• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Classic Computer Desk / Entertainment Center

Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
After seeing some computer in a desk builds I couldn't keep myself from designing one, but with a bit of a classic twist. I'm rather partial to wood finishes, so I decided on building from birch.

I started with a sketch in Solidworks that looked a bit like this. The goals for the design were to get good airflow, with minimum noise, and have a good size working surface. As you can see in the pictures, I'll have 6 intake fans at the front, blow through a 480 radiator to the back, and blow the hot air down at the back.





 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
To give myself something to build too, and make sure everything would fit properly, I started out by getting some water cooling components from frozen cpu, the fans, and a mother board tray from mountain mods.

Lots of goodies.








a pump







and a group shot



The mother board tray. Fairly solid, and the powder coat seems nice.



Tons of fans. With the fans at full speed it should exchange all the air in the case somewhere around 80 times a minute.



And to control the fan speed I'm going to parallel all the fans and put them in series with this rheostat. At full resistance it should drop the fans all the way to their starting voltage, where they'll be all but silent.



And that's about it for components at the moment.
 
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
1,018 (0.18/day)
Location
New York
System Name Filtration tower
Processor i9 7900@4.4ghz
Motherboard ASRock X299 Taichi
Cooling Air
Memory 64g 3200 quad channel
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 1080Ti
Storage 500gb Nvme, 200gb SSD, 1700gb HDD
Display(s) 34" Acer Predator 3440x1440
Case Thermaltake v71
Power Supply EVGA supernova 850 T2
this is getting interesting,, keep going :cool:
 

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer
Joined
Aug 31, 2010
Messages
12,944 (2.62/day)
Location
Loveland, CO
System Name Ryzen Reflection
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling 2x EK PE360 | TechN AM4 AMD Block Black | EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G | 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage WD SN850 500GB (OS) | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s) Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS | Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS | Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case Lian Li PC-011D XL | Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s) FiiO K7 | Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit
Why did you choose those fans? Because to be honest they are shitty fans.
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.75/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
Why did you choose those fans? Because to be honest they are shitty fans.

No, not really. I used them before and they move a very good amount of air. They aren't so good for radiators though, not much static pressure... That's their design though.
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
I got the wood cut this weekend, and have started some preliminary assembly.

The pile of wood. It was two sheets of 3/4" birch plywood.


Starting the build from the bottom, this is a folding shelf for the legs that's also the structural support.


And here's a couple shots of the legs assembled. The legs fold flat after taking out a couple screws. A useful feature since I have to move in a few months.



I then disassembled the legs for finishing. Here they are after the initial stain. The color is Early American by Minwax



The second coat of varnish is actually drying tonight, so the legs should be finished tomorrow, and I'll have some more pics.

For the top of the desk, I've only worked on the baseplate so far. Here it is with the fan holes routed, and trim attached.


And then I finished the fan holes with a 1/4" rounding bit for smoother airflow.


That's all I have done for now, but I have tomorrow off, and am hoping to get some more done.
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
Why did you choose those fans? Because to be honest they are shitty fans.

I picked them because they had good reviews, and I was able to find some decent data on noise and airflow at different voltages.

Plus I thought the blade design looked nifty.
 

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer
Joined
Aug 31, 2010
Messages
12,944 (2.62/day)
Location
Loveland, CO
System Name Ryzen Reflection
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling 2x EK PE360 | TechN AM4 AMD Block Black | EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G | 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage WD SN850 500GB (OS) | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s) Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS | Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS | Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case Lian Li PC-011D XL | Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s) FiiO K7 | Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit
Ive used them too and they really sucked with under volting with a controller. They are also built pretty cheap and use sleeve bearings. The ones i had a horrible click sound when on a controller.
 
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
5,975 (1.33/day)
Location
Hi! I'm from the Internet
System Name Selene / Yoda
Processor Fx 8350 @ 4.4 / Phenom II x6 1090t @ 3.6
Motherboard Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 r4.0 / Gigabyte 890XA-UD3
Cooling H100i / Xig Dark Knight
Memory 4x 8gb G.Skill Snipers / 4x 4gb G.Skill Ares
Video Card(s) Gigabyte R9 290x / XfX DD & VisionTek HD6850's C'fired
Storage 256gb ssd, 2x 2tb Wd Blacks & 1x 1tb Wd black / 1x 1tb
Display(s) Dell Ultra Sharp 2408 WFp / Hp w2207
Case Raidmax Vampire / Chieftec Alum. Dragon Blue
Audio Device(s) Onboard Hd Audio / Onboard Hd Audio
Power Supply Corsair TX 850 watt / Corsair TX 750 watt
Mouse Logitech G500s
Keyboard Corsair Strafe
Software Win 10 pro / Win Vista Home prem. 64 bit
Benchmark Scores What are benchmarks anyway?
Nice work there :toast:
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,762 (1.91/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
looks nice :toast:
Capture.JPG

but where you gonna place your HDD? and the right side looks empty, just the rad, pump and fans
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2006
Messages
473 (0.07/day)
Location
ireland, galway
Processor q6600 G0 @ 2.8Ghz
Motherboard ex38 DS4
Cooling air
Memory 4 *1gig tracer ballistic
Video Card(s) sapphire dual bios 6950
Storage ssd- sandisk 120gb, sata- 2 500gb samsung in raid 1 & 1 samsung 400gb
Display(s) LG w2452tx
Case nzxt
Audio Device(s) na
Power Supply hiper 730
Mouse g9
Keyboard bt microsoft arch
Software win7
hiya, nice project, nice work, the birch is very nice and I was wondering what type of varnish you used to protect (does it have to be a special type), because I was thinking of making a homemade table myself.

