Project: The Ultimate Computer Desk

[ICIT2LOL]

That pic

Hiyya ultimate just been flat out mate with repairing - that pic of the invisible tape I said I'd send. (Errrr sorry re the clutter lol!!)

Oh and I was thinking what someone had said about the heat within the unit - how does a large solid aluminium back to the desk sound - perhaps with a few cooling fins along the length of the unit on the outside and inside. Maybe set some fans into it?

 

[LTFUbar]

USB goodies for your desk: Belkin Grommet Hole

This could be useful to your project

 

[ultimatedesk]

A New Face Plate

It's awesome the amount of sponsorships this beast of a project has obtained. I'm sure some other major companies may contribute as well, what major company wouldn't want their tech in there?

Sucks the Dual XEON had to come out, but one must sacrifice to gain, with the ATX you should have more room for the tech to plan to put in there, I also like the idea of the layout of the buttons, LEDs, and USB ports you will be putting in the front there. And good luck on Cable Management, that is always one of the hardest parts of big builds.

Thanks PwnFrnzy, the sponsorship has been a really interesting treat, and I am extremely humbled by the fact that so many companies have signed on a testament to how neat this project is. Cable management.. yes.. it will be very interesting!

Just looking at the fan setup yeah this is where I would be putting those filters (if they are on the outer surface) and seeing it's a reasonably thin sheet it's on - how about some of those silicone "frames" to go between the fan and sheet I know they are not that noisy but given there are a few for the extra few cents - worth it I reckon.

Nearly forgot the tape is called "invisible" out here maybe some different where you are - I'll send a pic - go to dash for the workhouse!!

Those silicone frames may be worthwhile looking in to. I will wait and see how it turns out when I turn it on!

i love this idea! well done.

Thanks toetag!

Hiyya ultimate just been flat out mate with repairing - that pic of the invisible tape I said I'd send. (Errrr sorry re the clutter lol!!)

Oh and I was thinking what someone had said about the heat within the unit - how does a large solid aluminium back to the desk sound - perhaps with a few cooling fins along the length of the unit on the outside and inside. Maybe set some fans into it?

Aha! I think... that would cost a lot lolol!

This could be useful to your project

Yes, some very cool stuff - I am considering the possibilities!

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]

Older i5

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!

 

[Lordbob75]

Looking really good. I like the faceplate with the start button and stuff.

~Lordbob

 

[Sub Styler]

Wicked Sick!

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

I must first say, i've been following this thread for some time and I'm really impressed with your work and the ammount of detail going into this!

That really looks good but you could take the facia's off the optical drive and card reader, prime them up and spray them with the same spray used on the surround for a colour match?

Unless you wanted to keep the logo's and lables...

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Gettin better

Hey ulti getting better and better and looking at the drives looks like my metal back maybe an option. Have you tried costing some checkerplate from say a box trailer manufacturer? I'll go back and have a look at the dimensions and price it out here - that might bring me back to Earth perhaps - any mates in crash repair places that may be able to help you out?

Now I am trying to dream up something to do with a cooling system from an old fridge hmmmmm

 

[ultimatedesk]

Looking really good. I like the faceplate with the start button and stuff.

~Lordbob

Thanks Lordbob75!

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

I must first say, i've been following this thread for some time and I'm really impressed with your work and the ammount of detail going into this!

That really looks good but you could take the facia's off the optical drive and card reader, prime them up and spray them with the same spray used on the surround for a colour match?

Unless you wanted to keep the logo's and lables...

Thanks, that's a cool idea and I may consider that!

Hey ulti getting better and better and looking at the drives looks like my metal back maybe an option. Have you tried costing some checkerplate from say a box trailer manufacturer? I'll go back and have a look at the dimensions and price it out here - that might bring me back to Earth perhaps - any mates in crash repair places that may be able to help you out?

Now I am trying to dream up something to do with a cooling system from an old fridge hmmmmm

Ooh, another great idea! Thanks! I think what you're talking about is a phase change cooling system?

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.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Try a couple of these on for size??
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZDNY02/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Also check out these bad boys !!
http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/premium-modding/alchemy-cables/

 

[ICIT2LOL]

OOOOh!

Looking really good. I like the faceplate with the start button and stuff.

~Lordbob

Thanks Lordbob75!

I must first say, i've been following this thread for some time and I'm really impressed with your work and the ammount of detail going into this!

That really looks good but you could take the facia's off the optical drive and card reader, prime them up and spray them with the same spray used on the surround for a colour match?

Unless you wanted to keep the logo's and lables...

Thanks, that's a cool idea and I may consider that!

Hey ulti getting better and better and looking at the drives looks like my metal back maybe an option. Have you tried costing some checkerplate from say a box trailer manufacturer? I'll go back and have a look at the dimensions and price it out here - that might bring me back to Earth perhaps - any mates in crash repair places that may be able to help you out?

Now I am trying to dream up something to do with a cooling system from an old fridge hmmmmm

Ooh, another great idea! Thanks! I think what you're talking about is a phase change cooling system?

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.

Well I was only thinking now it's getting a bit more shape to it I an see the difficulties of my cooling ideas would encounter. Plus what I was thinking of was more akin to a split level air con job from out of a car - wouldn't be so much to run but the space is going to be the critical part eh? The only space that I personally would be game to put the inner unit would be at the top alongside the PSU. The outer just mounted on the back of the cabinet but again I suppose you have to look at power consumption albeit an auto unit (and the nose level of the outer exchanger unit.

Perhaps next time eh?

