Watercooled PC Desk Mod with Built In Car Audio System

imfaceroll

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Messages
112
WATERCOOLED PC DESK MOD WITH CAR SOUND SYSTEM

Hey guys, Below are links to all of my Pages. Most YouTube footage will not be up until the desk mod is complete so please stay tuned. Visit my Facebook page for more pictures at higher quality.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Imfacerollgaming
Email: [email protected]
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ImfacerollPCGaming

I would first like to start off by saying this build cost me a total of $22000 AUD and took around 6 months to build. I have chosen to include an inbuilt car audio system to do something different and save some space. This is my very first build and two weeks prior to building this i had no idea how to put a computer together or even what parts to buy, it took me a solid week of studying up on computers so that i was confident enough to attempt this build, so please enjoy.

Please forgive me for image quality.

I was researching the internet one night for a new computer because my laptop just wasn't up to scratch anymore and it couldn't even run battlefield. I knew nothing about computers however i was interested in trying to put together a build.
Luckily my mate knew about computers and he helped me put together a neat build.

Components include: Windows 8.1, 4770k i7 processor, Asrock extreme 4 motherboard, 850watt cool master PSU, 16gb Rip jaws RAM, Nvidia GTX 780 GPU, 2tb Western Digital HDD and a 120gb Samsung SSD.

cCwCTea.jpg


Putting this build together got me more interested in computers so i decided to look up other builds on the net and came across some awesome computer mods, one that caught my eye was a computer within a desk, I WANTED TO MAKE MY OWN.

Starting in January 2014, i did two full days of research on computers, components, how to videos and reviews because i knew absolutly nothing about them.

Two days passed and i decided to drawn up some plans for the desk.

FGac45J.jpg


With the desk drawn up i made a list of components that i would need to purchase, the main computer specs included:

Windows 8.1, i7 4770k processor, Asus maximus VI formula motherboard, two 1000watt corsair gold RM series PSU's, 32gb of corsair dominator platinum RAM, two nvidia GTX 780Ti GPU's in SLI, 4Tb western digital HDD + three 1Tb western digital HDD,
two 250gb samsung SSD's + two 120gb samsung SSD's, Asus xonar essence stx soundcard and Asus xonar phoebus soundcard. I will also be watercooling everything, running tripple 27inch monitors and setting up a full car sound system within the desk.
Since this build was going to be a long and expensive project i went all out on components to make a beast.

Just a few photos of some parts used in the build:

affh3Ht.jpg


rCw49Xt.jpg


SOKoCd8.jpg


TYIihAZ.jpg


P1ZmNHF.jpg


Oogd0JL.jpg


xMhMdb8.jpg


Moving on to the desk, the wood used to make the desk is 18mm thick and the legs were made thicker for extra support. Iv also included a back board for extra support and stability. The top of the desk is routed out to fit a sheet of 6mm thick hardened glass.

A few pictures of the desk being built:

i7rXdwG.jpg


nWKWvcm.jpg


03Z0k6l.jpg


KEh55Ll.jpg


v40L1pP.jpg


I also made some fake elevated bottom platforms to hide wires and make wire management as clean as i can. I wrapped the platforms in a carbon fibre vinyl which turned out amazing.

Elevated Platforms:

ZCDdBPN.jpg


CWrqXiQ.jpg


yEcpEne.jpg


RvjnULV.jpg


jnldxhI.jpg


Once i had all of my cutouts done to size i decided to test fit some components and also see how much space would be available for cable routing, lighting and running tubing to watercool all of the components.

Test Fitting:

TnlXCR7.jpg


rwS2njq.jpg


ht0Tc4P.jpg


CNUXzU8.jpg


27DukWI.jpg


10YVs8R.jpg


Components fit well and i am happy with how the desk is shaping up.

I decided it would be a good idea to test out the computer with its stock coolers before i install the waterblocks to make sure everything worked correctly. I also ran some performance comparisons with my 780Ti superclocked GPU's.
The results i obtained are with no overclock, everything will be overclocked when the build is complete.

