Presenting "The Coffin"

ddrueding

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My fundamental complaint with the noise profile of 1U servers is that they contain many, many small high-speed fans. If you could instead take a couple large (say, 1m) slow (600rpm) fans and duct that air into the front of it the server would be much quieter. Of course, the fan blades would need to be more of a screw than a blade to create the static pressure required, but that doesn't make noise.
 

LunarMist

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Oh yeah, that would be just great for repairs, not to mention the possibility of a warranty on the components.
 

Bozo

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Oh yeah, that would be just great for repairs, not to mention the possibility of a warranty on the components.

Except in this case Intel is backing the technology. If you bought 'oil ready' componates from Intel, I'm sure they would back them.
From my experiance working with oil filled transformers, the mineral oil used is not sticky-gooey like cooking oil.
 

MaxBurn

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I'm thinking along the lines of white vinegar but not sure how effective it would be.

There is a colo somewhere that does oil immersion for all their servers, they cite some good efficiency numbers. The datacenter rooms themselves I don't believe are cooled/heated. Used to be commercials for them on one of the podcasts I listened to, can't remember who though.

Most of the data centers I deal with that want some efficiency just have hot/cold isle layouts and do containment on either the hot or cold. Some don't even do that, they just do the vents in certain places and perf tiles in others. My company has gotten into in rack or near rack XD cooling too, that's interesting.
 

ddrueding

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1. All my workstation drives are SSD now.
2. The chassis they sell has mounting points above the tank for drives
3. Despite legit concerns, there are people on the internet who have HDDs submerged for years without issue, and I didn't find anyone who did have an issue.
 

ddrueding

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I received the prototype of my Protocase-made custom chassis on Friday. Just waiting on a couple parts in the next couple days and I'll have something cool to share.
 

Santilli

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This is still mounted in the garage, with everything else going through the wall, with cables, correct?

Last time I saw it, work of art, using 4k monitors. Amazing stuff.

If things keep going well, I may be revamping mine.;_)
 

Handruin

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Looks well made. What's the plan with the angled radiator-looking shrouded thing inside the case? I see the pipe work heading outside the case, what's the plan there? Is that for the reservoir and pump or is that for maintenance (draining, etc)? Is this going to be for a client/customer or is this your new home system?
 

ddrueding

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The prototype will be my home system, eventually they will go in all of the industrial environments I run.

You may have noticed that the case is completely closed; no intake or exhaust ports at all. The radiator inside is a heat exchanger to get any ambient heat out of the case. The major sources (CPU, GPU, VRM) have dedicated waterblocks. The rest of the cooling system (res, pump, rad) are outside the case connected via the visible quick disconnects.

Also worth noting is that all the IO is on the front panel of the case, no access to the rest of the chassis is required.
 

Handruin

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I'm interested in seeing the finished product. What is the expected service interval for the cooling system? I'm guessing you will need to do some periodic flushing of these systems over time. I'd love to hear more about how well the internal passive radiator works on removing the heat from the PSU. Interesting project.
 

ddrueding

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Thanks! The water loop at home has been in 24/7 operation without fluid change (or even adding fluid) for nearly 4 years. The pump is a little noisier than when it was new, but no issues at all. We'll see once I stick a similar system in an industrial environment how well it holds up.
 

Handruin

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Your home system is in somewhat of a controlled temperature environment. I wonder if you will need to experiment with fluid additives for the cooling to adapt to a possible larger range of temperature changes in these industrial environments? Have you looked into Noctua's industrial fan line to use on the radiators that will live in the more-challenging industrial environment? They have some level of certification for dust and water protection that may give you more time between replacement or maintenance. I realize you're not asking for any help with this; I'm living vicariously through you in this interesting project. :)
 

ddrueding

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If I didn't want feedback, I wouldn't have posted it ;)

I've been running 100% Koolance 702 UV-Blue in my system, and will probably continue to do so. Good to -5C and anti-corrosion/biological. UV is good for detecting leaks.

As far as the rest of the cooling system is concerned, I've left a lot of it with the facilities guys at the plants. Some of the crazier thoughts I may have encouraged involve no fans anywhere in the system:

1. giant array of radiators next to system (either truck heater cores, radiators, old cast-iron steam radiators, etc).
2. Coils of pipe buried underground below frost line (my favorite).
3. Giant reservoir with passive fins on the exterior

My main concern is to make sure that whatever pump they have in mind doesn't cause enough head pressure to pop my fittings. For that matter it will probably be two pumps in parallel with check valves for redundancy.
 

Handruin

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That's good to know about the coolant being able to work in a wide range of temperatures. I didn't know about the UV characteristic but that makes sense with finding leaks.

I like the ideas you've mentioned in reducing the possible failure of moving parts like fans. I don't remember if we've discussed it on SF but I've enjoyed seeing projects where people put radiators in different locations other than where the PC actually is like that whole-room cooling project Linus attempted. I would love to try water-cooling a system and putting a radiator in a cool basement or underground like you've suggested.

Could you add some kind of a pressure regulator to the intake of your quick-connects to ensure this won't happen no matter their solution?
 

ddrueding

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Indeed. A pressure regulator could be handy. My favorite was someone who ran the coolant into a heat exchanger with their swimming pool.
 

Handruin

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Wow man, looks nice. I see your signature was updated with a 5.1GHz on a 7700k. That's an impressive OC; is it really stable 24x7? Did you delid the CPU to improve the TIM? I've read in other forums and news sites that there is remarkable reductions in heat when deliding these and applying better TIM.

Not much room for storage though. I'm guessing SSD is the only real option in a case like this.
 

ddrueding

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Wow man, looks nice. I see your signature was updated with a 5.1GHz on a 7700k. That's an impressive OC; is it really stable 24x7? Did you delid the CPU to improve the TIM? I've read in other forums and news sites that there is remarkable reductions in heat when deliding these and applying better TIM.

Not much room for storage though. I'm guessing SSD is the only real option in a case like this.

No delid. Just dropped it in, hit it the "5Ghz" preset on the motherboard, and then bumped the voltage and clock a notch. No idea if it is stable yet, but I may have totally lucked out.

This motherboard has a vertical M.2 slot extending out near the edge, and I've just stuck the drive in there. I have another variant of this chassis that has a bracket for 2x 2.5" drives on the back wall, but it really isn't necessary. If you want to mount an SSD, just use double-sided tape.
 

CougTek

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It looks very well done. I would have left a little more extrat lenght on the pipes to be safer in case of vibrations, but still quite well made.

What's the internal temperature once the cover is on and the system is being pushed for several hours?
 
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