110-pound cast-iron Victorian radiator upcycled into a gaming PC — massive radiator used for cooling the bottom-mounted PC components
Billet Labs have teased a new gaming PC build where a 110 pound cast iron radiator is (almost entirely) the PC.
PC cooling innovators Billet Labs have taken to social media to tease a new gaming PC build where the radiator is (almost entirely) the PC. The crafty London-based outfit has taken a stubby but incredibly stout 110-pound (~50kg) cast-iron radiator, likely torn from a Victorian-era dwelling, and installed all the usual gaming PC components beneath. At the time of recording, they had just started adding all the copper heatsinks and necessary pipe work to connect the PC’s heat-producing components to this hulking 10L+ vessel.
We have to admit that, at this time of year, having such a cute yet portly radiator on or near your home office computer desk would be a literally heartwarming experience. The design of this cast iron fixture is almost too handsome to hide away, though, with its broad, rounded, iron-finned structure standing upon ornamentally scrolled feet.
The Billet Labs folk provide a brief tour of this unfinished masterpiece that melds technologies from centuries apart. As indicated in the intro, all the main PC components are to be found underneath the belly of this beast. Looking at it from the rear, starting from the left, there are the graphics card outputs, then the motherboard I/O, and then what appears to be an exhaust from a PSU.
(Image credit: Billet Labs )
The layout we saw from the rear is confirmed when Billet Labs flipped this pot-bellied cast-iron rad on its back. We now see the copper heatsink and plumbing being assembled in earnest. “By the time I’ve plumbed it all in, this entire thing is going to be covered in copper pipes, and… It's going to be pretty crazy,” reckons the custom cooling PC artisan in the video.
We can’t make out what particular PC components Billet has chosen for this build. However, it wouldn’t do justice to the cast-iron Victorian radiator to use anything other than one of the best gaming CPUs and best graphics cards available. Those tend to require significant power and are demanding when traditionally cooled, so this specialized build might be perfect for keeping them running at full performance, quietly, without throttling. We can’t wait to see further developments.
