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"Warped Vision" Desk Idea

Lokiey
Level 7
Well latley ive been trying to learn sketch up and tinkering with 3D modeling and had an idea for a desk i wanted to get out of my head. So i got to work trying to learn this thing and so far i think have a decent yet a little sloppy due to lack of knowledge and wanted to get some impute from others. This if build would be made out of metal with acrylic shelves,acrylic top and acrylic fronts on all the bays with acrylic windows under the panels lit up. I plan on adding much more details and bring this design to as much a finished product before letting someone with far more experience bring it to ready to cut spec. Then its time to price everything out to see if this is a desk that can be built and brought to life. So tell me what you think, please add any and all feedback good or bad, things its missing or changes you might make if it was your desk.



43613
4,609 Views
8 REPLIES 8

Lokiey
Level 7
Well ive been doing some research and finding that once i get a finished design that this desk project is going to be affordable and come to life and built. I would still love some community input of things you might do if it was you building it and things you would like to see in a desk pc like this, so your feedback is greatly welcome. I also plan on adding panel arms in the back so all the lcd panels can float above the cage ledge instead of sitting on them, anyways what do you guys think?

Lokiey
Level 7
WoW i was hoping to get some really good input on this upciming desk build but i guess the desk pc days are gone and after 93 views there's no interest,guess i should have done this 2 years ago when it was cool lmao.

totalrognoob
Level 7
They are still cool, I just can't figure out what some parts of it are. Honestly, it would be awesome if you had hotswapable HDD/SSD bays, maybe a 19" rack, quick disconnects so you can bench a board on the surface, and the mobo trays where on locking sliders. The angle on your side displays is a little extreme, and I don't see a place for me to put my feet up.
An idea that might work, put an LCD display minus backlight over the res's.
This render doesn't let me see some of the cool ideas you might have already planed. Something like Justin's renders would be more helpful for getting feedback(those are amazing).

Antronman
Level 10
Desk PCs are cool. Just a lot more difficult, and you need a lot of cool stuff.

As aforementioned, hotswap SSD docks would be cool. Along with that, rather than having the portion containing the motherboard be build into the desk, It'd be cool to have modules that you just slide in and lock in. But that might not be practical.

Give a unique shape. Don't make it a flat, normal, boring desk. Give it some curves, or aggressive lines.
Say hi to the next generation.

Peace is a lie, there is only Passion

Through passion, I gain strength

Through strength, I gain victory

Through victory, my chains are broken

The Republic of Gamers shall free me

Antronman wrote:
Desk PCs are cool. Just a lot more difficult, and you need a lot of cool stuff.

As aforementioned, hotswap SSD docks would be cool. Along with that, rather than having the portion containing the motherboard be build into the desk, It'd be cool to have modules that you just slide in and lock in. But that might not be practical.

Give a unique shape. Don't make it a flat, normal, boring desk. Give it some curves, or aggressive lines.


I have to agree about the shape of the desk and might need something more original then just a corner harbinger, cool yes, sorta boring very much so, supports proper panoramic not even close. I love the idea about a motherboard tray that snaps in and out of place for quick swapping and quick disconnects on the water cooling for on the fly benchmarking. I would stick with an acrylic top but in 3 sections and hinges to just open and close and not have to remove the top. I will have to think about the hot swappable ssd drives and where i would put them but dig the idea, first i gotta figure out proper panoramic with sexy curves, back to the drawing board i go. I will also post more pictures next time to give a better idea of the layout inside and other angles just gear with me ive only been using sketch up a little over a week and learning as i go.

