Mineral Oil Submerged PC

J

jbryan1990

Member
Hi there,
First post.I'm going to be submerging my new PC in a mineral oil filled fish tank. The damn thing, even though liquid-cooled, overheats, so I decided to go down this route not only as a solution to the overheating issue, but as a fun learning experience with my brother. Apparently though, there is some sort of risk of tank failure if the oil heats up over 50 degrees celcius?

I'm using a MSI motherboard, with an AMD FX-9590, and an R9 290 graphics card. I'd very much like for it to be able to keep lower than 50 degrees in the tank so if anyone has done this before, could they give me some pointers? Thanks!
 
mishra

mishra

Rising Star
Are you really sure you want to do it?
In long term any maintenance on it will be a nightmare also will make any component un-sell-able. It may sound like a great idea at first... but after a while... just think this through properly. I do not believe a proper air cooler will not cool it down, or even half decent liquid based one.
 
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steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
Linus did this on LTT not so long ago

[video=youtube;2V06LLTNxc4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V06LLTNxc4[/video]

Looks like a total mess on, as Mishra has already mentioned its a right pain to do any kind of maintenance etc.

If you watch the four part vids (or maybe more now I cant remember) Linus did it will give you some idea about the issues around it all.
 
J

jerpers

Master
I have seen these done, and while they look cool, they don't seem to be particularly good with excessively hot components and can get extremely heavy. Although it will transfer the heat better than air, there is that temp risk with yours, particularly with the GPU loaded which can easily hit 80C plus with the air cooling.

What case do you have and what is the fan configuration? (It would be good to see a picture inside) Often improving the airflow through the case makes a big difference.

AMD do generally run a bit hotter. I would personally fit an AIO water cooler for the CPU with a 240mm rad such as the corsair H100 and go for aftermarket cooling on the GPU. Gelid solutions do a great air cooler or you can get a AIO water cooler adapter such as for the NZXT Kraken.
 
J

jbryan1990

Member
jerpers said:
I have seen these done, and while they look cool, they don't seem to be particularly good with excessively hot components and can get extremely heavy. Although it will transfer the heat better than air, there is that temp risk with yours, particularly with the GPU loaded which can easily hit 80C plus with the air cooling.

What case do you have and what is the fan configuration? (It would be good to see a picture inside) Often improving the airflow through the case makes a big difference.

AMD do generally run a bit hotter. I would personally fit an AIO water cooler for the CPU with a 240mm rad such as the corsair H100 and go for aftermarket cooling on the GPU. Gelid solutions do a great air cooler or you can get a AIO water cooler adapter such as for the NZXT Kraken.
Click to expand...

12516022_1329646517062555_1908862081_n.jpg

Excuse the dust, this was taken just before a clean. The case is an Aerocool Predator, and I now run it without the side on.
 
J

jerpers

Master
Those cables! *sits in corner rocking* That messes with my OCD. THose cables can be routed much better which will certainly help with your airflow. Despite PCS's outstanding job of cabling I re-did them myself recently with individually braided cables. I'll upload some pics when I get a chance. Is the bottom HDD cage removable? Are their trays still in there? I can't quite see. It would help with 2 fans set up to intake air at the front and one intake from the bottom. 2 in the top as exhaust with your fins left open. Check your AIO is set up as exhaust.
If that doesn't help, you can look at going down the route of an aftermarket cooler for the GPU and an AIO with a bigger radiator for your CPU.

Edit: If the HDD cage is not removable which from the aerocool website looks like they are not, you want fans with high static pressure at the front to help push the air through the obstruction better.
 
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J

jbryan1990

Member
There's a giant fan at the front that's never been used, because it's cable is too short to reach the motherboard! lol.
 
W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
jerpers said:
Those cables! *sits in corner rocking* That messes with my OCD. THose cables can be routed much better which will certainly help with your airflow. Despite PCS's outstanding job of cabling I re-did them myself recently with individually braided cables. I'll upload some pics when I get a chance. Is the bottom HDD cage removable? Are their trays still in there? I can't quite see. It would help with 2 fans set up to intake air at the front and one intake from the bottom. 2 in the top as exhaust with your fins left open. Check your AIO is set up as exhaust.
If that doesn't help, you can look at going down the route of an aftermarket cooler for the GPU and an AIO with a bigger radiator for your CPU.

Edit: If the HDD cage is not removable which from the aerocool website looks like they are not, you want fans with high static pressure at the front to help push the air through the obstruction better.
Click to expand...

LTT also did a video on that. It doesn't particularly affect temperatures. https://youtu.be/YDCMMf-_ASE

Although I will say that some work should certainly be done to try and tidy it up. That is really bad to the point where it may be affecting airflow. And I would look for a way to get that front fan working, it's crucial for good airflow in the case. You currently have nothing pulling air into the case, only extracting which is usually only sufficient for low end PCs.

As for the mineral cooling, I don't really recommend it. From what I've seen on Linus's videos, it really is a pain to maintain and his often leaked.

If you wanted to try something new that would keep your PC cooler then why not a full watercooling loop. It's low maintenance relative to a mineral tank and can still be an awesome experience and looks amazing when done well. Could even go all out and get colour braided cables and stuff like that to make it really look good. I think the Overclockers forums is usually pretty good if you want to look at any of these systems.
 
J

jbryan1990

Member
this has gone from 'i want to do a mineral cooling project for funz' to 'maximise cooling on gaming pc' so Will roll with this..
Power supply will be replaced, cords will be moved around, large frontal fan plugged in lol, what about the liquid cooler (shown in pic).. I do NOT like it there but it's the only place to mount it without the side on. any ideas on where to stick it until I go with the custom liquid cooling idea?
 
J

jbryan1990

Member
is there some way to extend the reach/range/length of the AIO cables? Reason I'm asking is because I just looked at it then, and I don't have enough length, BY FAR.
 
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