Scratch Build: The Ultimate Computer Desk

[ultimatedesk]

mnewsham sweet PSU, love seasonic a little pricey but worth it in my opinion.
Thanks mnewsham! I've always used Seasonic's for client builds - yes, they are totally worth it!

nice additional sponsor!!

Thanks Zargon! So awesome eh? I was blown away!

Nice desk!

Thank you munkle!

An amazing job done so far. I've always wanted to try my hand at a project like this, but don't have the patience (or skills )

Looking forward to the next update

Thanks splat_ed! You never know when you might have the opportunity - start your planning!

Feeling a bit more motivated about the right-hand cabinet, I decided that the foam fan-holder had to go. It was too large, was akward, and was difficult to keep straight and in the proper position.

I decided to put together a nice and clean fan holder:

After doing some measuring, I took it to the drill press for the initial holes (I didn't have a hole saw for 120mm fans unfortunately... that would be pretty huge!)

I then took out the spindle sander to sand right to the line. Just an fyi, I swapped out the spindle for a much larger one. This was my first time using this type of sander, and I was very impressed - the degree of accuracy and control is extremely high - perfect for sneaking up on the pre-drawn lines.

Time to drill some holes for the fan screws

And a test fit. The product came out quite nicely - accurate cuts, all 4 of the positions are secure with screws, and this piece should be much easier to align in the proper location in the case.

I had cut a few other new pieces for cable management, but they were rough cuts, as I will not know their exact dimensions until I install hardware. I can't install hardware until I finish cutting and drilling in the right-hand cabinet, and since there is still the issue of the power button, LED's, etc...

Time to get started on that, I suppose!

Kinda looks like a bull head eh?

 

[Zargon]

that will look much better

 

[Howard]

Install some mass damping sheet on that board. It looks like a resonator.

http://www.secondskinaudio.com/vibration-mat/damplifier-pro.php

Maybe you can tell them what you're doing and you can swing a free (big) sample?

Also, soft-mount the fans too.

 

[Zargon]

Install some mass damping sheet on that board. It looks like a resonator.

http://www.secondskinaudio.com/vibration-mat/damplifier-pro.php

Maybe you can tell them what you're doing and you can swing a free (big) sample?

Also, soft-mount the fans too.

this. I mentioned some cheap ways to do it in the [H] thread

 

[Zargon]

???????

 

[ultimatedesk]

that will look much better

Install some mass damping sheet on that board. It looks like a resonator.

http://www.secondskinaudio.com/vibration-mat/damplifier-pro.php

Maybe you can tell them what you're doing and you can swing a free (big) sample?

Also, soft-mount the fans too.

Thanks, both of you - I will likely look into sound issues once I get the systems up and running. Thanks for the ideas though!

I guess it's been a while eh!

Well, you'll be glad to know, that I'm actually almost done. There've been a few changes to the original plan, etc, etc, but I've still been goign full steam ahead, just not a lot of time to post updates lately.

Here you go, some photo bombardment!

First off, my awful cutting job. Notice how the masking tape ripped off some of the polyurethane? Looks pretty great eh.. (NOT!)

Fitting my original faceplate design

I thought it didn't look too bad, but the USB ports were difficult to secure, and there were no audio jacks, so I went about and redesigned a new face plate

Did some work with the band saw, scroll saw, and some sanding, and voila!

Looks not terrible eh? That's a nice unit from Silverstone that I picked up from my local computer store. Everything fits real nice and tight

Holes for the power switch and LEDs look good

And a quick test fit

Wonderful! I cut the hole for the card reader / usb with a jigsaw, but neglected to take photos...

Anyways - after a couple coats of black spray paint, I think it looks pretty cool.

 

[ultimatedesk]

With the faceplate out of the way, and hopefully, the last of the drilling / sawing / making sawdust portion over, for the right-hand cabinet, it meant I had the all clear to install more hardware.

