Watercooled pc desk mod with car sound system

WATERCOOLED PC DESK MOD WITH CAR SOUND SYSTEM

Hey guys, Below are links to all of my Pages. Most YouTube footage will not be up until the desk mod is complete so please stay tuned. Visit my Facebook page for more pictures at higher quality.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Imfacerollgaming

Email: ImfacerollGaming@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ImfacerollPCGaming

I would first like to start off by saying this build cost me a total of $22000 AUD and took around 6 months to build. I have chosen to include an inbuilt car audio system to do something different and save some space. This is my very first build and two weeks prior to building this i had no idea how to put a computer together or even what parts to buy, it took me a solid week of studying up on computers so that i was confident enough to attempt this build, so please enjoy.

Please forgive me for image quality, the forum only allows a very small file size to work with.

I was researching the internet one night for a new computer because my laptop just wasn't up to scratch anymore and it couldn't even run battlefield. I knew nothing about computers however i was interested in trying to put together a build.

Luckily my mate knew about computers and he helped me put together a neat build.

Components include: Windows 8.1, 4770k i7 processor, Asrock extreme 4 motherboard, 850watt cool master PSU, 16gb Rip jaws RAM, Nvidia GTX 780 GPU, 2tb Western Digital HDD and a 120gb Samsung SSD.

Putting this build together got me more interested in computers so i decided to look up other builds on the net and came across some awesome computer mods, one that caught my eye was a computer within a desk, I WANTED TO MAKE MY OWN.

Starting in January 2014, i did two full days of research on computers, components, how to videos and reviews because i knew absolutly nothing about them.

Two days passed and i decided to drawn up some plans for the desk.

Sorry for the image quality, just email me or message me for dimensions.

With the desk drawn up i made a list of components that i would need to purchase, the main computer specs included:

Windows 8.1, i7 4770k processor, Asus maximus VI formula motherboard, two 1000watt corsair gold RM series PSU's, 32gb of corsair dominator platinum RAM, two nvidia GTX 780Ti GPU's in SLI, 4Tb Western Digital HDD + three 1Tb Western Digital HDD,

two 250gb samsung SSD's + two 120gb samsung SSD's, Asus xonar essence stx soundcard and Asus xonar phoebus soundcard. I will also be watercooling everything, running tripple 27inch monitors and setting up a full car sound system within the desk.

Since this build was going to be a long and expensive project i went all out on components to make a beast.

Just a few photos of some parts used in the build:

Moving on to the desk, the wood used to make the desk is 18mm thick and the legs were made thicker for extra support. Iv also included a back board for extra support and stability. The top of the desk is routed out to fit a sheet of 6mm thick hardened glass.

A few pictures of the desk being built:

I also made some fake elevated bottom platforms to hide wires and make wire management as clean as i can. I wrapped the platforms in a carbon fibre vinyl which turned out amazing.

Elevated Platforms:

Once i had all of my cutouts done to size i decided to test fit some components and also see how much space would be available for cable routing, lighting and running tubing to watercool all of the components.

Test Fitting:

Components fit well and i am happy with how the desk is shaping up.

I decided it would be a good idea to test out the computer with its stock coolers before i install the waterblocks to make sure everything worked correctly. I also ran some performance comparisons with my 780Ti superclocked GPU's.

The results i obtained are with no overclock, everything will be overclocked when the build is complete.

One 780Ti GPU on ultra settings.

Two 780Ti GPU's in SLI configuration.

The desk is now ready to be painted. I decided to go with a nice gloss black on the outside and the raised platform in the desk. The inside walls of the desk are being wrapped in carbon fibre vinyl.

Desk Painted:

Now that i have built the desk and painted it, i started installing some components such as fans, speakers, amplifier and i also installed my waterblocks onto the computer components.

Since installing a lot of my components i have made some real progress with the desk. I have installed 2/3 of my tubing and now im just waiting for some extension cables to come in the mail before the desk can be finished.

Progress pictures:

Now that the desk is around 2/3 built i decided to add some LED light strips to illuminate all of the components. I wired all of the LED strips up to switches and i put some perspex under my amplifier,

HDD's and SSD's to create a green illuminated boarder around them. There are LED strips under the perspex to illuminate it even further.

This is my build as of the 12/06/2014. I am currently waiting for some extension cables in the mail so i am able to put the motherboard side in the desk and work on some nice cable management.

Hopefully i should receive the goods next week. Please stay tuned and ill upload more progress photos as i continue with the build.

your pix arent showing,,im interested in seeing your build...

o really? does an admin/moderator have to approve my images first? because i pretty much just signed up for corsair forums and started this post straight away

They are now showing.

I had tried earlier and can confirm wytnyt was correct In saying they did not show then.

They are now showing.

I had tried earlier and can confirm wytnyt was correct In saying they did not show then.

are they showing for you now?

are they showing for you now?

Cheers mate didnt see the top line =)

Oh yes! SUBBED!!!

