Scratch Build – Complete ⭐ Project Cu - a watercooled PC desk - Finished 03.10.2017

Hi guys

At the moment I'm working on a custom, watercooled desk PC. The theme will be black with copper accents like the watercooling pipes and other components.

I've already started with making the desk and buying the components. It's a slow but steady work in progress.
I thought I'd share some sketchup images of the project with you, together with some build log photo's.

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Parts list:
Components
i7 6700k
EVGA gtx 1080 SC
ASROCK Z170 Extreme 7+
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200MHz
Corsair RM850i (Will make custom cables myself)
Samsung 850 EVO (I've not decided on how much storage and how many drives)

(Water)cooling
EK FC-1080 (The 1070 version doesn't have a copper version)
EK Supremacy EVO Copper/plexi
EK-res X3 400
Alphacool NexXos UT60 radiator
Alphacool VPP655 PWM + Eisdecke D5 plexi
Corsair SP120 fans
Nanoxia Coolforce CF1 fittings

This is the top-view of the model, as you can see not all the parts are added in the sketchup model because that would be too much work. It's just to get an idea of the model.
As I already stated, the desk will be black with copper accents.



Here are some pictures of the progress of the desk itself.
Started with cutting the base of the desk.


Assembling the outside of the desk



Complete base of the desk finished!


Gluing some wooden parts together for more strength. The part in the back is made so that the air coming out of the PSU won't enter the cable management space.


Cutting a hole in the back for the exhaust of the psu.


Cable management space is finished.



Next thing will be to buy and cut the plastic tubes for the cable management. After that I'll position all the PC parts where they need to go and drill holes where I need to.

Here I've drilled holes where the plastic tubes for the cable management will go through.


After some (a lot) of filing because I didn't have the right sized saw tool, it seems like a perfect fit!


Test fitted where the mobo and gpu will go, this seems like a good division of the space.


After the test fitting I marked off the rear I/O and cut a space where all the connectors will go through. This space will need to be adjusted in height once the standoffs are installed.


Now it's time to attach the middle board to the base. This will be glued in place aswell if everything is finished and ready to paint.


I also made some mounting points for the psu.


This is how it will be, psu (hot) air will be exhausted out the back of the desk.


Next I marked the holes for the mounting points of the mobo and drilled holes (not through the whole thickness of the base, just for some ''screws'' that have a thread inside.



Next, time to screw in the standoffs.


That's it for this update. I don't have a lot of time on my hands to work on this but I'll do my best to keep updating it regularly!
Please let me know what you think. I know it's hard to imagine how it will turn out.
If someone's interested in the sketchup file, let me know.

 

Hello and welcome to the forums. You need to fix your image links (hit edit at the bottom of the post). You need to use the direct links (the ones that end in .jpg) and also please select the large thumbnail option when using imgur as our forum does not automatically resize images for you.

Thanks

George

 

Thanks for that, will update it immediately!

Can't seem to figure out how to resize the images.

 

On imgur after you click on the picture to obtain the links in the bottom right-hand corner of the box that pops up you should see the option for different sizes - I find that the large thumbnail option works best for on here

 

I like computer desks builds....waiting for the following...and resizing as well

 

I've figured it out now. Seems like another option is to put an ''L'' just before the .jpg in the link. This will resize the images as well! After I found that out, also found the option for the large thumbnail.
Thanks for your help!

Thanks mate, as you can see the images are fixed!

 

Okay, so after I've fixed the original post, here's something new.
This weekend I put on the waterblock for the gpu which I made a video of. The video is down below with some images.

It's actually my first video so I'd appreciate it if you would give me some feedback about it.
The close ups are a bit shaky, which is known to me. Will try to make it smoother next time!

EDIT: video linking doesn't seem to work... This is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07RDgNAxN0M

 

Great concept! I like the idea of using PVC for the cable management. Can't wait to see more.

 

Thanks man, appreciate the comment!

 

No problems Adding the L does it too but it's more time consuming than clicking the size you want in the first place. Good luck with the rest of the build!

 

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!

 

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...



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

 

...good job, waiting for next update

 

Thanks mate, will do my best.

 

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!

 

Looks nice!

 

Thanks!

 

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.

 

Looking good. I used speaker wire too. I never got them straightened very cleanly. It drove me crazy. You can dye the wire too, btw.
headset rack: OOps. Now you have to do copper hard lines for the plumbing.

 

Thanks man!
It can be used as speaker wire but isn't made for it. It's regular wire with a transparent insulation but whatever.
I'm really curious if I can straighten them out as well, only the future can tell.
Watercooling will be done with copper tubes!! Gonna be amazing I think.