[Project Log] Liquid cooled "U" desk

[zryder]

The project is going along nicely.

This is the mount I made for the PSU. An old Lian-Li power supply bracket, and a few scrap pieces of wood screwed to the bottom of the motherboard tray makes for a nice, strong mount.

And now for the big moment. With the new power supply in, and (I think) all the cables run, the gets powered up for her first test. So far, it hasn't screamed at me! yay!

Now its off to make the shelf on the sides, and cut the top!

 

[jameseboy]

always a bonus when it doesnt scream at you on first boot. Hows the noise levels on it? i plan on doing a similar design but to hold my server.

 

[zryder]

always a bonus when it doesnt scream at you on first boot. Hows the noise levels on it? i plan on doing a similar design but to hold my server.

The 2 old fan's are still rather loud, but they always were loud. The asaka's I have in there now are very quiet, almost silent at full throttle. I plan to have them throttled, so it will be silent. I guess it depends on the fans.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Looking great! You're a lot faster than that miah character too.

 

[MIAHALLEN]

Looking great! You're a lot faster than that miah character too.

Hey man, I'm over here

 

[zryder]

Hey man, I'm over here

I don't like it when mommy and daddy fight.. so cut it out! LOL

Anyhow, things are starting to shape up.

The top was marked, and cut

I used 12" radius curves on the inside edges, to give me a nice feel. It seemed to be about right, and after it was done, I agreed with myself. hehe.

Cut the hole for the top window. I started off with a 2" hole saw to give myself the 1" radius curves I wanted on the corners of the windows. Inset 3/8" to allow for the routed edge for the plexi to sit in, and completed with the sabersaw.

Next up, once the old desk was removed, was to move my monitor mounts. I wanted my monitors in the middle of the wall this time, instead of the corner. I had thought this would make things feel a little more symetrical.

Once that was done, it was time to put the supports in place.

With the supports in place, it was time for the desk top

And once the top was in place, it was time to mount the monitors, and start running cables.

This is where I started running into issues.

If you will recall back a few posts, I had left myself 3" of clearance behind the case on the right side for cables. As it turns out, this is enough for the cables, but not my fat fists to get back there to get things plugged in. I got some of them plugged in, by crawling underneath the case with the drawers removed.

I also found my DisplayPort adapter would not quite clear the top of the drive bay. I had forgotten to trim the little channel for the bottom tab of the PCI back panel brackets to rest into, so the front edge of the graphics card is sitting 1/8" higher than it needs, preventing the displayport connector from clearing.

I also had just too short of DVI cables for the middle monitor. A few months ago, I ordered longer cables, but only needed 2. now I need longer cables for just about everything in the system.

But, the PC is running, and I am typing this post on it.

Sorry for the long post. Hope you have all enjoyed it so far. This thing is no where near done, so keep checking back.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Definitely have enjoyed so far. LOVE the floating monitors. You've sure made me jealous!

EDIT - What GPU is driving them?

 

[zryder]

Definitely have enjoyed so far. LOVE the floating monitors. You've sure made me jealous!

EDIT - What GPU is driving them?

Currently just a single 5850, because the 5850 I recieved from RMA a few months back turned out not to be of referance design. No reason I can't run the 2nd on air, but I am saving it to trade someone.

As for the monitors, I am going to have to figure out how to re-do the mount. They are about 12" away from the wall, and just too dang close. I want them to go back about 6"

 

[ssjwizard]

If you measure the distance from C2C on the monitor mounts you could easily make a single bracket that holds all 3 and then bolt up a single swing arm to hold it.

 

[jameseboy]

Looking VERY nice =] what did you use to round off all the corners? also, i only count 2 wall mounts, but 3 monitors. What black Magic is this?!?!

 

[zryder]

If you measure the distance from C2C on the monitor mounts you could easily make a single bracket that holds all 3 and then bolt up a single swing arm to hold it.

Looking VERY nice =] what did you use to round off all the corners? also, i only count 2 wall mounts, but 3 monitors. What black Magic is this?!?!

