intel core i5 2500k desk build

[Pugsport]

I see you had some bad luck..feel for you dude.
Excellent work thus far.

yer it sucks but one of them things i guess, its was a complete pain losing all them tools. the people that done it had been doing loads of other vans as well and they even had the balls to do it in daylight in the middle of the town center.

thanks man. yer just need to cut the top in and tidy up a few bits then its gonna be paint time. flatting the paint is not going to be fun with all this surface area to do but hey i might even get the sander out as its all flat surfaces

I've just looked through the entire build log I was confused as to where it was going thinking it was going to be a little untidy because of the 80mm antec fans originally put in the front but not i can see its going to look TIDY! cant wait to see it done!

yer im glad in one way its taken a bit of time to do as its meant ive been able to adjust things. the 80mm fans were only used due to i was going to use some space in the pc area for two optical bays, switch panel and the front usb ports but after all this time i dont think ive ever used the optical bay drives so i losing them has given it a cleaner look imo and also made space for 120mm fans. the fans will be replaced with some corsair one but no where had stock of the twin packs when i wanted to order them so i just used these for now

also put the tv back on the wall and put a shelf above it which may possibly display some of the component boxes


need to finish painting the room as well but ive been told that i need to that with something called a paint brush and not a paint gun

 

[tinytomlogan]

Facebooked - https://www.facebook.com/Overclock3D

 

[Pugsport]

Facebooked - https://www.facebook.com/Overclock3D

really

Had some bits turn up yesterday
Some led strips to use for case lighting although im still waiting on switches


Also had a USB 3.0 extension cable turn up although not a great fan of it being bright blue but I could not find a black one


Had some 5mm, 10mm and 25mm closed cell pvc foam turn


Also been thinking about hard drive mounting again as I no longer want them on show. Ive come up with a 3 options but can not work out which is better so looking for advice or maybe a better idea

Option one: - is to pretty much just box in around the psu and use the space underneath it to mount up to 5 hard drives with two 120mm intake fans, the psu would be given cool air also and used to exhaust
View with side off

View with side on

Side panel would be held on with magnets so you could still gain access to change or remove hard drives etc and would keep all fixings out of sight. this options is ok as it takes up less space but on the down side im not sure if it makes the space that’s left a little odd looking due to it now being an L shape, it does make it harder to plan where and how to mount the reservoir and also pump/pumps location. Could also cut a plexi panel in so you could still see the psu

Option two: - is to box in the whole rear section and use that to house the hard drives. It would still be able to house the same number of drives as I don’t really see the need to have the option of any more than 5 unless at a later date I was to use it to house a server maybe.
View with no front on

Side view with front on

Side panel would be held on with magnets so you could still gain access to add or remove hard drives and would keep all fixing out of sight. This option is ok for making the space more equal and also mounting the reservoir and makes pump/pumps location easier but on the down side it means that there is a fair amount of wasted space. Could box it in half height but I think this may also look strange and then what to put on top to make use of that space

Option three: - is to mount the hard drives in the gap at the back of desk between the wall and the desk itself. This option is good as it keeps them out of sight but on the down side they are to get to, have to move the pc part of the desk out to gain access and also there would be very little air movement around the back so cooling would not be great. I would still box the end of the PSU in to keep the cables coming out of it out of sight though but the end would be held on with magnets again so you could still take it off to add of remove cables

Well as said people all advice or ideas would be very welcome as im at a bit of a loss as what to do with this

 

[map210690]

Hi,

Your desk is looking really good, however I would rotate the HDD holder so that the fans are blowing into the drivers rather then the side of the holder also don't use magnets near your HDD's lol.

Also for your desk surface are you going to be placing a gaming surface down or something ?? or leaving as painted MDF ? only asking cause looking at your photo you are currently using a mouse matt with a indent between the 2 pieces of MDF.

Keep up the good work

 

[Wraith]

Hi,

Your desk is looking really good, however I would rotate the HDD holder so that the fans are blowing into the drivers rather then the side of the holder also don't use magnets near your HDD's lol.
Keep up the good work

Don't use magnets near your hard drive!?! :huh: Hard drives contain 2 very powerful magnets anyway...

 

[Pugsport]

Hi,

Your desk is looking really good, however I would rotate the HDD holder so that the fans are blowing into the drivers rather then the side of the holder also don't use magnets near your HDD's lol.

Also for your desk surface are you going to be placing a gaming surface down or something ?? or leaving as painted MDF ? only asking cause looking at your photo you are currently using a mouse matt with a indent between the 2 pieces of MDF.

