Here I have the tank set up with all the parts inside - this actually took a while, since I had to figure out how to arrange the cables in a way that I could use them, and not have it running criss-crossed all over the place like in a closed case pc. I sort of regret going with such a tall fish tank. I suppose at some point I should try and locate some long cables like the ones they use in those clear-case modified PCs. Then maybe I can plug in the DVD drive again. I'll have to network off another DVD drive for now if I need it, which is rare in any case.
I almost gashed my arm putting these things in place - gotta be careful...
Rear view showing the vidcard
I filled it to a point where the oil is just covering the bottom of the interfaces on the back of the board. The computer turned on with no problem. The pump was a different story, it refused to pump oil through the radiator until I cleared all the air from the tubes. That was a bit of effort since it required me to basically suck the air out by mouth, without getting a mouthful of oil. The rubber tubing smell was pretty gross already, so I tried to just get a mouthful of air at a time as if it were a drink through a straw, without getting any in my lungs. It also changed the level of mineral oil in the tank, so I had to top it off again.
Checking the fans, the CPU fan was turning, but the video card fan and power supply fan ran only intermittently - on a bit, off a bit, as if the oil was too thick and had triggered a safety stop mechanism. I turned up the speed of the vidcard fan from 30% to 100% using NTune software and and that solved it. Though I have to do it in software every time I'm powering up - I wonder how I set the fan speed to 100% permanently? The power supply fan I haven't found a way to modify, blah.
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The PC has run like this for about a week or so now. I haven't kept it on continuously, only when I'm using it. The video card runs at 50 degrees instead of 80 degrees now. The motherboard is still running at it's 30ish degrees that it usually runs at.
The system is a LOT quieter now - the pump's muted hum is the only sound. I did submerge the pump under the oil to help keep it quiet, so it's not in exactly the same spot as you see in the pictures above.
I put a chassis fan in front of the radiator the other day, to help with cooling - the chassis fan runs silently, though it looks kind of silly. I wish I had a desk fan or something bigger, that ran at a quiet, slow speed. The only ones I have sound like an airplane taking off. Maybe I'll get a potentiometer or something and modify it to run slowly and quietly. I only want to have a quiet breeze on the radiator otherwise what is the point of this whole project? :P
The only bad thing that's come out of this is that the built in sound card stopped working. I didn't actually find out till last night, since I'd been just using my USB headset. I think there is something messed up about the line out stereo jack. The software works, the drivers are fine, the meters indicate operation, and even the cables and stereo are okay when I hook up it up to something other than the computer. I messed around with the SPDIF in/out ports and tried to plug it into my digital inputs on my stereo, but I couldn't get it to work. I may have to try a seperate sound card. :P Yeesh.
Anyways, more later when I figure out how to tidy up the cable mess on top of the tank.
Upsen.
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