QDMS - Qube Display Mounting System

Introduction

The QDMS is a way to mount any screen with a 50x50, 75x75 or 100x100 hole pattern to your Cooler Master Qube PC case. Provided are two versions - one light, ideal for those 15,6" portable monitors, the other heavy, for your more demanding applications. Each of them has their own special mounting point. The heavy version is beefier and has twice as many mounting points to distribute the load over the case panel more evenly. Whether you want a small display for checking on your stock ticker and spotify playlist or you want an easy way to bring your setup to the next LAN party, the QDMS makes it a breeze.

Design considerations regarding strength

Overview

It's no secret that mounting a screen to a PC case can feel sketchy. I knew that, so I made sure to make no compromises when it came to the strength of the components. While it may have sacrificed ease of assembly a bit, at least I would be comfortable to use it myself. That being said, when using the brackets for full size monitors, I recommend sticking to newer, LCD backlit panels, as those are lighter than some of the older monitors that you might have lying around, waiting to be repurpsed.

Mounting Plate

The first big decision when designing the mounting plates was choosing a unibody construction over a perhaps more user friendly multi-part design. As I don't have the case, I can't conduct the rigorous testing that would be necessary to make me comfortable with sharing such a model. A big, solid body makes predicting stresses in the parts way easier. Initial concept of two parts slotting together would make assembly and disassembly easier, but would leave more to chance e.g. poor layer adhesion due to agressive cooling could cause delamination.

Furthermore, I added internal bracing in the form of 0.1mm cutouts. Slicers see those voids and add additional perimeters around them, thus creating support beams inside the part. This should add strenght and rigidity and perhaps more importantly, act as a failsafe in case of a careless user printing these parts with unsuitable settings.

Mounting Points

When compared to the example mounting points provided by Cooler Master, those provided with QDMS differ a bit. First of all, they print separately form the mounting plates and are then screwed into them. This lets you print them in the optimal orientation for the type of load they are going to experience. Making it possible to snap them into place required to make the slit in the middle quite long to maintain flexibility. I compensated for it by adding bulges in the shear plane. They don't interfere with bending, while making the cross-sectional area bigger in the plane that is susceptible to shearing stresses.

Printing Guidelines

Parts are already oriented the correct way. Make sure to increase the number of walls to something substantial like 7. Infill is less crucial, especially with the internal bracing, but I would still opt for at least 20% of gyroid or honeycomb. This should guarantee the needed rigidity. 

Don't use agressive part cooling. You want the layers to bond together very well. Skip it alltogether if you can.

Supports are not necessary, as the counterbores for VESA mounting bolts are designed for easy bridging.

As for material choice, I would advise against PLA. That's not because it's not strong enough, but in the event that it isn't, the failure could be sudden and very destructive. I personally went with ASA, but ABS or PETG should also mean a more gentle deformation that should tip you off that something isn't right.

These tips mainly concern the Heavy Mounting Plate with a full size monitor. The light version along with a lighter, smaller display, such as those portable laptop-like displays isn't going to pose as much of a risk, but the additional strength can't hurt. In the end, I'm not the 3D printing police, it's your machine. Do whatever makes you comfortable.

Assembly instructions

Print whichever mounting plate that suits you and 4 (for the light version) or up to 8 (for the heavy) of the corresponding mounting points.

Screw the mounting points into the plates. Make sure to keep the flat faces of the mounting points parallel to the ground plane.

Mount the plate to the monitor with 4 M4 screws and washers. As for the length, that could depend on the particular screen. Screw holes on the mounting plates are 15 mm in the heavy plate and 6 mm for the light plate. You will need additional 5-6 mm for screwing into the monitor, but those depths sometimes differ, so you might need to test a few sizes. I recomend starting with 22 mm for the heavy and 12 mm for light. If you feel like youre reaching the end of the screw hole on the monitor, but the screws still aren't snug, then either choose shorter screws or add another washer. Remember that screwing too deep into the monitor can damage its internals.

Here's where the tricky part begins. You will need to snap the resulting assembly into the case. The easiest way seems to be take the side panel off the case and snap the panel itself onto the mounting points. You may need a second set of hands to keep all the parts steady. 

At this point you should have an assembly consisting of the side panel, mounting points, mounting plate and the monitor. If you're using a full size monitor, you can take this moment to carefully check whether it's stable. Again, a second person to hold the panel upright while you keep an eye on the monitor will surely be useful.

After you verified that everything holds, you can reattach the plate onto the case. Congratulations, you've succesfully mounted a screen on a PC case!

Conclusion

I hope you find the design useful. I would be delighted to see some photos of the parts in use. You can message me with any and all suggestions. Alternatively, use the provided STEP files to modify the design yourself. Thank you for checking out my creation, leave a like if you liked it and have a great day!!