One 780Ti GPU on ultra settings.
X07yFDN.jpg


Two 780Ti GPU's in SLI configuration.
F7ovw2Q.jpg


The desk is now ready to be painted. I decided to go with a nice gloss black on the outside and the raised platform in the desk. The inside walls of the desk are being wrapped in carbon fibre vinyl.

Desk Painted:

KendeBB.jpg


wxkaFnS.jpg


vxxyf4K.jpg


OP4ZOnY.jpg


gaCzdqJ.jpg


Now that i have built the desk and painted it, i started installing some components such as fans, speakers, amplifier and i also installed my water blocks onto the computer components.

bI4atf4.jpg


KxCByke.jpg


Moiv4N6.jpg


IXorved.jpg


UkZfVRi.jpg


DrLFS9l.jpg


i1MOomz.jpg


Since installing a lot of my components i have made some real progress with the desk. I have installed 2/3 of my tubing and now im just waiting for some extension cables to come in the mail before the desk can be finished.

Progress pictures:

6loIQv3.jpg


NqF7WN4.jpg


7ibsnVc.jpg


Now that the desk is around 2/3 built i decided to add some LED light strips to illuminate all of the components. I wired all of the LED strips up to switches and i put some perspex under my amplifier,
HDD's and SSD's to create a green illuminated boarder around them. There are LED strips under the perspex to illuminate it even further.

g3YoMEh.jpg


6EvkMJk.jpg


d2jRXf1.jpg


This is an image for anyone who would like to know how to wire your LED lights to a switch/dimmer.

qp0xLYB.jpg


hZQhecc.jpg


After wiring up all of my LED lights to switches and dimmers i wanted to test the lights to make sure everything is working as planned.

kbAUBko.jpg


sh3Z0l7.jpg


b2cdqgf.jpg


bjDDJQJ.jpg


Z46XRPw.jpg


BpfD8FP.jpg


dtwiTLw.jpg


F2jvoyu.jpg


UzJKqS2.jpg


aYUNGNi.jpg


77K5axX.jpg


Z8gbUVf.jpg


Pf8HKHF.jpg


tnNKTQI.jpg


tUo4tw2.jpg


8JtV1T6.jpg


kR5MvlD.jpg


x7XhshY.jpg


fRRZFYN.jpg


vRN8eD2.jpg


This is my build as of the 12/06/2014. I am currently waiting for some extension cables in the mail so i am able to put the motherboard side in the desk and work on some nice cable management.
Hopefully i should receive the goods next week. Please stay tuned and ill upload more progress photos as i continue with the build.
 
Last edited:
You are linking to the rog asus attachment and not to the actual images. You're going to want to go to an image hoster like imgur.com and upload your photos there and link those photos. I think the links you are using will only work for people on the asus forums who have an account and are logged in. (I can't view the images on the asus forum because I don't have an account)
 
You are linking to the rog asus attachment and not to the actual images. You're going to want to go to an image hoster like imgur.com and upload your photos there and link those photos. I think the links you are using will only work for people on the asus forums who have an account and are logged in. (I can't view the images on the asus forum because I don't have an account)

Thank you for your help. I will get right onto that
 
So, i have received my last parcel in the mail and i have put the PC inside the desk and wired everything up. I am so happy with how it looks. I still have to wait till tomorrow for the glass top of the desk and i will also be putting the UV green Mayhem's dye in, so hopefully i can post some more progress shots within the next few days. After all of that is done i can get the monitors going and turn the computer on after 24 hours of leak testing. Once 100% complete i will post a load of images on here for all to see, cheers

Progress shots:

These two shots are of how messy the cables were before i put the elevated platform in the desk.

4xi963W.jpg


Q1IBI62.jpg


These pictures are of the desk as it stands today. Iv also taken some pictures under the different lighting options and i am very happy with the look of the desk. Dont mind the mess under the desk, that will be cleaned tomorrow before the glass guys get here.

