MaximumPC 2004 03

Rig of the Month

Fueled by

Mod. Overclock. Never Sleep!

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B

arney Lascola is no
stranger to publicity. A
modder from way back,
he made the cover of Hot Rod
magazine when he converted
a van’s interior with custom
décor—the fi rst ever, he says.
His most recent project—a
PC tidily tucked away in a
hand-crafted desk—was
explicitly designed to combat
his two pet peeves, wires and
racket. The former he elimi-
nated by routing all cables
through a hollowed-out leg of
the desk; a Koolance water-
block takes care of the latter
by keeping noisy fans to a
minimum.
That’s not to say the PC
is imperceptible. Far from
it. It’s in plain sight beneath
the bronze-tinted glass
desktop. What’s more, a sec-
ond power supply is devoted
to illuminating the PC’s works
even when it’s not booted.
Currently, Lascola is await-
ing the arrival of custom
spring-loaded struts for the
removable desktop. He’s also removable desktop. He’s also
devising a hydraulic system
that will keep the
displays out of sight
when not in use.

desktop. What’s more, a sec-
ond power supply is devoted
to illuminating the PC’s works

Currently, Lascola is await-

removable desktop. removable desktop. He’s also He’s also

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THIS MONTH: Barney Lascola’s “Come Fly with Me”

For his winning entry Barney Lascola wins $1,000 and

a case of BAWLS to fuel his late nights of modding. You

can win too! See previous page for contest details.

Nestled within this enclosure

of solid black walnut, exotic

lacewood, and mahogany are

an AMD FX51 CPU, four matched

sticks of registered Corsair

512MB memory, a Sound Blaster

Live Platinum, and an Asus V9980

Ultra 256 videocard, to name just

a few of the occupants.

The control panel was

the most challenging

aspect of the project,

taking Lascola more

than 60 hours to hard

wire. A single button

first starts the water

pump, and then once its

circuit is complete, juice is fed

to the PC.

Lascola’s wife Karen

designed the L-shaped desk, which he

brought to life using his skills as

a woodworker.