Scratch Build The Mineral Oil PC

[legoman666]

List of Updates:
1: Jan 31 2009 - Potential design for the case feet.
2: Feb 2 2009 - Process by which I make the feet
3: Feb 6 2009 - Construction Begins
4: Feb 7 2009 - Moving Right Along...
5: Feb 9 2009 - Lower Frame Completed
6: Feb 12 2009 - Something I've been Working On...
7: Feb 13 2009 - Made the Bottom Panel and Attached the Feet
8: Feb 15 2009 - More Side Panel Work, 1 Rad Mounted
8b: Feb 15 2009 - Mini Update, LEDs in Feet.
9: Feb 16 2009 - Yet More Side Panel Work, 2 Rads Mounted
10: Feb 21 2009 - PCB mounting Extravaganza
11: Feb 25 2009 - Weekday Evening Modding
12: Feb 28 2009 - Completed Upper Section
13: Mar 8 2009 - More Electrical Work
14: Mar 12 2009 - Hinged the Top Section
15: Mar 14 2009 - Made "Tank" for 8" LCD
16: Mar 15 2009 - Tank Construction Complete!
17: Mar 22 2009 - Motherboard Tray Construction!
18: Jun 21 2009 - Sanding the Panels and Mounting Stuff!
19: Jun 23 2009 - Hard Drive Mounts and Other Pics
20: Jun 25 2009 - Almost Done!
21: Jun 27 2009 - Putting it all Together
22: Jun 27 2009 - A leak during filling!
23: Jul 3 2009 - Fully Submerged, Alive and Kicking
24: Jul 9 2009 - LanWar, Pics
25: Jul 13 2009 - Final Photo Shoot
26: Jul 22 2009 - Backlight Hottness
27: Jul 23 2009 - More god damned leaks, yes plural
28: Aug 17 2009 - New Sponsor!
__________________________________________________ _______________

It's that time again!

To start, I would like to thank my sponsors:
Crystalfontz!

The crew over at Crystalfont has kindly agreed to supply me with the CFA-635 LCD module and UberSCAB kit that I'll be using in this mod. Thanks! Be sure to give them a look.

Petra's Tech Shop!

I'd like to thank Alex Venz for the support by means of a discount. PTS will also be supplying a XSPC RX360 Radiator which should go nicely with my low speed Noctua fans.

I'm happy to announce a new sponsor: Crucial!
Kelly Sasso has kindly agreed to supply me with a brand spankin' new 128Gb CT128M225! Sweeeet. These just came out a few days ago and the reviews are trickling in.

Teaser pic:

[legoman666]

This will be my 3rd project worklog that I have posted on bit-tech.

My first was my Wooden PC, completed in early 2004:

Worklog: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=38878 (pics are all dead)

My second was my Aluminum/Copper PC, completed early 2008:

Worklog: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=145057

And that brings us to now, I present to you: The Mineral Oil PC!
Link to planning thread in the Modding forum: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=163378 Most of the following posts are copied straight from this thread, so some stuff may be out of context.

Here are my preliminary sketches (from 22/1/09):








Description of the general layout:

Bottom compartment:
2 XSPC RX360 Radiators: Link to product
6 Noctua NF-P12 120mm Fans: Link to product
1-2 Eheim 1250 120v Pumps: Link to product
3 fans will suck in, 3 will blow out

Middle tank:
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair II Formula Link to product
CPU: Phenom II X4 940 Link to product
RAM: 8gb G.SKILL 1000mhz DDR2 Link to product
2 HD4850's: Link to product
Silverstone ST75F 750W PSU: Link to product
Thermalright IFX-14: Link to Product
2 Thermalright T-Rad^2 GPU Coolers: Link to Product

The Mobo/CPU/RAM still isn't 100% set in stone.

Top Compartment:
2x WD 500gb GP Hard Drives (maybe)
2x WD 250gb Hard Drives (maybe)
The top is an exit for cables from the"back" (top in my config) of the motherboard. If I don't go with SSD's, I'll have my hard drives in this compartment too. As you can see in the pics, the tray will have 2 handles for easy removal from the oil. Everything that will be submerged in the oil will be attached to the tray. The top of the case will also be hinged for easy access to the oil.

More Preliminary Sketches (from 24/1/09)


Just playing with the model more.

Are MCP655's submersible? I can't fit my pump(s) in the bottom compartment. I realized this when I replaced the radiator models with model's of the radiators I'll actually be using. If I can't submerge the MCP655, I'll have to stick with Eheim pumps...

Anyone know?

