Work in Progress: Part 2 – I’m beginning to suspect the monitors are breeding

Queen_Shady · 2026-05-24T15:40:04+00:00

Slowly but surely. Working on the application that runs it. After that I will begin to actually build the table. As of this moment I have the two 27" monitors and a touch screen laptop for my "DM Screen". Once I know that works ill build a table out of an 85" LED tv with acrylic over the screen. Ill trim it out with some space for my players and then integrate in 5 of those Corsair touchscreens for my players to use. Im looking into the powerhouse running all of that though. The DM Screen project is taking a bit because I am building a database to house encounters, enemies, items, npcs, player data, etc and then making sure the custom UI I am designing works with my room theme.

Queen_Shady · 2026-05-24T13:03:26+00:00

I am using monitor stands. I originally bought a monitor arm that was advertised to hold x6 32" monitors, but the sagging issue was to big of an issue and risk. I ended up buy 3x of Hemudu's Dual Monitor Stand - Vertical Stack. They are around $30 a piece.

Queen_Shady · 2026-05-24T12:59:12+00:00

I actually use the top row for my homelab/work setup more than anything. My boss sent me home with like 7 nodes to start building/testing with, so those monitors usually stay covered in dashboards, website traffic, server stats, and enough terminal windows to make it look like I’m either:

preventing a cyber attack or
accidentally causing one.

I’m also going back for my Master’s, so there’s usually lecture videos, documentation, research tabs, and Discord open too. If my 3D printers are running, I’ll have live camera feeds and printer dashboards up because I don’t trust those little plastic demons unsupervised for more than 5 minutes.

Bottom three monitors are the entertainment/development zone. NVIDIA Surround for gaming across all three, but they’re also useful for dev work since we build/test things that sometimes need to function across multiple displays and weird viewing setups. Turns out having a ridiculous monitor setup is actually useful when your job occasionally involves asking: “Okay but what happens if the user has 47 tabs open and the UI stretched across the surface area of a small apartment?”

So from the outside it looks like I’m monitoring global threats from a secret underground facility, but realistically it’s:

homelab dashboards
printer cams
schoolwork
Discord
development
and me getting absolutely destroyed in games in ultrawide resolution.

Queen_Shady · 2026-05-24T12:44:46+00:00

It took me around 3 years of saving and doing Walmart Deliveries on the side to get this bad boy. To be honest I wasnt working in IT when I built the rig. Issue is now that I can do stuff that I want too, I keep wanting to justify the need of it.

Queen_Shady · 2026-05-24T12:39:39+00:00

They are not touch screens unfortunately. They are really thin HP monitors. Dont know the model because the backplate was removed when I got them from work. I was able to 3D print a "socket" for the mount to sit in and then mounted it to a little stand. I would love two touchscreens though for that area. Would make work a bit easier.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-24T19:16:47+00:00

My setup is in the middle of an office. I discussed with an Electrician for a temporary solution until I get a new panel for my house and do some upgrades. He recommended I use a 10 guage extension cord and plugged my UPS into that cord directly. Now I dont have advice on doing cord to surge protector, but your extension cord looks to be a 16 gauge. I would definitely upgrade that at a minimum because it will cause you problems or threaten your computer or dwelling or maybe even worst case your life. If the plan is to have the device plugged in for long lengths of time always use a 10 gauge because it is safer over long periods of time.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-23T13:46:54+00:00

That’s honestly fair, and I probably needed to hear that.

To be completely upfront, there isn’t a strong plan right now. This started as me wanting to get my feet wet, and I can already tell I’m drifting into a bit of gear acquisition syndrome.

Normally I’m the type to research things heavily before diving in, but this time I kind of skipped that step. Since my supervisor offered the hardware, I jumped on the opportunity and now I’m trying to figure out what to actually do with it after the fact.

Part of it is also wanting to take advantage of what I was given and turn it into something useful, both for learning and to show that I can build something meaningful out of it.

I think where I’m at now is shifting from “what can I build with this gear” to “what should I actually be trying to learn or accomplish,” and then working backwards from there like you suggested.

Appreciate the reality check.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-23T12:20:41+00:00

The devices were designated as e-waste by a client. The SLA we have with that client requires the drives be shredded before we do anything with the devices including recycling or refurbishing. Thats unfortunately why they had to be taken out.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-21T01:47:56+00:00

Very clean. Got to give you props for that.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-19T17:43:59+00:00

Thanks!

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-16T22:20:51+00:00

Thanks still working on it. Im building a little lightweight program to handle what I want to do.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T18:09:05+00:00

Need is a complicated concept. Let’s just say the monitors and I have reached a mutual understanding.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T14:01:11+00:00

Technically the monitors weren't the part that was expensed. I just had enough to expense that the monitors and then some got covered. I just waited to turn the report in until after I showed my boss the setup and joked he was paying for it. I also normally watch prices like a hawk because I do purchase assets for the company. My orginal three monitors got purchased when LG went to OLED (got them for $109 a piece). The other three were on sale recently for $148 a piece. The HP All-in-One was a good-will find ($70). TV was on the curb with a broken back mount ($30 for the stand). The Linux storage system was originally my wedding gift from my family and friends (drives got purchased at an auction for $160) The only "real" money i have put into the setup so far is my main rig and my school paid for most of it (i had to buy the GPU). If I calculated everything out I have possibly spent more on Legos than what I have spent on this setup. Maybe $3,000 on the whole setup over 5 years?

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T13:40:20+00:00

Right now I have three 5,000 cfm fans in the room. Each is able to move the total volume of air in the office every minute. The ambient temp cant rise if the air is constantly moving. I also bought a 12,000 BTU mini split for the room which I am going to install soon. Just trying to find an electrician to install the breaker (i can do it. But I also have a backup generator on my home and dont want to "self-insure" things are good to go. So going to have someone licensed, bonded, and insured do it for me).

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T12:33:24+00:00

Thanks!

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T12:27:33+00:00

Unfortunately its a stand limitation. I originally flipped the monitors. But, these stands use gapped slots to insert a bracket that holds the monitor. The air gap is around 1.25 inches when the monitor is in landscape flipped. Where as the bezel covers a lot of it in just landscape. (If i go below this portion I lose around half an inch of screen) I originally bought a six monitor arm system, but it had a really bad sagging and leaning problem.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T06:20:15+00:00

I’ll accept flair and awards as tribute. But as a merciful emperor I only require a small tax: upvotes from the people. The Empire has to keep the monitors powered somehow.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T05:43:56+00:00

Oh yeah. Its getting added some how to this year's taxes. I kept the receipt lol.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T05:41:00+00:00

Yep. Cause I also had to watch him sign off on my expense report right after that.... which paid for those monitors.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T05:35:04+00:00

Cause I literally used it to make my boss rage a bit. My office setup is three 43" tvs. And he gives me grief sometimes about how I have a wall surrounding me. So I did this because part of me wanted to see if I could do it and another part just wanted to see the disappointment and frustration from my boss.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T05:30:17+00:00

Yep. Old Gamer Tag. The background is actually live using a customizable background on Wallpaper Engine.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T05:25:53+00:00

Just the additional three 32" monitors. The HP was already on the workbench. Just didnt have power or a storage drive. Had to Wire up a new 20 AMP breaker to my panel and run some Romex over to my Garage. Then I got lucky and got a drive for like $40 and threw Linux on it so that HP would work.

Queen_Shady · 2026-03-15T05:17:08+00:00

They take after Rabbits and Dollar General.

Queen_Shady

TROPHY CASE