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Some Wild Ideas... Thoughts?

Joined
Nov 3, 2022
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System Name Every cuss word I can think of, and a few more I've made up
Processor Ryzen R9 5900X
Motherboard Asus Tuf B550-PLUS
Cooling Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition, Corsair Commander Core XT with six LL120s
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Video Card(s) Asus KO-RTX3060ti-8GB-OC
Storage 1TB WD Blue SN570 PCIe3 M.2, 8TB WD Black 8TB HDD, Pioneer BDR-212DBK
Display(s) 75" Hisense A6, 23" Dell ST2310
Case Fractal Pop XL Air, black on black
Audio Device(s) Realtek Onboard Audio, Digitech RP-250, Yamaha DGX-205
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse Logitech K520
Keyboard Logitech K520
Software LibreOffice, BeamNG.drive, Classic Doom and variants, ATS, NCH VideoPad, OBS Studio, MPC-HC, iCUE
Benchmark Scores CB R23: Multi-Core 21539 - Single Core 1592 *PBO Auto, GPU no OC, room for improvement?*
So, recently, I've swapped around some furniture and gotten a new display due to my 55" Sceptre failing. The room has been cluttered for awhile, but I still have things I'd like to set up for use, so some consolidating and downsizing where possible is necessary. I have some ideas I'd like to run by anyone that might have some insight for improvement.

For reference, this is my setup at this moment. The display stand uses the display's VESA mounts, with the stand perched on an old chest of drawers. My PC case sits on a table to the right that sits somewhat lower, allowing the 75" HiSense A6 to clear it, along with my home theatre system. Keyboard and mouse are wireless. Don't mind the mess, I'm still figuring out where I want to put things.

image.png.e7dd4f0f28ccf8a0d7386da379b2ef66.png

BTW, for those interested, I highly recommend this stand for larger displays. It's a TAVR, available through Amazon. It supports up to 110 lbs, with 30 degrees swivel from center in either direction, and yes, it supports multiple VESA mount configurations as shown below. At $60-$70, it's not much more expensive than the dinkier budget stands, either. Great value for the money, my only real gripe with it is the plastic safety locks, they should have been metal.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/616CosboUhL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

But uh, back to the lecture at hand...

Now, here's the dilemma. I once played / recorded music, and I'd like to get back into that. My music keyboard will fit this lower table perfectly, but will take all of the space available, meaning the PC case and audio system need to go elsewhere. However, there's little to no room for it in the most common / obvious location, and setting it on the floor is not ideal, due to the internal Blu-Ray burner. I love this Fractal Pop Air, so as much as I hate to, I may have to abandon it unless I can relocate it without hindering accessibility. Putting the burner in an external USB case isn't my favorite approach, but I can live with it if need be.

I like the rack setup idea explored by LTT and a couple other YouTubers, which might look good under the display stand and keep things accessible. However, my 5900X needs more cooling than a 1U or 2U can fit, probably the least I can get away with is 4U, and the stand and display are only going to accommodate so much height revision. LTT's video referenced Protocase and mentioned they will make custom cases, but will they do a 4U?

I did find some rather nice wooden rack cases available in 1U-6U on Etsy, like this one... I see some custom work needed here that I'm not sure I can do, however.

image.png.f15dae542bc06477c4c8fef990e21b7f.png

And then it hit me. This chest of drawers my display and stand are sitting on are relatively empty at the moment. I'm not likely to use all the drawers, either. The two small ones topside measure 5.5" H, 21" D, 14.75" W. Quite spacious, so maybe I could transfer my components to an open-air test bench, like the one shown here, and mount it to the floor of the drawer. Newegg has this one for $23. A larger one appearing to have more space for drives (or perhaps larger motherboards) is available for a bit more.

image.thumb.png.a413af283badad9432a49d007c57e9fa.png

However, my existing Mugen 5 measures 6.08 inches tall, and I'm not sure if that includes motherboard / CPU / standoff height. There is a bit more vertical clearance inside the drawer cabinet, but I'm wondering how much finagling it will take to make this work.

The beauty of this idea is that I can set up two systems if I want, one for gaming, one for media NAS (I have several laying around), maybe even run a dual system off of one power supply. I wonder about cooling, but I can probably work this out, and maybe this would be an excuse to go liquid cooling (not my first choice)? Or would it really be necessary? Anyone think the Noctua low-profiles will keep my 5900X cool if the Mugen 5 won't fit doing this?

Anyone have any other ideas or thoughts I might not have considered?
 
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"If it doesn't fit, you must aquit" - Johnny Cochran :D

Although the idea of putting your rigs inside the drawers sounds somewhat intriguing, and would be an efficient but unorthodox use of space.

Based on the frame you showed, 2 main concerns would be:

A) getting/maintaining sufficient airflow into & inside the drawer, which could be solved by making some cutouts in the front, sides and/or bottom of the drawer and mounting some intake fans there, and possibly some exhaust fans in the back...but you would need to be sure not to weaken the structural integrity of the drawer itself... and

B) accessibility- should you want to change some parts or plug in a new cable for whatever reason...this would be a bit trickier, since you'll probably have to make some cutouts in the rear of the drawer to match up with the ones on the backplane, and make sure that all cables have enough slack in them to allow the drawer to slide out without disconnecting anything or damaging the cables.. perhaps find a way to secure the cables to the back of the drawer with some cable clips, zip ties or some sort of clamp or bracket...

However, unless you have (or plan to get) a rather large PSU, and have the skills to wire it correctly, I would advise against trying to run 2 rigs from 1 unit.....not saying it can't be done, but you will only get 1 chance to do it right the very 1st time, or risk a major pile of smoldering goo as a result of goofing it up....

Good luck with this project, and if you do move forward with it, please post some pics for us to drool over :roll:
 
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