Shownotes:
On Brief #530, I finish building the PC in a fish tank, otherwise known as the Aquarium PC Kit from Puget Systems. I finish it out by adding a mild laxative!
Here are the components:
Aquarium Kit
XFX GeForce 9300 mATX
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Processor
4GB OCZ Reaper RAM with Heatpipe Cooling
OCZ Core Series V2 120GB SSD
Corsair VX 550W Power Supply
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU
Windows Vista
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« GBTV #529 | Fish Tank PC Part 2
« GBTV #529 | Fish Tank PC Part 2
March 16th, 2009 at 11:17 am
So what was the motivation for taking up three GBTV episodes for this? I’m pretty sure Tom’s Hardware did a vegetable oil PC years ago. I’m not trying to be mean. I’m obviously missing the point.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:44 am
You are too funny!
March 16th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Cali; I’ve downloaded all three parts via iTunes. Is there a reason why the video is not as sharp as usual? It says they downloaded in the large format. Just wondering. Thanks!!!
March 16th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Yes, the video was shot on Tricaster, and we had to play with the settings to get better quality. We didn’t realize it would come out like this, but we’re working on figuring it out.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:54 am
I’ve always wanted to see you getting your components covered in oil, but why not install Linux and make that bad boy into a cool guest room PC?
March 16th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I’ll agree with Roger on this one. I look forward to the occasional quirky episode but can’t see the “why” for three segments on this. “Now we’re going to install Windows” is hardly a cutting edge statement. :)
March 16th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
i can see it having a lot of sci-fi potential in modding a very doctor who style alien computer! something unusual and still very functional.
have they tried any non-conductive dyes to colour the mineral oil? but then again, perhaps coloured lights is safer and cleaner.
from their site i see that dust and debris mean that the mineral oil would have to be replaced after a year or two. but, would bubbles result in any sort of oxidative reaction to the parts over time?
an oil filter -similar to a water filtration system for a regular aquarium- might be a good idea.
from all the wicking issues, looks like wireless for everything would be the way to go that would require less maintenance -ie. mouse, keyboard, wifi… and maybe even video through vnc?
it also reminds me very much of a diy version of the high end submersive hardcore reactor super computer here: http://www.hardcorecomputer.com
it also spawns curiousity of ideas to submerge arduinos and other electronic devices for various robotic purposes. :)
March 16th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
d’oh. scratch the oxidative question. i wasn’t thinking when i wrote that. oil is nonpolar.
i am curious how well the silicon seams of the fish tank would hold up over time. i would think a seamless container would work better.
i hear it’s important to seal the cpu otherwise certain heat issues might occur? anyone care to elaborate on this?
March 16th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
What a pain and you end up with all your components swimming! You should warn people that you cant do that with most liquids, people could easily die if they (or their kids) tried to emulate that with water.
Looked like a big waste of time and your fans (meeting more resistance) will probably not last as long.
Must be fun upgrading after with all that oil over everything!
March 16th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Where’s the good ‘ol “old” smile when you need it?
March 16th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Brief #530 is up – http://tinyurl.com/csscm4
March 16th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Geekbrief: GBTV #530 | Fish Tank PC Part 3: Shownotes:
On Brief #530, I finish building the PC in a fi.. http://tinyurl.com/csscm4
March 16th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
A new GBTV is up: GBTV #530 | Fish Tank PC Part 3 http://tinyurl.com/csscm4
March 16th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I may not be the swiftest guy in the world, especially now that I’m in my 50’s, but for the life of me, I just don’t get this. There must be a point to wanting something like this, but it totally escapes me. You spent 3 episodes putting this contraption together, but you didn’t explain why anyone would want this gadget. Personally, it seems like a total waste of time and money.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
“and we do a lil dance, and we stick it in and toake it out”
well baby, id love to stick mine into you!
March 17th, 2009 at 1:12 am
Great fun! I really enjoyed watching these.
P.S. Did I miss something? What happened to the blue stones in the bottom of the tank?
March 17th, 2009 at 10:13 am
WTF! A fishtank pc with it’s own cooling fluid http://is.gd/nA9i
March 17th, 2009 at 11:44 am
do you think that, in principle, you could use any old board for this project ?..
(not to take anything away from the guys at Puget System, but I’d see this in a smaller form factor, to set aside an LCD TV for an uber coolz htpc :P ) ….
I guess the idea is that mineral oil isn’t conductive .. Also, what was that reason you said not to fill out the whole tank, about the cables on top ? .. I didnt quite get that …
I’m wondering too if the mineral oil can disperse heat to some extend, reducing the need for a fan. Of if it makes the system quieter.
Questions questions ……
March 17th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I guess the rocks were removed to get everything to fit, but it really needs rocks/ocean background/bubbles/pirate chest/plants to look cool, otherwise it’s just a PC dunked in a clear liquid. Still a fun idea though.
March 17th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Any more episodes like these last three and you’ll be looking for work just like the rest of us. sheesh.
March 17th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
That was cool, even if it did take three episodes. Quite a conversation piece, but I would hate to have to upgrade; what a mess.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
watching @CaliLewis fill a pc up with liquid just seems so wrong: http://tinyurl.com/csscm4
March 19th, 2009 at 1:47 am
I love these kinds of GB episodes. Just like the unboxings, they’re just fun to watch. And it needed 3 episodes (I’m guessing) to keep each of them at the standard 5-7 min length.
The point of it all is obviously that the idea of a PC submerged in liquid is awesome! We’re geeks, remember? We live on making things do something they’re not designed to do. And how awesome would it be to have someone come over and totally flip out when they saw it?!
As for the OS, I would have chosen Win7.
Oh, I’m also curious about the fluid level/cord thing.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:28 am
For those of you that asked Why? , I ask you Why Not?
March 19th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Meh. Somehow this whole thing falls flat. I really wanted to see a closeup of the tank with lights, bubbles, rocks, maybe some artificial plants. Then it would be really cool.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Okay, I’m not sure why people think this kind of stuff is funny. I got the kit and had it shipped to me overnight cause I thought this was the coolest thing ever. I got it all set up and running. Then I put my fish in and the swam for like a minute before they started twiching and stuff. I knew they were dying so I tried to get them out quickly and ended up spilling all the oil all over the carpeting I just bought. So now I have a dozen dead fish, an oily carpet, and a computer that doesn’t work. Do you people think this stuff is funny?!? Why would you do this? It’s just mean!
March 21st, 2009 at 7:29 pm
wow Cali that was really cool im getting one
March 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Systm did one, too.
http://revision3.com/systm/oilcooling
March 28th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Good grief, people, it was just for fun. This is always a great podcast — even my least favorite episode is better than most anything else out there.
I’m curious about one point — did the system requrie a special fan? I would expect mineral oil to work just fine with electronic circuitry, but I was a bit suprised that the fan did not have trouble turning.
March 28th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Good grief, people, it was just for fun. This is always a great podcast — even my least favorite episode is better than most anything else out there.
I’m curious about one point — did the system require a special fan? I would expect mineral oil to work just fine with electronic circuitry, but I was a bit suprised that the fan did not have trouble turning.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:17 am
That had to be fun to do.
I’m a bit of a keyboard nut, so was wondering what keyboard you were using. Can you let me know?
Thanks,
Will
May 9th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Interesting video. very usful for me.
June 21st, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Very unique system. Shame you couldn’t use water and put real fish in there as well. What a shocker that would be for the fish I suppose.