The Open Bench table website reveals not much info besides the names of the three partners, a picture of an assembled setup and the progress bar of the project. Currently reaching 35%, meaning there is still room for improvements, new ideas,... The last is the most interesting part of this ongoing project, as the finalized version is depending a lot on the received feedback.

Let me briefly explain how it all works: HWBOT is hosting 7 stops over 5 continents with their HWBOT World Tour Series. Amateurs are introduced into the world of overclocking by the HWBOT staff or trained by the locally-seasoned Overclockers. The die-hard overclockers also have their playtime during each World Tour event. For each event, Streacom is manufacturing a limited amount of bench tables that can be used by the competitors. While the engineers and wizz kids can have great ideas, the feedback of an end-user is of a huge value for the improvement/evolution of the product.

 

 

 

A portable and light benchtable for the travelling overclocker, we designed a benchtable tailored to a globalized overclocking world. It's sleek, light and easy to put together.

Like mentioned in the introduction the above key phrase perfectly describes the ongoing project. Bench tables are handy if you want to achieve a clean and accessible build, being it for reviewing purposes, overclocking, some even use them for daily usage. I must admit that myself as a bencher have distanced myself from using a bench table setup during all these years. The insulated motherboard on a cardboard box or on a sheet of armaflex was all that was needed during most of my benching sessions. While this is quick it also had a lot of inconveniences, the large amount of space needed on a table, as all components are spread out on the surface. Same when using LN2 filled flasks, and yes it has happened to the most seasoned overclockers one can push a flask over the setup leading to sometimes damaged components. A bench table makes your setup more compact, better protected, thus leaving more room for thermal flasks, gas torches, keyboard, mouse,... A clean setup is part of a good benching session.

 

Without further ado let us introduce you to the upcoming kid on the block:

 

 

 

 

 

After opening the package, which sported the same dimensions of an A4 sized thin book, we end up with what looks like a thin sheet of aluminum with two white acrylic covers (top and bottom). Removal of one of the latter allows access to the two oversized table legs and mandatory screws for motherboard and multiple graphics card installation. No extra boxes or such needed, everything is integrated and centralized in this clever design. One just has to remove four tiny Philips screws, to gain access to all the included parts; a simple but effective solution. maybe a thumbscrew could be future option for the finalized versions, which will be sold as the Streacom BC1.

 

 

 

The two table legs are securely kept into position by the tiny inserts shown on the left picture, so no wobbling about while being transported. The two supports are identical twins, with nice pre-drilled cutouts for the screws. Each support is securely fixed by a bunch of oversized screws. The assembly of the entire unit is just a matter of minutes. Even without a manual, you will be up and running in no time.

 

 

 

 

 

Four screws later, one is ready to mount the motherboard and PCIe stand-offs. Till now the Open Bench table supports all of the motherboard formats ranging from mITX to EATX. Kind of cool for an 8mm thick aluminum piece measuring just 36 by 27cm. The total weight of all the components is below 2.5Kgs. Not bad if you take into account the rigidness of this build.

There have been several discussions about the material choice; to go more lightweight one has to opt for more exotic and expensive materials like carbon fiber or even titanium. The ability to withstand huge fluctuations in temperature is a must for an enthusiast bencher. I'm proposing to make a prototype out of POM, a material we are seeing regularly being used with Liquid Nitrogen cooling gear made by Der8auer. This would make the bench table even lighter, as temperature resistant, only drawback could be one needs to use inserts all round for the different stand-offs and the casual scratches maybe.

 

 

 

 

The motherboard stand-offs can be gently screwed in without any force, again a proof of the quality of machining by Streacom. To secure the motherboard one has to use these plastic screws. At first glance they feel fragile, but we have used several motherboards on the table and no failure yet. Nevertheless again another point in the project that is under debate. The GPU support is made out of three of the stand-offs shown in the picture on the right. The GPU itself is secured to the stand-off by a big screw. My sample only had stand-offs for 3 cards, but normally the Bench table supports out of the box up to 4 video cards.

 

The power supply is secured to one of the legs of the table by three big screws. One can mount the PSU in two different ways, either facing with the fan upwards or downwards. I think only the first option is viable to assure good airflow for the unit as it will be level with the surface you put the bench table on. To test the rigidness I've transported the bench table a few times throughout my house and the power supply, nor the table legs moved a mm. This Bench Table seems to be build to last.