Keep up the good work

thanks mate. yes its an option although if i do them that way round then most of that side panel will be cut out to allow airflow (i was just to lazy to cut it all out on sketchup) but yes its an option of turning the throw 90 degrees as they would still fit. yer im thinking velcro would be better as there is less chance of any extra noise/issues

at the moment the plan is to paint it gloss black and the wrapped the whole top surface area in 2/2 twill or 15mm 2/2 spread-tow. yes i am at the moment but it does not seem to cause any issues with tracking or anything although the wholes seating area is moving to the left by about 13cm to make room for 2 or 3 480mm radiators in push pull (the radiators will be in their own separate compartment) so buy this time the mouse/mat should be away for join line

the red area is the area to be added to make room for the radiators. the plan at the outset was to use 3 x 360mm radiators but i thought better to add some more radiator surface area now than upgrade later and find out that i need more as once everything it painted and in a finished state id rather not have to add/change the major parts.

overall view

pc compartment view (radiators will be out of sight when looking at it head on)

looking at the pc compartment from the left you will be able to see the radiators


adding this piece wont change the overall the length of the desk thought which is 203cm by the time its trimmed off to the wall

 

[map210690]

going to cut into your leg room lol.

Out of interest what Design software are you using ??

Thinking of making some changes to my current setup and need something to test things with.

 

[Permafrost]

subbed

 

[Pugsport]

going to cut into your leg room lol.

Out of interest what Design software are you using ??

Thinking of making some changes to my current setup and need something to test things with.

leg room will stay the same mate due to the shelf area to the left of the leg area and the leg area itself all being one bit, so the whole lot just moved left

google sketchup its free to download and use as well

ahh sounds interesting mate have to keep an eye on that

right done a little more today

first thing i did was to cut a slot in the side of the switch panel that sits at the back of the pc area to allow the wire for keyboard and mouse to come out


then cut the desk top flush with the front of the desk and screwed it down at last this was a complete pain with not circular saw, try to do this with a jigsaw and keeping it straight was hard work. and also made the new space where the radiators will live. the bit of 18mm MDF that is on there is just a temporary piece that i used to the gap and it will be replaced but for now it looks better having that hole covered up

also cut a slot at the back of the desk for the tv power and hdmi cable to go

thats it for now now and the next job is to get the top and switch panel in primer, this might then stop me from writing measurements and stuff on the desk surface lol but on the down side it means there is loads of paint flatting to do.

edit: -
made up my mind that im going to use option one for hard drive location but going to spin the hard drive rack throw 90 degrees to save cutting vents in the side of the rack for airflow.

so final design for hard drives is this
side view

top view

front view without front panel

front view with front panel


i have been thinking about also mounting my ssd drives in the front part of the lower compartment to break it up a bit and also gives a little more to look at, was thinking of mounting them on some plexi glass and using some LED's to light them. what are thoughts about ssd drives

view from from with panel on and ssd drives​​

side view with ssd drives and the blue panel is the panel that will be removable to gain access to hard drive and psu space. which will now be held on with velcro strips to make sure there are not issues with vibration noise


also not 100% sure if im going to be running single or dual d5 pumps as yet but being as its going to be a fairly big water cooling loop i think its more likely to end with two pumps and also gives a bit of safety in case one pump goes down

quickly mocked up the layout on some 9mm MDF (No SSD drives)

with SSD drives


looks like its going to be another in doors day due to weather being rubbish again so no painting any bits again today

 

[Pugsport]

sorted out my hard drive mount



put it in place along with the front panel to get an idea of how much room there will be

looks like there will be a fair amount of room to be fair
room that will be left in front part of case for reservoir and pump

and the view looking in from the front panel


also plugged the front USB 3.0 ports in as well and ive also order some longer Sata 3 cables and a fillport for the reservoir which should be here monday with any luck. as soon as i get the fillport and get it fitted i get the top part of the case finished as there is nothing else left to go in there apart from coolant hoses

thats it work wise for today as the Indian (curry) kinda killed my motivation

 

[Pugsport]

Had a few small bit turn up today
Two sata 3 cables and a nickel fillport


Also made a start on sorting the panels to cover the interior of the pc area

Area set measured out and with second layer of chemical release agent applied

Fourth coat of wax release agent applied

Gel coat applied and first layer reinforcement of 200g 2/2 twill weave carbon fibre laid up (I forgot to get photos of the gel coat on its own although its nothing special)

Third backing layer laid up of FIA grade 200g plain weave carbon fibre

Peal ply, infusion mesh and vacuum ports added

Bagging film and vacuum hoses added

Leak testing for loss of vacuum. Using a pair of mole grips to clamp off the vacuum bag from catch pot as I could not find the other clamp in all the mess

Infusion process done, lines clamped off and removed from catch pot and vacuum pump

Also not the other vacuum line clamp which I did find in the end

Also a very short video as some nice person was at the door so I had to stop for a second and forgot to take another


This panel is going to become the bottom panel in the top part of the pc area so it will sit under the motherboard.

