{"id":388948,"date":"2022-01-03T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/"},"modified":"2022-01-03T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T12:00:00","slug":"why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why Oil-Cooled PCs Aren\u2019t Popular Anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41367067681\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41367067681\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/#How_Does_This_Even_Work\" >How Does This Even Work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/#Early_Homebrew_Experiments\" >Early Homebrew Experiments<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/#Commercial_Mineral_Oil_Kits\" >Commercial Mineral Oil Kits<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/#Mineral_Oil_Cooling_Has_Problems\" >Mineral Oil Cooling Has Problems<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/#Water_Cooling_Takes_the_Crown\" >Water Cooling Takes the Crown<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/#Oil_Cooling_Is_Still_Around\" >Oil Cooling Is Still Around!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#Why Oil-Cooled PCs Aren\u2019t Popular Anymore&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage size-full wp-image-771402\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Puget-Oil-Cooled-Computer.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Puget-Oil-Cooled-Computer.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Puget-Oil-Cooled-Computer.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Puget Systems Oil Cooled PC\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/mineral-oil-pc.php\">Puget<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At one point, PC performance enthusiasts had the idea to cool a computer by immersing its components in mineral oil\u2014and it worked! Yet today no one\u2019s doing it anymore, so what h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ened to these awesome submerged \u201cfish tank\u201d PCs?<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Does_This_Even_Work\"><\/span>How Does This Even Work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To make a computer that\u2019s cooled by mineral oil, you need a few things on your shopping list:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A leakproof container, such as an aquarium tank.<\/li>\n<li>Special non-conductive mineral oil.<\/li>\n<li>An (optional) pump that circulates oil in the system.<\/li>\n<li>An (optional) radiator, although you\u2019ll want one on a system that\u2019s always-on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of the solid-state components of the computer are submerged in mineral oil and their heat is dissipated into it directly. Mineral oil has a high specific heat capacity. That\u2019s how much energy you need to pump into the oil to raise its temperature by (for argument\u2019s sake) one degree.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, this means that you can keep putting heat into the oil and it will slowly heat up until it reaches temperature equilibrium. From that point onward, the system will run at a stable temperature under load. Assuming this temperature is below the maximum end of the range, your cooling worries are over.<\/p>\n<p>Passive oil cooling is practical for people who use their computer for a few hours a day and then switch it off, put it to sleep, or let it idle overnight. The oil cools slowly, ready to absorb more heat the next day.<\/p>\n<p>For systems that need active cooling, you can use a pump that circulates the oil through a radiator. Fans extract heat from the oil running through the radiator cooling the whole thing down. While this isn\u2019t as quiet as a passive system, using large low-RPM fans triggered only at certain temperature thresholds is still quite inaudible.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Early_Homebrew_Experiments\"><\/span>Early Homebrew Experiments<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Just as with water cooling, in the beginning, you could not buy the equipment you needed to make a mineral oil system off the shelf. That meant people who wanted to try building such a computer had to make a visit to the local aquarium shop and perhaps repurpose small automotive oil radiators.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll still find forum posts all over the internet of these projects. Similarly, some magazine publications and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2V06LLTNxc4\">YouTubers<\/a> tried their hand at building these systems as well, with varying levels of success. Interest in oil-cooled PCs started taking off among performance enthusiasts. \u201cTaking off\u201d might be an overstatement, but it was an intriguing option if you wanted high-performance cooling in a system that could run 24\/7.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Commercial_Mineral_Oil_Kits\"><\/span>Commercial Mineral Oil Kits<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-771403 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Puget-V2-Kit.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Puget V2 Kit\" width=\"650\" height=\"432\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/mineral-oil-pc.php\" data-credittext=\"Puget\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/mineral-oil-pc.php\">Puget<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With enough interest in the enthusiast market, there were actually some commercial mineral oil kits on sale. The best-known of these is the kit from the custom system builder <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/\">Puget<\/a>. The company tested and developed several iterations of a mineral oil cooling system, running their first prototype for over a year to see what the long-term effects were. Satisfied that it was feasible, you could (for a while) buy the kit from them.