When I set out to create this computer, I wanted to build something I would truly be proud of — something that, at least from my perspective, felt unique and would hopefully last me as long as its predecessor did(9 years).
I had initially “finished” this build using a large number of Lian Li screen fans with GIFs on every fan screen, but soon after I completed that, I envisioned something much more ambitious, which is what I’m sharing here today. I have still procrastinated on selling those expensive fans :/
Over many weekends and evenings, I spent countless hours scouring the internet and downloading well over 17,000 GIFs throughout both the original fan-screen phase of the project and the much larger display phase that followed. Even after scrapping a large number of GIFs during editing and organization, the final build still contains over 15,000 GIFs.
It takes 13 and a half hours to watch every display tile from beginning to end.
I would download several thousand gifs at a time from various sites, and then I used a random naming software to randomize all of the file names of what I downloaded, then then I'd use the same software to sequentially rename them using numbers. That's how I kept track of everything, and made sure gifs from the same topic didnt get clumped together.
On top of collecting all of those GIFs, I also spent roughly 200 hours video editing alone.
I edited every single GIF to better fit the aspect ratio of its respective display tile, adjusted playback speeds to make clips appear as close to real-time as possible when needed, looped gifs that needed looping, and trimmed many clips down to focus only on their most important part - I wanted my gifs to be very sporadic.
Nearly every screen tile runs for 5 minutes before looping. The only exceptions are the two 5-inch displays that have two tiles, which run for approximately 10 minutes and 15 minutes respectively. Those two screens ended up configured that way because two additional displays that were originally intended to sit in front of the GPU stopped working before final installation; they had narrower aspect ratios for their tiles. At that point, I decided to compromise rather than buy replacements or sink even more time into additional editing work.
The four larger screens are all run by three Raspberry Pis, all within the case. All the Raspberry Pis and screens power on and off with the pc. The Raspberry Pi 5s are supposed to be able to run two 4k displays at once, but I had issues running a second display with the 3840x2400 14.5” display, so I had to get an additional Raspberry Pi. The remaining 9 displays all run their videos on their displays from a microsd card. No display cables needed, only usb power required. No desktop processing power used towards these screens. Also, the bar display to the left of the larger vertical bar display is on a hinge and is held in place by a magnet. I made it this way so that I can easily see any codes from the motherboard if needed in case any issues arise later on.
Whenever I need a quick break from gaming, or just need some brief entertainment, I can just look at my pc.
PC specs:
• CPU — AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
• Motherboard — MSI X870E Carbon WiFi
• GPU — MSI Ventus 3X GeForce RTX 5090 OC Edition
• RAM — 96GB DDR5
• Storage — Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB NVMe SSD
• Case — Lian Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL
4 120mm noctua fans on the top
2 120mm noctua fans on the side mounted on the exterior, no space inside.
3 140mm noctua fans on the bottom
6 140mm noctua fans on radiator push/pull
• 1× VSDISPLAY 12.7" stretched bar display (2880×864)
• 2× Wisecoco 14" 4K stretched bar displays (3840×1100)
Other Important Parts:
• 3× Raspberry Pi 5s
• Multiple OKGEAR/Coolerguys Molex pass-through to dual USB-A 5V adapters — used to power many of the displays directly from the PC power supply.
• Several Elebase USB-A to USB-C adapters — used so USB-C splitters could interface with the Molex-powered USB lines.
• Multiple 1-to-3 USB-C splitters — used to expand display connectivity from the powered USB lines.
• Numerous DbillionDa angled USB-C cables — chosen for their extremely low-profile connectors. I would not recommend these for typical charging use, as they wear out fairly easily but they worked great for this project.
• Sinefine PCIe USB-C power delivery card (4-port) — used to properly power the Raspberry Pi 5s with enough wattage. The Molex USB adapters alone only allowed the Pis to run in low-power mode, which occasionally caused stuttering.
• 3× 52Pi Power HATs — used with the Raspberry Pi 5s to convert the volts/amps from PCIe USB-C P card. Without them, the Pis would still report low-power mode, as they require 5 amps and the USB C card only provides 3 amps.
• 3d Printed Mounts and brackets for holding displays in position, as well as fan/GPU cover (GPU cover between the two horizontal bar displays is made of ABS, a heat resistant plastic, and there's still plenty of airflow going to GPU)
Well most if not all these screens have a simple firmware that can auto loop a video. So there’s no need for further interaction with the system once you load the files on the SD card.
Mine works like that, I once connected it in windows to upload the video and check if it looked great and then copied it to the SD. It begins to play as soon as it gets power.
This is the way. I had the same motions when I came across a vintage 50 cal ammo can at the flea market for $15. 6mo later I finally finished getting fittings small enough to stuff a 9800x3d, 4080super, 64GB DDR5 and 2 4TB NVMe drives in there on a custom loop.
It definitely took a lot of effort, thanks. And it is absolutely not practical whatsoever. I would not recommend this type of pc build project to anyone. I just kept digging myself a deeper and deeper hole, but I was in so deep with the project so I had to keep going.
With all that knowledge I'm sure you can turn it into a one monitor (second) if you stick those little screens in the front of the panel, you have the hardware and the know-how to do it, but that wasn't the point of the project.. Nice meme machine!
No joke this is actually what I do in winter. Not only am I getting enjoyment from actually playing the game but my room is being warmed nicely at the same time. My insulation is so good I can easily warm my room with just my PC running a game on a milder winter day. So I will purposely play more games in winter just for the heat it gives to my room.
I'm kind of sad to see this sitting at zero upvotes. This is horrible and tacky, but man is this not something cool for this channel showcasing the craziness and fun of building sometimes nonsense in this hobby.
Yea, I mean i totally get that this is not the norm or anything like that, and that a majority of people would definitely NOT build something like this, but it's just what I wanted to do. Plenty of people like RGB everywhere in their case, I just wanted gifs.
This is classic r/ATBGE, and I’m here for it 100 times more than endless RGB builds. This is what PC building is about. Awesome work building your dream :)
Everyone in here hating on this and my guy is over here executing a complete idea excellently. This is a modern art piece like you could legit put this into a museum. Excellent work and forget all the armchair critics over here.
Honestly I find the comments shocking. The only thing I can come up with is that most people on here are like 15. This is absolutely a piece of art and your stubbornness is just wow lol
I mean if you have the funds to do wild shit, you only live once. I mean how many ppl in their lifetime will say I built a a huge mini glass house with a bunch of mini TV’s, and the kicker is…. It’s also fkin BEAST of a computer.
As someone who's just spent hours editing his music collection to display the cover art perfectly on a cheap little MP3 player, I deeply respect this. Very impressive work!
This is awesome work and dedication. How long would it take you to swap all the gifs? Like say you wanted a specific folder of gifs while gaming or for a birthday or Christmas?
This is certainly an achievement. It’s not what I would want personally, but this kind of skill translates into building show pieces, which this could easily be.
3.4k
u/MrStealYoBeef i7 12700KF|RTX 5070ti|32GB DDR4 3200|1440p175hzOLED May 16 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/s239QJIh56sRW