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Scratch Build – In Progress Space Saving (ish) Desk PC Build

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Cwiver, 15 Mar 2016.

  1. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    So this I both my first scratch PC build but also my first build log.

    I'm fairly limited for desk space in the spare room in which my pc currently resides so I had the bright idea of combining the desk and PC into a single entity after being inspired by some of the amazing projects online (and several hours of binge youtube watching).

    I'm fairly limited budget-wise, so I will be looking to build a system that has space for future expansion for devices and cooling (I'd love to try watercooling in the future)

    So bit of a big post to start with as I've been working on this during a week off before decided to blog it.

    Starting with Sketch Up (which I also had never used before) I designed the basic layout of the desk

    [​IMG]

    I wanted the whole thing to have a false bottom to hide away the cables and keep the inside looking clean and un cluttered.

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    I know I've left most of the components out of the design but I wanted to flexibility on the placement of items inside, but also allow for space for future expansion

    Also haven't quite decided on the surface of the desk yet, I'd like to have an acrylic window in the MDF but don't have access to a Router to cutting this would be a bit difficult.

    Whole thing is going to be built from MDF which I got from B&Q as they offer a free cutting service so I got all of the main sizes cut out automatically.

    [​IMG]

    Unfortunately the guy at B&Q managed to cut every single piece 2mm too long which through off some of the measurements for the internal components and the diagonal supports.

    Here I've attached the main frame of the desk together, because of the depth of the case (and not wanting the surface to be too high I added a recessed leg space underneath.

    120mm holes cut in each end for airflow straight through the case, had real trouble in the UK actually sourcing a 120mm hole cutter. Seems the standard is 127mm for pluming but managed to find one on Amazon for les than £10 and it served me ok in the end

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    With the base screwed and glued on

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    Once the glue had set overnight, I added the motherboard tray (which I took apart an old case for) to test the location.

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    Using an old motherboard for location of cable holes etc so I can still use my desktop until I'm ready to do the transfer.

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    To start to layout all the components I created paper sizes cut-out to place them around to test and also establish where the holes in the false bottom will need to go for cable routing.

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    Looking at my old case (NZXT H440) took the top off and found out that the USB connections can be detached:

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    So I decided to use this as the new front panel on the desk:

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    Looking at the Power supply I thought it wasn't very good looking so decided to build a shroud around it, to also help with support off the desk surface. But to keep the airflow around the PSU I decided to drill a selection of holes over the sides. But this presented a problem as the power tools I was using were not powerfull enough to drill the 20mm holes in the MDF:

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    So borrowed a power drill from my Dad and now I'm well up for the job:

    [​IMG]

    And the holes were a piece of cake

    [​IMG]

    So that's where I'm up to so far, next update I'm hoping to have all the cable routing holes drilled but I would love some feedback from people in the forum as to potential set ups in the Left side of the case which I have deliberated left empty to allow for future cooling solutions.

    [​IMG]

    Any feedback is more than welcome and I look forward to your comments.
     
  2. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    Next Update - April 2016

    So its been a while since the last update, been struggling to find the time in the evenings and weekends to do any sort of substantial work on the build so I've been doing lots of little bits and saved them all up for one longer update.

    First thing was to drill out the holes for all my cables in the false bottoms. Once this was done I gave them a single coat of MDF primer to seal them.

    [​IMG]

    This board will hold the motherboard tray and I've pre drilled the holes that will hold the tray in place.

    Next up was the centre false bottoms that will hold the power supply.

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    I had some concerns over the power supply looking a bit odd out in the open in the middle of the case so decided to build a shroud to go around it that not only hides the PSU but also gives some support to the lid of the desk (when I attach it) as this will more than likely be where my monitor will sit on top.

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    The shroud is held in place by pegs so that I can remove it for easier fitting of the PSU.

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    Next up I cut the holes in the outside of the desk for the PSU:

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    Motherboard panel:

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    USB/Power Switch on the front (which I will be cannibalising from my current NZXT case.)

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    and then finally my fan controller (more on that later)

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    once these were all cut, I used some standard PollyFilla Woodflex filler to close up any gaps I had in the outside and inside of the case

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    So with all the holes cut I really feel like the case is starting to look like a PC case and less like a big empty MDF box

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    Then after a quick hoover out and a wipe down with a damp cloth I put down a single coat of MDF primer over the whole thing:

    [​IMG]

    As many people have said any exposed edges of MDF are like a sponge for paint. After painting the edges first I was able to give them a quick second coat as they were dry but the time I had finished painting the sides and inside.

    Once this is all dry I'm going to give the whole thing, and the inside plates a full sand down and then a second coat of primer just to make sure they whole thing is sealed before painting it.

