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Oil-Immersion Cooled PC Goes To Retail
notthatwillsmith writes "Everyone's seen mods where someone super-cools a PC by submersing it in a non-conductive oil. It's a neat idea, but most components aren't designed to withstand a hot oil bath; after prolonged exposure materials break down and components begin to fail. Maximum PC has an exclusive hands-on, first look at the new Hardcore Computer Reactor, the first oil-cooled PC available for sale. Hardcore engineered the Reactor to withstand the oil, using space-age materials and proprietary oil. The Reactor's custom-manufactured motherboard, videocards, memory, and SSD drives are submersed in the oil, while the dry components sit outside the bulletproof tank. The motherboard lifts out of the oil bath on rails, giving you relatively easy access to components, and the overall design is simply jaw-dropping. Of course, we'd expect nothing less for a machine with a base price of $4000 that goes all the way up to $11k for a fully maxed out config."
There is a joke involving Natalie Portman and hot oil here, but I just can't quite find it :(
"Everyone's seen mods where someone super-cools a PC by submersing it in a non-conductive oil. It's a neat idea, but most components aren't designed to withstand a hot oil bath; after prolonged exposure materials break down and components begin to fail. Maximum PC has an exclusive hands-on, first look at the new Hardcore Computer Reactor, the first oil-cooled PC available for sale. Hardcore engineered the Reactor to withstand the oil, using space-age materials and proprietary oil. The Reactor's custom-manufactured motherboard, videocards, memory, and SSD drives are submersed in the oil, while the dry components sit outside the bulletproof tank. The motherboard lifts out of the oil bath on rails, giving you relatively easy access to components, and the overall design is simply jaw-dropping. Of course, we'd expect nothing less for a machine with a base price of $4000 that goes all the way up to $11k for a fully maxed out config."
They're trying to appeal to two growing demographics: hardcore gaming mobsters and gangsta autocad designers
Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
They probably mean bullet resistant aka Lexan.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
When I am web surfing and playing solitaire, I can't afford to have my CPU or graphics card overheat. And don't even get me started on email.
You're using Vista, aren't you.
your money goes to support vladimir putin, hugo chavez and saudi wahabbism
do the patriotic thing and buy a domestic american wind immersion pc
and if you aren't in an area where a wind immersion pc is practical, follow t boone pickens' lead and get yourself a natural gas immersed pc
eh... on second thought, maybe not such a good idea, a natural gas immersed pc, heh
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Here's the main claim from the patent:
7,414,845 Attlesey, et al. August 19, 2008
Circuit board assembly for a liquid submersion cooled electronic device
1. A liquid submersion cooled computer, comprising:
The only novelty here seems to be in putting the connectors in the removable lid.
Incidentally, the cooling liquid isn't an "oil" at all. It's one of 3M's Novec engineered fluids, probably HFE-7500, which is 3-ethoxy-1,1,1,2,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-dodecafluoro-2-trifluoromethyl-hexane. It's usable for cooling up to 150C, nonflammable, does not irritate skin, does not contribute to global warming, ozone depletion, or smog, and the MSDS even says "Ingestion: no health effects are expected". 3M developed it as a replacement for PCBs and perfluorocarbons like Fluorinert. So it can be used safely by the idiots who overclock.
It was thought that the mineral oil on these PCs would eat at the Rubber seals or the contacts on the motherboard and cause the PC to fail over time. This isn't true. Here's a link to the year-after report on a oil-based PC that Puget Systems built: http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php#update3
The most important part:
"# There is no sign of weakening of rubber seals or PCB. We have found that prolonged exposure to mineral oil does not eat away at any components. However, you will notice in the pictures that the voltage module for the LED light has fallen down. That module was stuck in place with nothing more than a sticker -- it took 9 months for it to come down! We're amazed it stayed up that long, but definitely recommend you do not rely on stickers or tape to fasten anything. Zip ties will be more solid and long lasting."
Can we demand an open-source version of the oil for us hardcore geeks?
Bulletproof? Seriously?
Yes, but only for very small values of bullet
No, it runs SL/IX and the main processor is made by Texaco Instruments.
There is a shell scripting language but the interface is a bit crude.
There will be a Mobil Computing version next year.
I'll stop now.
AT&ROFLMAO
They're trying to appeal to two growing demographics: hardcore gaming mobsters and gangsta autocad designers
They're trying to appeal to the Scots- we'll deep-fry anything!
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Thanks. That was perfect:
First off, the summary reads like a press release, as does TFA, is Slashdot that desperate for cash these days? Secondly, the $ITEM itself seems like a pretty useless gimmick.
I don't understand who is supposed to be buying this thing at $LOWPRICE-$HIPRICE.
Hardcore $HOBBY? OK the thing has excellent $FEATURE, but not much better than you could achieve with a decent $COMPETE_TECH $ITEM at a fraction of the price. This group will be put off by the proprietry(and probably overpriced)upgrades and the difficulty of actually $MAINTENANCE the thing, not to mention the pricetag.
$HOBBY2? Why would they pay this much over the odds for a $ITEM that's at best $PERCENT_BETTER% $VERB than a commodity $ITEM? Again, this group will be put off by the lack of a decent $ALTERNATIVE.
$HOBBY3? This group might be interested at first, the one thing an $ITEM might arguably be useful for is $FEATURE. But at $LOWPRICE+, you've got to be joking, there are already very good solutions at a fraction of that price.
Ultimately I just don't see any need for this kind of $ITEM, $ITEM's just don't $BEHAVIOR that it's worth dealing with the hassle. ;)
Isn't most of your cuisine based on dares anyway?
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
I spent a year at University of Edinburgh, and I can tell you the parent should be modded informative, not funny.
"It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."