Project Xelladesk (Computer Desk Build)

[Alexander Lee]

UPDATE – Design changes! 04/06/2012

Well it has been less than a week since I finished the first designs for the desk and now I have been working to improve them a bit more. I have also come up with a colour scheme which is black, red and white. This colour scheme will mean that I will need to paint some fans into a red, black and white colour combination which could be an interesting project in itself as I plan to have around 20 fans in this build!

Today this update includes the new design which has more straight edges and more glass so that I can get as much light onto the components as possible without having to use a ridiculous amount of LEDs. The plan is for this build to be subtle and look really without a huge amount of LEDs inside it. I am hoping that the ambient lighting behind the monitor will be very subtle and not a very bright colour, in other words, just ambient lighting!

Hopefully the colour scheme will give people some ideas for some names for the project; I hope to get the competition underway shortly in the competitions thread. I have had a very good suggestion already from ‘the orange terminator’ but would like to hear all of your suggestions before I make the very important decision! Edit: We have now come up with a name but will be running some sort of competition to give one of you a prize... I will probably run a random number competition in the competitions thread!

Now onto the actual designs!

This first picture shows an updated view of the front of the desk. I have now added support for optical bay drives where I will have the fan controllers. Where these are mounted will be a front plate made of aluminium powder coated black.



The next screen shot is of the main area of the build, I am not sure if I like the power supply placement though, I would like to move it but not really sure where it will fit in well! I think that that picture gives you a better Idea of the colour scheme I am thinking of for this project. It is likely that the hardware placement in there will change but I was more focusing on trying to get the design and shape of the desk into a position where I was happy with it. As you can see from the bottom of this screen shot I have added a white powder coated piece of aluminium on the inside opposite the radiator to balance the colours a bit more within the build. I will do a more detailed map of hardware placement once I have got everything out of my current pc and had the chance to model it out on my desk to see how things could fit together.



My next image shows a close up view of the fan controller mount and the aluminium plate that it will be mounted onto. The plan is to go for a wooden look on the outside but all aluminium on the inside around the components. This will hopefully give the impression that it is a solid piece of furniture which it should be!



This is just another shot of the desk and the components inside it. I quite like the effect the fans, the SSDs and the motherboard give and think that with some white coolant in the tubing for the loop on top of the black aluminium it will hopefully look quite good.



I have quickly sketched out an air flow diagram to show how I think the air flow should move through the desk. Hopefully this will help to explain why I have put the fans where they are.



A fairly long update but thank you for keeping on reading to this point! I would love to hear your suggestions for how I could improve even the smallest of details about this as there is a lot I need to plan and design a lot and any suggestions are very much appreciated. Also, please let me know whether you prefer this design with the straight edges, or the older design with the more curvy edges. If there is enough debate I may even start a poll!

Keep your eyes open for the competition which will be running in the next few days and I look forward to hearing your naming suggestions!

The next update will be within the next few days.

 

[G-Dubs]

The designs are very helpful in letting us get an idea of you plans. A few things spring to mind which you've no doubt already though of but thought i'd mentions.

• With the design you have you've not given yourself a great deal of actual workspace depth on the desk. i.e. from the vertical perspex edge to the lip of your desk isn't a great distance.
  
• How are you planning to route your cables and tubes? As you've gone for a clear, or at least see through design to show of your components you need to give thought to how all the cables and tubing will be routed. If not what appears to be a very clean design at this point may well look like a vipers nest when it's finished.
  
• With the distances involved you need to be mindful of voltage drops in wires to fans and also the ability of WC pumps to shift the desired amount of water.
  
• How do you plan to access the components once the build is assembled. Think about how the plates will remove to gain access etc
  

Like I say, i'm sure you've got all this covered, or at the very least have already thought of the same issues and are working up a plan of attack

Happy modding and looking forward to seeing this develop.

 

[UKGuFF]

hey this desk looks awesome, hope you get it finished make sure you post some finished pics

 

[wassupdoc]

The fans in the top left are pretty pointless on the airflow diagram

If anything they will just make it more turbulent. Why not just get some black fans with red leds, then mod half the leds so it is red and white?

If you want any renders of these sketches give me a message, got v-ray for sketchup now

 

[Alexander Lee]

• With the design you have you've not given yourself a great deal of actual workspace depth on the desk. i.e. from the vertical perspex edge to the lip of your desk isn't a great distance
  

I know what you mean and so I may do the curve the other way and make the desk slightly longer from front to back in order to give myself more space.

• How are you planning to route your cables and tubes? As you've gone for a clear, or at least see through design to show of your components you need to give thought to how all the cables and tubing will be routed. If not what appears to be a very clean design at this point may well look like a vipers nest when it's finished.
  

Underneath the sheet of aluminium there will be a gap between there and the bottom of the desk. A sort of false floor if you will.

• With the distances involved you need to be mindful of voltage drops in wires to fans and also the ability of WC pumps to shift the desired amount of water.
  

I plan to run all my fans off fan controllers but will research into this problem. I will be having dual pumps as advised by a friend since these designs and possibly two reservoirs. I may also consider having a dual loop but my main concern will be keeping the desk looking tidy as you say it is completely visible from where I will be sat.

