[Oil Submerged] Lao's Rig

So, despite what I'd heard on the grapevine, I decided to try my hand at an oil-submerged rig. I've learned a few things, and since they're not important, I'll go into them first:

• Nay-saying not without reason.
• Nay-saying not worth abandoning the project.
• Custom-cases / case-modding is cool. I found a new addiction.
• There's a time an place for a screw driver and hammer. IE, have the right tool for the job.
• If you want it cheap, expect it hard.

So, now to the important bits. Let's start from the beginning. Here are the parts I gathered for the case & cooling:

• 10 Gal. Aquarium from PetSmart
• TR01-xx Torture Rack Motherboard Tray from Danger Den
• 10-slot IO Shield from Danger Den
• Swiftech MCP655-B Pump
• 2 Acrylic sheets from Home Depot (.22 in. thick)
• 2 shut-off valves from Home Depot
• 4 1/2" OD barbs from Home Depot
• 2 1/2" Compression Fittings from FrozenCPU (attached to the Radiator)
• 240mm Swiftech Radiator
• 10 Gal. Mineral Oil

Components

• Mobo: MSI Big Bang Trinergy
• CPU: Intel i7 875K
• RAM: 2x 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3
• PSU: Corsair HX1000W
• GPU 1: Sapphire AMD 6950 HD, BIOS upgraded to 6970
• GPU 2: XFX Nvidia 285 GTX

Before we begin, a little background so you all understand why I started this project. I originally has a liquid-cooled PC in a Corsair 800 case. I have since learned that I "did it wrong". My worst mistake was using tinted coolant, when I should've used pure, distilled water. My second mistake was using a bay reservoir, which didn't provide sufficient pressure to the pump and was horribly-placed in relation to the pump. In either case, my CPU was reaching 90 C (I was overclocked to 4 GHz) under load, and my GPUs were at around 70-80 C under load. The GPUs were not liquid-cooled.

So, fist step was to cut the acrylic top to size. For that, I used my handy-dandy SoniCrafter. Let me tell you a little something about the SoniCrafter: it's not very good about cutting acrylic. It did cut it, and it cut better than an improperly-used scroll-saw. But I digress. Actually, I'll get back to that later.

Anyway, the SoniCrafter moves the saw the too fast for acrylic, and generates too much heat. So instead of cutting through the acrylic, we were pretty much melting through. Or, at least that's the case when you don't mask the acrylic, which is another tip I found far too late. So instead of getting nice, clean cuts, I got a whole bunch of really ugly, boogery cuts.

So I cut that down to size, then cut out the slot for the IO shield. Incidentally, make sure you're buying the right IO shield. The 10-slot was too big for me and made it impossible to mount my PSU until I replaced it. Also, it looks ridiculous. Back to the cutting: while cutting, I broke the acrylic sheet near the border. On both sides. Essentially, I cut it into two pieces, but not at the same time. I managed to get away with this by using epoxy to cement the two sides together. It held.

Another mistake, which may or may not be noticeable from the images below, was how badly planned this was. The measurements were completely wrong. I spent an entire night trying to fix how the motherboard tray attached to the top. The main reason for that was because, like an idiot, I didn't realize that the IO shield should be attached to the inside of the case, not the outside. It made a huge difference on how / where the tray connected to the top.

And finally, the CPU. First I tried just letting the CPU be "free" while in the oil. This does not work. The CPU by itself does not have enough surface area to dissipate enough heat quickly. Luckily for me, I had a spare heat sink that I attached (used ceramic thermal compound for longevity). This produced much better results, but I made one final mistake: I attached fans.

Now, what were the results.

• CPU heat went down 10-20 C while playing video games. Stabilized at 70 - 80 C.
• GPU heat PLUMMETED. I overclocked as far as the drivers would let me (and then some), and when using Furmark or other benchmarking software, the GPUs never reached 60 C.

Here's a picture of the first top. My first foray into modding. What a mess.

On with the story. It wasn't much long after that I decided that the tank was too small. So I went to Craigslist and bought a replacement. See the following link for updated images:

New Aquarium, same setup

It was a nice change, but because the IO shield was still too big, my PSU ended up living at the bottom. This would normally be fine if I'd found a power cable to go from the bottom and end at the top so that another cable would attach to it. But there weren't any at hand and I was lazy. This meant that every time I wanted to pull the case up, chances were good that the PSU would pull up, get unplugged, etc. It was a mess. This fact alone lead to most of the oil dripping out. Eventually, I had the "genius" idea of using a wire hanger to pull it out when I had need. And that idea was what eventually lead to me blowing the PSU.

