• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Desk Drawer Case Q's

W

Woodie

Platinum Member
So I got a new desk for my (home) office....and I need a nice place to put my pc...so, I thought I'd put it into the desk. I've seen a few pics...but has anyone done this?

I envision taking out one of the drawers, and building the PC into the drawer.
--Two 5.25" (optical) drive mounts out the front of the drawer, along with USB, firewire and LED.
--3.5" floppy drive that's only accessible when you open the drawer.
--Power switch and audio headers mounted next to the drawer, on the panel right next to my leg. (out of sight).
--Holes in the floor of the drawer for cool air intake
--ATX board (mATX?) in the center of the drawer
--HD's in a cage between the mobo and the rear
--PSU and additional output fans at the rear of the drawer.
-- Extra vent holes in the desk to allow exhausting hot air..either to the rear, or possibly to the side? (not the inside--to hot to sit at!

Many parts (cages, etc..) would be scavenged from old cases, although I'd expect to have to purchase some parts.

Can I do it in the small drawer? (the top one, about 6" tall)
or do I have to use the larger (file) drawer?
Any tips on how to do this w/o making a complete mess of the drawer front?
Any links to pics or descriptions of something like this?

TIA,

 
you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as you:

Very Good Airflow - like 2 120mm through the front(or wherever) and 2 120mm through the back.
(Intake with dust screens)

Good seal so you have a good air Channeling between the fans

Make sure your HS is very secure.

Your HDD will have to be actively cooled by a fan because they cannot transfer their heat via Conduction. Wood isnt a great conductor.

Put like a layer of cardboard or something non-conductive under the mobo.


Also, I doubt you need a floppy drive now a days... esp if you do a Win XP + SP2 slipstream - this allows you to not need a floppy at all even for RAID/SATA drivers.

Also, itd be good if you had someway to monitor the critical temps inside just to be certain. Wood is flamable, you dont want it to combust for some heat related reason.

Have fun!
 
What are the inside dimensions of the drawer? I was thinking you could take the front off the drawer and mount one of the new compact cases in there.
.bh.
 
Hmmm...interesting idea...but I was hoping to use the orginal drawer front, since it's in nice condition. I'm thinking more of a stealth-type setup. Quiet, out of sight, as minimalist as I can.

I took another look at the drawer..it's about 12" wide, ~4" tall, and ~24" deep. I think cooling/airflow are going to be the biggest challenges.

 
Originally posted by: Woodie
Hmmm...interesting idea...but I was hoping to use the orginal drawer front, since it's in nice condition. I'm thinking more of a stealth-type setup. Quiet, out of sight, as minimalist as I can.

I took another look at the drawer..it's about 12" wide, ~4" tall, and ~24" deep. I think cooling/airflow are going to be the biggest challenges.
Click to expand...


hmm.. 4" tall only... Thats gonna be a toughy since heat rises naturally, and if you cant evacuate that heat, its going to accumulate very quickly. I dont know if you can use those huge Tower Heat sinks for your cpu and run a 92mm fan on it? This might give the heat dissipation some direction within that drawer... But you will need at least say 2-3x 92mm fans exhausting out the back of the drawer, and somehow, get the equivalent of 2-3x 92mm fans cool intake air...
 
Hmmm...I was hoping to put a pair of 120s, one out the back, one to the side (both at the back of the drawer) along w/ the PSU.
Then, an intake area (large...like 8" x 10") with a filter at the bottom front. I was hoping to avoid an intake fan and the associated noise. I'm sort of going by my Sonata, which only has a single fan in the PSU, along w/ a single 120mm exhaust. It seemed to do quite fine, even during the summer, and w/ doing DC on it 24x7.

What may be trickier is getting the air out of the desk entirely...as in where to put exhaust vents in the drawer cabinet , not the drawer. It also occurs to me, that I may benefit from putting a top on the drawer...to help draw air from the intake towards the front, over the mobo, and to the rear exhaust.
 
Well, you could "stealth" the drawer front - mount it on a piece of piano hinge. You would just have to modify it with some air vents. Let me see if I can find a microATX case that will go in there - it would be easy to do with miniITX, but I don't think you want to give up that much power.
.bh.
 
I asked a similar question a month ago or so. I actually bought a new computer desk that has a computer cabinet built in. My BQE fits inside with 1/2 in to spare on all sides...just enough for some dampening material. The back of the cabinet is a compressed-cardboard type material that I'll cut 120mm and 80mm holes in (one for case exhaust and 1 for the PSU) and back the computer right up to it. No problem there. But I need to figure out how to get fresh cool air for the front intake 120mm fan.

I'm thinking of either opening a vent in the botttom of the cabinet right under the intake and hopingthe vacuum created by the moving air will draw air up in or possibly running a ran externally to pull air up...or opening a vent on the side to let convection handle it and just baffling it. I need to get a hold of a thermodynamics guy somewhere and get some sound advice before sawing my new desk. 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top