SIhs6oK.jpg


5AVt0tf.jpg


YKTCtSZ.jpg


oFC1WqR.jpg


oCzbkpP.jpg


NHHfqf2.jpg


2h9wnKG.jpg


zpi3EJQ.jpg


3YE6pTB.jpg
 
So.. I managed to fill the loop yesterday and ran into some problems. I filled the loop and had it running for around 2 hours when i noticed liquid all over the motherboard.
Straight away i turned the pumps off and had to take everything apart to clean the motherboard and dry it off. I drained the loop to do just that.

When everything was taken out of the desk i took apart the Asus maximus VI formula motherboard to dry it out and observe where the source of the leak had occurred. This is what i found..

9LcfYRu.jpg


As you can see in the image above, the motherboard water block looks as if the coolant has leaked through the seal,
so i decided instead of returning the product for a new one, i might try tighten the seal and dry out the motherboard.

nfx2Zbw.jpg


The picture above is of the motherboard with the back plate and thermal armor removed as well as all of the thermal blocks and the CPU.
It was essential that all of the liquid was dried and removed so it was necessary to remove all of these components to prevent a short circuit when i powered the PC on.
I wired up a fan to a small 12v power adapter and placed it over the CPU and RAM slots to dry out any liquid that found its way into the gaps. I also borrowed my sisters hair drier to speed up the drying process.

q4wvWFZ.jpg


Above is testing the components to see if they all still work after letting everything dry for 8 hours or so. I had removed the CPU water block to let the CPU slot dry so when it came to testing whether the components worked or not i had to reinstall some thermal grease on my delidded CPU and on the thermal copper plate and use the stock air cooler.

The PC powered up fine and everything worked. While i had the computer on i decided to check the CPU temperatures because i had delidded the CPU and put my own thermal grease on.
Previous core temperatures ranged from 34-37 degrees Celsius, the new temperatures ranged from 18-21 degrees Celsius with the stock cooler, so i was very happy with them results.

3cOkSZ5.jpg


The picture above is of the refill and previous leak area, so far so good. Another possible cause of the leakage around that area is where the fittings screw into the motherboard water block.
I have since installed some extender fittings into the motherboard and then screwed the compression fittings into those.
The reason for this is the compression fittings are a lot wider and i believe that the design of the motherboard water block was preventing them from screwing down all the way, therefore creating a leakage area.
I have highlighted the problem areas below. These areas are sticking up preventing the compression fitting from screwing in all the way.

wcsskgo.jpg


As of this moment i have put everything back into the desk and i am leak testing overnight, so far the problem areas have been fixed. I will be uploading more progress very shortly.
 
Looks incredible. Question: what are the split tubes for going to the radiators? Looks like it would win best in show at any Mobile Audio show but if those tubes are just for show I'm a bit confused on water cooling in general. Pumps? Reservoirs? More detailed explanation of design would be fantastic but it's a lot of work you've done and if all we get is pictures I'm still glad we got a look. Thanks for posting :)
 
Looks incredible. Question: what are the split tubes for going to the radiators? Looks like it would win best in show at any Mobile Audio show but if those tubes are just for show I'm a bit confused on water cooling in general. Pumps? Reservoirs? More detailed explanation of design would be fantastic but it's a lot of work you've done and if all we get is pictures I'm still glad we got a look. Thanks for posting :)
Yea mate you are correct the split is just for show. I will try give more explanation in the up coming progress =)
 
I guess if there's is enough pump to keep the flow running through the extra pathways it really doesn't matter if you use extra tubing for art's sake. =) I'm doing my first design, too... and I thought I was going pretty all out lol. This puts my build to shame!
 
I guess if there's is enough pump to keep the flow running through the extra pathways it really doesn't matter if you use extra tubing for art's sake. =) I'm doing my first design, too... and I thought I was going pretty all out lol. This puts my build to shame!
Sweet what design you working on? A desk or case mod?
 
looks great, cant wait to see it done..... my wife wants to buy a new desk.... but man.... this gives me the itch to build
 
I've never found 5x9s that sound good as open baffle like that. How are the speakers sounding?
Sorry if I missed it, but what is the sound system specs??
 
