River Table with 2 PCs

[theskaz]

Ever since I saw the desk PC that Linus did, I wanted to create one too. One big difference is that I did not want to use MDF as I personally think it looks cheap,  and not very sturdy as a table top. Linus had a piece of glass over his and that served him well. I did not want my forearms on glass anymore and I love the feel of natural wood over glass or acrylic. I also have been dying to be able to do an epoxy/live edge table. So i thought if I can do a river table with clear epoxy in it and put a shelf underneath, it would look real cool. so I started designing.

 

I needed a larger desk than normal as I have a lot of different projects that I work on, and some are physical, so I started with 70 x 40 (all measurements are freedom units  ) table top. I wanted minimalist but sturdy legs so I decided to go with 4x1 square 1/8in steel. Doing some math, that left me with a shelf of 58 x 25 x 8 to put all the computer parts in.

 

so starts the build...

First I looked for a slab that wasnt too expensive, and fit my dimensions. after running through a planer we got a very worn and ugly piece to look like this:

 

 

We decided where to make the cut. Normally on live edge slabs, you cut it long ways then flip it so the live edge in in the center. I cleaned off the rot and bark:

 

we then set up a mold and an area that was free from dust:

 

then the pour started:

 

it took 3 different pours and 10 days to fully cure. 

[theskaz]

as that cured, I started working on the leg. Not a whole lot to it, just welded them up, grind it down, and send it off to

 

after grinding this is what it looked like:

 

g after a failed attempt at rattle canning

[theskaz]

during all this time, I created the box that the computers would sit in. this, by far, took the most amount of time. First thing to do was to mock up what it would look like under the desk:

 

then the glue ups (we have dominoes in the joints for added support):

 

then sanding down to 320 grit and finishing (in this pic, you can see the layout starting to take shape):

[theskaz]

while i was working on the layout, I mocked up the table: to get a polish on the epoxy, it took going from 180 grit to 3000 grit (not skipping a step, and going wet at 800), then a 3 stage polisher. it took 16 hours of just sanding to get this done. and I didnt get it right the first time.

 

a cool shot I took through the edge of the table (yes, there are bubbles, mistakes were made):

 

after the polish job:

[theskaz]

went round and round about the layout. knowing that I am going to create some heat, I have a ton of hard drives, and I have 2 complete PCs (one is a server). I will skip past it an show you the final layout

 

System 1:

 

System 2:

 

Close up on hard drives

 

there is a cutout underneath this with a filter in place so as the fans push down it forces air through the hdds to keep them cool.

[theskaz]

final assembly:

[theskaz]

System Specs:

 

System 1:
Asus STRIX Z390-F Gaming

Intel 8700K

GSkill 64GB RAM

2x EVO 960 M.2s

EVGA 2080 Ti XC Ultra with EK Waterblock

Asus 10G NIC

 

System 2:

Asus Z9pe-D16/2L

2x E2597 V2s

128GB RDRAM

2x EVGA 1070s with EK Waterblocks

8x SSD

9x HDDs

Asus 10G NIC

 

 

Conclusion:

I wanted something that shows my skills (although I am not a master at any of them) and I run a business, therefore I needed a server. I already had all the hardware. The server was in an old 4u case, and the PC was in a Thermaltake tower 900 case. I would have loved to throw a threadripper in and get the latest enthusiast hardware. but practicality took over.

[buyobuyo]

Awesome work, @theskaz.  

[theskaz]

thanks!

 

I just upgraded all the HDDs and the 2 cache disks (the server is running Unraid  6.8) from 10 x 2TB drives to 10x 16TB Seagate Exo Enterprise drives with 2 WD Blue 2TB Cache Drives

 

[theskaz]

people said they run hot, due to my cooling design I might have to make some modifications: is this too hot?

[theskaz]

I just upgraded the main system to Asus Strix Z490-E Gaming and an i9 10900k. last update until Nvidia GPUs hit the market

[Drama Lama]

Looks just awesome 

[theskaz]

Did some more upgrades.....

 

System 1:

Windows 10

Asus ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming

Intel 10900k (OC to 4.8 all core 5.2 single)

64GB Gskill TridentZ RGB

2x NVidia Titan RTX

2x Intel 500 GB NVME

ASUS 10G NIC

 

System 2

Unraid

Asus Prime TRX40-Pro

AMD Threadripper 3990x

256GB GSkill TridentZ Neo 

10x 16GB Seagate Exos Enterprise

2x 256GB NVME (cache drive)

6x Patriot 240Gb SSDs (zfs array for VMs)

2x EVGA 1070 SC 

Asus 10G NIC

[Nezayer]

amazing work bro, LOVE IT!

 

cable management suck, eh ? I hate it too.

 

I wanted to do the same but I had an idea of a desk jore with class top as nothing can block it , I want to share it here but I think I am bit late to the build off

I just saw your amazing work and had to stop and admire your affort, LOVE it