Building a PC into a wooden desk

[BananaSlapper]

I have build a PC before, but this time I'd like to build my PC into my desk. The problem is, it's made out of wood. What are the risks other then it catching fire ? And are there any ways of working around these problems ? I was going to water cool the CPU, since it's my first watercooled system, and the rest would be cooled by fans. The motherboard is going to lie on it's back, with the GPU facing to the side. It's a gaming PC that will have an i5 4670k and a msi GTX 970 4gb, 8 gigs of ram and a 600W PSU.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Wood is a good thermal insulator. You will need to take particular care with heat dissipation and air flow.

 

[LilTwist]

I wouldnt see a problem with that except maybe the heat from the components might warp the wood or if the wood is actually particle board the heat would melt the glue holding the particle board together and warp it other than then just make sure you know your way around wood and add a little bit of extra ventilation to try and keep the heat down because wood is a good insulator of heat and would hold the heat in the wooden case you made for your pc

 

[BananaSlapper]

Wood is a good thermal insulator. You will need to take particular care with heat dissipation and air flow.

That's my main concern with this build. How do I handle the heat and stuff like that ?

 

[LilTwist]

cut more holes for more fans and get a 6 or 10 port molex fan hub and 3 or 4 fans at the bottom as intake and 3 or 4 fans on the top for exhaust remember heat rises also if you want equal amounts going in as you want going out use all the same brand fans and also all the same size too or if you want positive pressure to help keep a little dust out take one of those fans off of the top and have 4 on the bottom and 3 on the top

 

[BananaSlapper]

cut more holes for more fans and get a 6 or 10 port molex fan hub and 3 or 4 fans at the bottom as intake and 3 or 4 fans on the top for exhaust remember heat rises also if you want equal amounts going in as you want going out use all the same brand fans and also all the same size too or if you want positive pressure to help keep a little dust out take one of those fans off of the top and have 4 on the bottom and 3 on the top

I'm sure it will help with the air flow, but will it keep the temperatures cool inside ? I live in Israel, and the temperatures go up quite a bit in the Summer. My main concern is the wood melting to warping or even burning.

 

[LilTwist]

lol if you see or smell smoke you know something is wrong as for the temp you should be alright as long as you have good airflow if anything you could do water cooling for both your cpu and you graphics card and that would be a little bit better as for heat also if your desk or whatever you are planing on putting you pc in is made of particle board then i wouldnt do it but if is made of real wood then i would do it also is the wood thick or thin?

 

[LilTwist]

also if you want you could make a kind of makeshift vent that you could lead to your fans intake from a air conditioner but with that you would have to worry about condensation and humidity so if you live in an area that is humid or has dew on the grass or everything in the morning then I wouldnt advise doing it but if you live in a area that is arid and little to no humidity then you could do it but you would need to take it off before it rains also even if you didnt make a makeshift air duct to your intake fans as long as the temperature inside your house is 90 degrees fahrenheit or bellow you shouldnt have to worry too much just try to keep your everything in your system bellow 70 degrees celsius

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Physics and Chemistry are on your side. The temperature of your components will unlikely reach the boiling point of water, much less the char temperature of wood.

You need to take advantage of the physics of density differences. The specific arrangement of components matter too. Are you going to build wide and flat, like a central desk drawer, or taller and narrower, like the side draws?

You will be using about 400W, so that is four standard 100W light-bulbs in thermal energy.

You may not need a lot of fans, just good airflow, and I would still be looking at air cooling over water cooling. It will be easier and quieter.

Can you give us an idea of the layout you plan on using. I have given some thought to mounting a PC in the antique wooden desk I work at. (I would not butcher the desk, merely replace some of the under - surfaces)

 

[BananaSlapper]

Physics and Chemistry are on your side. The temperature of your components will unlikely reach the boiling point of water, much less the char temperature of wood.

You need to take advantage of the physics of density differences. The specific arrangement of components matter too. Are you going to build wide and flat, like a central desk drawer, or taller and narrower, like the side draws?

You will be using about 400W, so that is four standard 100W light-bulbs in thermal energy.

You may not need a lot of fans, just good airflow, and I would still be looking at air cooling over water cooling. It will be easier and quieter.

Can you give us an idea of the layout you plan on using. I have given some thought to mounting a PC in the antique wooden desk I work at. (I would not butcher the desk, merely replace some of the under - surfaces)

I was originally planning on doing it in a central drawer, on a wide and flat area, but because of a lack of money, I decided to go with a cooler master case instead. But I will keep your answer as a screenshot somewhere for a future project I have plans for.
Thank you !
btw it's actually the best answer I've ever gotten on this forum !

 

[mdocod]

I wouldn't worry about the insulating properties of the case material. Wood is fine. Many steel/aluminium cases are actually lined with sound dampening material, which, coincidentally, also acts as a thermal insulator. Component cooling would be handled by providing adequate air-flow through the case with case fans regardless. It doesn't matter if you build out of aluminium or wood, the machine is going to have basically the same air-flow requirements for a given ambient air temp and density to run within thermal design limits.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I have also looked at the central drawer. I would be building an air duct system to carry air from one side to the other, with cool intake on one side and hot outflow on the other.