Xenocrates
Level 7
I like the idea. I may do my own take on a similar design, as far as designing it and doing up vectors for cutting the desktop and other stuff. likely won't build it, at least for a while. But keep on with it. looking pretty nice already. Some minor things that would make it great, IMO:
Shelves sized to accept 19 rackmounts on rails, with the rails holding in the shelves if you want, so that if you ever want to build yourself a Beowulf cluster, or just want older hardware in a semi-usable container. heck, if you build a battlebox into a good rackmount case, that could live there as well. plus it costs you nothing if you don't end up using it for racks, but saves frustration later if you do.
Second, I suggest that when/if you wire the HDD activity and power LEDs up, you put in an adjustable resistor, or something to let you adjust glow levels. i find most are too bright for me, and sometimes too dim. being able to adjust it is a minor thing, but i'd love it if more designs featured it.
Third, unless you live on Hoth, you don't want air pulled or pushed through where you are sitting. Move the radiators to the bottom of the desk surface, to warm your feet, or the back, if you can manage the clearance. If neither appeals, i'd go for setting it into the sides of the desk, pushing away from the corner, and pulling the slightly cooler air through the hardware bays.
Fourth, again hotswap bays. Put SATA pass-throughs in the side of where you want the mobo, and connect them into a bay for the harddrives. then you don't even need to open/expose the mobo when swapping, and it keeps the heat generation seperate. something like this. Also means cables can be kept almost entirely out of sight, perhaps in ducts in the desk, so that you don't need pretty ones, and can avoid the hassles of tying/managing them in the main bay almost entirely.
Fifth, the main I/O for the motherboards should sit under the stand for the monitors. That way, no tangles of cables for vistors to pull on/complain about hanging off the side. also, less need to dust/manage/clean cobwebs off stuff you can't see.
Sixth, if you can afford it, size up a central UPS and so on, so that if you get brownouts, voltage sags, or outages, you can have graceful shutdown time. Make sure that it's the right kind. if you use PSUs for the computer with active PFC, get a pure sine UPS. if you get the UPS when you first build it, you can save some money on PSUs and the UPS by picking PSUs without active PFC, and a normal UPS.
Seventh, and I realize this is getting a bit long. Cup holders. Do it. You know you'll use them.
Eighth, Build a wired switch into the thing. run cat6 to each computer in it. that way they can all talk at max speed to each other, and no matter how you wire it to the modem, you'll saturate it if you really push, so you can save the hassle of getting one with enough LAN ports, and also have space to connect a laptop to the switch, and expand your collection of hardware in the desk. 8-16 ports is good.
Ninth, figure out the size of keyboard you prefer, and if you want to be able to use the 2+ computers in the desk at once. If so, get a KVM switch, set it under the keyboard surface to handle swapping input. put in a handy toggle on the desk surface to change it. not that challenging, if you've the manual dexterity/tools to make a good desk build. If you don't want the KVM switch, make sure there is room for 2 keyboards and mice, because otherwise you'll be into the I/O area under the monitors every time you want to switch boxes. Plan ahead for how you want to use them.
Tenth, make sure all the monitors sit firmly, and completely on the desk. Otherwise one will fall, because Murphy is a bitch. If that doesn't suit, then make sure you have at least one spare.
Eleventh, Black and red is cool. My PC, and ROG's colors are the same. But for furniture, it bears consideration. The desk will stand out no matter what color you paint it. Consider if you want it to be an invader in the room, if you can/will match the room to it, or if you want it to stand out less.
Finally, it looks damned cool already. Refine the design, pick a name, design a logo for it, or appropriate one. Something with that much investment/cool factor deserves a name, and an icon.

hopefully you do build it, because it seems like a great idea. But work out all the design work first, cause if you **** it up, it takes real work to fix a piece of furniture, and make the fixes look invisible, due to color fade if you replace the part, or seams if you just patch/recut it. plus, something this awesome deserves the forethought.

Antronman
Level 10
I don't think he plans on having the rads sucking air out of the desk.

Having the air from inside the enclosure passing over the radiators to cool them is a really silly idea. Having it pulled where you're sitting is fine, as long as you don't mind feeling some air moving over your body pretty quickly.
Say hi to the next generation.

Peace is a lie, there is only Passion

Through passion, I gain strength

Through strength, I gain victory

Through victory, my chains are broken

The Republic of Gamers shall free me

Xenocrates
Level 7
some people will mind it, and i also don't like the idea because you'll suck dust and dead skin cells, as well as crap off of clothes. it isn't much, but it would turn into a need to clean it slightly more often. There are good reasons to blow air out onto the person, or suck it past them, such as semi-passive climate control. It's more something to consider the downsides and benefits of, rather than a firm don't do it. I personally wouldn't build it with radiators there, but that's because i live somewhere where i rather like the climate, and additional airflow would bug me. As for pushing air into the case from the radiators, i think that's more than a bit silly, because you are then dumping the warmed air back over the hardware, which reduces efficiency. of course, that's a tiny thing, but if you're building a desk, you are already somewhat crazy about maxing something, be it looks, hardware density, or just overclocking potential. If you put the effort into it, minor optimizations like that seem worthwhile to me. Then again, i have no idea what this guy's goal is, beyond build a corner desk that supports panorama to some degree.