IAmOctonaut

dude this thing looks awesome!

very cool detail! 

Nice!

I may or may not have something planned

Looking good so far!

Will have another update soon... done moving, just have to clean garage and then can start again. Also got a new 3d printer!

Thanks man! I'm hoping to have all the desk parts done within the next two weeks. Focus then would turn to components install, WC, and all the LED goodness. 

looking great so far! cant wait to see the case

looking great so far! cant wait to see the case

love the wraps so far, very professional looking. 

Oh, still very nice! I just picked up X299 for my build but with a 7800X. So far Im liking it, I got it to 5ghz, 1.32v stable

You turned this
 

 
 
Into this!
 

 
 
 
That's MODDING! take a bow mate you got my respect.

I started a Desk build about 5 years ago and never finished it. I am doing a desk build now and cannot wait to see what you come up with on your second. I've used Red Harbinger and other desk builds (including yours) as inspiration! 

When i had planned on doing wood for my current build, i was going to route the edges like you say. I think its the best way! 

Updated the format of the build log. Will be working on the inside of the tub of the desk tomorrow and will have something up here on sunday or monday. I will also have a small update tomorrow regarding something I picked up that will help me make this build special. 

yeah I was excited when I saw it was being trashed. Im a manager where I work so I have first pick a lot of times. Its great for the me kind of person cause i can reuse almost anything. 

The Brains!

Got a chance to work on the thing this weekend. Still working on what exact CPU and motherboard to use. 


Now on to the Legs!

So to start out, I used some old Ikea legs that I had. They were ugly on the desk and not sturdy enough. I was planning on building my own legs with square stock but the build gods smiled on me once more. We have sample tables at work for the floor we make. One of these sample racks were deemed old and was going to be trashed. Lucky for me, they were perfect for my build.



This is how the piece looked when I started. I tested myself on top of the desk to make sure it was sturdy enough. I weigh about 195 lbs, and with me shaking, it hardly moved.





I cut the sections off with the connectors so that it still had some of the curve. To keep it level, I knew I would have to angle the bracket when welding it on.






I then ground down to bare metal so that I could weld to the desk. I angled the brackets with a level and then welded it.






I did the same thing to the other side and then flipped that bad boy over. It's almost perfectly level. It sits about the perfect height. I may lower the legs a tad bit by end of build but for now, its fine. My chair rolls right under. I usually like to be with arms of chair about level with mid of desk. Going to try it like this for a bit and see if I like it.





Just an idea of how the inside will look. Next stop is to finish the metal coverings inside the computer part of the desk! I also have something I picked up that will help make this build very unique. let me know what you think of the legs!

Update with some back tracking!

So interesting delayed update. I had decided to go with a 1700X and Aorus X370 K7. First board i got was DOA. Would not post, boot, or anything. Power light would come on but would get hung on 00 and do nothing. I returned the board and CPU for the same CPU and motherboard. I took pics of the items, got it all setup to test and it worked! Used it all night and then shut it down. Upon waking up, the board would no longer power up. Red power switch was lit but thats all it would do. Would not even try to boot. I ended up even trying some Trident Z RGB and still did nothing. Going to add the pictures but I've decided to go a different route which I will detail at the end of the pics.








I absolutely love the look of the motherboard. The LED lighting is awesome, flashy but not too flashy. However, after the second bad board, I was done with trying to use aorus and gigabyte.







The time that I did get to use the 1700X, I really did like it. I didnt notice any lag in any games or programs. I did do a little overclocking but was not able to get it stable above 3.9Ghz. These X370 Gigabyte boards have tons of bad reviews against them on multiple sites with boards that quit responding after shutting down or being off for awhile. Most could be fixed with a CMOS pull but mine would not start working.

I've since returned the motherboard and CPU and swapped for something else. I am not 100% sure its what I want to stay with, so I am not going to announce what it is until I am certain.

On lighter news, I did find an awesome deal on a PCIe SSD.





I picked this Zotac 10th ani. SSD up locally for $125. The read and write speed on this thing is amazing. Right now I am getting 1372 read and 1250 write. and guess what!?!? IT HAS RGB LIGHTING! I know, super overkill but it looks awesome in the build. I will have another update tomorrow on some exciting things for the build and plan on doing some more fabrication this weekend on the desk to near finish! Let me know what CPU/Board combo would be best and look best in the build!        

Just a small update, as I am on vacation this week and won't be able to work on the desk.
 

 
I welded on a mount for the psu underneath the desk. The bracket is from a rack mount system. It will allow me to run and hide the cables coming from the psu into the bottom of the desk.
 

