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Building an Overclockers Benckmarking Workshop: The OC Den

V2-V3
Level 8
Overclocking Workshop log
Electrical Wiring

I wanted to make a room worthy of hosting the records it will make. As it stands I usually shy away from taking pictures of the hideous mess called my overclocking bench. The clash of a rats nest of a PC and the unpainted dilapidated walls drove away any camera love and its about time for that to change.


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I have selected 12 AWG romex for good ole interior 125v 20Amps 60hz USA standard power. The best deal I could find on romex was Home Depots 250ft roll for $79. I plan on using many power hungry devices like high wattage power supplies i.e. Antec 1200 Watt High Current Pro. As well as vapor phase change cooling units, Liquid cooling chillers, dehumidifiers, heat lamps, and heat guns. I will use the Romex to run dedicated 20 Amp wall outlets from the overclocking room to the main breaker panel seen in the right hand picture.

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Inside the home breaker panel you can see the three main power feeds from the street pole. the utility service consists of two phase 240 volt 200 amp 60hz capacity. The peak capacity of the main service line is a staggering 48,000 Watts of power! From the main panel power is separated by smaller breakers to individual circuits around the home. most of the circuits consist of overhead lighting, washer, drier, oven, and wall outlets. It was necessary to remove the drywall near the electrical panel in order to trace the Romex cables back to the proper room. pictured on the right you can see a mass of cables bundles through the wall studs and entering into the base of the home. I used the existing holes to easily feed the Romex into the basement where it will be routed through the house.



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Once inside the basement we see it is unfinished, this means the walls and ceiling are not enclosed and complete. The Romex will need to be routed through the floor joists to reach its destination. I have used a heavy duty drill and from both sides created a sufficient size hole of which to pass the electrical cables through.


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V2-V3
Level 8
Overclocking Workshop log continued
Electrical wiring and wall sockets
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The cable can be seen protruding from the top corner of the basement wall where earlier I fed the cable through a hole used by the original electrical cables servicing the home basement. I continued to drill holed through each of the 2x8" joists until I was directly above the soon to be overclocking table.


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Next I pulled the cable through the freshly cut holes

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at the top of the wall was a previously drilled hole for an existing wall outlet. I utilized this hole and saved time by feeding the cable through the top of the wall down behind the drywall. Once i had fed roughly five feet of cable I scored and cut a rectangular hole for an electrical box to be attached onto the wall stud. The Romex was terminated with a 20Amp dual receptical outlet and covered with a nylon plate.


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Above is the newly installed outlet and below is the original preexisting 15 Amp outlet


V2-V3
Level 8
Overclocking Workshop log continued
Bench Table, Monitor, and lighting, Drywall and Electrical panel


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With the Romex safely terminated with a 20 Amp outlet I could now cut the roll of wire and run it through the existing electrical holes and route it into the breaker panel. Once the line is inside the panel I removed the plastic and paper shielding to expose the White, Black and Copper wire. Both the White and Copper wire are attached to the ground return leg of the right side of the breaker, this is the ground return. The remaining black wire is routed to the left side of the panel where it will be attached to the appropriate breaker.


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The Black or "Hot" wire is connected to a new freshly installed 30Amp sing pole breaker. The 30Amp breaker will allow 3600 Watts of pure overclocking power!


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With the wiring completed, breaker installed it was time to close up the panel and flip the breaker on.

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I gathered my painting supplies and started cleaning the wall of protruding nail heads and picture hangers. After removing the wall plates for outlets and light switches I taped off the edges of the four drywall sheets and began applying a coat of drywall mud. The purpose of taping off the wall joints is to make for a smooth paint able gap-less area between the drywall peaces.



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I chose to go one step further and coat the entire wall with mud in an attempt to apply a hand texture and cover up the massive amount of holes dents and defects in the aged wall. after successfully applying a smooth flat surface it was time to place a fan for air circulation and let the mud dry for 24 hours.


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Gathered here are the supplies for the next step in building my bench room. some of the items required include, gloves, sponges, cups, wall texture, primer, sanding blocks, joint compound, and a drop cloth or painters plastic.


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Here you can see the wall has been theroughly sanded flat removing defects that would potentially show through the paint. On the right a close up is seen of the spray on texture after being applied to the wall.


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Painters tape is used to isolate the separation of colors in order to prevent bleeding or mixing of colors as well as to maintain straight lines. After taping the wall the next step is to apply a touch of primer. the grey color is a mix of white primer and a touch of the greyish paint to be used. The use of a light grey primer will help reduce the number of coats needed for a beautiful finish.


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When the top ad bottom of the wall were sufficiently coated in primer the wall was re taped for the center wall stripe. Similar to the grey primer I mixed some red paint with the white primer and applied an even coat to the center of the wall. After letting the primer dry for one hour I started by applying the grey paint over the primer on both the top and bottom of the center band.


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Two coats of red paint were applied over the pink primer. After applying two coats 30 minutes after the other the wall must be left to dry for several hours.

When overclocking with liquid nitrogen it is wise to use a sturdy surface. I have opted for a solid wood top and steel base shop table. This table will give me the stability and support I'm looking for. At the middle of the table I centered just above the power outlets.


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Above the Table I installed 4ft CCFL work lights consisting of dual T12 5100K 40w bulbs. The extra overhead lighting will help with photography and system troubleshooting. I felt the table was lacking a certain visual appeal and carefully placed an ASUS ROG table cloth to enhance the look and feel of the bench.


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Power outlets are a must for an overclocker. I chose to install two heavy duty diamond plate 10 outlet strips.


Retired
Not applicable
V2-V3 wrote:


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The Black or "Hot" wire is connected to a new freshly installed 30Amp sing pole breaker. The 30Amp breaker will allow 3600 Watts of pure overclocking power!




Looks like the breaker slot above the main had a bit of arcing and oxidations 😮 Exactly how many phase units and GPUs did you have running!?

V2-V3
Level 8
Overclocking Workshop log continued
More to come....

xeromist
Moderator
What a difference a tablecloth makes 🙂
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…

Kipper
Level 10
Talented you are; I am one of those guys that no matter how many times I cut a board it is still to short. LOL

I have to have one of those table cloths for my reviewing bench.

Have faith in yourself my friend, even if you have to cut a thousand short boards you will prevail 😄

Cyrekk
Level 10
Oh hell yes! I want this room, will it be raffled off at the next event?? 😛
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DaemonCantor
Level 13
Yes That's a Lot Better than I have at the moment....but I'm building....