Here are the two hard-drive trays with the actual HDD trays removed.

Gave them a nice coat of black spray paint and they mounted them inside the cabinet. I think they look pretty groovy.

Even groovier loaded up with hard drives.. (Two missing in this pic, 7TB total, however!)

Now, before we get to the next pic... another boon happened recently - traded some of those Core 2 Duo systems + some cash and picked up a really cool previous generation Core i5!

Here's the power supply - a Corsair 650TX, a very quality unit. All that could be better is some modular action. Ah well!

And another beautiful Gigabyte motherboard - a GA-P55-USB3 with 4 GB of G.Skill RAM

Here's the sweet mother. A quad core 2.8Ghz. Wow, talk about moving on up the CPU chain!

I picked up an older version of the Coolermaster Hyper 212 (Not the Plus version) and mounted a pair of Scythe fans to it

Oooh, it's getting so close to boot time!

 

[lsv]

Looking good, maybe you should start up a specialty company

 

[mnewsham]

Looking good, maybe you should start up a specialty company

Lol while a good idea, this project has taken a looonnng time, i could see him doing it with a 2 month wait and a % deposit before it is finished (or even paying in advance). I would personally spend probably a grand on a finished desk of this sort (without computer but including tray etc.) But this seems like it would be a very niche thing (though worth a shot)

 

[Zargon]

very nice progress

 

[GoStumpy]

Just read this thread beginning to end, and I am in awe of your dedication. Amazing.

Nothing sweeter than a solid wood desk.

I am blessed with a 20 year old 1" solid wood desk handed down from my parents

 

[ultimatedesk]

Lol while a good idea, this project has taken a looonnng time, i could see him doing it with a 2 month wait and a % deposit before it is finished (or even paying in advance). I would personally spend probably a grand on a finished desk of this sort (without computer but including tray etc.) But this seems like it would be a very niche thing (though worth a shot)

Thanks - you got it - it would take an awful long time per build, as they would likely be totally custom, and unfortunately, the price required for me to work full time doing this would be rather high for the average bear!

very nice progress

Thanks Zargon - lots more to come!

Just read this thread beginning to end, and I am in awe of your dedication. Amazing.

Nothing sweeter than a solid wood desk.

I am blessed with a 20 year old 1" solid wood desk handed down from my parents

Thanks GoStumpy - very cool to have a "good 'ol" desk handed down. They don't make them that way anymore!

Wow, with all those SATA cables there, it sure messes things up, no?

I went ahead and threw in my current video card (Radeon HD5770, which kicks some pretty decent butt still). I'm sure I'll see an improvement from my P4 3.2!!!

And here's the magical moment. It looks like it's already been tweaked around a bit. Running at 3.2Ghz instead of 2.8Ghz, RAM speed up to 1600Mhz... Hey - nice temps! That's only a few degrees over ambient! (It's chilly in the basement)

Only one major problem with this setup... Can you see what it might be? (Well, ok, there's more than one thing not "ideal")

That might cause an issue. I also don't like the way the heatsink exhausts all of its hot air directly onto the back of the video card, so off to the local computer shop!

This should do the trick:

Much better. Fits almost like it was meant to be.

Looks real good there actually. I think the wide fin spacing will be an advantage as well, since there is going to be a lot of general air flow throughout the cabinet.

 

[dfuze]

Wow, an amazing desk you built!

I also went custom in building mine, but it was no where near what you did!

 

[ultimatedesk]

Wow, an amazing desk you built!

I also went custom in building mine, but it was no where near what you did!

Thanks! You should post a pic!

So, now that the hardware has been installed, I can proceed to managing those cables a little. I first cut a quick piece out of 1/4" hardboard with a few strategic holes

Already much more to my liking. Time to place the new fans with their new mounting system

Ok - with both "plates" in place, I can cut the appropriate holes in the door and go ahead and install!

