PROJECT LOG DDCM Desk Project: Unique. Simple. Powerful

[Alaric]

If you take out the "s" in https the video will embed here. Love that keyboard!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

If you take out the "s" in https the video will embed here. Love that keyboard!

Thank you that's good to know. Usually updating from work so everything is https haha.

Here's the keyboard video since it only allows 1 vid per post. I love this keyboard, I have been using the hell out of it.

 

[Blaylock]

I do like the look of that keyboard. I think white switches are a bit to noisy for my taste but that's why there are so many options. Different folks......

 

[Alaric]

I do like the look of that keyboard.

Check out some of these, then. http://www.aziocorp.com/webe/html/products/index.aspx?kind=12
The top row, anyway. Very Steampunk.

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

I do like the look of that keyboard. I think white switches are a bit to noisy for my taste but that's why there are so many options. Different folks......

Haha Blay, personally I kinda wish it made a sharper "clack" like a typewriter.... but I doubt my wife could handle that for more than just a couple words.

Check out some of these, then. http://www.aziocorp.com/webe/html/products/index.aspx?kind=12
The top row, anyway. Very Steampunk.

Those are pretty sexy, I like the way you can get different colors like the black and red model.

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?
We start off first by sharing our sexy new mouse, while nothing too impressive it matches our theme very well b/c I mean… dragons!
Old mouse – Logitech M510 Wireless Mouse

New mouse – One-Up Chinese Dragon gaming mouse

Now onto the meat and potatoes of the desk update….
We first focused on the component plate, getting it attached to the cabinet with a stainless steel piano hinge, which of course we first had to cut to size.

Then we scavenged up some L brackets to attach the cabinet to the desk top, getting everything nicely aligned.

Turning our focused to our sexy InWin Classic Gaming 900W PSU, we cleaned up our mounting bracket and got everything aligned. Such a nice tight fit and it fit nicely with plenty of space to plug in all our modular cables. Next up, start sleeving the sexy thing.

Next opportunity we had, we got our hands on our watercooling boxes, tearing out fittings, reservoirs and radiators… all of the Alphacool variety. Out of all the brands I’ve handled in the past, Alphacool just feels so much beefier and durable.
We laid out the component backplates, then set the radiators on the shelf checking space and my measurements…. So far so good. Then we installed our fittings into the radiators….. only to remember later that we are going to be painting the rads red……. So …. Going to have to take it apart and mask it off. Going to leave the fittings black.

Finally, we turned our attention to the #Eisbecher reservoir/D5 pump combo of the 250ml variety. Getting the pumps attached to the bottom with their o-rings in place and positioned so the cabling is close to the back. Once both pumps were installed, we got to work installing the fittings, going for the top-in configuration. After all that we had to test the placement of the res combo next to the component backplates.

Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[J☼E]

wow this is awesome so far!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

wow this is awesome so far!

Thanks... we are slowly making progress! Welcome aboard and please be patient with my snail's pace lol

- - - Updated - - -

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?

We’ll start of today’s update with our newest parts and tools! Our first is a package from ModMyMods that included our PCIe riser cable and an Alphacool Eisblock Mod kit in white. Going to paint the block cover red to match the rest of the build. Second, the wife surprised me by buying the crimpers I had on my wishlist. So….. we can start attempting making the custom cables that we need *dance*

Then we move into some more cutting of the desk itself. But first we needed to print off the radiator templates from MNPCTech.com onto cardstock and get them cut out. After placing and marking our cuts, we began cutting out the radiator holes.

After the radiator holes were cut, we moved onto cutting the back intake fans at the bottom of our cabinet and the exhaust holes at the top. Next steps will be to clean up our cuts and cut the mesh for the intake and exhaust. Then we can start working out final placement and cable runs.

We also went ahead and sleeved our Alphacool Eisbechers reservoir/pump combos.

Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?

We first snagged a great deal on a water temp sensor plug and a handful of 120 fan grills.

We immediately jumped at the opportunity to test our InWin Aurora fans in our intake mounting solution. Just need to order my fan filters from ModMyMods.com and install our rubber silencers.

Then kept the progress going by installing our Eisbecher reservoirs and our NexXxos radiators with their Aurora fans also. We are starting to do our final test placement and install so we can start to make our custom cables before we paint the desk!

Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?

So, I wish I had a huge update for you guys, but unfortunately I only have one depressing picture for you. We started packing away our parts for the desk.

For those that haven’t followed us on social media, we are about to embark on a coast to coast move as we move back to our hometown area near Lake Tahoe, NV. My wife and I have both had parents have medical issues to include her mom having brain surgery. Because of this we are moving back to be a support structure as they continue to age. Additionally, our two daughters need to be close to their grandma and grandpas.

So, this build will be on hiatus through January and part of February as our stuff gets shipped to the west coast. I promise as soon as we set up in the new garage I will be right back on this. In the meantime, if you find us on social media we will continue to do other things while we transition.

Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Blaylock]

Very sorry to hear that. Family always comes first. I fully understand what you're going through. My step father is starting to transition from mild dementia to severe dementia. In helping my mother out as much as possible as she is still taking care of my aging grandma.

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

Very sorry to hear that. Family always comes first. I fully understand what you're going through. My step father is starting to transition from Mike dementia to severe dementia. In helping my mother out as much as possible as she is still taking care of my aging grandma.

Thanks man. Family first has always been what the wife and I live by. We should be at the new house by the first of February. Going to let PODS handle the shipping of our stuff.

Sorry to hear about your step father, dementia is a tough disease to live with. Prayers for you mom and the strength as she cares for both.

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?

I have a couple updates to post, but we’ll start with the first one to say “We are now moved into the new house!!” One of my first tasks was to reorganize the garage into a workable area for me. Below is my new dungeon.


Then I turned my broken laptop into a HTPC in our bedroom so we can relax before bed with a show. Look at that cable management. Second picture is the wires behind the small 21” screen. The only way it’d be better is if I ran power to behind the screen instead of having the surge protector run up the wall. After which I built my wife a murphy desk below so she had a place to work and didn’t clutter up my desk project.





It took a week but Spectrum finally came out and hooked up our internet. Before they showed up I went ahead and mounted the wifi router in the hallway for the best whole house signal. Last picture is my communication wall with the modem, power strip, and gigabit switch.




Finally I could get down to work and got the wood filler and started filling in the nail holes, gouges, and small cracks in the wood in preparation for sanding later.


Next I drilled and tapped the new motherboard tray.


Took my R9 290 and tested my fit with my server ATX board next to the Alphacool reservoirs. In my next post we start pulling out our water cooling gear and more



Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?

Let’s start this update with some great shots of our Alphacool gear. Sexy watercooling in place so I can start bending tubing soon.




We then went onto install our Seagate Barracuda drive in the HDD rack below the radiator shelf. I can only hope the SATA cable will reach haha


Speaking of cables, I first made a cable passthrough plate for the power cables to pass through. Sexy 3 grommets from ModMyMods.com.



I continued on the trek of cables to work on learning crimping and made my first CPU power cable.





Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Blaylock]

Very nice Dalchi!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

Very nice Dalchi!

Thanks Blay! I bent the acrylic tube today... so expect another update soon. Then it's just a matter of cutting the cable management holes, painting the desk and reinstalling everything, leak testing..... and then back to streaming and all other nonsense.

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?
Let’s get this update started with one of my favorite photos so far. The Alphacool Flow Meter Square Plexi edition. That polished plexi just makes my heart flutter. Should be interesting to see it in action with the red fluid lol.




Next was a super daunting task of painting our ASUS Sabertooth 990FX motherboard to get rid off all the green and tan and make it red. Steps: take it out of Night Shark, tape up everything and slip non sticky tape in all the slots and cover any exposed pins, then paint the crap out of it from every angle but straight above, remove tape and pray it turns on…..







Once it was painted and all sexy red and black, we installed our customized Alphacool XPX cpu waterblock. We painted the brackets red, swapped out the alphacool logo with the red replacement cover. Looks like it was created specifically for my motherboard…… oh… I guess it was haha




After the motherboard was sorted out, we turned our attention to our AMD Radeon R9 290. After stripping it bare of the turbo jet cooler, we installed our Alphacool block and backplate. To mount it to the backplate, we drilled and tapped 6/32 into the backplate and put motherboard standoffs on. Then screwed the motherboard screws in from the back, securely holding our mounting plate in place.







If you enjoyed this update, just wait for the next one! It will include pictures of our first time bending acrylic tubing!!! It was a learning experience for sure.
Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?

So before the watercooling, acrylic bending, madness ensues….. Here’s a quick picture of our SSD mount.




Now that’s over with…. Here’s our Alphacool acrylic tubing runs! I did also record a video on how I cut and bent the acrylic….. But don’t have a computer that has the power to edit/render the video. So bear with me









Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Dalchi Frusche]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jBy4r7

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!

How about another DDCM desk PC update?

We left off last time with a completed watercooling loop…. but still had to paint. So we start off by stripping it down to the bare wood.




While I waited for some wood filler to dry, I went ahead and painted our Alphacool NexXxos radiators, PSU mount bracket, GSkill RAM heatspreaders, and the fan grills for our rear intake fans.






Once the filler was dry, I wasted no time sanding it down. Then just testing a theory I checked the fit of the InWin RGB LED strips and how I was going to run the cable. After the cable test, I brought the desk inside to be wiped down with a damp cloth.






Once it was clean and dry we started painting it black by cutting in the corners and angles first. Then we broke out the 3” brush and filled in all the big areas.






If you’re still reading this far, the next update will be the components installed and the loop set back up and hopefully filled! Leak testing here I come!

Until next time, Happy Modding!

 

[Alaric]

I'm impressed by the speed with which you returned to the build, after a cross country move. I would still be in the "Honey? What box is my xxx in?" phase. LOL Actually making build progress at this stage is commendable.