Project Cu - a custom PC desk

[Maarten/Pine]

@19_blackie_73 should be fine now. Otherwise I don't know what to do further 

[19_blackie_73]

5 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

It looks like I can see the images just fine.

 

2 hours ago, colonel_mortis said:

Some people can see them because the images are cached for a fairly long time.

When you edited the other post, did you click the delete button on the attachments in the attach zone at the bottom of the editor? If so, I'm afraid that, as far as I know, it deletes them permanently from the server, even though there are other posts that are using them. I have reported this to the devs before, but clearly it's not been fixed. This appears to have been fixed, so I'm not sure why it still appears to have occurred. Could you PM me with everything that you did?

If you upload them again, it should work.

 

(if you want to respond, probably best to do it via PM so the thread doesn't get filled with troubleshooting this issue)

 

47 minutes ago, Maarten/Pine said:

@19_blackie_73 should be fine now. Otherwise I don't know what to do further 

yeah now i can see it, thanks everyone

and looks very interesting and promising  

[Maarten/Pine]

Hey guys, it's been a while. 
This is not a big update, just wanted to let you know that I've put on the waterblock on the gpu. Made a video of it on my channel.

 

Please let me know what you think. It's my first video, I'm still learning the ropes of how it all works so please spare me. 

 

 

[Maarten/Pine]

Finally, last week I got a full day to work on the desk. Got quite alot of sawing done, check it out below!

Wanted to start with the biggest task of the day, marking the radiator cutouts, then cutting them out with a jigsaw.
 
Made the marks for the cutouts with a radiator gasket. 

 

Nice.

 

Cutout made, doesn't really mind that it's not perfect. Air will flow through anyways.

 

Fitted the radiator real quickly to make sure the holes were on the right spots. Goddamn perfect!!
I did not fit all the screws in on the photo, but i checked all of them.

 

3x 120mm cutout for the fans blowing out.
Oops, used the wrong baseline.

 

That's better!

 

Result after making the cutouts for the air vents! Quite satisfied with them.

 

Test fitting the watercooling components. Reservoir will be mounted on the vertical back wall (check next pics.)
Pump is also too high for it to be mounted on the wooden platform. Will need to make a cutout for it and mount it to the base with a slight elevation!

 

Marking the spot for the pump.

 

Fits freaking perfect!! (after 20 mins of filing though)

 

Also made a cutout for the double temperature display bay. Only had to secure it on one side, sits secure!

 

This may be a bit weird to imagine, but this is the bulk connector in the hole I made for it. It goes through the base of the desk. This will be the exit for the drain port.

 

Called it a day after quite alot of hours. This is the end result:
- reservoir mounts mounted on the vertical back wall;
- cutout and mount made for the temp display bay;
- cutouts for the radiator/fans;
- made a hole for the drain port.

 

This week I will probably get the last components for the build, front panel with usb and cable materials!
Thanks for following this build, stay tuned for the next update!

[Maarten/Pine]

Yet another update!

First I had to level the inlet of the pump to the outlet of the res. This meant it had to be elevated for 30,5mm: not an easy height to make.

 

Made an acrylic plate with some holes at the right spots for the pump mount.

 

Then fixed a bolt with some washers and a locknut to the acrylic plate.

 

Added another set of locknuts which the pump can rest on. Now I can set the pump to the perfect height by measuring with a slide caliper.

 

Problem: you will be able to see the bolts because of the silver color.

 

Solution: a dremel!

 

Perfect.

 

Time to mark the spots where the holes need to go in the PVC tubes (cable management.)

 

Making the holes.

 

Some filing, and it's done! I'll buy some rubber u-profiles for covering up the imperfections.

 

Also made a nice cutout where the back of the gpu can rest on. Also quite useful if you want to actually plug in some cables.

 

Small cutout for a rubber grommet. Makes the cable management cleaner. 

 

Got a new mobo after RMA'ing the broken one: works perfectly now! 

