You still need to cool the oil.
The thing is the oil has a HUGE thermal capacity, and it'll take up to 8-12 hours to heat up, but it can and will eventually hit critical temperatures if not properly cooled. A poor choice (IMO) for 24/7 dedicated mining. There are silent/efficient ways to cool the oil, but don't think that just using mineral oil is a magical solution
Oil cooling can be a real sweet deal for home computers, though, as the computer will be turned off before the oil heats up.
I'd like to be clear - I'm just a hobbyist - not really in it to be a business or anything. I'm more interested in the technology and the idea behind it all. If I can get the card to pay for itself, I'm running it into the ground anyway since there's no actual cost except the opportunity cost of the resale value. The thing is the oil has a HUGE thermal capacity, and it'll take up to 8-12 hours to heat up, but it can and will eventually hit critical temperatures if not properly cooled. A poor choice (IMO) for 24/7 dedicated mining. There are silent/efficient ways to cool the oil, but don't think that just using mineral oil is a magical solution
Oil cooling can be a real sweet deal for home computers, though, as the computer will be turned off before the oil heats up.
My thought on cooling it was to run it through a radiator and to circulate the oil - which would also speak to the other point about mixing the oil. Or just put a fan blowing across the top - prolly want to undervolt it to cut down on the noise
Cost wise for the oil - it would probably cost more than the electricity to run the fans, true, but less than a water cooled system. How much oil would you need? You can buy a quart at walmart or target for under $2. Say you put it in 2 gallons, that's like $16 and if we need more, it's still pretty cheap. The main problem I have is how much oil do I need in order to keep the temps stabilized?
The huge upside is that there is low or no noise for the system.