Haha cheers mate

your pix arent showing,,im interested in seeing your build...

the problem should be fixed now =)

the problem should be fixed now =)

yes it is and a mighty fine build you got going on too...

yes it is and a mighty fine build you got going on too...

thanks mate =)

So, i have received my last parcel in the mail and i have put the PC inside the desk and wired everything up. I am so happy with how it looks. I still have to wait till tomorrow for the glass top of the desk and i will also be putting the UV green Mayhem's dye in, so hopefully i can post some more progress shots within the next few days. After all of that is done i can get the monitors going and turn the computer on after 24 hours of leak testing. Once 100% complete i will post a load of images on here for all to see, cheers

Progress shots:

These two shots are of how messy the cables were before i put the elevated platform in the desk.

These pictures are of the desk as it stands today. Iv also taken some pictures under the different lighting options and i am very happy with the look of the desk. Dont mind the mess under the desk, that will be cleaned tomorrow before the glass guys get here.

So.. I managed to fill the loop yesterday and ran into some problems. I filled the loop and had it running for around 2 hours when i noticed liquid all over the motherboard.

Straight away i turned the pumps off and had to take everything apart to clean the motherboard and dry it off. I drained the loop to do just that.

When everything was taken out of the desk i took apart the Asus maximus VI formula motherboard to dry it out and observe where the source of the leak had occurred. This is what i found..

As you can see in the image above, the motherboard water block looks as if the coolant has leaked through the seal,

so i decided instead of returning the product for a new one, i might try tighten the seal and dry out the motherboard.

The picture above is of the motherboard with the back plate and thermal armor removed as well as all of the thermal blocks and the CPU.

It was essential that all of the liquid was dried and removed so it was necessary to remove all of these components to prevent a short circuit when i powered the PC on.

I wired up a fan to a small 12v power adapter and placed it over the CPU and RAM slots to dry out any liquid that found its way into the gaps. I also borrowed my sisters hair drier to speed up the drying process.

Above is testing the components to see if they all still work after letting everything dry for 8 hours or so. I had removed the CPU water block to let the CPU slot dry so when it came to testing whether the components worked or not i had to reinstall some thermal grease on my delidded CPU and on the thermal copper plate and use the stock air cooler.

The PC powered up fine and everything worked. While i had the computer on i decided to check the CPU temperatures because i had delidded the CPU and put my own thermal grease on.

Previous core temperatures ranged from 34-37 degrees Celsius, the new temperatures ranged from 18-21 degrees Celsius with the stock cooler, so i was very happy with them results.

The picture above is of the refill and previous leak area, so far so good. Another possible cause of the leakage around that area is where the fittings screw into the motherboard water block.

I have since installed some extender fittings into the motherboard and then screwed the compression fittings into those.

The reason for this is the compression fittings are a lot wider and i believe that the design of the motherboard water block was preventing them from screwing down all the way, therefore creating a leakage area.

I have highlighted the problem areas below. These areas are sticking up preventing the compression fitting from screwing in all the way.

As of this moment i have put everything back into the desk and i am leak testing overnight, so far the problem areas have been fixed. I will be uploading more progress very shortly.

I like it nice build :biggrin: does it have Sirius radio to LOL:roll::D:

Haha yep =). Hey 1 question. Are you seeing any images on my last two posts because I used an image host this time??

Haha yep =). Hey 1 question. Are you seeing any images on my last two posts because I used an image host this time??

no images,,only a red dot...

no images,,only a red dot...

i think they might be getting checked out by a moderator. It happened with my first lot of images aswell

Well, it is desk pron after all.

Hahaha well said

So, progress has been made with the desk.

A few days have past, i have my 24 hour leak test complete and so far no dramas. Next phase of the build is to put the three 27 inch monitors up on the monitor stand i purchased from USA.

I open the monitor stand box only to find that the wrong stand had been sent out to me. Instead of a free standing stand that i ordered, i received a stand with a clamp screw to hold the monitor mount onto the desk, which is a bit of a problem...

The clamp cannot open wide enough to fit the thickness of my desk due to the desk being a hollow box roughly 200mm thick. Thoughts....

I came up with a solution that only Albert Einstein himself would think of, okay that's a lie it didn't take much to come up with the idea.

I had to create a wooden stand that the monitor mounting stand could clamp onto and the stand had to screw into the back section of the desk, pretty simple...

Went to Bunnings warehouse and scored myself three 1m lengths of wood for free (who would have thought..).

I cut each length down to 800x150mm and cut a small piece to screw on top of the three side pieces. This top piece acted as the base for which the monitor mount would clamp on to.

By creating the stand it also relieves the desk of all weight and prevents any possible bowing of the wood. The stand turned out well as you can see.

I covered it in some left over carbon fibre wrap and now i can attach all three of my monitors and run either a nvidia surround setup or run with the 3 seperate screens with the two gtx 780 ti GPU's in SLI mode.

Also by having only the 3 sides and an open back it acts as a place to hide cables which makes everything look neater and well managed.

My desk is up and running now so updates will be posted very shortly within the next few days.

Again, please help me out by liking my Facebook page, subscribe to my YouTube where i will be posting regular videos of game footage and desk mods. It would really help me out, i appreciate the support Cheers.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ImfacerollPCGaming

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Imfacerollgaming

posts 14-15-23 not showing pictures. just a red dot

how is it now? Are they working