    So with the case drying I can turn my attention to this little package:

    [​IMG]

    Inside I had:

    2x 2 Corsair AF120 Blue LED fans (with the size of the case I wanted something with high air pressure) plus as I want to expand my water cooling in the future I thought getting these would be a good future proof.

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    3 Alasa ProSlim 50 cm Sata 3 cables. With the false bottoms I needed SATA cables that were flexible enough to route around the case but also to keep the design clean they are also mighty thin.

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    A selection of PSU extension cables and Fan splitters. I've not quite decided if I'm going to use the 3 into 1 fan splitters that I got or run them independently onto the fan controller. I'll see how the cable routing goes as the case is over 1100mm wide I may need them to even reach form one end to the other.

    All the cables and fans together;

    [​IMG]

    Then last but not least I picked up the NZXT Sentry 3 fan controller. Its got an easy to use touch screen interface, and can take up to 5 fan inputs with 2 temperature sensors you can place throughout the case. I love the black and blue colour scheme as well with fits in nicely with my ideas for the paint job I want to do (more on that in the future)

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    So that's it for this update. Sorry its such a massive one, but I didn't want to just drip feed little bits at a time. Next up is sanding down all the primer/sealer coats applying the second coat and then deciding on the paint job.

    Also throughout this whole post I realised I've not really talked about this lid of the desk, so amongst all the painting and sanding I'll also look to start working on the lid.
     
    Last edited: 15 Apr 2016
  3. Juzzerman

    Juzzerman What's a Dremel?

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    This is a really nice looking build, just on the cusp of doing something very similar for all the same reasons. Any helpful hints you pick up would be more than welcome! Will keep watching, good luck!
     
  4. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    Hey, thanks for the feedback, yeah its been great so far. The only advice I would have so far is that with the diagonals (for the footwell) getting the lengths right took a few attempts and getting a perfect 45 degree angle using a bandsaw was a pain.

    Other than that the MDF I have been using has been brilliant, its quite cheap, lightweight and easy to cut (with nasty dust).

    I'd be more than happy to share my Sketch up designs for the desk if you wanted to use it for references.
     
  5. goldstar0011

    goldstar0011 Multimodder

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    I like this :D

    Any chance of uploading the sketchup files for those after .......basically copying you?
     
  6. Juzzerman

    Juzzerman What's a Dremel?

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    Yeah that would be really great thanks!
     
  7. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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  8. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    Hey all, so a quick little update on painting:

    So this was the motherboard tray I'm going to be using which I dismantled from an old case I had lying around

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    Then using some Hycote Grey Primer, I gave it a couple coats to prep for painting

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    However one thing I noticed that as the paint dried, the marker that I had written on the board with was still showing through the primer (yes I know I probably should have sanded it off first but I was being impatient).

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    So had to give it a couple more coats to ensure it was covered.

    Once this had all dried I set myself up a little outside spray painting area, which being in a flat in London was pretty much the only place I had to spray.

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    Even with this I found that the spray paint goes EVERYWHERE...I got to work the next day and found specks of paint still right up my arm!

    After a few coats of the black paint I was happy with the coverage

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    One thing I found with the primer and the spray paint is that you use a lot more than you think you would. I picked up a KOBRA big black paint can from Amazon and it feels like coating these few bits have used up a lot of the can

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    Whilst this was drying and whilst I am still waiting to buy the lid and legs for the desk I thought I would start to paint the interior false bottom panels, and went with some high gloss black. The MDF primer that I had used did its job fantastically as there was no bleed into the panels at all and I got a really nice finish with the first coat.

    [​IMG]

    And man is this stuff HIGH GLOSS

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    I'm not entirely sure that I like this glossy finish however, I think if the whole desk is this shiny it may be a bit too much and stand out like a sore thumb...

    What do you guys think? Go Matt or Stay with Gloss? :worried:
     
  9. Juzzerman

    Juzzerman What's a Dremel?

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    The gloss does look seriously nice and shiny, but I think if the whole desk is in gloss it could look pretty overkill.

    That's only my opinion though, I just love Matt colours :p

    Looking great otherwise! Keep it up!
     
  10. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    Finally have a leg to stand on

    So I realised that with my limited tool set that the leg design that I had originally planned on using, wouldn't work because I couldn't cut the angles I needed so I went back to the drawing board and came up with a basic square design.

    [​IMG]

    So as I have recently got an amazon voucher, and found a load of timber for sale on amazon for a pretty got price (why not ay?). After a while it turned up and was actually pretty good and soon I had the individual legs

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    With the wood that I had left I wanted to create a support beam between the two legs to help strengthen them but I soon realised that the screws I had bought were long enough to go through the thickness of the wood, but not the width DOH! :wallbash:

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    So after a brief trip down the DIY store I had the right length and the legs were assembled and tested for size on the desk

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    With this done I decided to get rid of the old desk that I was using and that ment of course dealing with the horror of the mess of cabled behind my PC. :eeek::eeek:

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    So with the desk right way up I placed it very delicately onto of the legs! (definitely wasn't nervous or anything but it stayed up!

