Pkekyo's Stealth Desk

[Pkekyo]

Greetings, peoples of the internets.

Over the last couple of years, my old pinewood desk grew steadily worse for wear, and last year I started looking for a replacement desk.
At first, Ikea stood out as a sensible option. The $250 USD shipping made me put it off for some time...then I discovered that L3p had taken his L3p d3sk one step further, bringing it to market as part of a company named Red Harbinger.
At once, I used the full extent of my google-fu to find every last scrap of information available about the project, all ending in trawling through every single post on their forums.
Like a crossbreed between a giddy schoolgirl, and a nutter with too little impulse control and a decent living wage, I waited in anticipation for the pre-orders to open.

As you have probably figured out by now, this thread is about my Red Harbinger Cross Desk.
I maintain a build log over at the Red Harbinger Forums. This thread will be a mirror of that build log, and as such - if anything seems out of place or context, that's probably why.

[Pkekyo]

 

After a long haul, my Cross Desk has finally arrived at it's new home.

 

Since there is quite a lack of documentation for this desk, I'm taking great care to take as many photos of the desk as I go on. And yes, the colors will look a bit off, as I am pushing the contrast in them to make details more visible.

 

Here is the only tool I've required thus far:

 

 

First of all, the smaller box:

 

 

This is the box that contains your Limited Edition goodies. Inside, you find four boxes. Three "pizza boxes", and a long, rectangular box containing the foot-rest:

 

 

In the left "pizza box", you find a second motherboard tray for the right hand side of the desk, along with a front USB3 and HD Audio unit, two Lamptron power switches, a baggy of screws, and a second PSU mount - in other words, everything you'll need to drop a second computer into your desk:

 

 

In the center "pizza box", you find the XL motherboard tray, a baggy of screws, and your Limited Edition numbered case badge:

 

 

In the right "pizza box", you find the glass shelf and it's mounting hardware, along with the headphone holder:

 

 

In the long, rectangular box, you find the footrest that so many people seem to be having problems with:

 

 

Now onto the big box.

 

This thing is really fucking big. And heavy. So heavy even I wasn't able to carry it up the stairs on my own.

So I gutted it in the hallway, and carried everything up piece by piece:

 

 

These fell out of the side of the box before I even began opening it:

 

 

In the top of the box, you first find the back brace for the legs:

 

 

Next comes the enormous glass top - watch your toes, this thing is heavy:

 

 

Third, the desk body:

 

 

And last, the legs:

 

 

The styrofoam seems to have held up pretty well, but in future Red Harbinger products, I would greatly appreciate seeing soft foam padding used instead.

 

These things were found floating around inside the main body of the desk:

 

 

- A huge bag of cables and extensions, a baggy with screws, nuts, washers and another two Lamptron switches, along with a honeycomb panel for mounting HDDs upright in the right half of the case.

 

More glass, because it's fucking bootifool:

 

 

Legs and rear brace, ready to be mated:

 

 

Hardware from the baggy found inside the main desk body:

 

 

The rear of the legs, and the six M6 threaded holes you'll be mounting the rear brace to:

 

 

Either I'm going blind, or the assembly instructions are printed too damn small. 

 

Now, onto the foot rest mounting:

 

 

The way I decided to go about it, was to unscrew three of the four screws underneath the legs:

 

 

I then decoupled the mounting brackets, and slid the threaded rectangular one inside the legs.

This is pretty damn fiddly, so take your time, if you drop it, it's a nightmare to get out:

 

 

Taadaa:

 

 

Onto the main desk body:

 

 

Left hand motherboard tray:

 

 

Right hand tray:

 

 

Fan grills. Purty, purty, fan grills:

 

 

After removing the HDD bays, this is what you're left with:

 

 

After removing the right side tray, this is what remains:

 

 

I guess the placement of those studs were based on symmetry rather than practical ergonomics, because one of them (the middle one facing towards the user) is extremely unpractical where it's placed, and I would advise against putting a screw back in there if you plan on having any of the 5.25" bays there:

 

 

On the motherboard tray, there are three screws attaching the rear panel to the "firewall", one on either side, and one on top over the PCI slot covers:

 

 

With the motherboard tray, the middle and rightmost screws are problematically placed, I plan on leaving at least the middle one out, if I ever put the harddrive cages back in:

 

 

With the cable management panels and SSD tray removed:

 

 

LE numbered case badge mounted:

 

 

Onto hardware and other funstuffs:

A while back, I ordered a Corsair AX1200i PSU, but haven't opened it until today:

 

The silver bag contains the Corsair Link dongle, I'm curious to see how it works.

