pc desk with pc built inside

[eatthis]

I decided to make my own pc desk with the pc built inside it for as little money as possible.
i used 2 sheets of 19mm mdf an offcut of 6mm and 2 lengths of 3x2" timber.
i also bought some steel to make a triple monitor mount

heres the monitor bracket assembly

the monitor bracket is spot on and theres nothing id alter about it if i did another. its also VERY strong partly because i fastened a batton to the wall behind the top rail so the whole thing is bolted to the wall not just the desk.
You could easily hang 40kg+ off it so the 7kg ish monitors are no problem.

For the desk itself i started with a rough layout of the pc parts (i pulled a scrap pc case apart for the drive mounts and mobo plate)

i knocked up a quick drawing too (which altered every 5 minutes lol)

i made a baseplate with an offcut and but spacer rails on the bottom for cable management
(if i do another desk il make this space underneath bigger)

initial work

main desk nearly done (iv since made a circle cutting jig for the router which il use for the 200mm fan holes)

the section at the back is for all the cables going to and from the pc

this is the control console (its since changed a bit)

hole cut and routed for a glass plate to sit in and cable access door fitted

both desks built and offered together and they fit perfectly

centre monitor mounted plate made (complicated pipper because of the monitor bracket layout)

plate mounted onto the bracket

desks fitted in situ and pc gubbins going in (the green stuff is water for the water cooling loop)

pc itself nearly complete (the strip around the top is a uv light)

this is the view through the glass plate at night (thanks to uv light and uv reactive water)

nearly there

hmmm what to do with a spare subwoofer and car amplifier

why not wire it into the 12v rail on the psu (via a switch in the console so i can turn the sub off)
ps yes i tidied the cables up lol

mk1 console (top button is for the sub + sub power light, middle is power + power light and the bottom is the reset button + hd activity light, the black thing between the top 2 buttons is a microphone)

the mk1 was a bit naff so i found a better bracket and rebuilt it

heres the mk2

all loaded up

the 2 holes in front of the keyboard are so i can bolt my steering wheel to the desk when i want it

overall im chuffed to bits with it, theres a few things id do differently and id like to use some proper wood instead of painting mdf! but the actual quality of it is very good, everything lines up/fits perfectly nothing moves or wobbles etc and the pc itself runs very very cool and is almost totally silent (thanks to the water loop + large case volume & large fans running at low speed)

iv got PLENTY to learn but im happy with my 1st real attempt at building something

 

[Mike.S]

Very impressive.

I admire your energy, ingenuity and determination to complete the project. Trouble is I now feel duty bound to improve upon the
cardboard box that my AV receiver has 'temporarily' been sitting on for a year

 

[Penny]

Wow! You're a serious gamer aren't you?

That is impressive and very cool looking. Are you also known as Captain Picard?

 

[AndyT]

Impressively tidy job. I see a clear parallel with the sort of work that Wireless enthusiasts were doing in the 1920s and 30s, when huge glowing valves were fitted onto a hand-cut aluminium chassis, all encased in a polished plywood and fretwork case.

 

[Racers]

Had any problems running the car amp from the 12V supply? I would have thought it would have required a lot of current if you turn it up.

Years a go when the first fruit machines went electronic one played a tune before paying out the jackpot and they used to reset before paying out, it was the speaker affecting the 12V supply and causing the CPU to reset.

Pete

 

[eatthis]

Had any problems running the car amp from the 12V supply? I would have thought it would have required a lot of current if you turn it up.

Years a go when the first fruit machines went electronic one played a tune before paying out the jackpot and they used to reset before paying out, it was the speaker affecting the 12V supply and causing the CPU to reset.

Pete

The amp is rated at 250 watts and the PSU is 850 the graphics card draws a lot less current than.normal because its water cooled so has no fans.
I wouldn't want ti turn it up just in case but its only running at about 1/4 anyway because its seriously powerful lol the sound quality is good and it does go pretty loud if I want it to but I don't turn it ip very often.

 

[Titch]

very nice, now if i could sell the kids and make space ;-)
bet the next one will have a pop up module......