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    I thought it best to allow for the legs of the desk to be removable if I ever wanted to transport it away for 3 bolts on each side will hold the legs in place. Also whilst I'm waiting to paint the desk I didn't want the legs to be permanent.

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    With that I bought the MDF sheet that will make the top of the desk. I was going to get 12mm thick MDF like the rest of the build but then I realised that the smallest screws I could get were 12mm so I couldn't actually attach the hinges I wanted to without going right through the lid. So I've ended up with 16mm thick and I'm honestly pleased with the greater thickness for rigidity.

    [​IMG]

    This is not finished but I wanted to see if I'd got my height right for sitting under it and check that the desk could support the weight of the monitor on top etc... So all the components are still in the NZXT 440 waiting to be transferred across but it actually fits quite nicely under the desk.

    [​IMG]

    I'm planning on cutting a window out of the top of the lid, which will have an acrylic window in it, looking something like this:

    [​IMG]

    So that's it for now, as ever let me know any feedback or anything...next up is painting (in matt) and then transferring everything across. Although its my birthday next month so I'm looking to pick up a new x99 m/board CPU and RAM bringing my system a bit more up to date.

    Then hopefully this will open more possibilities for water-cooling in the future, and I can use my designated "water-cooling" area of the desk that I have left deliberately empty
     
  11. Dirk kramer

    Dirk kramer What's a Dremel?

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    nice going man, Love desk builds :thumb:
     
  12. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    First Parts of the New PC have turned up

    First off just wanted to say thanks to Dirk Kramer, loved your Red Carbon and its build like this that inspired me to do it myself :thumb: #MOTM

    So a quick little update today...The first of my new components for the Desk PC turned up today (really need to come up with a decent name for it....any suggestions???) I'm sourcing all of these components myself so they may be a bit spread out, but I'm getting a new parts and then transferring over any other parts I need from my old PC.

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    As you may have already guessed, yes I do buy everything from amazon :) and inside was this sexy thing....the MSI X99A Gaming 7 and this thing is a Beast.

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    This Board looks amazing, and is SUCH high quality when you look up close. It's got room for all the expansion I would be looking to do in the future as I want to move my primary Drive to an M.2 to make use of the increase speeds. It also has great overclocking functionality built into the BIOS which I want to start dabbling in. I do also like the Audio Isolation of the board for decreased electrical interference, and high quality components for clear on-board sound.

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    On the back its got dedicated Gaming USB ports, 2 X USB 3.1 ports, MSI USB Audio Power for External DACs and the Killer E2200 Intelligent Networking Ethernet Port. This last port considering that in my Area of the UK I have 1Gb fibre optic Broadband I'm very interested in.

    [​IMG]

    In the box you get a whole host of Cables including: 6x 6Gbs sata III cables (3x right angle and 3 X straight), 2x SLI Bridges (which I'm not sure is a mistake) and power connector for the Direct Audio Power

    Its a little touch but I like that they also include a set of 12x cable labels. With multiple drives inside and with my fan controller I can see these being of great help.

    [​IMG]

    Coming up next....I've got my RAM and CPU on order (hopefully within the next week) so will update when I get them.

    Also made a bit of a design change to the finish on the case...so keep your eyes peeled.

    As always love to hear your thoughts or comments. :D
     
  13. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    Quick update

    So just browsing on the MSI website and seen the GEFORCE® GTX 1080 SEA HAWK....:eeek::eeek::eeek:

    https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1080-SEA-HAWK.html#hero-overview

    Seem to already have a bit of an MSI theme inside with the MSI X99 A Gaming 7 and I'm looking to transfer over my current MSI GTX970. Considering I already have a all-in-one liquid CPU cooler (H100i GTX) it would seem to make sense to go for an all-in-one Graphics Card as well. This is well and truly going on the wish list!!!!

    Also just got an update that my new Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB DDR4 3200 MHz has been delivered and is sitting at home waiting for me :clap:. Hopefully within the next week I'll be ordering the
    Intel i7-5820K Extreme and then I can start assembling the new PC to go in the desk.
     
  14. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    Don't upgrade on a W10 Upgrade

    So I thought I would try out the hardware component that I'd received in my Old NZXT H440. (I'm actually still using it) whist I'm finishing the desk.

    If you upgraded from windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 then do not change anything without your original product key. I picked up my windows copy about 5 years ago when I was working at Microsoft and so didn't have the key. I just spent over an hour on a support chat with Microsoft trying to prove that the copy of windows I was running was genuine so they could activate my copy.