Not sure what i should do with the side panels as yet.

1: - go with the carbon again, although this might make it pretty dark in there
2: - use white Perspex sheet on the side

3: - use mirrored Perspex sheet on the side

4: - use Alufibre for the side panel (also known as white carbon fibre)


Not sure which option would be/work better so any thoughts on this would be good

quick up date pulled the carbon from the bag this morining


just needs a trim up and final polish then its ready to go

 

[Pugsport]

got the paint gun out first thing this morning and got some the switch panel in primer

may have gone a bit heavy with the primer trying to get rid of the fluffiness and rushing as i thought it might rain lol

nice big run on the corner but thats how you know you got good coverage
also got the hard drive section in place so the bottom area is now split in two

also got the bottom cover in the pc area although i still need to sort out the pci-e cable management


the pci-e cable are throw the holes that should be used for the sata cables at the moment

also got the top of the desk paint this morning so its now looking a bit better


also the front area of the lower compartment, reservoir is still in there as i also need to cut the hole for the fillport which i did not get time to do today


quick update
had some bits turn up today so i can maybe get a bit more done at some point tomorrow

got two fittings. one for the reservoir and the other for the fillport so i can get that set and cut in tomorrow with any luck and also got a bit hard tubing to make the connection between them


i did have a quick measure up to see if the fillport would fit between the upper and lower part of the case without you being able to see the underside of the fillport and the fitting

measurements look good as there is 36mm gap between the upper and lower part of the case which means with any luck by the time the roof in the lower part of the pc compartment is covered you will only be able to see the tube that goes up to it

also got the latching switches today so at some point i can wire them in to the lcd temp sensors and also sort out the case lighting plus there will be no more holes in the switch panel and can finally get an idea of what its gonna look like completed.

i must have had a mad moment when i ordered these as i seem to have ordered four of them but i guess i have a spare or one to use on something else.

no work done today as stuff did not turn up till 3pm and i feel that if i start anything now it will be a rather late night so better off starting fresh tomorrow

 

[Pugsport]

well got a bit more done yesterday and also had two bit of plexi glass turn up that im going to be using to mount the ssd drives on

first thing i down was sat down and made a quick diagram of how i was going to get the switch to switch on and off the lcd temp sensors while also keeping the led in the switch working. the lcd temp sensors work off the 5 volt supply and the led in the switch works off a 12 volt supply.
this is what i ended up doing to keep it simply

i ended up switching the negative side rather than the positive side so i could still keep the led in the switch working when the lcd displays were on

the two bits of plexi glass for the ssd drives

also marked the so they just need to have the holes drilled and then be mounted in the case, i may also install some LED's in there to back light the ssd drives


also used a bit of 18mm mdf to space the reservoir out so its not so close to the dividing panel which should help when running the tubes to it also means that the fillport wont be so close to the motherboard and cables in the upper compartment


also looking at having my PCI-e cables come throw this area in the upper compartment as they should still be usable with any graphic card of any length. ​​


i also cut the hole out for the hard drive fan yesterday but dont have any photos of this.
i might get a fan grill and place the fan on the outside face so it gives a little more room inside this area

 

[YouWhat]

Thats looking really good, nice progress you also.

