# Custom 3 monitor desk build with extras...



## IggSter (Jul 11, 2013)

Hi all,

OK - now I have my pictures in some sort of order here is my custom Desk/PC/Office build.

WARNING: This post will no doubt ramble a bit (sorry up front for that) but the story starts over a decade ago..


Intro: 
I've been building/fixing 'stuff' since I could hold a screwdriver (I'm in my 40s - Old Skool ). 
I started building my own PCs in the early 90s - mainly ex-business PCs at that stage 286/386/486. 
By the mid-90s custom PC parts were a thing! You could buy cases that looked good, with lights! and windows! I loved it (Thank you Kustom PCs in Ayr for having so much cool stuff and introducing me to Lain Li )


In 1999 my PC world was put on hold :shadedshu. Myself and my Wife had bought a very old fairly large and frankly derelict house. My fixing abilities were needed elsewhere 

So fast forward to christmas 2003 - the house was pretty much done and I had an office! A proper big office for all my crap! At this stage my crap consisted of: a couple of Dell Pent D PCs - one running as a windows server (Itunes/Web/etc) one an Ubuntu (testing mainly). Also a Lian Li (probably an Athlon/9700 combo) and an Akasa? (AMD/8800 combo I think)
















So - time for refresh!

The Upgrade Starts......slowly...and goes nowhere....

To explain: 2004 -2008 I was self employed and travelled..A LOT. This left me with little or no time to do anything meaningful, except buy stuff....
I buy a Dell 24" monitor...
Yea....really. What was I thinking. Dont get me wrong it's a fantastic monitor - I still use it everyday but there were 100s of more practicable things I could have dropped £500 on.
I add proper 5.1 sound, great sound - cabling nightmare
and a midi keyboard - more cabling.
And then I reorganise my office about 20 times to try and make it not look like PC bring and buy sale....

















2009 - lets actually do some PC stuff mmmK?

So at this point a I decided I wanted a proper design to the network in the house. Where it was needed and why? 
The plan? Multimedia to all rooms.
So I needed a better server (currenty a Dell Pent D) and some reliable storage (currently a eSATA HD plugged into the Dell)






So for a Server I decide to hack up an empty Lian Li case and turn a mid tower into a desktop with legs...yeah!






























































Hardware: q9550 @2.8G, 8G RAM, 2 x 500G boot raid, 2 x 1T data raid, Cooler - AC Freezer Pro, Fans - Noctua

(This is still the main server and is probably due for some TLC soon)

Ok server built - 2008 installed and I went and bought a QNAP 809pro to get the storage sorted. Highly recommend these guys!

Now I have another problem - the Dells have now moved to be media PCs in 2 other rooms and left big spaces and now I've a legged server that wont fit anywhere - this room is so outa hand 

I NEED A PROPER SUPERDESK!

Jump to Feb 2010 - I have permission to proceed with project 'BIGMESS'

Plan: A desk that can hold 3 x 30"+ monitors has room for 1 x server, 2 x PC, Mixing desk, Laptop, Audio amps, UPS + remote power, cooling.

I start on a 3D design




and refine it

















By the end of march I've made a 1/10 scale model and refined the design further.









April is spent ordering all the hardware (screws, brackets, monitor tree, paint, tool bits) and getting the wood to a CnC machine to have the parts cut.

And now the desk build starts...





















































































At this point I need to empty the office because the carpet fitters are coming - so decide to make someything to house my NAS/Router etc 


















Now with added carpet...

















and back to the desk.....





























































Old desk is sent outside to sleep /sad





And new desk with screens..





Ok, thats all for now - I will try and and upload some more of the finished desk and also some of the hardware thats been installed since.

Current hardware:

Server: q9550 @2.8G, 8G RAM, 2 x 500G boot raid, 2 x 1T data raid, Cooler - AC Freezer Pro, Fans - Noctua
Main PC: i7 950 @ 4.2G, 6G Ram, OCZ Revo x2 240G boot, 2 x 1T data, GTX580, S/stone Raven
2nd PC: Phenom II 955, 4G RAM, 4870 AMD thing, 4 x 500G raid
NAS: QNAP 809pro
Media: WD live TV SMP x 4


Please feel free to ask questions and such and I will do my best to get back with quick answers etc.

Thanks all o/

Edit: Actually a parts list and tools etc might be handy for someone.

Carcass: Moisture resistant MDF 32mm for top, 28mm everything else
3D work: Google sketchup - I sketched on paper at 1st, then transferred to Sketchup - this gave me my cutting list.
Model: Foam board from hobby shop
CnC: I drove sheets to local sawmill, guy took £100 and was done in 24hrs :schweet:
Wood woorking: Makita router with a range of bits for edges / biscuit jointer / sander /drill /saw
Hardware: adjustable feet / worktop connectors / brackets /screws etc
Paint: 1st-2 coats white latex to seal, 2nd-3 coats dark grey undercoat, 3rd-3 coats dulux gloss. All applied by roller and hand sanded.
Cooling fans: 2 x 220mm white led
UPS: 1xAPC smartups 1500 and 1 x ES480
Remote power: 2 x Belkin conserve
Lights: all ikea - 2 angle poise mounted through desk, 2 x led spot under desk.
Monitor arm: Quadvision 3 Screen


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## erocker (Jul 11, 2013)

1. Yes

2. Just post the images in [ img] tags. Imagur, techpowerup.org, photobucket, etc. all work.


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## IggSter (Jul 19, 2013)

Thread is now up with PICs and some info.

Cheers!


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (Jul 19, 2013)

Nice work!


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## IggSter (Jul 19, 2013)

ThE_MaD_ShOt said:


> Nice work!



Thank you 

Once I got my arse in gear it all went fairly well and I was very happy with the results - hand painting it was my biggest fear!


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