Associate
- Joined
- 3 Jan 2017
- Posts
- 8
I have written this in order to hear people's thoughts on the build and ideas of what I can do next when I have some money again
1. Background
All through my childhood and Working Career (to date), I’ve had a fascination with computers. I have built a few budget machines in my time but never with any real funding behind me which has always limited me to fan cooling or all in one water kit as well as standard cases.
In other words, I have never created a custom PC before.
2. Skills
• Woodworking-None
• Water-cooling loops- None not even soft tubing let alone hard
• PC Hardware- Moderate
3. The Idea
The fundamental idea of this project was to end up with a PC inside a desk where I could see the workings.
After much thought and research I decided on the following criteria:
• 2 PC’s built into a desk. 1 for me 1 for my wife
• Both PC’s would be used as gaming\work machines
• Custom liquid Cooled Loops
• Sound System
• Incorporate Master Chief head
4. The Start
My idea was set and so I worked on a design firstly in a notebook I had and then in Sketch Up.
My sketches helped me decide how I wanted the cooling of the PC to work and what components I would need to build an over the top, water-cooling plant, as a centrepiece for the build.
5. The Parts
For my wife’s PC “we” decided that what she already had was adequate enough as she remotes onto her work PC’s and servers plus the only gaming she does on the PC anymore is WOW which does not have very high requirements.
I have given her the same cooling loop as myself for 2 reasons:
a. Aesthetically it will look better for the central compartment.
b. I plan to slowly upgrade her PC and so this is a bit of future proofing I felt should be installed now.
I had slightly different ideas about my own PC as I still play a lot of games and needed something with a bit of grunt for work. After having a battle with myself over performance VS Cost, I decided on a spec and ordered the parts online and finding some very useful information from the forums.overclockers.co.uk site and overclockers.co.uk staff.
For the acrylic motherboard trays, I found a very helpful man named David who I found through his website http://www.thelaserhive.com/
I will post the full list of parts in a reply below so as not to clog this already rather big post up
6. Testing
When the parts arrived I went about testing them and found everything to be spot on although I did realise I needed some extra water-cooling fittings which I had not planned for due to adding a separate drain and fill port.
7. Desk Build
When the parts were tested, I took some measurements of all the components put together in order to confirm my Sketch up design measurements and started looking for quotes from UK carpenters.
I thought about building the desk myself, however, I can’t cut a straight line into a block of wood and so decided I wanted it done right and to last. Therefore I sought assistance from people who know what they are doing.
I eventually chose a company called http://andrewmanning.co.uk/. Who had 3 things which I was looking for out of a contractor to build the desk:
a. They gave me a quote I was happy with
b. They were local to me
c. They actually grasped the concept of what I was trying to achieve
Andrew Manning and the team also came up with some additions to the desk which I had not planned in my original designs but really liked the idea of the main one being the extra draw for each side of the desk as well as ways to make the desk more accessible for maintenance e.g. the wood top being removable at the back to allow easy access to the cables as the desk is far too large to move when built.
After a very short amount of time (which felt like years) I was informed the frame was built and was asked to visit the shop in order to do some final measurements with some of the PC components, e.g. motherboard, etc.
Just a couple of weeks later they brought the desk to my house and installed it into my home office along with the glass required for the top of the desk and a matching shelf along one wall.
8. Installing
The rest was down to me and so I slogged away for 4 weeks installing the 2 PC components and all the additional parts to the desk.
Please bear in mind when looking at the pictures that this is my very first attempt at creating custom water cooling loops as well as my first time bending tubes. I have 1 or 2 tubes I will be redoing when I get some time.
9. Red Liquid or Green
My original plan and what I stuck with for the first couple of months was the X1 - UV Red, however, I felt it didn’t give the desk the “pop” was after and so I recently changed it to the UV Green and feel a lot a happier with the results.
10. End Result
The finished desk is almost exactly how I envisioned it. Yes, it needs some tidying up which I hope will come with time and patience, however, overall I feel I have achieved what I set out to do.
I especially love the two LED systems which are installed. The NZXT Hue+ system is great fun to play with and gives the components of the desk a real wow factor. The Philips Hue LED strip along the back of the desk is linked to the room’s ceiling spot lights and the colour set-ups can be controlled though my watch or phone.
The best feature of the desk though has to be the usability of it. It does everything I wanted and more. It looks great in my office and I have learnt new skills, like building the custom water-cooled loops, although I still have a lot to learn.
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11. Future Plans
In the near future, I will be upgrading my components and passing on my current build into my wife’s PC.
Recently I have had a thought of extending the hard-line tubes around the inside perimeter of the desk however I am still playing with this one.
Custom sleeved cables will be added once I have settled on the colour scheme. This will be when I take the cable management a bit more seriously.
Devise a way to make the fabric sheets at the back of the desk neater.
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