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, another company claimed that Puget\u2019s oil-cooling kit infringed on their patents, and rather than pay royalties, Puget decided to stop selling the kits. It\u2019s not clear how many people bought such kits or whether they built long-term systems with them. Either way, we could not find many commercial kits on the web today. One company, Coolbitts, does offer an <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.coolbitts.com\/shop\/icebox5-sys-1\">immersion kit<\/a> for high-end systems for an eye-watering $2450.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mineral_Oil_Cooling_Has_Problems\"><\/span>Mineral Oil Cooling Has Problems<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Cooling a computer with mineral oil has plenty of advantages and it\u2019s an interesting way to create a unique computer that looks awesome. At least, assuming you do it right. That being said, there are\u00a0<em>many\u00a0<\/em>issues you have to deal with when building a mineral oil computer system.<\/p>\n<p>First, the oil itself has to be maintained. Puget systems said in their testing that changing or filtering the oil once a year would probably be sufficient. It\u2019s not that the oil gets worse at cooling, it\u2019s just that it becomes less clear over time, affecting the look of the computer.<\/p>\n<p>If you have optical drives or mechanical hard drives, they can\u2019t be immersed in oil, since they are designed to work in air. This means you have to create a special bay and cabling. These days, with SSDs and digital downloads, you don\u2019t need these types of drives in your PC, so it\u2019s less of an issue.<\/p>\n<p>Any input\/output device, such as USB ports, should preferably be out of the oil. While it won\u2019t hurt your ports or your plugs in the short term, having a non-conductive fluid between the two connectors probably isn\u2019t a great idea. Oil can also wick up connected cables and slowly end up outside the tank!<\/p>\n<p>There are also stories of mineral oil dissolving rubber components. When Puget tested its system, even after a year, there wasn\u2019t any evidence of this. However, it does depend on the exact oil and type of material. This is why it\u2019s important to use specific <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/store.steoil.com\/mineral-oil-pc-kit\/\">specialist mineral oil<\/a> and not just the stuff you find in a supermarket.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, mineral oil PC cooling has a lot of maintenance issues that make it impractical for mainstream use, which is probably why water cooling has become the preferred way to cool high-performance components.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Water_Cooling_Takes_the_Crown\"><\/span>Water Cooling Takes the Crown<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-772225 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/water-cooled-pc.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A water-cooling system for a desktop PC.\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/water-cooling-acrylic-tube-system-on-1097186816\" data-credittext=\"Phuwadach Pattanatmon\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/water-cooling-acrylic-tube-system-on-1097186816\">Phuwadach Pattanatmon\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Today it\u2019s not hard to water-cool your CPU. You can simply buy a water cooler from a store, attach it to the rails that are probably already in your PC case and stick it on your CPU just as easily as a normal air cooler. GPUs are trickier, but if you buy the right model, you can either find a water-cooler for it or just buy a card that\u2019s water-cooled out of the box.<\/p>\n<p>Custom water-cooling loops remain a niche solution, but it\u2019s not hard to find professional system builders who will build a system with a custom cooling loop for you. The maintenance on sealed all-in-one coolers is non-existent since they aren\u2019t designed to be refilled or opened. Maintenance on custom loops represents an hour or two of work, depending on the exact design. This maintenance only has to be done every few months or every few years, depending on the specific coolant. So it\u2019s not hard to see why water cooling is (relatively) mainstream today but mineral-oil aquarium PCs are not.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Oil_Cooling_Is_Still_Around\"><\/span>Oil Cooling Is Still Around!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean that oil-cooled PCs are completely gone. You\u2019ll still find that people are still making them, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ya-Xt3Y16Lw\">even in 2021<\/a>. Is it something you should consider? Probably not, but it does look like a fascinating project to tackle and in some cases, such as needing a completely silent passively-cooled system, there may even be a practical reason to attempt it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/769887\/why-oil-cooled-pcs-arent-popular-anymore\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Why Oil-Cooled PCs Aren\u2019t Popular Anymore&#8221; Puget At one point, PC performance enthusiasts had the idea to cool a computer by immersing its components in mineral oil\u2014and it worked! Yet today no one\u2019s doing it anymore, so what happened to these awesome submerged \u201cfish tank\u201d PCs? How Does This Even Work? To make a computer&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":388949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Puget-Oil-Cooled-Computer.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-388948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}