Behold the fridge PC - LANs are thirsty work, why not make life easy?

KARMA IT didn't like the fact that he had to walk 50 paces to get drinks - so he brought the fridge to him, creating this fridge PC project in only 2 days.

@smithymayo

Published Jan 14, 2015 5:05 PM CST
Updated Nov 3, 2020 1:10 PM CST

1 minute & 32 seconds read time

You've just wrapped up smashing your brothers Counter-Strike team 16-5 again, naturally you top-scored and he's off crying in the corner. What better way to celebrate then an ice-cold energy drink to gulp down and keep yourself fueled for the next 16 hours of rage-filled gaming?

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LANs are thirsty work and rather than walking 50 paces to the official drinks counter, Ryan Hooper from Karma IT decided to bring it to himself - producing his special fridge PC. This monster was made over a 48 hour period, then driven immediately to the SGL #6 LAN party, hosted in January 2012. What's even more impressive is that this was a 1,400 km (870 mi) one-way journey for Karma to trek.

Not only did this water-cooled fridge PC give Karma the ability to keep his temps crazily low, it "never missed a beat" according to the man himself - even though condensation is an obvious major issue. This custom-loop setup saw his Intel Core i7-3930k run at a stable 5.25GHz without exceeding 19 degrees under load, alongside his ASUS Matrix Platinum GTX580 GPU sitting at 20 degrees maximum when overclocked to a 1400 MHz core.

As for the full specifications, they are as follows:

Chassis: 210L bar fridge with a 3hp compressor - capable of running @ 0 degrees

PSU: Silverstone 1200w Strider Gold

MOBO: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930k

RAM: 16gb of 2133mhz DDR3 Corsair Dominator GT

SSD: 2x Corsair Force GT 120GB in Raid 0

GFX: ASUS Matrix Platinum GTX580

So I bet you're wondering about condensation right about now. To combat any water issues he might face, Karma lacquered (painted in sealant) the motherboard, video card, RAM and more - ensuring that there was total protection from anything wishing to get in. In our time talking, he mentioned that "there was water everywhere, but it cant short if it's sealed."

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As for the watercooling setup, it was fully custom. Karma created his own GPU water block as they weren't available at the time, alongside using a triple 480mm radiator setup to ensure he could achieve the crazy low temperatures as seen above.

We hope you've enjoyed yet another modded system here at TweakTown - we'll be covering one almost daily, so keep on coming back for more action.