danejesse1

lol Edit: Apparently LMGTFY links might not be allowed. In any case I'm sure you could find some videos describing the process. Just remember to use Bootcamp to get the necessary drivers even if you don't install Windows via bootcamp.

Macbook Airs don't have a spot for a 2.5" drive. And the SSD is probably proprietary so you would have to swap it out for an SSD made for that mac. If the drive is ~500 gb you shouldn't have a problem. I'd guess a fresh install would take up less than 20 gb. I'd run bootcamp with a 20gb partition for OSX and the rest for Windows. As far as 'stealing resources' it wouldn't. The two operating systems don't run at the same time so the only downside is the lost space on the hard drive. Also, I'm pretty sure that you can install windows and then delete the OSX partition. I'd search around since I'm sure someone has done it; you're friend wouldn't be the first to want to exclusively run Windows on a mac.

IIRC laptop optical drives use a different SATA connector than regular hard drives, so you would need an adapter to use the SSD. Something like this would work. I'd take out the optical drive and see if the connector looks too small for the ssd. Here's a comparison between the two.

You could do something like what Linus did for his computers at home. He ran a thunderbolt cable from his computer (in a different room) to a thunderbolt dock so he could connect his monitor / kb / mouse. If there's a place in the house that you are fine dumping heat into that could be an option. The only problem is that a TB cable long enough might be expensive.

I think Antvenom did something similar, but with one computer. I forget if he kept the setup or deemed it too much of a hassle. I'ts probably worth watching his videos on it (I've never watched them but I heard about them somewhere). Edit: It looks like he made a post about it on here.

Yeah OC = overclocking. You'd get overall better quality and more creature comforts (edit: and features). If I was getting a R5 cpu I'd go for a B350 board. Also, if you are not overclocking you are probably fine with the stock CPU cooler. Even if you didn't like the stock cpu cooler you could try it out (since it comes included anyways) and get a Hyper 212 evo or Cryorig H7 if you want something quieter.

Samsug 850 EVO or 860 EVO (are these out yet?) Crucial MX 300 There's a lot more but those are the ones off the top of my head.

If you go the AMD route I'd recommend a B350 or X370 board since you can't OC on A320. Also I think the cpu cooler is overkill. I'd rather have a better cpu / gpu / motherboard than a better cooler.

I'd check out this forum post and this reddit post. They seem to solve a similar / the same problem.

Some laptops will automatically underclock themselves if the battery is not installed and the power brick can't supply enough power. I know my T420 can do that. If you battery is 'dead' meaning it doesn't work anymore (doesn't hold a charge) that might be causing the issue.

This is a better picture. And it looks like Intel 7260NGW is installed. This says it a m.2 2230 card. Here's a article about it. So i don't think you can use it for much other than a wireless card, but I'm not sure.

EDIT: See my last post in this thread. I don't think its a mSATA slot. Its more likely a M.2 2230 slot. Yeah it looks like this person has a wireless card installed.

What graphics cards are you running? The second slot is 16x physically but 4x electrically, so Crossfire would work but not SLI.

+1 for going with a R3 1200 and a better GPU. A GT 1030 isn't a very good card.

twitch.tv/linustech Edit: Beat to it