Woohoo, that blue furnace filter sure looks out of place eh? Everything fits, it's nice, snug, and square, so I went ahead and added a bunch of closed cell foam

Another view of the almost finished right-hand cabinet old i5 system

*Testing*

I've been using this cabinet setup for a little while now, and I'm happy to report that the temperatures are really quite nice. Because I've "sealed" the air intake portion, all of the intake air is coming through the blue furnace filter. You can literally feel suction if you place your hand in front of the filter. There is a massive amount of air coming out of the CPU hole, as well as the open PCI slots, power supply exhaust, and the half inch of space between the door and the "non-intake-area". (You can see in the previous photos, I did not put foam around the entire door perimeter).

So far it has been idling at ambient (23-25) and at maximum, just under 50 degrees Celcius.

I can hear the fans running - they are louder than all of the hard drives spinning up. I am going to get a small fan controller and get them down to the minimum speed while maintaining these current temperatures (There is a very large amount of air running through the case).

*To Do*

I have clearly got to find something to either replace the blue furnace filter, or cover it up with something a little more visually appealing.

Also, I need something to cover the CPU exhaust area. It will need to match whatever I do for the furnace filter area.

'Til next time!

 

[aigomorla]

*To Do*

Add watercooling!

OMG love the custom work!

ADD WATER THO!!!

That middle part would be nice to throw in a 120x4 radiator and u can run everything off 1 loop.

for filters... do you think this might work?
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=31138

Inside Mesh Diminsions = 20 5/8" x 4 11/16" (525mm x 120mm)
Outside Border Diminsions = 21 1/4" x 5 7/8" (540mm x 150mm)

Its called DeciM... they come with a magnetic adhesive for cases which arent magnetic.
That is for a 120x4 radiator... seeing that middle partition it might be just long enough.

@ Fan Controller... why dont u pwm it?
There are Sunbeam PWM that allows u to make 6 regular fans into pwm.

 

[mnewsham]

I would suggest a dark metal grate over a black or dark foam (instead of the blue). It would still be a bit odd looking, but much better then the Blue band in my opinion

 

[ultimatedesk]

*To Do*

Add watercooling!

OMG love the custom work!

ADD WATER THO!!!

That middle part would be nice to throw in a 120x4 radiator and u can run everything off 1 loop.

for filters... do you think this might work?
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=31138

Inside Mesh Diminsions = 20 5/8" x 4 11/16" (525mm x 120mm)
Outside Border Diminsions = 21 1/4" x 5 7/8" (540mm x 150mm)

Its called DeciM... they come with a magnetic adhesive for cases which arent magnetic.
That is for a 120x4 radiator... seeing that middle partition it might be just long enough.

@ Fan Controller... why dont u pwm it?
There are Sunbeam PWM that allows u to make 6 regular fans into pwm.

Thanks for the link - I'm looking for something very similar. As for watercooling, it's something I've considered... I may do that for the "power system"

I would suggest a dark metal grate over a black or dark foam (instead of the blue). It would still be a bit odd looking, but much better then the Blue band in my opinion

Yes, something like that! The blue is just there because that's what I have on hand for now


On the other end of the desk, things have been progressing along nicely as well - had this beauty cut for me

Placing it in the hole, it sits just a little bit too large. The original square I cut out was about a millimetre smaller on one end than the other

So I took out the trusty chisel and did a bit of shaving!

There we go!

Mm, starting to look so awesome!

The foam fan-holder will have to say bye-bye on this side, just like the one in the right-hand cabinet. Doesn't quite look right.

 

[Zargon]

very nice update!

 

[aigomorla]

:O

love the top window.. u definitely need water tubes running thought there!

 

[mnewsham]

Updates?

 

[Zargon]

Updates?

x2!!!!

 

[meloz]

Very impressed by the design and the quality of work. Well done!

 

[mnewsham]

Holidays bump

 

[mnewsham]

Bump

 

[T_Yamamoto]

any updates?