[legoman666]

More Preliminary Sketches (from 27/1/09):

Today it snowed ~5-6" overnight, so I wasn't able to make it into work. So I whittled away the day doing absolutely nothing productive. It was great. Looks like I might be stuck at home tomorrow, since it's been freezing rain/sleeting for the past 2-3 hours and we're supposed to get 4-6" more snow by the morning (it's 9:45 PM).

Here's what I did:


I modeled the Asus Crosshair II AM2 motherboard. At this time, it looks like I'm going to go with an AMD setup, unless some other sponsors come through. The latest hardware list:
ASUS Crosshair II Formula
Phenom II X4 940
8gb G.SKILL 1000mhz DDR2

It also turns out that I was seriously uninformed about TECs. The Phenom 940 is 125W TDP which means about 150w at full load. To get a deltaT of 30C between the hotside and cool side of the pelt, I would need to have a pelt with almost 400w of cooling power, which translates into something ridiculous like 600w worth of pelts. The 226w pelt I was going to buy would have produced a deltaT of 11.5C with almost no room for overclocking.
(If this doesn't make any sense, it's because I'm copying these updates from my initial log in the Modding forum)

So it looks like I'm going to stick the most massive heatsink I can find on my CPU: the Thermalright IFX-14 Extreme




Getting rid of the pelt allows me to have a single PSU instead of 2 and make the case smaller and thus cheaper.

I still need to do a lot of work on the model, it's just very tedious. I'm using the Windows 7 Beta at the moment and the hardware acceleration of Google SketchUp doesn't work. Even with a Q6600 @ 3.55ghz it's wrist-slitting-slow.





With any luck, I'll order the raw materials for the case (aluminum sheet, bar and angle, and the plexiglass) by the end of the week. Construction will commence when it arrives.

[legoman666]

More Preliminary Sketches (from 28/1/09):

Turns out I wasn't able to make it into work again today either. Yesterday we got 5" of snow, then 1" of sleet/freezing rain. Today we got another 4-5" of snow around 6AM. As of 5:30PM, most of the streets were still in terrible condition.

So I celebrated my free day by spending a little time making a model of the HD4850 without the cooler.


I need to model the GPU cooler I'm using and add it to the model, (the T-Rad^2) but they're actually in use right now and I'm not taking them out of the case.

I also played with the model more. I made it shorter and changed a few things.




Tonight I placed the orders for the raw materials!
I ordered the following:
18" x 24" x 3/8" Plexi - This will be the left side of the tank
24" x 24" x 1/4" Plexi - This will be the front and back of the tank
18" x 24" x 1/4" Plexi - This will be the right side of the tank
12" x 24" x 1/4" Plexi - This will be the bottom of the tank

The left side of the tank is thicker because it will have screws going into it.

96" 1.25" Angle Aluminum - This will be made into .75" pieces for the joints
192" .5" Angle Aluminum - This will be used to strengthen the corners of the plexiglass
32' .75" Bar Aluminum - This will be used structurally in the bottom of the case and for the mobo tray
9' sq .05" Sheet Aluminum - This will be used for the panels

When I say "angle aluminum" I mean this: http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...=63&top_cat=60

Here is how I will use the 1.25" stuff:

[The boy 4rm oz]

WOW, this looks AWESOME. I love your Sketchups, very nice detail, lots of effort put into them.

I have always been intrigued with Mineral Oil cooled PCs, ever since I first saw one, I really want to try one later one.

If your previous mods are anything to go by this should turn out fantastically, good luck.

[legoman666]

Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

WOW, this looks AWESOME. I love your Sketchups, very nice detail, lots of effort put into them.

I have always been intrigued with Mineral Oil cooled PCs, ever since I first saw one, I really want to try one later one.

If your previous mods are anything to go by this should turn out fantastically, good luck.

Thanks!

Here's something I just found:

https://www.crystalfontz.com/product/CFA635TMFKU1.html in conjunction with


https://www.crystalfontz.com/product/UBERSCAB.html


I've used a CrystalFontz screen before on my first mod. I liked it well enough. This would allow me to use temperature curves to control the fans on the radiators. I could also monitor several oil temperatures with little sensors. I'll use this guys idea: http://www.crystalfontz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4452 to stick sensors on the inlet and outlet of the rads and perhaps in 2 other locations (top and bottom of the tank?). I could also use a flow meter to sound an alarm if the pump fails. This would be great since I won't really be able to see the oil flowing nor will I be able to hear the pump.

I made a simple sketch of what I had in mind:


This is the bottom section of the case. I was going to use 90 degree elbows for these corners since it's a tight fit, but I can simply change them to T's and stick the temperature probe in the branch pointing downwards and seal it with caulk or silicone or something.

[GinoTheCop]

Nice sketchup skills and awesome project.. Good luck..

