[Build Log] RGB Spartan - Scratch Desk Build

[IAmOctonaut]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

[Memorizer]

Please don't change the font color. The dark theme users can't see anything. Thank you.

[IAmOctonaut]

11 hours ago, Memorizer said:

Please don't change the font color. The dark theme users can't see anything. Thank you.

 

Fixed... I copied from another forum and didnt realize it screwed up the automatic color! 

 

Thanks! 

[IAmOctonaut]

 

So the build gods smiled upon me today. The original plan was to use MDF as it was the most cost effective way. However! An industrial table got damaged at work this week and is now currently at my house. It's 1/4 steel thats coated with gray enamel. The plan is to use the front edge for the 1" lip across the front. I will then use the rest of the metal for the sides and back, as well as the tub for the hardware. Will be 6 1/2" tall in the tub and will be the max peak of the desk. Rest of the edge will be 1" around. 

 

 

Excuse the other junk in the back of my truck! 

 

 

Started cutting the top of the table. I will cutout the area for the tub on the left side of photo (right side of desk), leaving the 1" lip on the front.

 

 

Plexi that will be used for window, gpu mount, LED strip inserts, and other accents

[IAmOctonaut]

Have to get some more cutting wheels for my grinder tomorrow and plan on getting some more pieces cutout tomorrow after work. The idea is to have it mostly build by the weekend and then paint it.

[IAmOctonaut]

 

Got some of the pieces cut today. Got the front edge and top of the table cut. Also the back piece with a lip to hide any wires. 

 

 

Got the table top cut and marked out the lines for the tub for hardware. The lip on the front will go all the way across for a clean look. It will also be where the power button will be installed and probably a couple USB ports. 

 

 

I then cut out the section for the tub. I am using a grinder to do the cuts as I do not have a plasma torch. Once I get everything cut, I will go back and file/sand/grind everything down even. Most the cuts are pretty straight. I am trying to decide whether to weld the back piece to the top or use brackets. I plan on using brackets for the tub to cut down the weight when moving the desk. Anyone have any good recommendations for corner brackets or cube brackets to bolt the pieces together? 

[IAmOctonaut]

 

Got a little more done today. I bolted the back and the top together in prep for welding the top and back together.

 

i have welded but it's been awhile and I'm not the best, so I figured if I bolt them close, I can't go too wrong.

 

Ive grinded them even, so should be a bead across and then I will remove the top bolts, using filler to close the top bolt holes up. I will keep the back bolts through the bracket for extra strength.

 

 

p

[IAmOctonaut]

Most my items have come in, so I figured Id take some shots with my canon.




Wanted to pay homage to the red harbinger. I'd love to have one if I was as rich as Vanilla ice!

 

Since most of my watercooling parts are EK, I wanted to stick with the same thing on the pump. The plexti top will look nice with what I have planned for coolant.

 

I have a mixture of Barrow, Bitspower, and Alphacool fittings. As I said, I am on a budget and I've gotten these through /r/Hardwareswap. I still need to get some 45s and some rotaries.

 

Nice full nickel Evo for the build! Love the color of this thing.

 

Aorus X370 Gaming K5. Love the black and silver look of it. Has RGB all over the board;as well as headers for my RGB UV strip I will be using.

MSI 1070 Seahawk with EK Block. The plan is to remove the dragon and add some special stuff to it!

Still waiting on some additional fittings and gathering some tools to finish building the desk. I am including on teaser of the desk as it sits now! Will be posting in the new few days with steps of building, more details, some videos of my awesome (not really) welding! 

[IAmOctonaut]

 

Desk Building!

This will be a pretty decent sized post of the building of the desk. I ended up deciding to weld the entire top, back, and tub. Portions of the inserts on the tub will be bolted on for routing of cables, etc. Im gonna post a string of photos with a small explanation on each one.



I started off by measuring the sections for the back and the top. The table is roughly 4' 5" wide and about 2' 4" deep. This gives me enough room for the tub and the ultrawide I plan on getting for the top of the desk.



This is after I cut the section out for the tub. It is roughly 20.5" wide. All my cuts were done with a grinder and cut off wheel. I will straighten any lines once I get all together.



I used a stick of steel square stock as a brade to mount the back and top together.



I used 4 bolts to mount the top and back to the square stock. I then made sure the darn thing was level when front and back were at same heigh (which is about 8")






I then put my awesome (not really) welding sklls to work. It's been about 3 years since Ii've even tried to weld. Once I cleaned the weld up, while not perfect, the weld is good enough to hold with no worries.











First side of the tub cut and welded to the top and back.







Second side cut and welded to the inside of the tub.






Bottom of tub and incline welded on. I didn't get many photos of the act of measuring and cutting these, as I was super into getting it together. I have some videos of me welding and grinding that I am going to use for my completed build video. Can upload these now if anyone is interested!