 

 

 

 

Storage capacity is always handy, overclocking in general has evolved and running three to four different Operating Systems per setup is daily business. Some benchmarks favor OS A, while another one might prefer OS B. The Open Bench table has till now support for up to two SSDs or 2.5inch drives. The two milled grooves allow for easy access to the storage devices mounting holes. Again the same plastic screws as for the motherboard are used to secure the SSDs. No HDD tray or other, just quick access from the sides and if needed pretty quick removal too.

 

 

 

 

While for the initial photo shoot I mounted the Gigabyte Z170S SOC Force and due to the lack of a fourth GPU support only three MSI 5870 Lightning cards. The results can be seen here and believe me it is as straightforward as it can be:

 

  

 

If one opts to remove both white acrylic pieces, one is able to route the power supply and SATA cables through the numerous cutouts for an even cleaner build.

 

 

The fixation of the GPUs is one of the major advantages of a bench table over the quick and dirty setup method I used before. Secondly it makes the entire setup transportable; in fact way easier for competitions where one sometimes has to move from one spot to another. Just pick up and walk away!

 

For a Liquid Nitrogen Cooled setup the biggest adversary is not really the icen, but possible condensation that can lead to instability or even hardware failure, especially if one keeps on insisting to run or fire up the rig again. To avoid this one can insulate the motherboard with vaseline, liquid tape,... but sometimes one forgets the back of the motherboard needs some protection too. I always opt for liquid tape in combo with the infamous blue paper towel with the back of the motherboard resting on a piece armaflex to limit the possibility of any air to go underneath.

 

 

The entire setup here rests on four layers of armaflex with the two sheets of blue paper towel between the motherboard and the final armaflex layer. The motherboard itself is well secured by the plastic screws.  Just make sure you don't warp the motherboard's PCB when screwing down. Always keep an eye on that!

 

 

 

The thing I'm missing here is sort of a fan support to get rid of the LN2 vapors,  so they don't drop down on the hardware. The absence of a Power or a Reset button is not a big miss as most enthusiast motherboards are well equipped.

The Open Bench table project is the brain-child of several conversations with Streacom dating back to Computex 2015. Overclocking is a community driven hobby and sport where overclockers are willing to traverse the globe to get benching with like-minded people. Initially the project arose out of a desire to develop a bench table that would be suited to the needs of an overclocker who tends to travel.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Streacom, the current prototype, the Special HWBOT World Tour Edition is a solid proof of concept. Remember that the retail models from Streacom will be branded as the BC1 bench table. Measuring 36 cm x 27cm and with a thickness of only 8mm, the Streacom BC1 is made from a single piece of milled aluminum, making it light (only 2.5kg), portable yet rugged and ideal for carrying on the road. Despite its sleek light design the Open Bench table is in fact extremely solid and designed to offer overclockers support for a full subzero cooled rig, including a CPU pot plus four LN2 cooled VGA cards. Like mentioned before it is build to last.

 

 

Our prototype was from the European stop at Gamers Assembly at the end of March. A few weeks later at LAN ETS in Canada the only addition to the project were the rubber feet for the table legs. I'm already looking forward to the Asian stop at Computex end of this month to see what the new evolution will be, if there will be any as the current package is already pretty spot on.

What I would like to see for the upcoming versions:

• Maybe some more cutouts to lower the overall weight even more
• A 3rd SSD slot for extra storage
• Instead of using three small stand-offs, why not use one long PCIe GPU support stand-off
• Some sort of flexible fan support for the Dry Ice/LN2 vapors
• More durable screws to replace the plastic ones

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of the Open Bench table project is that its design is open to third party developers of additional accessories. Started by HWBOT and OverClocking-TV and later joined by Streacom, the project will allow full access to the blueprints files of the final product revision allowing third party developers to build accessories for these Open Bench table products, modify and share their design improvements and more.

Ultimately, community enthusiasts will be able to share their own unique accessory designs via 3D files on the Open Bench table site for others to use.

There you have our first glance at this enthusiast Bench Table. It not only looks very professional, it fully delivers the goods for those that are looking for an easy transportable and quick usable bench table, no matter the location. The cooperation between OverClocking.TV, HWBOT and Streacom has really paid off. We don't have any idea yet about the estimated retail price as some material choices are still not fully defined, but it should be competitively priced.

We will report back from Computex Taiwan for any update or evolution on this cool project.

 

Leeghoofd logging off

 

 

Thanks to Overclocking.TV  and HWBOT for the provision of one of the prototypes.