[legoman666]

Originally Posted by GinoTheCop

Nice sketchup skills and awesome project.. Good luck..

Thanks.

Does anyone know how these work? http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...ssure%20switch My plan is to stick this on the pump output and attach the sensor in parallel with the power button. I don't know what the Normally Open refers to. Is it NO when there IS pressure, or is it NO when there IS NOT pressure? I would like it to be OPEN when there IS pressure. That way, when there is no pressure, that is to say, when the pump is not running, the switch will close and will essentially press the power button.

Anyone know what type I should buy?

[legoman666]

Actually I just answered my own question. http://content.honeywell.com/sensing...df/cat_pav.pdf

"Normally Closed (SPST-N.C.)
- A normally closed switch conducts electricity until the actuator is moved by the media causing the contacts to open."

This is what I want. Now I just need to figure out how much PSI my pump will output in the oil. I don't want to guess wrong and buy the wrong type of switch, they cost ~$25. There are two that might fit my needs. One operates from .5 to 1 PSI, the other operates from 1.1 to 3 PSI (they're adjustable). Anyone have a guess as to the output PSI of a Eheim 1250 when moving mineral oil?

Edit:
PSI = 0.434 x h x SG
h = max head in ft. The max head on the Eheim 1250 is 6' 7" = 6.58'
SG = specific gravity. The specific gravity of mineral oil is .818 to .905 according to its msds sheet.

Thus the max PSI is 0.434 x 6.58 x .85 = 2.43 PSI. I'll buy the 1.1 to 3 PSI model unless someone knows something I don't. Speak up!

Math is fun.

[EternalChaos]

I hope you know that the motherboard you selected is NOT a crossfire motherboard, If you want your 4850's in Crossfire, your going need either a P45 or X48 based motherboard. Not NF200.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I really like the Crystal Fontz LCD idea, they are great monitors.

[Zeroignite]

Subscribed- you beat me too it.

[p0Pe]

i think you would get a lot more performance if you made som sort of quick fitting that allowed you to get the mineral oil to go from the pump to a cpu block, and then the gpu´s so that you could jet it over the blocks. wouldnt that give better performance and less weight?

[tominated]

very nice. make sure you submit any new SU models to the sketchup components collection!

[legoman666]

Originally Posted by EternalChaos

I hope you know that the motherboard you selected is NOT a crossfire motherboard, If you want your 4850's in Crossfire, your going need either a P45 or X48 based motherboard. Not NF200.

I know I have 2 HD4850's, but I don't run them in crossfire. I have 4 monitors, so even if I wanted to run crossfire, I couldn't

Originally Posted by p0pe

i think you would get a lot more performance if you made som sort of quick fitting that allowed you to get the mineral oil to go from the pump to a cpu block, and then the gpu´s so that you could jet it over the blocks. wouldnt that give better performance and less weight?

I'll be doing something similar. The outlet for the radiators will be near the video cards so I can supply them with constantly cool oil. I'm not 100% certain where I'll put the pump inlet. It'll either go near the CPU or just intake from the bottom of the tank.

Originally Posted by tominated

very nice. make sure you submit any new SU models to the sketchup components collection!

Will do

I would also like to announce a third sponsor: Crystalfontz!


The crew over at Crystalfont has kindly agreed to supply me with the CFA-635 LCD module and UberSCAB kit that I'll be using in this mod. Thanks! Be sure to give them a look.

[Teknokid]

Now this looks very interesting... Nice moddeling!

Subscribed.

[legoman666]

Got some goodies in the mail today. Nothing too exciting though.


3 rocker switches. Not sure if they light up or not. Not too sure about the green.


2 relays. One for the pump and 1 for the 2nd PSU that I will no longer be using.


A bunch of plug inlets. Exciting, I know.


30 red LEDs.


Eheim 1250.

Hopefully next week will turn up the good stuff.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice goodies.

[legoman666]

And in other news, scroll saws are not ideal for cutting plexiglass. I was trying to make a plexiglass back for a AC Ryan Radgrill and light up the edges with LEDs. So I printed off the template and taped it to a piece of plexiglass. I cut around the outer edges with a band saw no problem. Then I tried to use a scroll saw to cut the middle out. No good. The cut just fused back together behind the blade.





Lol, it was like I hadn't even cut it. I hate scroll saws. I couldn't even break the "cut" with a hammer. When I hit it with a hammer, the thing shattered (not even along the cut). The fused together cut seems just as strong as before I cut it.

I was just trying this today on a spare piece of plexi to see how well it would work. Looks like I'll have to use a jig saw to cut the middle out.

[slisgrinder]

wonders of plexi-glass