I've never found 5x9s that sound good as open baffle like that. How are the speakers sounding?
Sorry if I missed it, but what is the sound system specs??

The JVC 4" specs:
1. 4" DRVN Series 2-Way Car Speakers
2. Power Handling: Peak: 400 watts per pair / 200 watts each, RMS: 40 watts per pair / 20 watts each
3. Carbon Mica cone material
4. Durable hybrid material speaker surround
5. High temperature voice coil

Fusion 6x9" speakers:
1. 6x9" 3 Way Speaker
2. 310 Watts Peak Power
3. 4 Ohms
4. 28Hz - 24kHz Frequency Response
5. High Quality Polypropylene Cone Material
6. Butyl Rubber Surround
7. Sensitivity 89dB

Fusion Subwoofer:
1. 12 Inch
2. 1000W Peak power output
3. Frequency response 26Hz - 1.5kHz
4. Sensitivity 90dB
5. Single voice coil

MB QUART RA320.2 amplifier
1. RMS Power @ 4 ohms 80 watts x 2 channels
2. RMS Power @ 2 ohms 160 watts x 2 channels
3. Bridged RMS Power 320 watts x 1 channels
4. Number of Channels 2
5. Total RMS Power Output 240 watts
6. Minimum Impedance Unbridged 2 ohms
7. Minimum Impedance Bridged 4 ohms
8. THD at Rated RMS Power 0.05%
9. High-Pass Crossover Frequency 60 - 1200 Hz
10. Low-Pass Crossover Frequency 30 - 250 Hz
11. Signal-to-Noise Ratio 92 dB
12. Channel Separation 80 dB
13. Bass Boost 0 - 12 dB

Plus the TEAC head unit and the asus xonar essence stx soundcard 124 SNR and the asus xonar phoebus sound card 120 SNR
 
So, progress has been made with the desk.

A few days have past, i have my 24 hour leak test complete and so far no dramas. Next phase of the build is to put the three 27 inch monitors up on the monitor stand i purchased from USA.

I open the monitor stand box only to find that the wrong stand had been sent out to me. Instead of a free standing stand that i ordered, i received a stand with a clamp screw to hold the monitor mount onto the desk, which is a bit of a problem...

q7pfU4t.jpg


The clamp cannot open wide enough to fit the thickness of my desk due to the desk being a hollow box roughly 200mm thick. Thoughts....

I came up with a solution that only Albert Einstein himself would think of, okay that's a lie it didn't take much to come up with the idea.
I had to create a wooden stand that the monitor mounting stand could clamp onto and the stand had to screw into the back section of the desk, pretty simple...

Went to Bunnings warehouse and scored myself three 1m lengths of wood for free (who would have thought..).
I cut each length down to 800x150mm and cut a small piece to screw on top of the three side pieces. This top piece acted as the base for which the monitor mount would clamp on to.

9OiT3QS.jpg


GIKw629.jpg


By creating the stand it also relieves the desk of all weight and prevents any possible bowing of the wood. The stand turned out well as you can see.
I covered it in some left over carbon fibre wrap and now i can attach all three of my monitors and run either a nvidia surround setup or run with the 3 seperate screens with the two gtx 780 ti GPU's in SLI mode.
Also by having only the 3 sides and an open back it acts as a place to hide cables which makes everything look neater and well managed.

gIAVwpM.jpg


My desk is up and running now so updates will be posted very shortly within the next few days.

Again, please help me out by liking my Facebook page, subscribe to my YouTube where i will be posting regular videos of game footage and desk mods. It would really help me out, i appreciate the support Cheers.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ImfacerollPCGaming
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Imfacerollgaming
 
Man that is really amazing. Love all the fans and the glass/tubing all just looks perfect. It's magical. =)
 
Great build.

I have one major concern. The airflow seems extremely imbalanced.

Maybe I missed something in the pictures. I count 3x120mm fan intakes on the right side attached to a 360mm radiator. That is it.

