My Desk IS My Computer Case

l3pdesk

If you think that your water cooled rig is pretty sweet, check out this creation by Dutch PC enthusiast [Peter Brands] (Google Translation).

With his computer tweaked as far as he could imagine, he decided to spruce up his office a bit. In the process, he ended up tweaking his computer just a little bit more. After seeing a build put together by another computer enthusiast, he set off to construct a desk in which he could show off his computer. He spent some time drawing up plans with Google Sketchup and with the help of a friendly neighbor, started construction of his desk/PC case.

The desk is constructed from 3mm thick aluminum, and houses most of his computer’s components under a thick piece of glass. The only portion of the computer that is not enclosed in the desk is the 9-fan radiator he used for his water cooling setup. That part resides in his crawl space, which he connects to his PC via a pair of large water hoses he punched through his tile floor. If you are interested, you can see all 800+ pictures of the build here.

Simply awesome!

[Thanks duchie]

39 thoughts on “My Desk IS My Computer Case

  1. uhhh…its a desk, isn’t meant for moving. I had this idea just couldn’t get around to actually doing it. Probably wouldn’t have come out as sweet as this one looks, I don’t have quite the necessary builders skills.

  2. Easy to do- The real champ would make it as thick as a normal desk, something around 1U would be reasonable. Watercool the whole thing, of course- This is just a flat box and some PCIe extenders.

  3. Hi there !
    Thanks for posting it here :)
    This desk wasn’t created for lans, it’s for home use only.
    For lans i’ll take some other pc.
    I just wanted to create a very very silent but fast workstation, and most important, my wife had to like it too in the living room.

    If you want some more info about it, don’t hesitate to read some more here :
    http://www.l3p.nl
    or
    http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=197139

    Im also in the middle of a casemod contest.
    Feel free to vote :)
    http://casemod2011.coolermaster.com/profile.php?u=37&c=2

  4. Very nice looking setup.

    I remember Popular mechanics had an article on this a year or so ago.

    Not my cup of tea personally, but still extremely well executed.

  5. That is one amazing desk. I would love to one day have something like that. Although the water cooling system sounds massive. Could you just install a refrigerator unit and make it air tight to keep it cool? Or would that make it take more power then its worth? I am only a freshmen in CompEng so I am pretty green.

  6. @Colecago

    I suppose I could have, but then I’d have to play in another room which kinda defeats the purpose of the LAN party. Might as well just play online at that point.

  7. @Bob
    My thoughts exactly!

    @Hirudinea
    Desktop in a desk… It only makes sense that he’d integrate it into his legs.

    @BLuRy
    Maybe he’s triple booting Mac OS, Windows, and his favourite ‘NIX build.

  8. Sounds like half the people commenting here have never heard of laptops.

    (Yes I know you get more bang for your buck when it comes to Desktops bla bla).

    Very nice build, I can’t imagine having the patience to build something to that level. Good job :)

  9. Nice job BTW, but I wonder how the top is secured to the wall. With no legs, I’m wary of the entire works ripping off the wall with some misplaced asses.

    Not for everyone obviously. I like the convenience of being semi mobile with a traditional tower case.

  10. I don’t know about the innards of his walls, but if you look at the lower left of the image, that looks like one big ass bracket holding up the top, if it’s solid, I bet it would hold just about anyone’s ass. :)

  11. This is definitely awesome. Now if they only had these desks as standard furniture in the labs when I was studying electrical engineering…

    This makes me think of finding a cheap desk at a garage sale or the dump, removing the top, dumping some components in, and replacing the top with a sheet of plexiglass. Sounds like it would be a fun weekend project.

  12. @andar_b It isn’t the bracket that is the problem. Even if the bolting hardware was to go through the full width of a 2×4 stud it could still readily tear out with all that tasty leverage the table gives. Wooden studs just aren’t nearly as strong across the grain as they appear to be. Luckily it appears that the table is supported on the far side against the second wall, which should be sufficient.

  13. @l3p

    Your just missing the perfect keyboard addition for this…

    The Razer Marauder StarCraft II Keyboard.

    [imghttp://strangera.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/razer-starcraft-ii-gear-green.jpg[/img]

  14. where time is some misunderstood concept… And the whole thing would fit in one drawer (as the drawer is the case)… Very nice build, tho!Wooden studs just aren’t nearly as strong across the grain as they appear to be. Luckily it appears that the table is supported on the far side against the second wall, which should be sufficient.

  15. This looks like an awesome way to save money on a computer case even haha! you’ll end up spending about the same price for a decent gaming case ($300+) any way, so why not a desk instead. I don’t get why you cant have the water cooling in the desk as well and have to run it to another room, instead of using a good Cooler Master H60 or something?

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