    I tried ProduKey, but that apparently only shows you a generic Windows 10 key that is the same for everyone.

    BUT after much badgering, complaining and angry typing (which considering I'm using the Razor Chroma was VERY Loud) the nice "Gilbert" at Microsoft support managed to tweak my key and activate windows! YAY! I'm pretty sure he did it just so that he could get rid of me, but whatever works.

    So here's the new hardware....

    [​IMG]

    Would love to know what sort of overclocks I could get away with on the CPU and RAM. Any recommendations? FYI I've got a Corsair Hydro H100i GTX.

    And a bit of a tease for next update of the desk, I've got the outside Wrapped up. And once the inside is done it'll be time to assemble :naughty:
     
  15. Cwiver

    Cwiver What's a Dremel?

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    Lid & Assembly

    So I've got another week off work, so done a bit more to the desk and collated a bigger update for y'all

    So as you may remember, this is the lid as it currently stood. I'd gone with 16mm thick MDF to allow for me to cut a rebated into the surface for some 6mm acrylic to form a window. I could have gone with 12mm, but this would only leave a 6mm lip and I was concerned that this wasn't going to be strong enough to support the window.

    [​IMG]

    Using an electric Saw I cut out the window in the top of the Desk lid

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    I apparently work in a complete mess....but its controlled chaos I promise :D

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    With the router I cut a rebated lip around the hole that I cut and the with a space bit of Perspex I was given I measured up the hole to cut

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    I tried to use a bandsaw to begin with but the rail that keeps the material straight kept moving so I lost the straight edge and had to cut the whole thing out with the electric saw.

    To help keep all my lines straight I made a jig out of some spare wood that was lying around, measured the distance from the blade to the outside of the saw guard, and then set the wood 3.5mm away from the line I wanted to cut.

    [​IMG]

    This made an absolute mess, plus the bloody stuff was static so stuck to EVERYTHING

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    The lip around where the monitor would sit was the hardest bit and I got ALL the way around it and on the last cut disaster struck :(

    [​IMG]

    A crack :( ..... so I drilled a 1mm hole at the end of the crack to stop it spreading and filled it as much as I could with superglue. This will hopefully hold it, and as I got the Perspex for free I can always replace it with a nicer bit at a later date.

    Then on to painting....I went against the gloss I was previously going to use and went instead with Hammerite, 'Hammered' effect metal paint. Even though it says its a primer and sealer combined I still put down a coat of MDF Primer to be safe:

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    After a couple of coats it was time to start putting the thing together which meant dissembling my NZXT H440

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    (quick little photo of the GTX 970 I'll be transferring until I can upgrade.

    I then mounted the fans onto the outside of the Desk and test fitter the radiator of the Corsair H100i GTX.

    [​IMG]

    It wasn't as simple as I hoped as the screws that I had werent' long enough to go through the fan guard, though the fan and into the radiator, so I MacGyvered a solution using smaller thumg screws to attach the fans to the radiator then standard 45mm screws to attach the fans to the desk and I was quite please with the results.

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    Then I dumped everything inside the case for a quick test fitting and to get a better idea of placement in my head.

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    Of course I didn't cut the power cable from the H440 long enough so I had to make my own new power cable, and re-solder the connectors onto the header.

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    Once I was happy with the placement of everything I started to put in the false bottoms of the desk and route the cables underneath.

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    (there will be covered over the diagonals so apologies for the lose cables at the mo)

    So with everything in and every digit crossed, I switch the pc on and got the following nightmare:

    [​IMG]

    ....great :wallbash: but...after doing its thing for half an hour or so everything seemed to come back on no problem (minus all my programmes)

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    HAPPY DAYS...its working :D:D:D

    Feeling overconfident I then decided that I would get rid of all the scratched in the Perspex sheet that I was using.

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    Got myself some 1000 - 3000 grit sandpaper, but even after going for almost an hour I've ended up with a Frosted effect....(completely intentional :worried::worried::worried:)

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    Sooooooooo.....I'm now waiting for some plastic repair to polish out the scratched that I put in, trying to get out the scratches. On amazon (surprise, surprise) I've found the following kit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002FV7...UTF8&colid=28I6ZJ5H94BU6&coliid=IDTPF5F1WTT48 which uses a normal corded power drill so get rid of the marks.

    Until then I'm happy just having a working desk PC and the frosted surface doesn't look too bad at the mo, just cant see all of the insides yet.

    This wont really effect me until I get the NZXT HUE (for the birthday) and start to look at lighting the desk up. Also got the itch to fill up that left side of the desk with some water-cooling, but small steps. I've got a wedding to save for, so can't see that happening anytime soon (the water-cooling, not the wedding)
     

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