I count 9x120mm fans as exhausts on the left side, 6 of which are attached to 360mm rads. 4x120mm fans exhausting air downward toward the floor (2 on each side next to motherboard and amp respectively). There is 1x80mm fan exhausting behind the motherboard. There are 2 PSU's each with their own exhaust also. They are also stacked very close together too, so one is being starved for air when it could just be flipped 180 and suck air from the graphics card area.

Intake fans=3
Exhaust fans=16
Am I missing something? Even if all the exhausts were run on low and the intake on high, I don't think 3 fans can supply enough air. Where is the air coming from? Is there a vent I'm not seeing?

You could flip a few of those fans around and get a more balanced airflow arrangement. My suggestion would be to make all the rads intakes, and the rest of the fans as exhausts. That way the rads would be fed with nothing but cool outside air rather than hot air from inside the desk warmed by that amp, motherboard, graphics cards, pumps, etc.
 
Last edited:
It looks like what I would see if I died and went to geek heaven. :D I did not know such beauty existed in the world.

One thing I hate about standard cases is when you have to switch out a part or wire. Even with high end consumer cases there's usually a relatively tight squeeze just to get your hand in there to switch out a SATA or power cable. That case is so nice and open. Not to mention how cool it will be for you to simply to glance down and admire your handywork anytime you want! Best of all is how many options and potential you have for future add-on's!
 
Great build.

I have one major concern. The airflow seems extremely imbalanced.

Maybe I missed something in the pictures. I count 3x120mm fan intakes on the right side attached to a 360mm radiator. That is it.

I count 9x120mm fans as exhausts on the left side, 6 of which are attached to 360mm rads. 4x120mm fans exhausting air downward toward the floor (2 on each side next to motherboard and amp respectively). There is 1x80mm fan exhausting behind the motherboard. There are 2 PSU's each with their own exhaust also. They are also stacked very close together too, so one is being starved for air when it could just be flipped 180 and suck air from the graphics card area.

Intake fans=3
Exhaust fans=16
Am I missing something? Even if all the exhausts were run on low and the intake on high, I don't think 3 fans can supply enough air. Where is the air coming from? Is there a vent I'm not seeing?

You could flip a few of those fans around and get a more balanced airflow arrangement. My suggestion would be to make all the rads intakes, and the rest of the fans as exhausts. That way the rads would be fed with nothing but cool outside air rather than hot air from inside the desk warmed by that amp, motherboard, graphics cards, pumps, etc.
There is no rad on the right, the 4 fans on the bottom are intake not exhaust because hot air rises, the rads have push pull configuration, so thats 8 intake 9 exhaust
 
It looks like what I would see if I died and went to geek heaven. :D I did not know such beauty existed in the world.

One thing I hate about standard cases is when you have to switch out a part or wire. Even with high end consumer cases there's usually a relatively tight squeeze just to get your hand in there to switch out a SATA or power cable. That case is so nice and open. Not to mention how cool it will be for you to simply to glance down and admire your handywork anytime you want! Best of all is how many options and potential you have for future add-on's!
thanks mate
 
After the major accident involving the leakage on the motherboard i finally got to refill the desk. The liquid coolant i am using is distilled water with some mayhems UV green dye. Please enjoy.

Please visit my facebook page to see more photos at a higher quality and chuck me a like, it would really help me out.

https://www.facebook.com/imfacerollgaming

This is the distilled water i picked up from Big W. I had a fair amount of trouble trying to find distilled water because most places were either sold out or only had deionized/demineralised water.

NAg9yyz.jpg


When filling the loop i always had some cloth/towels near by incase of a possible spill/leak.

EMKSAxJ.jpg


I used a funnel with a drink bottle to fill the loop. It made the process much faster and easier which saved a lot of time.

AQGVYXU.jpg


5yjeHIr.jpg


I started adding the Mayhems UV green dye to the distilled water one drop at a time until i achieved the look i was after.

9anrJjW.jpg


Nk9uEaV.jpg


RfsFGnO.jpg


The loop was filled so i had to start leak testing for 24 hours. Always make sure to put some cloth/towels/paper towel to prevent possible fluid leaks from getting onto components.

