Desktop Case

[Jarganaut]

I've been mulling my first real fabricated case for awhile. I've done minor things like sleeving, but nothing requiring any real power tools. My prevailing idea is to build the case into a desk. Not so much a case that fits into a desk, but a case where the top of the desk is the actual case. I was hoping I might be able to get some ideas and see problems others have run into in similar type builds but I havent seen much else of what I'm looking to do. I'm trying to make it as flat as possible, unlike the the ones I've seen which sink down into a desk.

Here are two extremely primitive shots of the sketch-up I've made:

The casing will be made out of lexan so that all the hardware, sleeving, water cooling will be visible. I'd like to think that it'll be nice to look at after the sleeving and tubing are lit up.

Of the several concerns and questions I hope someone can address and answer are:
1. I've never done something this complicated involving watercooling (only ever done one object in a box). I'd like to use both graphics cards, the processor, ram, and northbridge. Questions being, would I really need two different loops to cool all those components? What would be the best way to loop them together (ie: the cards in one loop and then the motherboard stuff in another)?

2. I know the flexible PCI extenders are available to move the graphics card "off" the motherboard, does anyone have any experience with these? Are there performance hits for the cards themselves? Can I chain them together to make a longer extension (the longest I've found is 6" I think)?

3. How the F do I make tubing in sketchup? For the life of me I cannot get it to come out correctly.

4. Anyone have thoughts on those UV invisible paints? It seems like some cool things could be done with that, but as expensive as it is I'd like to hear some thoughts before giving it a shot.

Thanks for any answers, critiques, suggestions you can offer. I'm sure I'll have more as I venture forth into this project.

[x88x]

First off, welcome to TBCS! I hope this project goes well for you, it looks interesting.

Now, as for your questions:
1) No, two loops are not necessary. More radiator space, however, is necessary, unless you're cooling really low-end stuff. My general rule of thumb is at least 120mm^2 of radiator space per high-end component. IMO, the best loop order is: pump-> CPU -> [any other non-GPU blocks] -> GPU(s) -> radiator(s) -> reservoir -> pump.

2) Never used one myself, but it should work if you extend them longer. I seem to remember seeing some as long as 18"..though that may have been PCI...

3) Hell if I know. That is one point that continues to confound me.

4) No experience, no comment.

How thin are you wanting to make this? If those are 120mm fans in the sides, you might as well put the GPUs straight on the MBB. Also, two PSUs aren't necessary either. Not saying you can't run two, or even that it's not a good idea, it's just not necessary with that system. If you're buying new components it'll be cheaper to buy a single, higher powered PSU that can handle the system by itself than buy two weaker PSUs.

[Jarganaut]

Thanks for all the help.

So you think 360mm of radiator would be good enough? Counting a cpu and both gpu's as high-end.

As for the PSU's, I looked at an online wattage calculator and it came to about 1300 not including the fans or lighting. I actually got two 1000 w's for the price of one above 1300. So I thought the deal wasn't all that bad. Of course I also thought I was running two water cooling loops. Oh well, lessons learned.

For height, I'm hoping to keep it under 5 inches, thought really it doesn't matter a whole lot. If I can get the pci-e extensions to work I'd like to really keep it at 4. I also thought at 5 inches, with the motherboard and spacing between top and bottom the video cards would be nearly grazing the top. I more wanted to mimic the feel of it being something like an art piece encased in a plastic box, thus trying to lay out all the components.

[x88x]

What are the components you're using? Also, ooc, which online calculator? I've found that the ones by PSU manufacturers and sellers often overestimate the power needed by quite a bit. I've found this one to be pretty accurate, as well as having the largest library of known specific parts.

For radiators, I think 3x120mm of rad is the minimum you should consider. It depends on the parts and the radiators. Assuming pretty high end GPUs and CPU, personally I would want at least 4x120mm, but then I like overkill (check out Zeus in my sig for what I mean). The big thing you'll want to concern yourself with cooling-wise is airflow in that narrow a space. Especially with the radiators lying flat like that, you need to make sure you have good airflow through them. If at all possible, having vents above and below them with a layer of fans on at least one side would be best.

EDIT:
Re the power use again, the system in my 'My System' pulls around 150W at full load (never seen it over 200W). I still run it with a 750W PSU, but it would probably be equally happy with a quality 400W.

[Jarganaut]

Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 965

MSI 890 FX

Video Cards will be one of the ATI 6800 series. RAM I havent really decided on. Corsair Force SSD, and other hard drives. Dont really know much about water cooling equipment so havent gotten far with that either. Any advice on that equipment would be really helpful. I've looked around but dont see much of anything that resembles a consensus.

[x88x]

Hmm, yeah, idk what PSU calculator you were using, but that system won't need more than a 750W or 800W PSU. My advice, sell the second 1,000W unit and use the money to pay for other components.

Out of curiosity, is there a particular feature of the 890 FX that you want? Because the biggest draw of that board over other models is the 5 PCIe x16 slots...which you're not going to be using with that config.

What's your budget for the watercooling system?
If you have a limited budget, a kit might be the best route, but if you have the funds, assembling a custom one from specially selected parts will give you the best results.

For the pump, Laing or Eheim pumps are pretty much the best you can get.

For radiators, TFC XChanger and Black Ice SR1 are the best at the moment.

For waterblocks, Danger Den and EK both make very good stuff. Swiftech's are also pretty good. Make sure that the cover that the fittings screw into is either metal or a hard plastic. I have a Swiftech block that has the threads stripped on one of the holes because the plastic they used to make the cover is too soft.

For fittings, Bitspower is pretty much the gold standard. Compression fittings are best, imo, but they do take up a bit more space than barb fittings.

For the reservoir, there are a lot of great products available. The biggest thing to look out for is if they have are all-plexi construction, check reviews. A lot of cheaply made all-plexi reservoirs have a habit of splitting at seams and dousing your system in coolant.

Oh, and don't mix aluminum and copper in your loop. Stick to one or the other, preferably copper. If you mix them, anti-corrosion additives are needed, and still there's no guarantee you won't get nasty corrosion.

[Jarganaut]

I wish I could remember where I found that calculator. Though I probably used it incorrectly somehow as well.

The motherboard didn't have anything special, I was just looking for a board with enough PCI slots, 6.0 gb/s SATA, and USB 3.0 to try to keep from having to upgrade it in the next year or two. Similar boards all seem to have 4 or 5 PCI-e slots, and I have a preference for MSI for whatever reason.

Luckily I have enough resources to be able to build my own water cooling system, thanks for all the suggestions. I never knew about mixing metals thats a great tip.

Thanks again for all the help.

[x88x]

Here's the link again for the PSU calculator I like in case you missed it when I embedded it earlier.
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

I assume you mean enough PCIe slots? Because that board only has one PCI slot.

[blaze15301]

In order to make the tubing in s ketchup is very complicated and not worth the hasle I think. you have to find the inner and outer circumference of the barbs. If you google it there is a lot of videos on the matter but ive never done it successfuly, well lining the two barbs up properly.