Hey but one hell of a build it's been a pleasure following this one.

 

[PwnFrnzy]

Whoa, a barrage of updates!
Coming together very well, and I never realized how big those heatsinks actually were! Holy-moly!
I like the faceplate design as well, looks great, and that's a lot of hard drives running on that modular there, the build looks sweet! that's also a great looking ATI card you are running there too. Looks to be a pretty cool snake pit in there too, but due to how much space is in the general area, cable management shouldn't be an issue of cooling improvement like our small cases.
I also thought there was going to be an SSD somewhere in that mess of hard drives too.

 

[ultimatedesk]

Try a couple of these on for size??
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZDNY02/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Also check out these bad boys !!
BitFenix.com » Products » Premium Modding » Alchemy Cables

Thanks for the links, lennemeyerhere - I'm going to try and get both systems setup and running, and then I'm going to look into some custom cables. Due to budget and time, the need-to-haves are going to come first at this point!

Well I was only thinking now it's getting a bit more shape to it I an see the difficulties of my cooling ideas would encounter. Plus what I was thinking of was more akin to a split level air con job from out of a car - wouldn't be so much to run but the space is going to be the critical part eh? The only space that I personally would be game to put the inner unit would be at the top alongside the PSU. The outer just mounted on the back of the cabinet but again I suppose you have to look at power consumption albeit an auto unit (and the nose level of the outer exchanger unit.

Perhaps next time eh?

Hey but one hell of a build it's been a pleasure following this one.

Thanks, ICit2lol - I've been tempted to do some fun/crazy stuff before, but I think those are best done as exercises in "Can that be done?!?!" - whereas this project, even with the dual xeon motherboard, I realized "Yes, this can be done... but I will save that for something else made for it". An air con job would be a real fun thing to do, but I don't know if you'd ever build one for your everyday computer!

Whoa, a barrage of updates!
Coming together very well, and I never realized how big those heatsinks actually were! Holy-moly!
I like the faceplate design as well, looks great, and that's a lot of hard drives running on that modular there, the build looks sweet! that's also a great looking ATI card you are running there too. Looks to be a pretty cool snake pit in there too, but due to how much space is in the general area, cable management shouldn't be an issue of cooling improvement like our small cases.
I also thought there was going to be an SSD somewhere in that mess of hard drives too.

Thanks PwnFrnzy - they are huge, aren't they! It's amazing when you think about the weight coming over the motherboard too. That Rasetsu heatsink actually uses the annoying 775 push pins as well - no back plate!

Things are going along - you'll see below that cable management is getting a little better. You'll see the SSD soon - on the power system!

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!

 

[Wordsworth]

I've looked in on this thread many times but never commented. Great project and it's been very interesting to watch it unfold from the original plans to almost being completed. Congrats, I know it's been a long road to get here.

I just wanted to throw out one suggestion for what might replace the blue furnace filter. Don't know if this would work for you but worth a look, Custom Speaker Grills. You can get them in many heights, widths, and colors.

 

[jeepmann4x4]

I love the work you have done....but that blue filter and open cooler hole. Kind of kill the great look of the desk! Get some Black Mesh or some plastic louvers vents to finish it off.

Ether way Great Job you have done!!

 

[ultimatedesk]

I've looked in on this thread many times but never commented. Great project and it's been very interesting to watch it unfold from the original plans to almost being completed. Congrats, I know it's been a long road to get here.

I just wanted to throw out one suggestion for what might replace the blue furnace filter. Don't know if this would work for you but worth a look, Custom Speaker Grills. You can get them in many heights, widths, and colors.

Thanks for the Link, Worsworth, and the positive comments! The speaker grills look like a great idea. I think for the first search however, I'll be looking for a brass or black metal wire mesh of some kind.. hopefully!

I love the work you have done....but that blue filter and open cooler hole. Kind of kill the great look of the desk! Get some Black Mesh or some plastic louvers vents to finish it off.

Ether way Great Job you have done!!

Thanks jeepman4x4! Don't you worry - those holes will be fixed up soon enough!

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.

 

[jeepmann4x4]

Nice!!!

What's under that side? open space, drawer? First thing when I seen these pics was, Drill down though it for cables and bring them back up where needed.

 

[Darkelk]

This is amazing and inspiring. I wish to do something as awesome as this one day soon

 

[96accord]

DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!! I just read through all 5 pages and checked out all the pictures! This is BADASS!!!!!!!!!!

Subscribed Subscribed Subscribed! Hell Yeah!!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hiyya

Hiyya Doc (I know you call yourself ultimate but I know Who you really are) looking pretty bloody smick mate though I (personally) am still thinking of the heat dissipation seeing that you have so much wood in the construction .

Mate I am not trying to take the wind out of you sails by saying that, and as I have done a fair bit of cabinet making over the years and know the heat retention properties of timber especially that MDF stuff. Which brings me to the point did you use that only and / or a mix of timber materials. Plus I am thoroughly impressed with the finish - just the heat issue. Pity you can't get something like a small split level air con job like you have in your home - like I mentioned before a system out of a small car perhaps?? would mena that you also keep the humidity down too with that much electronics packed it there - might be worth a thought too. I do like the glass top thats a real nice touch and you didn't go spray painting it some god awful colour like I guess some would have.

Anyway I think anyone else has gonna have to go a very long way to top your effort if thats possible.

Oh and by the way when your ready to travel into the next dimension can I book my seat now - more to the point are there any left:roflmao:

 

[PwnFrnzy]

The last update was a month ago, I wounder why he hasn't been updating lately. . .