EQxVD7v.jpg


pLCwiy0.jpg


kjZ5W0z.jpg


ASQjV4m.jpg


I always checked how the leak test was going every so often..

RO3XzvC.jpg


Here are a few images after the leak test

nkPMPuz.jpg


LiAlz02.jpg


B7hHn8u.jpg


MEsaYis.jpg


LBPQyQA.jpg


A5zQ3UG.jpg


njuXS9z.jpg


Please visit my facebook page to see more photos at a higher quality and chuck me a like, it would really help me out.

https://www.facebook.com/imfacerollgaming

Also visit my YouTube channel where i will be posting three new Desk mod videos and help me out by subscribing. Thank you =)

https://www.youtube.com/user/imfacerollPCGaming

More progress/final photos shortly, Thanks
 
There is no rad on the right, the 4 fans on the bottom are intake not exhaust because hot air rises, the rads have push pull configuration, so thats 8 intake 9 exhaust

Gotcha.

I was referring to this pic

http://i.imgur.com/10YVs8R.jpg

Where you it appears the fan hub motor appears on top just under those phobya grills which would have meant the airflow was going downward (exhaust). Maybe its an illusion, maybe they were mounted like that at first, I don't know, and it no longer matters since I spotted them again in your first build video on youtube and you indeed had them flipped around as intakes. That brought my count to 7 intakes, so I must have still missed one.

Glad to see its worked out. Airflow is more balanced than I realized. Amazing build.
 
Gotcha.

I was referring to this pic

http://i.imgur.com/10YVs8R.jpg

Where you it appears the fan hub motor appears on top just under those phobya grills which would have meant the airflow was going downward (exhaust). Maybe its an illusion, maybe they were mounted like that at first, I don't know, and it no longer matters since I spotted them again in your first build video on youtube and you indeed had them flipped around as intakes. That brought my count to 7 intakes, so I must have still missed one.

Glad to see its worked out. Airflow is more balanced than I realized. Amazing build.

thanks mate =)
 
So i have finally finished the desk and the leak testing is over. I plan to over clock the CPU and GPU but i will do that at a later date and share the results with you guys. The x99 series motherboards, DDR4 RAM and new GPU's are coming out so i am most likely going to upgrade the desk when these items are out on the market. Here are some final photos, please enjoy and remember you can watch my full build log series at:

www.youtube.com/user/imfacerollpcgaming

and you can view more photos of the desk build, my upcoming cabinet build and some awesome modifications at my facebook page:

www.facebook.com/imfacerollgaming

please enjoy.

KN8cldN.jpg


14YejC7.jpg


15i4C5f.jpg


oE3YA8W.jpg


sRXWSy0.jpg


jGsxsWG.jpg


HJsFMNH.jpg


5yLwGL9.jpg


ZLiNpWB.jpg


2zsQQqR.jpg


qMHoJdN.jpg


qX2CZHu.jpg


zJZ4vdA.jpg


lgPeHzG.jpg


etT0hTn.jpg


t2UTbPy.jpg


YgWFpNX.jpg


L1pyFhh.jpg


wYFE4LH.jpg


tQreZoL.jpg


u1VbAZO.jpg


C3mNG23.jpg


u8PY4to.jpg


jSy2pNd.jpg


sviN37R.jpg


UEImXnx.jpg


yyjOyFu.jpg


Th1fGd0.jpg


G4xzayl.jpg


That is my water cooled PC desk modification with built in car audio system, Please note the audio system works well but there are obviously better audio systems out there, the car audio was used purely so do something different, to save room and because the green and black suits the theme.


Once again please show your support by checking out my youtube and facebook page for more photos/build log videos and game footage.

I am about to start my liquid cooled PC cabinet mod which will be a red and black theme so check out my pages to follow that build which is being sponsored, Cheers.
 
Love it. Any problems with speakers like those that close to pc hardware? Those speakers can be fairly strong electromagnets.
 
Back
Top