Build Log: Constructing the Ultimate Computer Desk

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wow man that is some incredible work, congrats on that.

When I saw all of the fans and foam you pieced together, it made me think of my car. I put 4 computer fans in the back of my seats (all 4 in my coupe) to mitigate the hot summer times here. I then used perforated leather on both sides of the seat to allow for air flow. Then I installed switches to control the computer fans I installed...so while that isn't a computer/desk build, I can appreciate the work you have put into all of this... Actually, I rebuilt the entire interior...but that is neither here nor there.


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lOOking good. Man didnt summer just go bye bye eh.
It sure did! :(

Coool your rig is almost identical to mine.
Cool man, I've been having a lot of fun with it lately!

wow man that is some incredible work, congrats on that.

When I saw all of the fans and foam you pieced together, it made me think of my car. I put 4 computer fans in the back of my seats (all 4 in my coupe) to mitigate the hot summer times here. I then used perforated leather on both sides of the seat to allow for air flow. Then I installed switches to control the computer fans I installed...so while that isn't a computer/desk build, I can appreciate the work you have put into all of this... Actually, I rebuilt the entire interior...but that is neither here nor there.
WOW! That is totally cool man, I've never seen that! What a great idea!

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

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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!!!

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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)

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

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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:

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

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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.

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Man I've missed this thread lol
Loving how it looks, and sorry for the high temps comment, must have been my eyes tricking me.
Like you said looks a bit messy with the cable but looks soo cool.
Need to learn me how to do that ;)
GJ as always, my friend.
 
Besides being to tall for the desk, the tower cooler would have been better to keep. All you needed to do was to turn the fans around and you would have been fine. Now you are sucking in cold air and blowing the hot air all over the motherboard and video card still.
 
You need to look into making your own sata power cabling. It's quite easy looking, and will clean up those loops.

Only place I've seen the parts though is i Germany.
Yes, custom cables will come eventually, but only after all the necessary stuff has been purchased. Looking forward to it actually.

Man I've missed this thread lol
Loving how it looks, and sorry for the high temps comment, must have been my eyes tricking me.
Like you said looks a bit messy with the cable but looks soo cool.
Need to learn me how to do that ;)
GJ as always, my friend.
Thanks! It's coming along! Cables have been cleaned up well this update.

Besides being to tall for the desk, the tower cooler would have been better to keep. All you needed to do was to turn the fans around and you would have been fine. Now you are sucking in cold air and blowing the hot air all over the motherboard and video card still.
Hey, no worries my friend - all will be revealed in the update. The heatsink is setup stock to exhaust air away from the CPU, fyi.

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

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

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

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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

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

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*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!
 
You know, frozencpu sells grills that are made for entertainment centers, that contain fans, and could be modded to have a filter, would five you a better finish, and provide air flow with filtered air.
 
You know, frozencpu sells grills that are made for entertainment centers, that contain fans, and could be modded to have a filter, would five you a better finish, and provide air flow with filtered air.
Thanks - I'll have to look into that. I've had my eyes open for a little while now for a good grill / filter substitute

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

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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

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

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There we go!

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Mm, starting to look so awesome!

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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.
 
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