 

Working on the custom cables aswell...

 

Some of the (partly) finished products...! So much time...:lol:

Let me know what you think.. This week or the next, I'll finish all the building and I'll paint the whole thing. :clap:

[Maarten/Pine]

Update #5!

 

It's been two weeks since I posted an update, but here is another one.
I got the last components for the desk build so I've finished alot of things and started painting!

First thing I did was saw a hole for the front panel. It's got a power and reset button plus four usb 3.0 ports.

 

Fits perfectly!

 

Used a rubber u-profile for the support blocks for the gpu.

 

Nice.

 

Time to make a hole so I can actually still lift up the glass top after it's fit in.

 

Hardest thing I did, etching the sides where the glass can rest on.

 

As you can see, I did make some mistakes in the corners. 

 

Time to fix it with alot, alot of sanding! Also sanded everything else of the desk for two hours so it was ready to be painted.

 

Of course, after a good clean of dust!

 

And yeah, doing the first layer of paint! These pictures are when the paint was still wet.

 

Making the legs for the desk.

 

Screw the sanding machine, doing it by hand makes it smoother and it goes faster, just costs a little more energy!

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the legs are way too small for the desk, looks hideous.
Will be buying new steel legs next time.

 

Pictures of the painted desk after the first layer, next layer in the upcoming update!

 

Really really happy about how the paint turned out. Love the matte look!
Let me know what you think!

[Brennan Price]

Looking great so far!! Wish I had the materials to make something similar!! (Please add RGB to this)

[Maarten/Pine]

On 2017-5-2 at 10:03 PM, Brennan_Price said:

Looking great so far!! Wish I had the materials to make something similar!! (Please add RGB to this)

Thanks man, the materials themselves are really cheap, most of it can also be made with a jigsaw! You don't need alot of tools, but some make it a little easier to do right.

 

and nooo I will not add RGB!

RGB won't look nice at all with the copper accents, I'll just have white LEDs. Maybe RGB-W strips.

[Maarten/Pine]

Hi people!

 

It’s been three weeks since I’ve posted, way too long. Moving to another house had me living without internet for 2,5 weeks, which made it impossible for me to post. Sorry for that, here’s some nice progress though!

 

Started with finishing all the cables by making the double wires etc.

 

Some heatshrink to finish it nicely.

 

In the last update I stated that I was going to use steel legs for the desk. Here I’m making a plan to attach the legs to the desk, also made the mounts for it. Reason that it was kind of difficult was that I didn’t want to bolt straight through the base of the desk because that’d look hideous on top.

 

Last update also showed the first layer of paint.

After looking at the desk another time I just couldn’t stand the fact that the screws were visible. I sanded the whole desk.

 

After sanding I filled the holes with MDF filler. Let it dry overnight and sanded the filler afterwards.

 

Sanded:

 

Also thought of something to hold my headset. These will be hanging next to the desk. Local hardware store let me borrow the copper bending kit!

 

Didn’t have SATA power cables for the SSD’s yet. Perfect job for the evening.

 

Next day I started with test fitting the mobo and gpu so I could make the gpu bracket.

 

Time for the oh-so-beloved Dremel.

 

After some filing and sanding:

 

Then it was time for some painting jobs that still had to happen.

The RAM heatsinks, gpu bracket, pump bracket and fan rings of the SP120’s were painted.

 

Cleaned all of it with some regular soap

 

And: Time for painting!

Paint that was used was black plastidip.

 

Finished the day by making some shots of the finished products of the day, taken with a mobile phone so sorry for the bad quality.

 

Also did the second layer of paint and a layer of varnish, result will be shown in the next update!

The next update won’t take nearly as long as this one, that’s a promise. J

[stealth80]

looking good so far, did you hand paint or spray the desk? 

[Maarten/Pine]

19 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

looking good so far, did you hand paint or spray the desk? 

Desk was hand painted, the hardware components were sprayed.

