News Hardcore Computer launches immersion cooled PCs

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/10/23/hardcore-computer-launches-immersion-cooled-pcs/1

Hardcore Computer, a USA based system builder, has launched the first total immersion coolant based systems.

 

Wow that's pretty cool, although I'm guessing it will be a while before/if it becomes mainstream.

 

When are you getting one in for review?

Also - the radiator is cooled by fans, although it is very quiet.

 

Cool beans, want one ... although replacing a part will be quiet tricky

 

Maybe I'm missing something but why are there tubes going to what looks like "old-style"water cooling heat blocks, surely the idea would be that the components that got hot would have air style heatsinks and the heat would be transferred to the liquid all around the system. Otherwise this would just be a "water" cooled system with "water" around it (guess makes it less of an issue if there is a leak )

have a look here http://www.hardcorecomputer.com/ProductCategoryDetail.aspx (under the quality tab)

 

I see what you mean, I think this is probally needed to move the fluid over the CPU, as shifting all that fluid at a rate to move heat away I would imagine would need a hefty pump, this way they can keep a sustained flow over the hotter parts

Kimbie

 

Sure but with all the engineering that has gone into making this.. you would think they could come up with a cooler (pardon the pun) solution. Maybe use the pumps to just shift the coolant around the case?

 

I think we decided in the other thread that it was for performance since the pre cooled oil is dumped directly on to the hottest parts of the unit.

 

To me that just ruins the whole thing.. I would even take a performance hit to make it work without waterblocks...

 

i would love to see someone here at bit-tech do a project with the pc components completely immersed in a coolant >.>
really i just want to see how its done and what kind of precautions and such need to be taken when doing something like that ^.^

 

Droool, I really want one of those. I'd have to see some benchmark scores etc first though.
Seen as they even custom make the motherboard, it would be interesting to see how it compairs against similar spec systems.

I bet the shipping to the UK is a killer though, seen as they weigh over 50KG.
Not to mention the hefty import tax bill you'll get raped for by Mr Darling.

 

How is the PSU hooked up and working in these conditions? Can someone explain? I know the liquid is non conductive but still wouldn't it normally do something terrible to the PSU?

 

Not really, the PSU i imagine will either be in the fluid or sit out of it, either way if the fluid is non conductive, there will be no problems. If you saw the danger men program on C5 last week, you would have seen them washing 500,000 volt powerlines in a helo with pure water with no issues, so i dont see how a small 240v psu will casue problems

 

The PSU is immersed as well. If you read the interview, there's actually 2 PSUs in there! This is way cool, I'd love to have one. These guys did it right.

 

Maybe it's because I'm not a huge computer buff in the sense of overclocking and such, but what is the point of a $5000 Immersion cooled computer?

It definately looks cool, and sounds nice to have, but it's priced way, way out of what I could afford. For $5000 I would rather pay closing costs on a house or make a downpayment on a car. I don't think things like this really help the PC market when so many manufacturers price optimized gaming hardware/setups out of the mainstream reach. Sorry, just had to say that. Again, that whole setup is definately cool, but way too expensive.

 

btw I remember being part of the group discussing the original immersion computers (on overclockers.com and one problem was the caps which "pop'ed" after some time ... is this solved??

 

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/hardcorepc_reactor

lotsa very pretty pictures...

 

octools has done this before... crica 2000 http://www.octools.com/index.cgi?caller=articles/submersion/submersion.html

for the record you can put every solid state piece of equipment under the coolant including the power supply. In fact many transformers for power lines are oil submerged.

The problem with say submersion cooling over directed cooling is that you're adding a lot of waste heat to the system. For example you can buy a perfectly reasonable air cooled powersupply that is silent and has no need for further cooling. By submersion cooling this part all you are doing is adding more heat that needs to be extracted. Same goes for south bridges, and other smaller controller chips that don't need additional cooling.

That being said it is a nice looking case. I've always wanted to build a partial submersion rig using transformer oil

 

Somebody has to say it...

But can it...

Bitstream HD audio?



Seriously, in my professional opinion... This is pretty fricking cool. (no pun intended)

I don't mean submersion. It's been done. I've got some drafts around here I did for one a couple years ago, though I never got around to building it. It's just very difficult to do and be practical.
But this. This, I am impressed with. It is sleek, well designed, fully thought out (the handles for removing the mobo are genius). I have not even considered buying a prebuilt in five years, I wouldn't even get one of the fancy ones if I won a million dollars... until this one. Starting at five grand? So, they are selling this at cost? My guess is, these guys just wanted one for themselves and throw out the R&D time and cost as just fun time (wouldn't you enjoy such work?). The case is gorgeous and the exclusivity would be an egotrip. I love the whole design, from the board to the way the vid cards mount, to the cord management. This is some fine looking case.

I would though really love to see some benchmarks comparisons, especially if this is really a custom mobo.

 

Looks cool. Only time will tell if it truly creates a niche in the market. Regardless, advances on already existing ideas are always a positive push forward in our discovery of the next great invention.