 

[Pugsport]

Thats looking really good, nice progress you also.

thanks mate it feels as though its moving forward slowly

Well got round to doing a bit more work to the desk today and a bit more damage to me not the desk
I laid up another bit of carbon fibre yesterday and while removing the peel ply from the back of the carbon sheet the peel ply came to hard part and pulling on it harder with the Stanley knife wrapped in up in it to give a better grip the peel ply ripped and I ended up smacking myself in the mouth with the back end of the Stanley knife breaking a tooth so not happy as I now have to wait till the 28th of this month before I can go and see the dentist about it but lesson learnt not to put the Stanley in the peel ply but rather put the carbon in oven to soften the resin (being lazy never works out well for me)

I had made the sheet of carbon to cover the back of the pc area
I did manage to get this today and used to some glue from the glue gun to seal the edges up, which will be removed and replaced with something black at a later date but for now this will help to stop any dust from getting into the corners

I also used an off cut to cover up the internal part of the fan cut out, I know that you won’t be able to see this very well if at all but the cut mdf edges can be a bit rough and trap dust so this should at least help stop that


Also got the LED’s under the motherboard fitted but not wired up as yet


I then cut the fillport hole out and test fitted it to see what it looked like. Think the nickel works alright against the carbon fibre and goes with the nickel and acetal water block

And then made the joining tube from the fillport to the reservoir



I then worked on the pci-e cable placements and went with this although im not to happy with them

Just with the motherboard fitted and the graphics card the cables look a bit far away but i guess this card is a little smaller than some of them are and will be replaced soon. This is one of the reason why I moved them back a little bit just so that if the upgrade card is bigger ill still have room to fit it and the cables will look alright. At the moment the upgrade card I have in mind is the sapphire 290 tri x and may even get a second one and use crossfire

 

[Pugsport]

Well done a bit more this morning although not quite what I wanted to be getting on with but any progress on anything is one less job to do later.
I wanted to get all the case lighting in the upper part of case sorted out today but got side tracked when I started making a skirting board template


So instead I ended up making some little bits go alone the wall to cover the gap that was there, they still need a bit of tidy up but that will do for now




I also ordered the plastic to cover the side panel inside the case this morning so though I would also trim the front area in a left over bit of carbon fibre


The top piece of carbon may well end up getting changed when I trim the rest of that area as I don’t like the join in it but needed to use it to the set the back piece, the top area under the lid will more than likely get covered in a single piece so there are no joining marks

I went for the white plastic for the side panels

Thought this would work well, be in keeping with the theme, won’t trap the dust to much and will be less prep work than painting it

 

[tinytomlogan]

Are you in the UK dude?

What rad(s) are you using?

 

[Pugsport]

Are you in the UK dude?

What rad(s) are you using?

yes fella im in the uk although there are times id rather not be

i was looking at using two or three 360/480mm rads im not to sure on brand yet but maybe monsta rads.

i had really been play it by ear but its getting to the stage where i need to sort them out sooner rather than later

if you have any advice on which rads to use it would be helpful

at the moment im the components list is

CPU: - Core i5 2500k until the next intel cpu's come out
Graphics card: - will be using 2 R9 290 sapphire tri-x cards

Done a bit more this afternoon, finding it hard to sit still and chill out at the moment even thought it is hot

Started by fitting the plexi glass the ssd drives will mount to.



While I had that panel out I thought I would make a start on out sorting out the lighting as well. i did not want to put LED’s in the reservoir as I did not want cables on show so spent a little time thinking about the best way to go about doing it without having loads of messy cables on show and came up with an idea.
Had to make my own expensive depth gauge though because I no longer own a router (sure is one of things I need to replace asap)

And this was the idea


Left a lot of wire mess out the back of the panel tho but at least it will be out of sight and may even be covered up.

Had to get out the better glue gun to sort the mess out



Tested the LED’s just to see if they worked and also to see how bright they were (think they might be a bright to be fair)

 

[Pugsport]

Did a little more today

Started out with sorting the ssd drive mounts out

And then attached it to the panel to get an idea of how they will look

Made the power and data cable holes for the ssd drive


Also had a few bits turn up today, nothing special but helped to get a few extra bits done

140mm fan grill for the hard drive fan, so I can now move that to the outside of the case to create a bit more room inside

And also some bullet connectors to use for the switches and bits in that panel to make is easier to remove


Next thing was to move the hard drive fan from the inside of the case to the outside

Which give a fair amount more room in there

Also left the ssd drive on the dividing panel for now

Added the side panel to the hard drive area and cut out two holes to help with removing it

And yes I did test fit it before I put the holes in a struggled to get it off again
The amount of cables that go to the switch panel so far and this is without two of the temp sensors wired in and also the case lighting is not wired in as yet

Quick photo of the lower front compartment to get an idea of what it will look like with two ssd drives mounted

Added a floor area to the radiator compartment



Tested the lighting

Motherboard led’s
With lights on in the room

With no lights on tin the room

Lower compartment lighting, no light in room

 

[Permafrost]

i like where this is going but i think the lights are too bright...