Well I just got back from Lowe's. Wow are they overpriced compared to Home Depot on some things.
6' piece of cheap countertop starts at 60 dollars. That would be half the cost of the desk right there. So I went cheap and bought 3 3/4 x 8 x 72 whitewood and a quart of poly/stain for a total of 22 dollars
Bench station is no longer going to be part of the desk, as my current situation, my aunt is nervous about having large quantities of frozen CO2 in the house :p so I will probably just take my original idea for a bench table, and work with that since it will more easily be moved around.
Desk will still have my main rig built in though. and I will just throw together a 2 level benchstation for now for air cooled benching.
Should have some preliminary snaps up tomorrow. Running back to Lowe's to return some light bulbs, and will pick up some more 1x2 strap boards for the removable shelves, and I forgot drawer rails for the keyboard tray :p