 

I also ordered a Corsair Individually Sleeved Cable Kit, and much to my dismay, I discovered it was missing amongst other things, the 24pin ATX cable:

 

 

In other words, it looks like I'll have to order a few more custom cables than I anticipated.

 

Mounting the PSU was simple, the bracket was a perfect fit, and I just had to move two screws to fit it upright in the rear compartment of the desk:

 

 

Front IO mounted:

 

[Pkekyo]

Lamptron switches... Still have no idea how to connect them:

 

 

Asus Rampage IV Black Edition...so bootifool:

 

 

Might have to paint that IO shield:

 

 

 

That magnetic ROG case badge does look fucking beautiful:

 

 

Began connecting some wires:

 

 

5.25" bays going back in:

 

 

 

Too many damn wires:

 

 

After some impromptu cable management:

 

 

That 24pin ATX cable is a major issue. Hopefully a custom individually sleeved one will solve the issue.

 

 

Pulled out the Phobya LED strips I got in the mail a while back, and much to my surprise (and joy), the 2.4m one is practically designed for the desk - or vice versa - a perfect fit!

Rigged up a dummy installation with zip-ties, not going to mount it with double-sided tape until I've got everything planned out:

 

 

IR receiver for the LED kit's remote control:

 

 

Looks like the power supply/control unit will live on top of the PSU in the rear compartment:

 

 

As a finishing touch for the evening, I fitted the Corsair Link jobbie, it was a tight fit, but the cable was fortunately long enough to reach the USB connector, just barely:

 

 

 

 

 

That's where the project stands as of now.

I see no reason to mount the RAM yet (scored 64GB worth of Kingston Hyper-X BEAST 2400MHz RAM at a 50% discount recently), though hopefully I will be able to buy some more hardware once my paycheck comes in on the 12th.

There might be a graphics card in my near future

[FlamingDefibs]

DSLR master race?

 

[Pkekyo]

Whilst waiting for the graphics card I ordered yesterday, I had a go at drawing up a potential loop, which seems to be so popular these days:

 

[Pkekyo]

I've been eying the EVGA GTX 780Ti Hydro Copper Classified for quite some time now.

Late Sunday night, I discovered that my retailer of choice only had one left in stock.

 

Less than two days later...

 

 

It is absolutely beautifully packaged, and in the box along with the graphics card, you find a DVI to VGA adapter (also known as garbage), two sizes of compression fittings, along with two end-caps, two six pin to eight pin PCIe-power adapters, a poster, a couple stickers, manual, driver CD, miscellaneous documentation and a tiny case badge.

 

Onto the main attraction:

 

 

Installation was fairly straightforward, with the exception of routing the PCIe power cables, I had to take the card out and lift the motherboard a couple times. Having a battle plan before beginning out of excitement is key with this desk.

But holy hell, does it look good.

 

 

Upon attempting some further cable management, I realized the individually sleeved Corsair cables are somewhat too short, I'll have to get an adapter made along with the other custom cables I need.

 

 

I also discovered that this card is a pretty fucking close fit in this desk - I suspect the glass will be resting on it, and only clear it due to the foam lining the edges of the case. (Of which, I'll need to get hold of more, because whoever put it on my desk was clearly drunken out of their skull at the time.)

 

 

Speaking of adhesive bollocks, the double-sided adhesive tape that came with the Phobya LED strips leave quite a bit to be desired:

 

 

I also cut off the utterly fugly USB2 connector on the front panel USB header, and had a go at attaching the power switches - with no way to find out if it works, of course. Oh, and I found a fairly decent placeholder for the right half of the case until I have a RAID array to fit in there.

 

 

Paycheck comes in on Friday, and there might be a couple EK-CoolStream XTX radiators in my future, along with a shitload of Corsair fans. Obviously depending on how big aforementioned paycheck is.

[Pkekyo]

The double-sided adhesive that came with the Phobya LED strips is fucking useless, to the point of raging apeshit, so I went shopping today.

Picked up some weird double-sided foam tape to attach the LED strips, some precision pliers so my large hands won't infuriate me as much and some tubs to sort bits and pieces when working

 

 

It worked fairly well for attaching the LED strips, but they sure are some slippery bastards.

