for me this has been a long time coming. currently I'm still using an IKEA desk from college that is off center (cabinet to the left, nothing to the right). This desk is too small for my three monitors (27" QHD and 2x 24" FHD) which also annoys me.
I've been wanting to build a desk that is centered, and about a foot wider to properly accommodate all three of my monitors. I've also wanted to do it as a PC Desk where all my components are located in the desk itself.
I think i've finally come up with a design i'm quite pleased with and should be surprisingly cheap for how complicated it is. In wood i'm looking at roughly $125, and the custom cut Tempered Glass will be another $75, so in $200 for the main parts is just alright with me.
http://imgur.com/a/VXGtV
Some of the interesting parts for this design are:
Power / USB 3.0 Stack | http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/bz-u08/
1/2" standoffs to give a slightly taller height for some minor cabling underneath the motherboard
6-32 knife inserts (for standoffs to screw into) | https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015CAP9F8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
PCIe Gen 3.0 30cm Riser Cable | http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pw-pci-e/ (make sure if you ever get ones that its shielded or you'll have no home of Gen 2.0 or 3.0 speeds)
I'll possibly have to order some extra cables for the PSU but as of right now I'm not 100% sure.
for Motherboard I/O I'll cut a rectangle our the exact size of the I/O Shield and mount it flush to the inside, there will still be 1.5" of wood which will give all my cords a bit of protection
I'll be mounting the GPU flush to the inside wall as well using the same method, it will be on 1/2 risers as well to allow air flow over the backplate
for Airflow, I'll have 3 fans pulling fresh air in from the knee box area (pictured) and 2 fans above the mobo (h100i v2) exhausting some of the air and then 2 more fans past the PSU for more exhaust. This should be plenty of airflow and it has a nice direct path blowing over everything without any obstructions.
I offset the BluRay and Power 5.25" bays 1" to the left of center so If i ever wanted to add more 5.25" modules I could to the right of what's already there.
I'm fairly experienced at woodworking so none of the build scares me at this point but it is going to be a lot of small cuts and pieces to hold everything together. I estimate roughly 15-20 man hours of build time once I have all the supplies before the desk itself is complete.
Last thing I'm not 100% sure about is finish. I'm thinking about veneering the sides to match to plywood top veneer and just stain everything a nice dark tone after that.
I could also be lazy and paint it black.
Everything in the pictures as of now is what I'm considering phase 1. It will be functionally complete. Later down the road I'll add LEDs under the lip.
On the right hand side there will be a drawer that slides out. I'll leave the shelfs open for now unless it looks bad and then i'll get some hinges and make doors.
I've ordered most of the parts and will be placing an order for wood this week. I plan to start building the upper portion this next weekend.
if anyone has any questions or would like different screenshots just ask! for the computer I'm just going to use everything I already have, nothing new.
Mobo: Asus z170-A
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
CPU Cooler: H100i V2
GPU: EVGA GTX 1070 SC
SSD: 3x Samsung 850 Evo 500GB
PSU: AX-850W
