the first thing you'll need is mineral or baby oil, and lots of it. That will ultimately be the single largest cost. Most cooking oils contain some bit of water in them. That would mean dipping your stuff in a liquid almost guaranteed to short out everything once you flip the switch. Pure mineral oil or baby oil is a costlier per ounce than cooking oil, but much cheaper than the coolants you likely use with water cooling. A gallon of mineral oil averages somewhere around $20. A gallon of non-conductive coolant would run you at least $40, probably closer to $50.
But its buying the quantity that you'll need which does the real damage. You will probably need at least 20 gallons. I'll get to the why in a moment. But doing the math, you see why submerged oil cooling can be a daunting endeavor just from that bit of upfront cost. 20 gallons at $20 a pop is $400. That's just the oil.
Now your case. You won't be using one. You'll be using a tank. Technically any waterproof container large enough to hold your motherboard and PC components will do, but unless you know something other than a fish tank, or are willing to build something yourself, then you'll need to hit up a pet store. The question is, how big of one do you need.
In my example earlier I noted 20 gallons of oil. That would be a 20-gallon tank. A regular rectangle 20-gallon fish tank averages about 20 inches long x 15 inches wide x 18 inches high. That's plenty of space for just about any motherboard. But you also have to take into account the space you need for the other components. Essentially all the volume you would need in a regular PC case you have to account for in whatever tank you're using.
You don't want to just barely fit the components either. You'll want a little room so you can get the oil moving about. If you have too compact a space, the oil kept in too narrow or constricted a space, it won't be able to cool itself as effectively. The entire tank will build up too much heat and thus your hardware will bet too hot.
A little science now; air is a fluid. Yes, if you go back to middle or high school or whatever grade level that was, you’ll see that according to scientists, air is a fluid. Like any fluid, it reacts to temperature changes and moves accordingly. Hot air will warm cold air the same as hot water spreading through warm water. That, in this case, makes oil the same as air. Now, as we’ve learned over the years, passive cooling is not as effective as active. In other words, you have to get the fluid moving. Letting the air sit around your computer bits only allows heat to build up. The heatsink on your CPU/GPU helped move the heat away from the component by way of transfer through the metal. The problem with this back in the day was that it moved it from the immediate component, but that heat them built up in the heat sink and the air around it, heating up the other components. Adding the fan helped to move the air around the heat sink away, allowing the cooler air to fill the void. The more efficiently the fan does this, the more cooling the component receives.
Liquid cooling replaces the fan at the component sight, transferring the heat away via the water rather than the air. But if you just have the water cycling about, it will eventually collect as much heat as it can handle and cooling performance drops off again. The radiator serves as the new sight from which the heat is extracted from the water, releasing it into the higher volume air outside the computer case, and thereby once more increasing performance. Adding fans to the radiator increases this performance once again by accelerating the heat transfer.
You definitely need a pump to avoid literally deep frying your PC. You'll want one strong enough to handle pushing a thick and viscous liquid like oil. But you don't necessarily need it to be rushing oil about like a raging river. Having a radiator is somewhat optional. If the tank is large enough and the pump moves the oil fast enough, a radiator is unnecessary. Most times however you'll want a radiator to help the process along more effectively. You'll want one whose inner chambers aren't too tight. Keep in mind that water cooling radiators are made for liquids that are nearly total water. Oil is considerably thicker, so you must make judgments to suit.
So that's all for the parts, for the most part. When I get back to this on Tuesday, I'll be going over the cost structure of S.O.C versus water cooling.
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