I got it to work by sandwiching the strip between the top of the interior wall, and the nuts on the bolts that hold the aluminum side trim onto the desk. The corners were a bit tricky, but I think I found the best way to go about it.

When all is said and done, a 240cm LED strip is about 2-2.5cm too short to cover EVERYTHING around the desk. Which means I probably can use the remaining two strips inside the legs instead

 

 

Cleaned up the rear compartment a bit as well. Although, there's really not much to clean up back there yet.

 

 

Since I was moving the desk across the room either way, I figured I might as well put the right washers onto the rear brace:

 

 

Putting glass on the desk for the first time! It looks like it clears the graphics card by about 1-2mm, and after a bit of cleanup, it looks like this:

 

 

And I don't know who put that foam lining onto the desks, but whoever it was, was clearly drunken out of their fucking skull at the time:

 

 

There's still quite a bit of work left to be done before the desk is done, but atleast now I have a decent desk while I wait for funds to permit further purchases.

My only complaint from a construction standpoint, as of yet, is that the desk is too damn low. Might have to find a way to resolve that.

[Pkekyo]

DSLR master race?

 

http://i.imgur.com/ltkjJwv.gif

 

Yes, quite. Whilst waiting for weeks on end to receive mine, after other people started getting theirs, I got sick and tired trying to decipher photos taken with mid-20th century potatoes.

Figured I'd take a shot at remedying that for people that might be looking for documentation on the desk in the future

---------

As of now, this is where my desk stands. I ordered a couple 480mm radiators earlier tonight, reckon they'll show up some time after easter.

[consoleconvergence2pc]

stunning desk  :wub:

[FizzyFantom]

This is so bleeping awesome! It makes me want to mod so many things!

That's probably the wrong reaction...

[Madts]

Need one too! Nice Build! 

[AMaleWhale]

How much is that desk? And all the stuff you're putting in it?

[Almercenary]

ROG badge makes ALL the difference. Actually looks pretty good.

[JAKEBAB]

you my friend have too much money!

[Pkekyo]

How much is that desk? And all the stuff you're putting in it?

 

Too damn much. I've got about $5.5k USD in this project as it stands now. Water cooling stuff alone will probably be another couple thousand, then there's the rest of the hardware and new peripherals on top of that.

In other words, this is a long-term project.

 

you my friend have too much money!

 

Well... I did... Not so much anymore

[alpenwasser]

Too damn much. I've got about $5.5k USD in this project as it stands now. Water cooling stuff alone will probably be another couple thousand, then there's the rest of the hardware and new peripherals on top of that.

In other words, this is a long-term project.

Yeah, W/C gear adds up quickly, very expensive stuff once you

start going beyond a basic loop (and even that is not exactly

cheap). I'm still saving up for the last part of my build (college

student ), might end up spending 1000 USD just for the fittings

(not sure yet, but it's going to be a lot).

[Analog]

Great looking desk man!

[ShadowCaptain]

You should keep the MP5k on display underneath the glass

 

just saying

[Pkekyo]

Yeah, I just might have to. As of late, I've grown partial to buying an eight-slot NAS instead of building and maintaning a large RAID array - in which case I have absolutely zero idea what I'd put on the right hand side of the desk.

[Father Fuzzy]

very nice  

 

should last a lifetime  

[CJPowell27]

This is amazing  :wub:

My only input is that you should go with 2 reservoirs instead of 4 and have an extra rad.

BUT, can I has is the real question 

[Pkekyo]

Well, I really don't see a single CPU and 780Ti outgrowing two 480mm radiators.
And even if I expand the loop, the desk has dedicated space for another two 360mm radiators, by which the reservoirs will be unaffected.

And no, you can't. 'tis mine!

[d33g33]

Very nice!

[Paralectic]

That's sick af dude. :OOOOO

[alpenwasser]

Very nice indeed.

Well, I really don't see a single CPU and 780Ti outgrowing two 480mm radiators.

And even if I expand the loop, the desk has dedicated space for another two 360mm radiators, by which the reservoirs will be unaffected.

Yeah I'm currently running two CPUs (130 W TDP each), a motherboard (27 W

TDP for the chipset, plus two NF200 chips and the power delivery) and a

Titan on one 560 radiator with the fans turned down as low as possible

and am still getting temps ~20 C above ambient, so I'd say you'll be fine.