Stunning BioShock PC case mod proves utopia is not underwater
by James Ransom-Wiley 
on Oct 9th 2010 12:30PM
46
Reader Comments (46)
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 12:35PM DBuckEye said
That's pretty amazing, but I feel like he could have added more than just a big daddy action figure.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 2:20PM MoonWalkerCTE said
@DBuckEye Why is this so special? It has been done countless of times! The only difference I see with this one is that he added a Bioshock figure..
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Posted: Oct 9th 2010 12:36PM jjm said
i'm sorry but this really isnt that great of a case mod. all he did was stick everything in mineral oil with some rocks, a bioshock figure, and a few fans to make bubbles
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:06PM Mmmmz said
@Pico
People have tried this quite a bit ever since acrylic cases came out. Most choose mineral oil, some even used cooking oil and motor oil.
It's a fairly effective method of cooling your system while at the same time pretty much never being able to swap the parts ever again without worry.
So it's nothing new and this, while not "custom" is far, far cooler:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/hardcorepc_reactor
(BTW I believe what he used in the video is actually a OEM case designed for this use so again he did nothing but put a Big Daddy figure in it...)
Reply
People have tried this quite a bit ever since acrylic cases came out. Most choose mineral oil, some even used cooking oil and motor oil.
It's a fairly effective method of cooling your system while at the same time pretty much never being able to swap the parts ever again without worry.
So it's nothing new and this, while not "custom" is far, far cooler:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/hardcorepc_reactor
(BTW I believe what he used in the video is actually a OEM case designed for this use so again he did nothing but put a Big Daddy figure in it...)
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:16PM Assmar said
@Pico Yeah, if you're that impressed, go ahead and give it a shot.
http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php
Reply
http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 2:06PM Special Agent Steve said
@Deschain
Yeah, I've seen this plenty of times. It's a novelty idea, but all the guy really did was add a Bioshock figure. He could've at least put in some underwater buildings or something... or Andrew Ryan.
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Yeah, I've seen this plenty of times. It's a novelty idea, but all the guy really did was add a Bioshock figure. He could've at least put in some underwater buildings or something... or Andrew Ryan.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 12:40PM BrianH said
only problme i have ever had with submersing the PC is getting access to parts
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:05PM DVecc said
...someone explain to me why this didn't short??? and could this be the greatest liquid cooler ever?
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 2:03PM pandaSmore said
@BrianH
So is distilled water, any reason no one has used that.
Reply
So is distilled water, any reason no one has used that.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 2:47PM MacabreArts said
@pandaSmore
if a couple of skin flakes, a pinch of salt, or anything else got in your distilled water, the water would start conducting, and the world would end (or computer would die, your pick)
Reply
if a couple of skin flakes, a pinch of salt, or anything else got in your distilled water, the water would start conducting, and the world would end (or computer would die, your pick)
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 3:23PM Kevadu said
@pandaSmore
Even just the dust that is normally on your parts would have enough contaminates in it to un-distil your water. You would have to somehow clearn everything beforehand and assemble your PC in a cleanroom for that to even have a chance of working...
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Even just the dust that is normally on your parts would have enough contaminates in it to un-distil your water. You would have to somehow clearn everything beforehand and assemble your PC in a cleanroom for that to even have a chance of working...
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:08PM dnelson1025 said
maybe not impressive, but its pretty darn cool
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:11PM Assmar said
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 3:57PM biggiesmooth said
@Assmar
Nice! I'm getting close to hitting the new computer market. I think I may have to do this.
Reply
Nice! I'm getting close to hitting the new computer market. I think I may have to do this.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:15PM LaughingTarget said
If he went with a solid state drive, he could have submerged the entire thing.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:31PM Hoops said
I don't understand why he couldn't submerge the harddrive if he could submerge everything else. Was he just being cautious/didn't want oil all over his hardrive?
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 3:29PM Optimaximal said
@Hoops because HDDs rely on air pressure inside the drive to keep the drive separate from the platter - since it's not sealed, water/oil would just cause the head to crash and ruin the drive.
As the above poster said, if he has used an SSD, he would have been fine.
Reply
As the above poster said, if he has used an SSD, he would have been fine.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 4:07PM JonahStein said
@Hoops
Hard drive = spinning disc
Spinning disc + viscous oil = friction
Like another post stated, solid state hard drive (like flash memory) would have been okay I guess...
Reply
Hard drive = spinning disc
Spinning disc + viscous oil = friction
Like another post stated, solid state hard drive (like flash memory) would have been okay I guess...
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:47PM Funkmaster General said
Maybe I'm not as jaded as some of you, but I think it's awesome.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:49PM Rhamsey said
That was a pretty awesome mod that didn't seem that hard to pull off. Maybe I'll try something like that.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 1:59PM Nero6 said
Typical Joystiq, posting news that came out days ago http://kotaku.com/5655629/is-a-man-not-entitled-to-a-fantastic-bioshock-case-mod
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 4:40PM RickGhastly said
@Nero6 Occasionally it does, but dumbassery tends to get downvoted a lot more.
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Posted: Oct 9th 2010 8:15PM LaughingTarget said
@Nero6
Consider this - time is limited, and most of us aren't going to spend all of it trawling through the vast depths of the Internet just to say we found the news a few hours earlier.
Reply
Consider this - time is limited, and most of us aren't going to spend all of it trawling through the vast depths of the Internet just to say we found the news a few hours earlier.
Posted: Oct 11th 2010 1:54PM Nero6 said
@RickGhastly Right, cause it'd be too much for Joystiq to add another website to their daily checklist... I mean that would take what, a whole two extra seconds?
Sorry bro, but with all the Joystiq fanboys I'm convinced the more downvotes I get the more right I am. Denial is bliss. Keep up the good work, boys.
Reply
Sorry bro, but with all the Joystiq fanboys I'm convinced the more downvotes I get the more right I am. Denial is bliss. Keep up the good work, boys.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 3:03PM WMcPete said
As others have pointed out, there wasn't really much to what was done here... He bought a case that was designed for this purpose, added some aquarium rocks, and a Big Daddy figure he probably got from Toys-r-Us. It is cool how you can do this in the oil and all, but a few more decorations would have been nice. Like maybe an adam slug stuck to the glass, some infused glowing sea kelp, or something?
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 3:29PM Lekko said
This isn't really a case mod at all. He didn't 'mod' anything.
To me, putting a figurine in a mineral oil tank is about as much of an incredible case mod as putting a mario sticker on a red laptop. It matches the theme, but isn't really doing anything above and beyond.
Granted, a mineral oil tank is not seen very often, and if it is your first time seeing one, I can imagine you would be impressed.
To me, putting a figurine in a mineral oil tank is about as much of an incredible case mod as putting a mario sticker on a red laptop. It matches the theme, but isn't really doing anything above and beyond.
Granted, a mineral oil tank is not seen very often, and if it is your first time seeing one, I can imagine you would be impressed.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 4:18PM ticklefist said
De ja vu. I feel like I read this recently.
Posted: Oct 9th 2010 5:58PM (Unverified) said
how is all those components going to get air?, a computer with all those specs needs a lot of fans, also where is the usb slots how is he going to connect anything, dvd drive? pc monitor connection? also all that liquid in the long term can't be good for the components, rust could show up rendering his pc useless.
Posted: Oct 10th 2010 1:03AM pluupy said
He should've put scientists, fishies, and a "WELCOME TO RAPTURE" sign in there. :P
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