As you notice in the last picture, I didnt get the holes cut for the fans. My hole saw would not cut these (its old), so I am going to bring it to work and use the hydraulic hole punch. Should have another update before the end of the weekend!

Does any one have any special suggestions for paint to use. I am thinking about either using textured paint or chalk paint. Im open to ideas though!

 

 

 

 

[IAmOctonaut]

 

Desk Building, PT 2 and Other Stuff!

I was able to get the holes punched out at work. This made it alot cleaner and easier to do the holes for the fans. I then did some more sanding, a little more welding, and a little painting to test some colors out.




The two inside holes will have the radiator centered with motherboard and motherboard tray. Holes came out clean with minimal need for sanding.









Flap wheels come in handy when working with the edges of the desk, it allows to kind of curve the edge and not have to worry about digging in too much. They're not perfect yet, but the edges will be smoothed once primer is laid and wet sanding is done.






As I dont want the opposite side to be bare and ugly, I measured out a panel for it. The 3 lines are because I wasnt sure what angle I wanted the side at. I believe I like the longest and will keep it like that. Anyone else think otherwise? I've used a metal cutoff wheel for my angle grinder for cutting out all the panels. As long as you take your time, the lines come out pretty straight (not all mine are). Metal is pretty easy to go back and straighten up. I will be posting on next update how I make sure its completely straight.




I did some more sanding and then used some bare metal primer so no rust forms.



Textured Paint



Chalkboard Paint



Hammered Black texture

I picked up three different kinds of paint to see what look/texture I wanted. At the moment, I believe the textured is my favorite and will probably what I end up doing.

 

Colored Wires!

Being honest, I've had these cables for a few years. Ensourced does an awesome job and anyone wanting some done, should definitely check him out. His prices and timing were awesome.




The plan is to have everything cut out, sanded, primered, and painted by wednesday night! Expect an update then

 

 

 

 

[TVwazhere]

+1 Follow

[IAmOctonaut]

14 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

+1 Follow

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

[IAmOctonaut]

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.
 

 

 

 

 

[DD Custom Mods]

You weren't joking when you said scratch build!  Loving it so far, can't wait to see more.  +1

[CostcoSamples]

Wow it looks awesome so far!  great job

[IAmOctonaut]

5 hours ago, CostcoSamples said:

Wow it looks awesome so far!  great job

 

On 6/26/2017 at 8:02 AM, DD Custom Mods said:

You weren't joking when you said scratch build!  Loving it so far, can't wait to see more.  +1

 

Thanks Guys! Should have another small update tomorrow! 

[CostcoSamples]

I'm curious to hear how you like the textured paint finish once the project is complete and you've had time to test it out.  It looks really good with the black over the textured stuff.

 

I'm also in the process of building a desk (wood) but I opted for a cheap and easy finish (wood stain + polyurethane)

[stealth80]

Looking good 

[IAmOctonaut]

3 hours ago, CostcoSamples said:

I'm curious to hear how you like the textured paint finish once the project is complete and you've had time to test it out.  It looks really good with the black over the textured stuff.

 

I'm also in the process of building a desk (wood) but I opted for a cheap and easy finish (wood stain + polyurethane)

 

Ive tried bed liner for trucks on a wood desk before and it looked nice, but rubber would rub off if you're hands had any kind of oil or so on them. This textured paint seems to be sturdy and won't come off. It's also not super rough to the skin.

 

i have noticed that it gets haze marks easily with the black chalk paint if anything grazes it. I am probably going to have to clear coat it before I am done.

 

desk builds are def fun but think sometimes more challenging than a case lol.

[IAmOctonaut]

 

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.

 

 

 

[DD Custom Mods]

On 7/3/2017 at 1:09 PM, IAmOctonaut said:

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

 

 

 

I am super jealous of the ultrawide   That thing is awesome!

 

Enjoy your vacation man, thanks for pushing out the update, smart move with the PSU mount.

[IAmOctonaut]

 

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!

 

 

 

 

[IAmOctonaut]

On 7/5/2017 at 7:37 AM, DD Custom Mods said:

I am super jealous of the ultrawide   That thing is awesome!

 

Enjoy your vacation man, thanks for pushing out the update, smart move with the PSU mount.

 

Thanks man! It was a great vacation. Wish I had some more updates but with the CPU/Mobo combo not working out, I am lost to as what exactly I want to do! 

[IAmOctonaut]

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!

[snpr1992]

Disappointed that you didn't stick with Ryzen.  Have really liked their processors so far.  I understand why though with two DOA boards.  Got a ASUS x370 bored myself and have not had any issues.  Grabbed it in a pack with the CPU and RAM for a great price.  The 7700K is still king for strictly gaming though. 

 

Desk looks great so far,  look forward to seeing how everything pans out!