Whereas there are off-the-shelf PC desk chassis obtainable, if you need a desk that meets your actual necessities you’ll have to construct it your self, and this water-cooled desk PC is a unbelievable instance. Constructed from scratch by Johnny Anderson, this practice water-cooled desk PC is a real one-of-a-kind.
Because of our quickly rising PC constructing Fb web page, we’ve seen many {custom} gaming PCs, from mods based mostly on present case designs to scratch PC builds. You possibly can even submit yours for consideration proper right here. Now let’s discuss to Johnny about how he made this hardline water-cooled desk PC construct, which he calls Omega.
: Let’s begin with the preliminary inspiration. What made you wish to construct a PC right into a desk?
Johnny: It was really a earlier Customized PC journal, the L3p D3sk. I cherished the concept of getting all of the {hardware} and wiring effectively organized and on present, with the added bonus of not having an ATX case on the ground. Nonetheless, Peter Manufacturers’ engineering expertise far outstrip my very own, so I used to be going to must make the design throughout the scope of my skills.
That’s not a available desk chassis mannequin from the likes of Lian Li – that’s superb work! Inform us about the way you designed it, and take us by the construct course of.
Thanks! The Lian Li desk instances are a murals, however cost a premium. I like Lian Li’s use of aluminum although; it’s robust, mild and comparatively straightforward to machine, in order that was my base materials.
The design was created in SketchUp. I created a sq. part body to which the panels and baseplate of the case could be screwed, then corresponding 3mm-thick rectangular panels for the entrance, again, sides and base. I then raided the 3D Warehouse to get an concept of the place all of the elements ought to go.
I ordered a sq. part of aluminum minimize to size, some laser-cut and powder-coated 3mm aluminum sheet panels, and a custom-sized 12mm Perspex high. These bits have been all from completely different on-line retailers (see my construct log for particulars). I then needed to drill and M4-thread-tap about 130 holes within the body, which was reasonably tough and really tedious.
Given the accuracy required, I purchased a smallish pillar drill for this job, which made it far simpler. Then, with the remainder of the desk meeting, it was a case of test-fitting every panel to the body and submitting down sections or making changes the place doable.
How did you go about planning, measuring and chopping all of the exhausting tubing?
Planning the route for the exhausting tubing is at all times essentially the most tough a part of a construct in my view. Though I’ve completed numerous water-cooled builds up to now, deciding how I’m going to route the tubing is the half that at all times takes me the longest.
To begin, I’ll at all times draw it up on a little bit of A4 to get a tough concept of what number of tubing runs I’ll want and what fittings can be required. I selected to make use of 14mm O/D PETG tubing, as I’ve labored with each that materials and acrylic earlier than.
How does the airflow system work when it comes to route and air flow?
Three 140mm followers present consumption on the left, which cool the exhausting drives and supply airflow to the motherboard. The 420mm radiator has three 140mm followers pushing air out the underside of it on the correct, with three corresponding round cut-outs beneath, appearing as an exhaust.
What made you resolve to make use of exhausting tubing reasonably than tender tubing?
I wished all of the traces and proper angles to be as uniform as doable, which couldn’t be completed with tender tubing. I’d by no means completed any water cooling earlier than, although, so watching many YouTube movies and studying by my outdated problems with Customized PC on the topic actually helped.
Measuring up and chopping wasn’t that unhealthy, as a result of all of the elements and waterblocks have been in place at that time, so it was a case of trial and enchancment. Oh, and the return loop from the graphics card goes below the baseplate. Between it and the pipe again to the reservoir, I additionally included a drain port to make upkeep simpler.
What kind of concerns do it’s important to make when constructing a desk PC in contrast with a standard PC with an ATX case?
In the event you’re designing a desk PC your self, the primary job is to make your record of fundamentals. For instance, each half that should plug into an exterior gadget must have its output ports oriented to the again of the case.
From there, when you’re going for clear traces, bends and the way you need the remainder of the innards to look, you possibly can work out the place the remainder of your elements and wiring must go based mostly on those you possibly can’t transfer. Additionally, don’t overlook that when you’re water-cooling, you’re now mounting on a horizontal floor reasonably than a vertical one, so the very best and lowest factors within the loop can be a lot nearer collectively than in an ATX tower.
What’s within the entrance panel on the facet? Is that an optical drive we see?
That’s a 4K Blu-ray participant, together with energy and reset buttons, energy and HD LEDs, headphone/microphone jacks and two USB ports for comfort.
How huge and heavy is it? Is it sensible to maneuver?
It measures 1,006mm broad by 755mm deep and, together with the legs, 775mm excessive. It’s moderately heavy, however I can transfer it alone with out an excessive amount of issue, though solely across the room through which it’s presently sitting, based mostly on the measurement of the door body I’ve simply taken. Oops!
What’s within the field space on the entrance?
That’s the place my legs go! The entrance panel was initially rectangular, however I modified it to include this house after I noticed it was in any other case going to be woefully uncomfortable.
The place are all of the cables hidden, and the way did you go about understanding the place to route all of them?
On the underside of the bottom plate! I 3D-printed some cable combs I might mount on the underside of the bottom plate. From there it was only a case of creating positive they didn’t get in the way in which of one another on the way in which again to the PSU.
How lengthy did it take you to finish this challenge?
I used to be including to the PC’s design in SketchUp on and off over a interval of round 18 months (work and life being the primary inhibitors). It solely actually obtained into the construct section in March this 12 months, and I then completed it someplace across the begin of July.
Did you come throughout any difficulties?
I did uncover that even laser-cut aluminum doesn’t fairly match up together with your SketchUp design when you don’t take the thickness of a powder-coat end into consideration. The consequence was that, on a few edges, I needed to file down the tip of one of many panels by a few millimeters to verify it didn’t overlap its adjoining edge when being screwed into the body.
What did you be taught from the construct course of?
Apart from attending to grips with water cooling and metalwork, the most important studying curve was creating all of the {custom} energy cables. Every one required chopping to size, crimping, sleeving and terminating within the appropriate socket. I spent plenty of time with a PSU tester earlier than plugging them into any elements, however fortunately all of them labored.
Are you pleased with the tip consequence, and would you do any of it in another way on reflection?
I’m actually pleased with the way it’s turned out. I believe incorporating some form of automotive boot-style pneumatic elevate to the Perspex high would have been cool for simpler entry when water-cooling upkeep is required, however I’ll accept undoing 18 screws.
Water-cooled desk PC specs
- CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K overclocked to 4.5GHz
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Version, base clock OC to 1450MHz, increase clock to 1750MHz
- Storage: 1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus SSD, 4TB WD Black exhausting drive
- Reminiscence: 32GB (4 x 8GB) G.Talent Trident Z DDR4 3200MHz
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Extremely
- PSU: Corsair HX1000i
- Cooling: EK-Velocity D-RGB Nickel + Plexi CPU waterblock, EK-Vector RTX 2080 Ti RGB Nickel + Plexi GPU waterblock, EK-XTOP Revo D5 PWM Plexi, EK-RES X3 150 reservoir, EK-CoolStream SE 420mm radiator, EK-CryoFuel Strong Cloud White coolant (premix 1,000ml)
We’re at all times impressed by PC instances which have been constructed fully from scratch, and this desk PC is simply very good. We love that the perspex high (which appears to be like like glass at first look) provides you a window onto the hardline water-cooling gear, and that the entire piece capabilities as a really enticing piece of furnishings. Nice work, Johnny!
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