Mineral Oil PC: DIY Office Project

 

What has a motherboard, a Star Wars Lego scene, and over 20L of mineral oil? Our mineral oil PC! We decided to get a little crafty in the office and put together our own mineral oil PC, after seeing a few DIY models circulating online.

We decided to make the project from scratch using parts we had lying around the office. So, we should note that this PC wasn’t built with performance or longevity in mind. We used a modular power supply so we wouldn’t have too many excess cables coming from the tank and we used a USB hub to connect our USB WiFi adapter and wireless keyboard and mouse. Heavy-duty mineral oil PCs usually include a pump and radiator but we didn’t include these pieces to cut down on costs. The most important factors for us in this project were having fun and making the tank look neat so that we could display it in the office. 

Check out our mineral oil PC building process below! 

 

 

Want to try building your own mineral oil PC? Check out our steps below.

 

Recommended Parts

 

 

 

• Mineral oil: AgriLabs Mineral Oil Light – Make sure to calculate exactly how much oil your tank will need.
• Fish tank: Fluval Flex LED Freshwater Kit – If you plan on decorating your tank, make sure to order a larger tank. This tank also comes with built-in LED lights, which is a bonus.
• Motherboard (CPU, CPU fan, power switch)
• SSD drive
• Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB
• Power supply: EVGA 550 B3
• Video card: EVGA Geforce GTX 560 
• Motherboard hanger clip
• Wireless WiFi module for internet
• Multiple USB socket extenders
• Wireless USB module for keyboard and mouse
• Tank decorations: pebbles, castles, figurines, Lego—whatever you like!
• Heavy-duty glue: for gluing your decorations down

 

Installation Steps

 

Part 1: Preparation

 

Time: Approximately 5 minutes

1. Prepare your fish tank. This includes unboxing it, putting it together, and cleaning it.

 

Part 2: Building The PC

 

Time: Approximately 15 minutes

1. Attach a hanger clip to the motherboard.

 

 

2. Install the CPU and CPU fan.

 

 

 

3. Install the memory card

4. Install the video card.

 

 

5. Connect the SATA cable.

 

 

6. Install the power switch.

7. Connect all power cables on the motherboard.

8. Hang the motherboard on the fish tank wall.

 

 

9. Connect the 110V power line to the power supply.

10. Put the power supply and SSD drive inside the tank.

11. Connect the power cable to the power supply and the SATA cable to the SSD.

12. Connect a mini HDMI cable to the video card.

 

 

13. Connect a multiple USB port extender to the motherboard.

14. Test out your PC and make sure it turns on.

 

Part 3: Decorating

 

Time: Approximately 20 minutes + 6-8 hours for the glue to dry 

1. Decorate your tank however you like. If you’re using Lego like we did, make sure to super glue the pieces down so that they don’t move around once the oil is poured and the PC is turned on.

 

 

Part 4: Pouring the Oil

 

Time: Approximately 10 minutes

1. Pour the mineral oil into the tank slowly until entire tank is filled.

 

 

 

2. Turn on the PC and LED lights if you chose to install them.

 

 

 

That’s it! This entire project can be completed in a day but you will need to order all of your pieces first. The largest delay for us was ordering all of the pieces we needed and waiting for them to arrive. We had many of the necessary parts on hand but there were some pieces, like the Lego and mineral oil, which we needed to find online and order.

What do you think of our mineral oil PC? Do you have any questions about the process?