Chif

*EDIT* The project log can be found here

After looking through this thread, i was inspired to create a workstation. I've draw a rough plan in sketchup, however i'm a new user of this program and was unable to show certain aspects.

Anyway, here's a rough idea of what the final product will look like:



A breif explanation:

Dvd drives & psu go up the top, there is a hole for the wires to be routed through and they will be stored in the small compartment, the other hole is for an 80mm or 120mm blowhole (mesh vents may also be provided).

The legs won't actually be square, they will be made from round aluminium hollow tubing, which has actually given me the idea of routing the wires etc through there, depending on the thickness (i have this tubing already laying around somewhere).

HDD is on the same level as mobo, there will be rubber feet for the mobo (as expected), and there will be large rubber feet on the bottom, with LED underglow etc etc.

There will be fans somehow placed on the side, and (not pictured) a thin piece of metal to secure any cards.

Any suggestions and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Depending on what parts i can find tomorrow, i may change this thread into a full log.

Thanks guys

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Syrillian

Looks cool.

Just a couple of thoughts?

Placing the Mobo on the lower tier will make swapping the CPU / RAM / GPU(s), and any other components more difficult. Yes, you could always pull the mobo out to make said changes. Additionally, placing the mobo on the bottom may limit you to what coolers, or types of cooling that can be used should you ever wish to experiment.

You mentioned rubber feet for the mobo to rest on? A good idea for sure, excpet if you are me.... and tend to "smash" things. I forget what is going on and then make a stoopid by knocking things over, or accidentally dragging things off of the table... you may want to consider standoffs of some type, or perhaps another method of securing the mobo.

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mega_option101

Looks like you've covered it pretty well for what I was going to suggest

Great minds think alike

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Chif

Thanks very much guys . It feels good to have such important people posting for me hehe. Yeah when i meant the rubber feet, i'd have the mobo attatched to them and the feet attatched to the board with a type of easily removable screw.
Also what are standoffs?

When it comes to placing the mobo on the top, i was going to do that originally, but securing the cards could be a little hard if you know what i mean. What would you suggest for that?

And yea i never kept cooling in mind, i'd really like to try out some whatercooling at some point and time, so having the mobo on top would be an advantage for this?

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Syrillian

Hi again.

Standoffs are the small metal stilts that the motherboard rests on to prevent shorting from the backside of the mobo itself, they also aid in air-circulation around/under the mobo.

For securing the PCI slot devices, an old backplane from another computer will do, but some finagling will be in order to mount it securely.

In the past I have merely set cards in the slots and used some tape to hold them upright (if at all). Not ideal, but I don't use the testbench as a permanent house for the hardware; only for intial setup or for torturing components.

There is an image in the thread that you linked that has a testbench that uses a backplane from an old HP computer.... time to go dumpster diving.

Lastly, having the mobo on the top tier just makes the entire fiddling process that much easier insofar as accessibility.

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

Chif

Ah yes, i just bought a case for my new build and that uses little gold standoffs then. I was worried about shorting out my mobo, but these prevent that? do i need rubber washers between the standoffs and the mobo or not?

Yeah i saw the pic of the hp backplane, i think i've got one laying around actually, if not i could do my first dumpster dive

Depending on the turnout i'm not sure if this will remain permanent, however this rig will certainly end up being my experimental one, with watercooling the first on the go .

Thanks so much for the help so far Syrillian, i really appreciate it +

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Syrillian

My pleasure.

As for washers; you won't need any between the standoffs and the mobo, but oftentimes small cardboard or hard plastic washers are used between the screw and the mobo. (screw > washer > mobo > standoff > mobo tray/case panel).

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

iandroo888

looks interesting.. will be interested in seeing the progress of this.

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bentleya

this is going to be sweet, i've always wanted a tech station

+ and can't wait for more

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Chif

Thanks heaps, i got those cardboard things and was unsure what to do with them, so i took a guess and did that. Once again thankyou for all your help, i'm sure i'll need it again once i start the build.


Also thanks to everyone else that's posted. I'll try and get onto this asap! I'll go try and find some more parts and draw up a proper plan (love doing that hehe). So far i've found the aluminum poles, not quite as thick as i wanted but they'll do. And i've got a mobo tray. So i'll see what i can do today and i'll keep you all posted

*Edit*
After some thoughts i've decided to go against syrillian's suggestion of putting the mobo on top. The reasons being that this will mainly be for my brother once i've completed for my new build. And he won't be using it as an actual tech station, he just think it looks cool hehe. I will eventually do some watercooling and overclocking, but for that i'll just make the top half removable and do it all that way, otherwise i just wond be swapping components over enough to justify having the mobo on top, as i believe it looks better on the bottom . When i do eventually make a tech station for its actual purpose, then ill do that. Thanks guys

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