Silent Computer with watercooling and no fans

lex · Post by **lex** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 5:02 am

In my search for silent computing I think I have finally found what I've been looking for.

Check it out:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q2/za ... dex.x?pg=1

It's a watercooling system without fans. They've thought of everything this time around it seems... they even have a waterblock for the northbridge.

The old version is the Zalman Reserator 1. The newer model is the Zalman Reserator 1 Plus(black).

I've ordered the new model, I'll let you know how it is when I receive it.

Sword9 · Post by **Sword9** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 6:33 am

those tests really don't show a huge reduction in noise levels. It's sure a lot of trouble if it doesn't. It really seemed to cool better, but didn't seem too different from other cooling methods when it came to sound (based on that article).

It'd be good if you'd really spend money to get your HDD's and other noisemakers down I guess.

lex · Post by **lex** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:45 am

I read more about it from different sites. People who bought it said they could only hear noise when they put their ear up against the reserator.

There are no fans used whatsoever. All heat is dissipated by the heat sink looking reserator. You can hear the pump. That's the only thing that makes noise, and you only hear it when you put your ear up against it. That's alot better than the 3 fans I currently have running in my machine.

drew.n · Post by **drew.n** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:21 pm

http://www.markusleonhardt.de/en/oelbilder.html

Beware, lots of pictures.
homebuilt near-silent PC immersed in oil.

lex · Post by **lex** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:33 am

That's brilliant. I would be afraid something might catch fire, but I guess you keep the temps low enough. Wow, didn't think you could submerse your machine in oil.

Where did you get the idea to try that? What kind of system temperatures are you getting? What kind of problems if any have you had?

How do you prevent the oil from plasticizing the wire insulation. My dad is a chemist and I showed him what you did. He said the oil has to be chemically inert towards the polymers. He thinks perhaps it needs to be a silicone oil because they are a poorer solvent than mineral oils. He said oil is a better insulator than air.

For example if you have a tight bundle of wires touching and submersed in oil they may plasticize.

We could find out more if necessary from Dow Corning.

lex · Post by **lex** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:04 am

I just realized that page is in Germany, so it's not you right?

Anyway, that's still neat. I did some searching, here's probably how they did it:

http://www.liquidninjas.com/reviews.php ... =15&page=1

drew.n · Post by **drew.n** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:59 am

yah. not mine.

I believe he used vegtable oil which may be less aggressive than mineral oils.
I have no idea how long it would go before turning rancid.

He got a steady cool temp out of it, and kept the fans turning to help it to keep moving.

There is a liquid called safire ( I think), which I've seen a laptop running in. It was made as a "dry" fire extinguisher, so you could put sprinklers in a library say and not destroy the books. Unfortunately carcinogenic IIRC, and probably expensive.

I know some big transformers use oil cooling, I've no idea what sort of oil though, and again likely to be expensive.

Does your dad have any other ideas for liquids that could be used?

lex · Post by **lex** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:34 am

If you look under the history of goo section in the link I posted they mention this stuff, Midel 7131, used to cool transformers:

http://www.midel.com/

I think that's what you were talking about.

I don't think you want to use organic oils. That would go rancid and start to stink and probably react with something.

My dad mentioned long chains. If you know chemistry you might understand that. I suppose the long chains means the available connections are taken up so less possibilities of reactivity.

Another idea is to find a way to move the connections for the mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc, up and away from the motherboard and the oil. The german guy said the oil was seeping up the wires to the mouse and keyboard so he now keeps the tank under the desk.

Looking at it again it kind of resembles "mother brain" from metroid.

http://snoot.org/f/a/s/wuss/cdetail/74

I think of our own brains and how they kind of follow the same principle of this tank method.

I think I might try this with my old computer. If you hear of a guy that blew up submerging his machine in oil in the state of Michigan, that is probably me.

superpenguin79 · Post by **superpenguin79** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 6:05 am

*dives under the desk* man, don't be blowing up computers here in MI...

no offense guys, the theory of a perfectly quiet machine is good, but there is such a thing as building a room for tracking instruments in and having the computers in a room of their own dubbed a machine room, and then your control room....

personally I would spend $$ on more other gear to get up and running in the studio. Mind you most recording environments are going to have some form of Ambient noise going on in the background at all times anyhow.

drew.n · Post by **drew.n** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 6:11 pm

Yeah. I know what you mean. I've got a really solid oak cupboard which I'll be lining with absorbtion and fitting with cooling ducts in the base and under the top.

It's less messy and probably cheaper, but perhaps not as much fun as throwing it in an oil bath to see what happens.