The Story Behind Project VESA

The Story Behind Project VESA

It's way past time we start writing about our build projects, and not just with fancy photography!

This is Project VESA. It's been a super fun build project we've been working on since early February. 

We were super late getting into the 3D printing at the tail end of 2024, but we definitely had been sitting on quite a few ideas to kickstart it. Back in February, there was a lot of hype revolving around the new Bambu H2D printer coming - and at the time was talked about as a super-sized version of the X1C printer, which is the model we had recently bought.

Being that we were already diving into ITX based chassis designs that utilized our pre-existing EXT external radiator stands, the idea of mounting an open air chassis to other pre-existing objects was heavy on the mind. With the smaller print bed of the X1C, it made sense to tackle ITX based chassis designs first since we could accomplish printing them much easier.

But we had seen many rumors about the new larger print bed size and we immediately ran with it, designing a chassis that would just fit within the bed size confines to enable a single print experience. Obviously we couldn't do that ourselves with the X1C, and so we opted to print this prototype chassis idea in 4 separate pieces and bonding them together afterwards.

The process was a bit hectic and the filament we chose honestly wasn't the best choice, mainly because we ended up going forward with the build using this first print. We went with Bambu's PLA Metal first as we were enjoying the metallic finish the prints had once completed. If we had to do it again, we'd use a carbon fiber infused filament instead for added strength. Either way, we had the prototype done and it was solid enough to attempt going forward with a full build on it.

The timing of everything was pretty bad though, as we had to move to a new place in May which stretched into June since we had to attend Computex 2025. During the move, the printed chassis took a little bit of a beating with a few cracks and scuffs including some separation of the 4 pieces. Since the chassis print took so long on our X1C, we really didn't want to have to print another and so we tried our best to salvage it. We put together a rough and simple mockup of what the build would essentially be to help motivate ourselves with pushing on with it.

In the end though, the build came together beautifully - and all within a single day I might add! With the new studio space came the chance to utilize a completely different work and content production scenario for us. ThunderX3 provided their adjustable LAB-X adjustable desk which has become a real staple in the new studio, and it also allowed a solid base to mount the Asus ROG AAS01 Ergo Monitor Arm to. This had become supremely important as we quickly realized we were throwing too much weight onto the monitor arm than we needed.

The weight limit we had been limiting ourselves to was 23lbs, as we still wanted full adjustability with the arm. We were doing just fine with the weight limit when we had installed the actual PC hardware components, but when we started added the watercooling aspects to everything, the weight packed on quickly. This was certainly our own fault due to the fact that we simply can't help ourselves going over the top with our watercooling loop designs.

It was the perfect chance to utilize our new BLK V2 system, to showcase the potential one would have whilst on such a unique build. Between the BLK V2 - which is made from 1/8" thick steel, to the ever bulky and ridiculously heavy brass made EKWB Quantum Torque fittings, we certainly passed a threshold with the weight. At this point, the upper portion of the monitor arm would not hold upward any longer, and the mount flange for the monitor itself would only stay in position if angled nearly horiztonal.

Realizing this, the new ergonomics with the position of the monitor arm and the VESA chassis still would still work fine for this case scenario, we just couldn't angle the build downwards as much and the build itself couldn't sit as high in the air as before during mock-ups. Obviously if we reduced weight by removing so many watercooling aspects, we'd be fine to adjust the chassis more freely on the monitor arm, but we were more than satisfied with the finished result regardless.

The best part is that the VESA chassis can actually utilize a rear/top mounted 360mm radiator with a secondary bracket we never got around to printing. We had plans to, but we were honestly convinced by a few members of our Discord server to utilize an external radiator for this scenario during a live stream prior to the finished build. During the stream, we also discovered in real time that the AAS01's cable routing channels would also fit our EPDM tubing without issue. When we sleeved the tubing with MDPC-X sleeving, the properties from the nylon based sleeving then allowed the tubing to slide freely within the plastic of the cable channels, which really allowed the proper freedom to position the VESA build more freely.

Since Asus was kind enough to provide their monitor arm for this project, it was only right to include Asus hardware components as much as possible during the actual build, and so we utilized their ROG X870E Crosshair motherboard, TUF 1000w power supply, and their ROG Strix RTX 4080. We were sent their Ryujin III Waterblock earlier in the year, and we knew this was the right time to use it. The install was very easy, and we're confident it'll do a solid job cooling down our AMD Ryzen 9 9900X.

Another example of how we went overboard with our watercooling was deciding to watercool our DDR5. Being that we do so many builds at times, we have a dedicated waterblocked DDR5 kit that we swap around in different builds. Unfortunately the Alphacool block we're using had some cosmetic damage, and so we decided it'd be fun to 3D print an all-encompassing shroud whilst also color/texture matching it to the VESA chassis as well. 

All in all, this build is absolutely wicked. A bit on the heavy side for sure, and not at all what we initially had in mind, but we're all for what the final build turned out to be. We'll most definitely be doing another iteration in this build, maybe even a 360mm AIO based design to utilize the 360mm mount we never included in this variation, or a nice and simple aircooled version with a beefy air cooler from Noctua.

We hope you enjoy the build and if you've made it this far reading, thank you so much for letting us tell the story! Here's a final build spec list for those who want to know some more details:

As we settle into our new home and studio, these blogs will become more prevalent, along with a paired video on our YouTube channel! We'll be doing an afterthoughts review video on the build within the next week though, so make sure to catch this build there as well! Thanks and we'll see you on the next one!

- John and Ellie

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