 

[CHJ]

Impressively tidy job. I see a clear parallel with the sort of work that Wireless enthusiasts were doing in the 1920s and 30s, when huge glowing valves were fitted onto a hand-cut aluminium chassis, all encased in a polished plywood and fretwork case.

I can assure you we were still doing likewise in the 50 and 60's, some considerable time after the first red and white spot transistors made the scene if we wanted a decent tuner and power amplifier, well maybe not the fretwork, more the 3/4" veneered blockboard and plywood for rigidity.

First computers we had were in wooden consoles with modified teletype keyboard (no qwerty keyboards available to the home enthusiast).


eatthis , Do you or more importantly do your neighbours get any interference problems without metal cased electronics, I know we had to faraday cage all our efforts as you could pick them up on amateur radio and domestic superhets hundreds of metres away.

 

[paulrockliffe]

Looks great! Was there a reason you didn't simply wall-mount the monitor bracket? As you've fixed it to the wall anyway, I doubt the support you made is doing anything.

I was planning to do something similar eventually, though I'm not into gaming particularly so my plan was to do it as discretely as possible with the PC fully hidden within the desk, buttons concealed under the desk lip and discrete sockets for USB etc.

 

[eatthis]

no interference at all.

the reason i fastened the bracket to the wall and the desk is to stop the bracket twisting and the monitors sagging.
i had to put the console up top because i have a curious 2 year old and a downright mischievous 5 year old lol

 

[Alex H]

very good

I especially like the picture of the mark 2 console :-"

 

[-Matt-]

Well that looks decidedly awesome! I too like the little console bit!

Have to ask though, whats the thickness of that channeling/racking stuff you've used for the monitor stand?
Only you've cut two sides of it to bend it to your preferred angle and left weight on that remaining side. I would have expected it to have twisted and broken.

 

[eatthis]

Well that looks decidedly awesome! I too like the little console bit!

Have to ask though, whats the thickness of that channeling/racking stuff you've used for the monitor stand?
Only you've cut two sides of it to bend it to your preferred angle and left weight on that remaining side. I would have expected it to have twisted and broken.

its approx 3mm steel and i was intially worried about the weight aswell but itl EASILY support far more than a monitor i think it would rip the bolts out of the wall before the bracket bends

 

[paulrockliffe]

I wondered the same about the way you'd cut the bracket, but it wasn't clear how thick the metal is or whether you'd reinforced it before putting it on the wall. Obviously it works, so I'll adjust my perception of strength appropriately.

I reckon if the screws are sufficiently well fixed and into brick you wouldn't need the leg to resist the bracket rotating. Longer screws and longer plugs would help with that too. If you did need to resist the twisting more the best way to do it is to achieve a vertical displacement between your screws across it's width. Even screwing top and bottom of the bracket as opposed to all across the middle would make a big difference. A few angle brackets along the width screwed into the bracket and into the wall, top and bottom would make it absolutely rock solid.

Mind you, without recessing wires into the wall, you'll always have something spoiling the look, so perhaps a central pillar, with wires run through the middle is the best compromise anyway.

Anyway, looks really neat as it is, good job!

 

[eatthis]

I wondered the same about the way you'd cut the bracket, but it wasn't clear how thick the metal is or whether you'd reinforced it before putting it on the wall. Obviously it works, so I'll adjust my perception of strength appropriately.

I reckon if the screws are sufficiently well fixed and into brick you wouldn't need the leg to resist the bracket rotating. Longer screws and longer plugs would help with that too. If you did need to resist the twisting more the best way to do it is to achieve a vertical displacement between your screws across it's width. Even screwing top and bottom of the bracket as opposed to all across the middle would make a big difference. A few angle brackets along the width screwed into the bracket and into the wall, top and bottom would make it absolutely rock solid.

Mind you, without recessing wires into the wall, you'll always have something spoiling the look, so perhaps a central pillar, with wires run through the middle is the best compromise anyway.

Anyway, looks really neat as it is, good job!

I used direct drive fixing bolts which are brilliant, they bite straight into the brick you just drill a 6mm pilot hole. The weak point is the actual wall itx not exactly engineering brick in there lol
the only bit that sags a tiny bit is the moniter mount itself where it bolts to the rail but theres nothing i can do about that