Comments on: GBTV #530 | Fish Tank PC Part 3

By: Matt Constantino, London, UK

Matt Constantino, London, UK — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:14:05 +0000

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.

By: Justin Giroux

Justin Giroux — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:32:40 +0000

Interesting video. very usful for me.

By: Will Kelly

Will Kelly — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:17:28 +0000

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

By: Philip

Philip — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:23:08 +0000

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.

By: Philip

Philip — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:22:40 +0000

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.

By: WazNeeni

WazNeeni — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:40:01 +0000

Systm did one, too.

http://revision3.com/systm/oilcooling

By: brad

brad — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 02:29:17 +0000

wow Cali that was really cool im getting one

By: Angry at the world

Angry at the world — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:30:49 +0000

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!

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:58:32 +0000

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.

By: Trooper

Trooper — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:28:20 +0000

For those of you that asked Why? , I ask you Why Not?

By: WazNeeni

WazNeeni — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:47:46 +0000

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.

By: mafiu (mafiu)

mafiu (mafiu) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:36:34 +0000

watching @CaliLewis fill a pc up with liquid just seems so wrong: http://tinyurl.com/csscm4

By: isaygday

isaygday — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:08:53 +0000

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.

By: MikeL

MikeL — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:47:32 +0000

Any more episodes like these last three and you’ll be looking for work just like the rest of us. sheesh.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:32:16 +0000

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.

By: paul

paul — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:44:27 +0000

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 ……

By: jamiebiddle (Jamie Biddle)

jamiebiddle (Jamie Biddle) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:13:50 +0000

WTF! A fishtank pc with it’s own cooling fluid http://is.gd/nA9i

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:12:36 +0000

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?

By: marts

marts — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:04:28 +0000

“and we do a lil dance, and we stick it in and toake it out”

well baby, id love to stick mine into you!

By: Bob C.

Bob C. — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:45:56 +0000

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.

By: geekbrief (GeekBrief.TV)

geekbrief (GeekBrief.TV) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:24:07 +0000

A new GBTV is up: GBTV #530 | Fish Tank PC Part 3 http://tinyurl.com/csscm4

By: netvideo (Net Video)

netvideo (Net Video) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:22:00 +0000

Geekbrief: GBTV #530 | Fish Tank PC Part 3: Shownotes:
On Brief #530, I finish building the PC in a fi.. http://tinyurl.com/csscm4

By: CaliLewis (Cali Lewis)

CaliLewis (Cali Lewis) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:02:29 +0000

Brief #530 is up – http://tinyurl.com/csscm4

By: blackdog

blackdog — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:12:51 +0000

Where’s the good ‘ol “old” smile when you need it?

By: andy

andy — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:20:28 +0000

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!

By: blackfeathers

blackfeathers — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:40:27 +0000

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?

By: blackfeathers

blackfeathers — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:57:05 +0000

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. :)

By: Jim Seybert

Jim Seybert — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:05:09 +0000

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. :)

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:54:49 +0000

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?

By: Cali Lewis

Cali Lewis — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:51:01 +0000

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.

By: W. George Elliott

W. George Elliott — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:46:52 +0000

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!!!

By: Roozbeh

Roozbeh — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:44:48 +0000

You are too funny!

By: Roger Linhart

Roger Linhart — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:17:49 +0000

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.