 
I traded some stuff I had for a u3415w ultrawide monitor. I love this thing. 
 

 
please excuse the messy temp temp desk that I am using. It's made from MDF and is a similar design to that of what I am making now. I didn't like it so that's why I changed to metal.
 
 
 

  . So I have been going back and forth on what kind of desk to build. I wanted something thin and sleek but also wanted something that would house a watercooled build. I also wanted to do something with RGB lighting (seeing as this is the new craze). I have done some stuff with individually programmable LEDs in the past and wanted to incorporate this into my build using an arduino.

I started a desk build a couple weeks ago, got about a quarter the way through it and decided I didn't like how it was coming. It was made of wood and once together and partially painted, did not look like I wanted it to.  I then decided to do a render, plan everything exactly, and then build it.    I wanted something that hadn't quite been done before. I wanted a shape, design, and setup that was different than everyone else. I believe with what I have planned, this will be so! I have done some custom builds in the past, including another desk, but nothing quite like this one. It is completely from scratch and all made by me.        CPU - i7 7800X Motherboard - Aorus X299 Gaming 7 Ram - 3000Mhz RGB Trident Z
MSI 1070 Seahawk EK - Will remove the dragon and replace with different design Custom mounted in the desk, not sure it's been done before
32gb RGB Ram  - Trident Z RGB    Zotac 480gb PCIe SSD - RGB lit, will be custom mounted
  2x500gb SSD for games - Brand TBD (Maybe M2) 5tb WD media drive

Alphacool 240mm UT60
Hardware Labs 360mm
DDC with EK Plexitop
EK Evo Supremacy - Nickel
EK X3 250ml Res
Barrow 12mm Multi Link Fittings
Alphacool 90s      
RGB party lighting - Some cable mod RGB/UV and some adafruit fully programmable LEDs

All watercooling and hardware black and nickel or plexi and nickel - No copper
 
UV Coolant
 
Nickel or clear rigid tubing - Maybe!?
 
Spartans FTW!
 
Tossing around ideas for custom mounted temp displays inside the desk. 
 
 
         

Please note that the plan is to sidemount the GPU and build a plexi shelf to mount it to. I tried making it in sketchup but it wouldnt come out right. This is only thing that will be different.

The spartan head and the 3 lines will be all RGB lighting.

The max thickness I plan on it being is about 6 1/2" tall.
 
 

Painting and some other goodies!

So I decided to go ahead and paint the desk. There will still be some areas I need to sand and repaint, but wanted to have an idea before I drilled holes and mounted everything. I also got a few goodies in that I was very excited about. Here is the update!






First, I used bare metal primer to coat the entire desk. I did a light coat and then a second coat. After it tried to the touch, i knocked down any bits and pieces of dust or other items.





To get the texture I wanted, I used rustoleum textured paint. It's not too gritty and has a nice feel to it. I thought about using bed liner, but didnt want the rough/rubberized feel to it. This paint has a texture but not unpleasant to the touch.








I then used chalkboard paint to give the black, final color. I may end up doing a clear coat chalk paint over the top of it to prevent scratching. I will wait to do this until I have everything completely drilled, for all my mounts. I like the color and am happy with the texture.





I used some square stock to make brackets for the IKEA legs that I have. I cut it in half and welded to the underneath of the table. I then used 1/4" allen head bolts to mount the legs to the bracket. They are pretty sturdy but I am not happy with how they look. I will probably design some legs and build out of metal for each side before I am finished with the build. Also, you will notice some discoloration where I welded the legs. This will be fixed when I do the final coat of paint.

So I wanted a custom GPU mount for doing the side mount. I found a file on thingiverse and had someone 3D print it for me. We took the original and modified it the way I wanted it. This is one of my favorite things about the build and believe it will really make the build pop!








I have now changed my forum name to Octo Modz and will continue to do all my future builds under this name. I decided I wanted something more unique then Octonaut and that could be used with builds. I loved how the font turned out. I have some cool plans for the lettering on the mount to make it very visible. I still have to smooth the front of the mount and do a final coat of paint! If anyone would like a referral to the individual that printed the mount for me, I will gladly get you his information. He did an awesome job designing and printing for me.

I am waiting on some more parts to come in, mainly fittings for the runs I am going to do. I did get rid of the Ryzen 1600 and Aorus and have replaced with intel. I will get some better lightbox pics of all the equipment soon! If there are any sponsers out there that want to sponsor the build, I am going to have an area on the desk where this will be immortalized in the build.
         

  . So I have been going back and forth on what kind of desk to build. I wanted something thin and sleek but also wanted something that would house a watercooled build. I also wanted to do something with RGB lighting (seeing as this is the new craze). I have done some stuff with individually programmable LEDs in the past and wanted to incorporate this into my build using an arduino.