Thx and cant wait to keep watching your progress:toast:
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
Originally the hard drives were going to mount on the far left side, below the mother board. I've since decided to mount them on that bridge in the center, and move the res over to the far right side.

The varnish isn't technically varnish, its Minwax semi-gloss polyurethane.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2006
Messages
473 (0.07/day)
Location
ireland, galway
Processor q6600 G0 @ 2.8Ghz
Motherboard ex38 DS4
Cooling air
Memory 4 *1gig tracer ballistic
Video Card(s) sapphire dual bios 6950
Storage ssd- sandisk 120gb, sata- 2 500gb samsung in raid 1 & 1 samsung 400gb
Display(s) LG w2452tx
Case nzxt
Audio Device(s) na
Power Supply hiper 730
Mouse g9
Keyboard bt microsoft arch
Software win7
Originally the hard drives were going to mount on the far left side, below the mother board. I've since decided to mount them on that bridge in the center, and move the res over to the far right side.

The varnish isn't technically varnish, its Minwax semi-gloss polyurethane.

thx for the reply I'll have to look into that, and the finish is lovely :toast:
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
861 (0.18/day)
System Name FragBox
Processor Intel Core i7 2600K @ 5.0GHz/1.45 volts
Motherboard Asus P8Z77 WS
Cooling Custom CPU loop
Memory Kingston 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) Galaxy GTX 680/Zotac GTX 680 in SLi/EVGA GTX 650Ti
Storage 2 Vertex 3 120's, raid 0, 2 Seagate Momentus XT 500GB's in raid 0, 1 Hitatchi 2TB for backup
Display(s) 3 Acer S232HLX2 in nvidia surround
Case Corsair C70 White
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair AX1200
Software Win 7 x64 Pro
in4sub!

Looks nice so far, but I agree, those fans don't have much in the way of static pressure, which is what you'd want to force the air thru the radiator, otherwise the air essentially bounces off the rad and doesn't cool much.
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
in4sub!

Looks nice so far, but I agree, those fans don't have much in the way of static pressure, which is what you'd want to force the air thru the radiator, otherwise the air essentially bounces off the rad and doesn't cool much.

This radiator does have really wide spacing on the fins, so it shouldn't produce too much back pressure. I guess I'll just have to see if it works once things go together.

 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
Today I started by finishing the back plate of the desks perimeter, which involved the cable pass-through for all my IO, and a smaller hole for the power cable.







Then I put together the rest of the outside edge, and glued it to the baseplate.





Finally I put the top on the legs and put some components in for show. It's finally starting to look like something!







And in this last pic, it's kind of hard to see, but I put on the glass top.

 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
Not much of an update for tonight, just attached the trim to the upper edge of the desk.

 

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer
Joined
Aug 31, 2010
Messages
12,944 (2.62/day)
Location
Loveland, CO
System Name Ryzen Reflection
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling 2x EK PE360 | TechN AM4 AMD Block Black | EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G | 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage WD SN850 500GB (OS) | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s) Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS | Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS | Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case Lian Li PC-011D XL | Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s) FiiO K7 | Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit
What stain color is that?
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
36 (0.01/day)
I've started out the day (and last night) with some beautification, layout, and making the divider panel/rad mount.

The trim was attached to the divider panel, and then all the upper trim was sanded flush and rounded.


The divider was, unfortunately, a bit warped, so we'll have to fix that later.


I did the layout for the IO cut out by spacing the motherboard tray for 25mm standoffs, and positioning it laterally for even spacing of the far left fan and the wire bridge.


Then I clamped the tray onto the divider panel so I could trace the cutout and the mounting holes.



The results looked something like this:


I then repeated the process for the radiator.




Then it was time to rout some holes.


And do the rest of the cutouts with a jig-saw. Not much left of the panel at this point.


Then the radiator hole, the fan hole, and the cable pass through were chamfered.




I believe it's now time for me to start staining the top. woot.
 
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
6,823 (1.28/day)
Location
Viking Land
System Name Ivy Biatch
Processor i5 3570K
Motherboard ASSRockzz z77TOTHEEXTREME!!!!
Cooling bleh
Memory 2x4gb crucial 1866
Video Card(s) HD7770, yes it does BF3
Storage 120gb Vertex
Display(s) 226BW
Case whats that, oh my table
Audio Device(s) stock onboard thing
Power Supply HX850W
Software 7
sub'd, awesome work :D
 

Bunchies

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
133 (0.03/day)
System Name Bunchies
Processor Intel i7-960 D0 @4Ghz (1.368v in bios)
Motherboard Gigabyte G1. Guerrilla ,On the latest beta bios
Cooling Corsair H60 (2013), Prolimatech Pro-Pk1 Thermel
Memory Kingston HyperX Blu (3x4GB) = 12GB @ 1400Mhz 8-8-8-22
Video Card(s) Evga Gtx 660 Ti 2Gb
Storage 1 Ocz Agility 3 Sata III SSD , 2x1 1TB Hardrive's , 1 80GB Hardrive
Display(s) 23.5" Lg Flatron E2341
Case Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Mid Tower (Moded)
Audio Device(s) Onboard Sound Chip, X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity and EAX 5.0
Power Supply Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 700W
Software Windows 7 64-Bit
Sub'd cant awit to see it done :D
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
6,666 (1.43/day)
Processor 7800x3d
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling Custom Water
Memory GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s) MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s) HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case ThermalTake P3
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687
Sub'd
I am just a sucker for these computer/desk systems...
 
Top