 

EDIT: Thanks btw!

[Cazan]

@Maarten/Pine WOW . Just beautiful ! i can already imagine this finnished  good luck and keep up with the good work !

[Maarten/Pine]

On 2017-6-15 at 5:10 PM, Cazan said:

@Maarten/Pine WOW . Just beautiful ! i can already imagine this finnished  good luck and keep up with the good work !

Thanks man!

[Maarten/Pine]

Told you that you wouldn’t have to wait long on another update, kept my promise this time!

 

Let’s begin with some pictures of the painted desk with second layer of paint and a layer of varnish on it.

 

Next, it was time to make the holder for the two 500GB Samsung 850 EVO’s.

Made it from acrylic.

 

Including some white LEDs!

 

Also painted this SSD holder black with plastidip.

 

Result:

 

Also re-did the gpu bracket because I couldn’t fit the pci-e riser through. :’)

 

Painted the wooden holders for the legs with black paint and a layer of varnish aswell.

 

Because the desk is quite thick, the legs needed to be cut to a smaller length. Had quite some fun with this powertool, this thing is a Dremel to the power of 10!

 

Moved everything to my own apartment, time to organize this mess and put everything together!

 

First thing to do were the legs of course.

 

SHE STANDS!! Will cut the bolts off later.

 

Also time to put the first components in.

Electricity for this baby.

 

Some rubber things on top of the gpu holder for protection.

 

That’s it for this update, next thing will be to put all the cables in where they belong, which is going to be quite the challenge.

Also almost time to start putting the components in!

Stay tuned people.

[Maarten/Pine]

So, since last update I got quite a bit done.
It’s so freaking hard to not work on a project while it’s standing next to you all the time!!

 

Started with putting all the cables through the raceways.

 

Also installed the components that are crucial to where I rout the wires.

 

Installed the pass-through for the drain.

Total picture at the end of the day.

 

Next day it was time to install the rest of the main components. First some beautiful shots of the mobo.

 

Cabling this desk was a hell of a challenge. Too many wires to fit through a 40mm tube!

Had to de-pin the 24-pin so I had to label all the wires.

Couldn’t be more happy with the MDPC-X de-pinning tool at that moment!!

 

Time to clean the radiator. Cleaned it with vinegar and distilled water. Still amazed by how much gunk comes out of a brand new rad.

 

First rinse with distilled water.

Second rinse with vinegar.

The rest of the rinses were done with distilled water, but it took some time to get all the vinegar out.

 

Time to install the rad!

 

Also got the res in. 400mm of pure beauty.

 

Jup, also time for the gpu to get in!

 

Overview picture when most components were in.

 

With the rad, the dust filters also were attached.

 

Outlet fans.

 

Another pic of the rad. Anyone know where to get replacement stickers for the corsair sticker in the middle?

 

And two more overview pics.

 

Next update will cover the watercooling loop and some more finishing touches. Getting real close now!

Thanks to you all for following this build log.

[Maarten/Pine]

Hi peeps, it’s time for the watercooling loop!!

Let’s dive right in.

 

So many fittings.

 

What a beauty… Please tell me what you think of the copper pipes and black fittings!

 

And she’s finished.

 

Now that the loop is done it’s time to give the pipes a matte clear coat. Sanded them down so only bare copper was visible and gave them a good clean with copper ‘’shampoo.’’ No idea why they call it that lmao.

 

The end product.

 

And onto some more cable management.

 

Getting closer and closer.

 

Time to fill that baby up! She’ll get wet very soon.

[potoooooooo]

So jealous of the Nanoxia fittings.

 

They're so attractive, wish i could get them in the USA.

 

The copper and black fittings look absolutely gorgeous as well. Jelly af

[CostcoSamples]

Wow those copper pipes!!!! with black fittings!!!  A++++++!

[Maarten/Pine]

On 27-6-2017 at 8:06 PM, potoooooooo said:

So jealous of the Nanoxia fittings.