I started a desk build a couple weeks ago, got about a quarter the way through it and decided I didn't like how it was coming. It was made of wood and once together and partially painted, did not look like I wanted it to.  I then decided to do a render, plan everything exactly, and then build it.    I wanted something that hadn't quite been done before. I wanted a shape, design, and setup that was different than everyone else. I believe with what I have planned, this will be so! I have done some custom builds in the past, including another desk, but nothing quite like this one. It is completely from scratch and all made by me.        CPU - i7 7800X Motherboard - Aorus X299 Gaming 7 Ram - 3000Mhz RGB Trident Z
MSI 1070 Seahawk EK - Will remove the dragon and replace with different design Custom mounted in the desk, not sure it's been done before
32gb RGB Ram  - Trident Z RGB    Zotac 480gb PCIe SSD - RGB lit, will be custom mounted
  2x500gb SSD for games - Brand TBD (Maybe M2) 5tb WD media drive

Alphacool 240mm UT60
Hardware Labs 360mm
DDC with EK Plexitop
EK Evo Supremacy - Nickel
EK X3 250ml Res
Barrow 12mm Multi Link Fittings
Alphacool 90s      
RGB party lighting - Some cable mod RGB/UV and some adafruit fully programmable LEDs

All watercooling and hardware black and nickel or plexi and nickel - No copper
 
UV Coolant
 
Nickel or clear rigid tubing - Maybe!?
 
Spartans FTW!
 
Tossing around ideas for custom mounted temp displays inside the desk. 
 
 
         

Please note that the plan is to sidemount the GPU and build a plexi shelf to mount it to. I tried making it in sketchup but it wouldnt come out right. This is only thing that will be different.

The spartan head and the 3 lines will be all RGB lighting.

The max thickness I plan on it being is about 6 1/2" tall.
 
 

26 June 2017
 

 
 
Good morning DDCM fans and followers!
 
Time for another #DDCMdesk update:
 
Today let’s work with a little wood.  Some might argue my choice of material, but sticking with the theme of being unique, I picked up a sheet of ¾” Radiata Pine Plywood.
 

 
 
First steps began with marking out my first cuts of the pieces.  Hardest part was trying to figure out how much angle I needed to ensure my planned components would fit.  Thankfully, my old, well used components come to my rescue again.
 


 
 
Angled pieces cut out as the starting point to the rest of the build.  Then I moved onto the second cut which is the first angled front window.  By why stop there, after mocking up the cuts we continued to cut the back angle and the underside(5gal for reference).  Next steps, the mid shelf and the bottom piece to measure and cut.
 

Painting and some other goodies!

So I decided to go ahead and paint the desk. There will still be some areas I need to sand and repaint, but wanted to have an idea before I drilled holes and mounted everything. I also got a few goodies in that I was very excited about. Here is the update!






First, I used bare metal primer to coat the entire desk. I did a light coat and then a second coat. After it tried to the touch, i knocked down any bits and pieces of dust or other items.





To get the texture I wanted, I used rustoleum textured paint. It's not too gritty and has a nice feel to it. I thought about using bed liner, but didnt want the rough/rubberized feel to it. This paint has a texture but not unpleasant to the touch.








I then used chalkboard paint to give the black, final color. I may end up doing a clear coat chalk paint over the top of it to prevent scratching. I will wait to do this until I have everything completely drilled, for all my mounts. I like the color and am happy with the texture.





I used some square stock to make brackets for the IKEA legs that I have. I cut it in half and welded to the underneath of the table. I then used 1/4" allen head bolts to mount the legs to the bracket. They are pretty sturdy but I am not happy with how they look. I will probably design some legs and build out of metal for each side before I am finished with the build. Also, you will notice some discoloration where I welded the legs. This will be fixed when I do the final coat of paint.

So I wanted a custom GPU mount for doing the side mount. I found a file on thingiverse and had someone 3D print it for me. We took the original and modified it the way I wanted it. This is one of my favorite things about the build and believe it will really make the build pop!








I have now changed my forum name to Octo Modz and will continue to do all my future builds under this name. I decided I wanted something more unique then Octonaut and that could be used with builds. I loved how the font turned out. I have some cool plans for the lettering on the mount to make it very visible. I still have to smooth the front of the mount and do a final coat of paint! If anyone would like a referral to the individual that printed the mount for me, I will gladly get you his information. He did an awesome job designing and printing for me.

I am waiting on some more parts to come in, mainly fittings for the runs I am going to do. I did get rid of the Ryzen 1600 and Aorus and have replaced with intel. I will get some better lightbox pics of all the equipment soon! If there are any sponsers out there that want to sponsor the build, I am going to have an area on the desk where this will be immortalized in the build.
         

Glad to have you! Will have some more updates this weekend.