So I bought a new PSU, a Corsair AX850, and left it on top for the time being. I didn't want to deal with the same issue.

I was getting tired of the setup, however, and decided that the whole thing looked too ugly. For one thing, the top was a rectangle and my new tank had a bow front. Additionally, the top was too long.

I set about buying new pieces and the tools I knew I'd need. Here's what I ended up with:

• Rockwell BladeRunner
• 2 sheets of Acrylic
• 7-port IO shield from FrozenCPU
• 6-stack Alphacool Cape Cora (HF 642)

And after educating myself on youtube, I started about doing things a little smarter. I did a lot more measuring, masked my acrylic, etc.

More pictures to come, and also my plea for help and brainstorming. Please stay tuned!
Edited by LaoArchAngel - 11/4/12 at 2:00pm

I've read that you can put them through the dishwasher. You'd just have to make sure they were perfectly dry before turning them on. However, when I'm finished, I intend to sell it as a whole, rather than the pieces.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

TBH, that was quite minimal. It did, wick a little bit, but it was never enough to drip or anything. Just gave some of the cables an oily residue.

All right. On with the story!

So, I bought a new radiator, new tools, and a new power supply. I was determined to do it right this time. I won't claim it came out perfect, but it's a world better than what I had the first time.

First, I replaced the shut-off valves with quick-disconnect fittings with the help of my girlfriend. These are INVALUABLE for this type of a build. I cannot stress just how nice it is to be able to disconnect the tubes. Worth the investment. These are the ones I bought:

Koolance VL3N-F13
Koolance VL3N-M13

Once those were installed, I connected the pump to a 4-pin AC Adapter while the out-tube was fed into a large tub. I then transferred the pump into that same bucket. I attached a gasoline filter to the out-tube and let it run. Here's a pic:



I also cut a brand new top. This one was measured right and cut with the appropriate tools and using the appropriate methods. Here's how it came out:



That little square over where the IO shield is going to be is where the on/off switch and cable attach to the PSU. Attaching the IO shield and Motherboard tray this time was a breeze. Having the PSU attached to the top made the entire setup significantly easier. I CANNOT stress how much easier it was with the PSU as part of the frame.




Then it was time to put the out-tube back into the tank and let the pump fill her up.





As you'll notice, the gas filter is still attached in that last picture. It worked wonders, but it was a job for more than one filter. I'm going to have to buy another.

Anyway, here is the end-product, as well as a picture of the fan / radiator setup.

Read this! Important!

OK, this is where I ask for help. I'm currently trying to "perfect" the system. It's currently not working optimally, and I KNOW it can work better.

Currently my CPU is running @ 150 FSB x 22, 3.3 GHz. I could tune it down to 133 FSB and probably get a higher clock. Anyway, running IntelBurnTest, it capped in the high 80s, low 90s. With 2 windows of WoW running, 2 data parses for WoW, xfire, and image viewer, Visual Studio 2012, Netflix and another Chrome window w/ 10+ tabs open, the computer stays below 70, and averages about 64-65 C.

This is pretty decent, in my book, though I know there are some here who have cooling systems that keep theirs under 40 with these circumstances. That's not what I care about. What I want to do is optimize this system. I don't mean to sound like an ass, but I KNOW what a good liquid cooling system can do, or a very good air-cooling case / system can do. My purpose here is just to make this work as well as possible. It's just in my head.

So that's why I'm here. For ideas. I want all of you brilliant folk to give me your thoughts on how to make this system better.

Here are a few things I've noticed:

• First off, I don't think the pump is moving liquid fast enough, and it has to get warm before the pump actually feels comfortable moving it through. When it's cool, all I get is a trickle. I was playing with the idea of getting an submersible pump. The very weak ones move water @ 800 GPH (about almost 3x the highest-rated pumps for computers) and a generic weak one @ 1200 GPH. This would sit at the bottom of the tank.
• I also feel that there has to be a better way to move heat off the CPU. My heatsink is big, but maybe there's just a better way overall? Or maybe just a better design?
• I was also considering what would happen if I were to add a Peltier cooler. Maybe in addition to a heatsink?

Anyway, your input is appreciated! I would really like to be able to see just how much I can do w/ this environment.