 

They're so attractive, wish i could get them in the USA.

 

The copper and black fittings look absolutely gorgeous as well. Jelly af

I know right! Love the looks of them, although I rarely see them in any watercooling builds.

Thanks as well!

 

8 hours ago, CostcoSamples said:

Wow those copper pipes!!!! with black fittings!!!  A++++++!

I know right, beautiful!

[MayMayDay]

Hot diggity! I made an account just to say that looks gorgeous!

[Maarten/Pine]

On 29-6-2017 at 9:17 AM, MayMayDay said:

Hot diggity! I made an account just to say that looks gorgeous!

And I really appreciate that man, thank you!

[Maarten/Pine]

Today was the day that Project Cu finally got wet.

It might not seem like it in the pictures, but it was quite a challenge to fill her up because of the laying res. With a case, you just flip it. With a desk, it’s not quite as easy as that…

Anyways, enjoy the pics.

 

 

Jup, that’s me.

 

After she was filled I figured it was time to get the final piece of the desk itself on (excluding the glass top panel of course.)

 

After a successful 24-hour leak test she is up and running! Really happy so far.

 

Today I also got some more goodies in the mail for cable management and making the desk sound less like an aircraft.

 

Goddamn, that’s what I’m talking about. Finally some cable management.

 

Also installed the LED’s under the SSD mount. Not the full effect like I expected, but still good enough! Like the looks of it.

 

Last but not least, working on the rest of the cable management, had to cut down 23 wires of the 24-pin because none were the same length because of the bends.

 

That’s it for today. Thanks again for following this work log and I hope to see you in the next update!

[Maarten/Pine]

Since last update I’ve been working a little on the cable management, but mainly on the lighting.

This is because I’ve got great news: Cablemod decided to sponsor me the lighting with their RGB/W strips, which are perfect for this project as it’s important to have the right shade of white.

 

This means all the RGB/W strips in this are sponsored by Cablemod. They also slammed in two memory modding kits, which are far better than my custom paint job.

Great guys with excellent service!

 

Back to where we were, the 24-pin got cable combs!

 

Here are some pictures of the stuff I received from Cablemod for this project.

 

To be able to do the lighting right, I drained the desk.

 

Also had time to disassemble the waterblocks that got a little dirty because of some dust. Still a lot of fun to do this.

Sorry for the horrible iphone quality pics.

 

After that I tested some configurations with the RGB/W strips to look for some effects without it being too visible. In the end I ended up choosing this config.

 

Quite happy with the effect!

 

To make the lighting a little more stealthy, I bought some corner profiles where the strips can adhere to.

 

Nice result!

 

 

On the front I also added a 60cm strip for some more lighting.

Might add some frosted acrylic for a smoother lighting effect.

 

Also installed the Cablemod RAM modding kits, they look so goddamn good!!

 

And a last picture to show you the effect with the RGB and white LEDs on. On the photo it isn’t really visible, but on the inside it gives a white glow, while on the outside of the Cable raceways the RGB strip gives a red glow.

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback these last few updates.

[Maarten/Pine]

Lately I haven’t had much time to spend on the desk, but I did some things throughout the holidays.

 

Firstly, I connected the last RGB/W led strip from cablemod. Later I also fixed the ugly colors of the RGB/W extention with some black tape.

 

Last week, I finally had time to do the rest of the cables. It was such a pain to do!
Looks way better now though. The cables for the 24-pin could have been better, but they were too short.. Doesn’t look bad, just could have been better. It’s impossible to fix now!

 

Some more pics of the cables.

 

And, added something new to the setup… ?

 

Last week I also looked at the picture below, and noticed the desk would look way cleaner with a wall-mounted monitor.

 

So that’s what I did, monitor wall-mounted and ready to go!

 

Final pictures coming soon.

[Maarten/Pine]

 Hi guys,

Enjoy some pictures of the desk at night.

Daylight pics are also on the planning.