Downing's Custom Built-in PC/Retro Game Console DESK

[Downing]

Just saw it on Hack N' Mod and I just happened to have a desk that would work for it! Though I haven't seen one that has 3 Generations of Nintendo built into it though, as well as an xbox and PS2. So much can still go wrong though...still gonna be awhile before it's done!

[Downing]

Got the fans mounted to the back of the desk and plugged in temporarily to a different supply to test them out. Man, they look cool but they are loud! Not quite sure how I'm going to quiet them down...maybe put in a potentiometer in the control box or even get a digital fan control so they only turn on when they need too. I'd rather keep it manual, but hey I'll do what I gotta do.

Not sure what it's gonna look like when in the dark, but I'm hoping that once the window glare goes away I can see whats what in there and find a place for my surface mount LEDs that I have. Probably goin over to the right of the desk where the consoles are because that place is pretty dark right now still.

Anyway, here are some pics. I might update later tonight with how this looks in the dark!

[Downing]

Well, taking low light shots has been pretty difficult without a tripod, so my phone has been used instead of my good camera. Basically I have the layout of the components and LED's in place, all temporarily wired and working. So as far as the computer and the desk components are concerned it's basically done but I do have to put a facing on the front where the DVD-ROM and Media reader need to come out, as well as mounting a new PC on/off switch. This should look pretty cool, though I do need a few more LED's in place to brighten things up a bit on the console side.

On a scary not, I found out that my computer's PSU have a circuit breaker in it! Good thing as I was using it to power some of my LEDs for a temp test and while moving around I bridged some connection and my computer went dead! But started up fine with no damage so we're defiantly gonna be a bit more cautious next time!

But here are some pics of the progress so far!

Front view before it gets closed in.


Night Shot 1


Night Shot 2


Te-Te checking if the project is still on budget! She's a rough bitch!

[Downing]

Being sick sucks! Though I'm sure it's just a common cold and the Dayquil is fighting it quite well, I'm still miserable and feel today is going to be mostly wasted to movies and video games.

But, over the past week or so I've made a great deal of progress on the desk. I've used pretty much every LED I have in the house now for this, placing them actually into my power supply and computer PCB so most of the areas are well lit. Looks pretty cool too. Still having a problem with the noise these fans are putting off, but I have found a solution I think with a digital touchscreen fan controller I found online for $22 bucks! Basically this has a 5 fan, fully programmable interface which allows me to control the speeds and temperatures in which they are supposed to turn on! I'll be building this right into the face of my control box! I'll put up pics when I get them! Here's a view of the inside!



I also finished off the the front panel where the DVD, Media Reader and USB plugs are mounted. This isn't trimmed out or screwed into place yet, but the fit was perfect and outcome looks good! I also mounted the PC on/off button with a snap bushing and the B button from some old controller that I had. It just took a basic momentary tact switch and this button works better than the first one did! I then mounted the original LED that used to illuminate the Dell Logo right above the button so it can be seen when you're sitting at the desk but from afar you'll know the PC is on.




I also got a lot of wiring done on the cart slots for the Nintendo systems. I was originally going to put 50 pin headers and sockets for the wires so that if I needed to move the control box I could simply unplug the connectors and be good, but I found that it was going to be easier to make the whole cart slot holder detachable from the control box and wire the cart slots to their respective boards directly. Just have to finish up one side of the NES and we should be good to go. Yes, cloned hardware, but I had it so I used it. Some more pics below of that process.





So, still a long way to go, but it's certainly getting there. The only bummer is that I can't really test if any of the Nintendo systems are working until I get the control box finished. I'll try and rig something up, but we'll see where it goes!

[Downing]

Progress!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_9V_2S5J_o

The fans are finished finally! Complete with a digital touchscreen controller and heat sensor! This has helped a great deal with the sound as the fans really did not need to be running full speed anyway all the time. Though when I do drop the power to the fans, the LED's get a bit darker as well. Below you'll see I replaced the broken fan didn't have LED working with a new one.



This is the fan controller. It's a NZXT Sentry 2. Designed originally to fit in the bay of a PC case, this one was destined for something greater!


Here it is mounted to the face of my control box.


Plugged in and testing. Seems to be working out great!


The nearly finished product!


All in all this is coming out better than expected. I have to do a bit of a redesign for the Nintendo systems as I just could not get enough length for the cart slots to put them in the desk, so they will be in an extension box of the control box. That's mostly wired now, but still have a bit more to do. What do you think?

[CRTGAMER]

All in all this is coming out better than expected. I have to do a bit of a redesign for the Nintendo systems as I just could not get enough length for the cart slots to put them in the desk, so they will be in an extension box of the control box. That's mostly wired now, but still have a bit more to do. What do you think?

I didn't notice till this pic that you were building custom front panels for the consoles! I thought the desk was just a custom computer case with a few consoles included. Very nice job on the Nintendo Panel!

Maybe list which consoles are in this desk at the OP, a Quote in Boldface list?

[Downing]

Well, tested out the cart slot relocations today and 2 out of 3 worked on the first try! The N64 and SNES worked out wonderfully, but NES (which I had a feeling wasn't going to work well) didn't. Upon closer inspection I found that a few traces had been ripped right from the board on the system. So I've ordered a new clone NES and will have to do the cart relocation again but now that I can leave the system whole I shouldn't have an issue making it work.

Anyway, here are a few pics showing that the other two systems are working!







And CRT, the original idea was to have the control box (pictured) be the hub so to speak for the Nintendo systems. That's still the idea but instead of the Nintendo systems being in the desk, I have to make a box for them to go in and will attach to the control box. It will still look cool regardless and I know how to make it functional and detachable from the main unit. Just waiting on the clone NES to get here so I can redo that and then I should be good to go!

[Downing]

These pics were taken earlier this week, but I'm making a great deal of progress with the Nintendo system box. I had to make some changes from the original design but they are working out better and will be worth the extra work.

First off, I had to replace the NES with a new clone as I pretty much ruined the last one in every way-shape and form. However it tuned out to be a blessing as this new set-up did not require me to relocate the NES cart slot! The pic below shows how I was able to mount the entire system to the box only having to rewire say 20 wires instead of 70 X 2.


I do however have to do more work to the N64 as a result, including trimming which I've already done and relocating of the power and removal of the A/V out jack. Though this really didn't matter as I am funneling all the video and audio lines into one line respectivily.


But all in all it's coming out good. I've got a good plan I think to wire everything up nice and clean and easially disconnectable if I ever have to move it. I hope to have the N64 done by tonight and then I can do some testing to make sure the box works, then I can spruce it up a bit!

[t0yrobo]

Kudos on those cartridge sockets, that's a huge amount of work on top of everything else your doing!

[noiseredux]

this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.