• How do you plan to access the components once the build is assembled. Think about how the plates will remove to gain access etc
  

I do need to think about that quite a bit more although my original plans where to have a hinge system but I am unsure whether that will be possible. I might be able to have the top panels simply slide out or maybe drop the aluminium floor out the bottom when I need to work on components. For example it would unscrew and then slide downwards where I would be able to remove it from the back of the desk.

Like I say, i'm sure you've got all this covered, or at the very least have already thought of the same issues and are working up a plan of attack

Happy modding and looking forward to seeing this develop.

Thank you for your comment, It made me think a little more in detail about the designs and the design issues I will have throughout this project. Please keep checking back

hey this desk looks awesome, hope you get it finished make sure you post some finished pics

Thanks for your comment, there will certainly be plenty of pictures!

The fans in the top left are pretty pointless on the airflow diagram

If anything they will just make it more turbulent. Why not just get some black fans with red leds, then mod half the leds so it is red and white?

If you want any renders of these sketches give me a message, got v-ray for sketchup now

Yes I can see what you mean about the fans, I was just concerned that the warm air from the first rad would mean the second rad wouldn't work as efficiently. I may well do as you suggested with the fans.

Thank you for the offer, I would be very grateful if you could do that at some point when I have completed the final designs and I will send you them then. Thanks!

 

[wassupdoc]

np

 

[G-Dubs]

NP re the advice and question.

Always happy to help.

 

[Alexander Lee]

I have now thought of a name for the project and this is going to be: Project Xelladesk. My friends and myself came up with this because it is my name backwards, we then added an extra L which is to represent the first letter of my surname.

Pronounced: zell-a-desk

It is a sort of an anagram

Please let me know if you hate the name and I will change it

I will still run the competition in the competitions thread but it will be a guess the number type competition. Watch this space!

 

[samhatcher]

Thanks for the credit Alex, I was quite chuffed with myself for coming up with the first part of the name

 

[The Orange One]

I like The name, It's Cool

 

[Alexander Lee]

I like The name, It's Cool

Thanks

Trying to decide what type of wood to use for the project... Thinking pine or birch but I am unsure. I am also trying to decide what part of the project to do first. I will probably start on the lower side parts of the desk but I do need to get some wood and take a lot of measurements first. Watch this space for more updates!

Hope to start extremely soon!

 

[yassarikhan786]

You already know this, but I like the name

 

[G-Dubs]

if you can get hard wood you're best using it. less chance of flx and knots ruining the looks. failing that a very fine grain soft wood.

if you're going to paint it then go for mdf and save yourself a fortune.

 

[The Orange One]

If you are not Painting, How about Tulip wood, It has a lovely grain to it. Here is a Sample Picture :

 

[Alexander Lee]

You already know this, but I like the name

Thanks again Yassar!

if you can get hard wood you're best using it. less chance of flx and knots ruining the looks. failing that a very fine grain soft wood.

if you're going to paint it then go for mdf and save yourself a fortune.

Didn't really want to use MDF as I was going for a natural wood finish. Thanks for the tip though.

If you are not Painting, How about Tulip wood, It has a lovely grain to it. Here is a Sample Picture :

I really like the look of that wood and as I don't plan on painting will probably use that if I can find it at a good price. Thanks for your help.

 

[The Orange One]

No problem, although i'd advise you to inspect the wood in person first.

 

[hmmblah]

Stay away from pine. It's cheap, but far too soft. Birch would be good to use. I used oak veneered plywood on my desk with solid oak pieces for the front.

 

[potatis]

Stay away from pine. It's cheap, but far too soft. Birch would be good to use. I used oak veneered plywood on my desk with solid oak pieces for the front.

Oak is a nice addon to any desk. But the weight, guh.

 

[hmmblah]

Yeah, if it was solid oak all the way through it would weigh a ton. The total weight isn't bad though. Easy enough to carry without straining yourself.

 

[Alexander Lee]

No problem, although i'd advise you to inspect the wood in person first.

A good point, although I cant see anywhere locally where I might be able to do that... I think I would prefer a darker tone to the outside of the desk with a natural look so perhaps tulip might be a bit light in colour. Would Beech be a good option do you think? Thanks for your advice once again.

Stay away from pine. It's cheap, but far too soft. Birch would be good to use. I used oak veneered plywood on my desk with solid oak pieces for the front.

Yes I think the options have been narrowed down to either Beech or Birch, the places I have looked oak appears to be more expensive that the other two woods.

Right, I am definitely confused with all the options now but thanks for all your help and comments.

Having done the measurements I now know the external sizes I need and know the quantity of wood necessary so it is more or less a matter of deciding on the type. I will let you know as to what I decide on as soon as I decide.

In the meantime, I have been thinking about cable sleeving and will most likely order a package from Nils at MDPC within the next few days as I have heard his stuff is amazing... Probably going to go for a black and red theme on the cables to fit in with the theme of the ROG boards from Asus as that is what I would like to be using in it when I get the desk finished.

I promise there will be some pictures of building the desk soon to show you all the progress! Will be starting with the building of the two cabinets first as well as the motherboard tray and cable sleeving... Watch this space for an update soon!