Black Magic in this case would be a monitor mount I built a few months ago.

The short version, its 1/2" MDF with hinges to allow the wing monitors to swing in. this keeps the monitors all level to eachother, and works quite well. To support this combined array, I have 2 individual monitor mounts on the back.

Currently, the mounts are 32" apart. this is determined more by studs than anything else. The mount's on the back of the monitors are currently 16" apart. doing the math, each monitor mount arm must be 8" inset from their mount, and the only way to do that with a 2 arm mount is to have one arm extending basically straight off the wall.

My hope is, by moving the mounts farther out on the side monitors, that the mount arms will be able to swing outwards a little, bringing the whole unit closer to the wall.

 

[TorqueRanger]

Tell it to stop staring at me !!!!!!!! LOL

 

[capttripppp]

That would be sooooooo sweet with blue led fans!!!! Otherwise the desk looks great! You get my props (for what little it's worth)

 

[jameseboy]

Black Magic in this case would be a monitor mount I built a few months ago.

The short version, its 1/2" MDF with hinges to allow the wing monitors to swing in. this keeps the monitors all level to eachother, and works quite well. To support this combined array, I have 2 individual monitor mounts on the back.

Currently, the mounts are 32" apart. this is determined more by studs than anything else. The mount's on the back of the monitors are currently 16" apart. doing the math, each monitor mount arm must be 8" inset from their mount, and the only way to do that with a 2 arm mount is to have one arm extending basically straight off the wall.

My hope is, by moving the mounts farther out on the side monitors, that the mount arms will be able to swing outwards a little, bringing the whole unit closer to the wall.

Ahhh that makes sense now, Thats a great idea. You seem to be full of them. Thanks. Given me a few good ideas for my desk when i get round to making one.

 

[unijabnx2000]

From the look of it, the joint on the arm of the wall mount looks like its bending....

 

[GIXXERGUY6]

From the look of it, the joint on the arm of the wall mount looks like its bending....

I was going to say the same thing. The bottom looks to be resting against the wall...

I would opt for some beefier mounts soon.

 

[zryder]

From the look of it, the joint on the arm of the wall mount looks like its bending....

I was going to say the same thing. The bottom looks to be resting against the wall...

I would opt for some beefier mounts soon.

The mount's arent bending per-se, but there is some slop in the joints, for sure. the part that looks like is resting on the wall is just the plastic cable retainer. there is no weight on the wall, I can assure you of that.

As for beefier mount's, I'm open to suggestions. these are monoprice mounts.

 

[ssjwizard]

Since your already employing a method of mounting 3 the monitors onto a single surface you could easily move closer to the wall by replacing the two mounts that are holding it. Consider something along the lines of a full motion mount for a 42" lcd. That should have the weight bearing capability that your going to need, as well as it will allow you to move the entire setup to virtually any position your heart desires.

 

[MIAHALLEN]

Since your already employing a method of mounting 3 the monitors onto a single surface you could easily move closer to the wall by replacing the two mounts that are holding it. Consider something along the lines of a full motion mount for a 42" lcd. That should have the weight bearing capability that your going to need, as well as it will allow you to move the entire setup to virtually any position your heart desires.

^^^ My thoughts exactly

Something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882191052

 

[zryder]

After I made my last post, I realized if I wanted to get the monitors as close to the wall as I could, there is no reason I couldn't make what I call a "V Mount". I have no idea what it is officially called, but I know I made a similar setup to mount my 110" HT projection screen in my old place, and it easily weighed 100lb. It held that just fine. This mount also has the advantage of being able to bring the monitors much closer to the wall, though sacrificing adjustability. To be honest, once I got them where I wanted them before, I never moved it, so I will see how this works for now.

The mount was made out of scrap lumber from the desk build. Can't go wrong with free!

So, here is the monitor side mount.

1 block to give the screws clearance, and the V block to rest against the wall.

a 36" piece, spanning 3 studs

Tidy up the cables

And hang it on the wall.

I think this will do for now!

Now I just have to get wires run for the other 2 monitors!