A backpack pc?

[Aristotle2019]

Um well.. so 

I had in my mind a backpack pc 

This is mainly for information which I'm not using in the near future, only a discussion because I was curious 

Its a vr backpack idea 

It's not about whether I should or should not, if it's any good or not 

I'm just interested in it 

 

So. How does anyone go about assembling a whole pc in their backpack? Is it possible to do it urself like the companies do?

 

I was thinking, metal frame with metal backplate. Motherboard goes on top of it. 

Applying a hook kind of thing to prevent GPU sag (which I feel WILL happen) 

The power supply base attached to the frame 

 

The bag can be covered by a 3d cover kinda thing, with massive ventilation on  sides with maybe a couple pwm slim fans to give air to the GPU and the heatsink (only if no AiO)

 

I was thinking, to provide free air to the air cooled GPU and the CPU can have a heatsink or maybe an AiO '_' ? Fitted to the upper (or maybe on the bulging part of this "backpack") radiator mount 

A power supply at the bottom fitted properly? I was wondering if it's possible to have large capacity hot swappable batteries for the whole pc? Otherwise the power cord will be the only thing coming in between free vr movement 

A decent capacity battery next to it to power the vr headset for hours (I found one recommend on another site , can't quite find it right now)

 

Rest ram, m.2 storage because well. U know why. 

 

Works?

it seems so Farfetch'd  

 

Tell me if I'm certified crazy or a person with resources cud make this With some craftsmanship, of course 

 

[Bananasplit_00]

VR backpack PCs have been done and they were meh and expensive. If you want to make one yourself i would start with an ITX sized motherboard tray and components that you fasten to the straps part of a backpack. DC-DC PSU and some BIG BIG BIG Li-Po batteries

[schwellmo92]

They already exist.

[Aristotle2019]

1 minute ago, schwellmo92 said:

They already exist.

That isn't the point. I was talking about a DIY one. A good one u cud possibly assemble urself 

[Aristotle2019]

3 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

VR backpack PCs have been done and they were meh and expensive. If you want to make one yourself i would start with an ITX sized motherboard tray and components that you fasten to the straps part of a backpack. DC-DC PSU and some BIG BIG BIG Li-Po batteries

Hey, is there a good DC - DC PSU? From a company of reputation? 

 

And what are the big big big Li-Po batteries ? Like, cud u give me a link to one so I can see them? And

How exactly would the hot swapping work ? Two batteries is connected to the PSU, I hot-swap one while the other remains connected so I don't lose power but I end up get more power ? Or.. some other way ? I'm sorry I'm a bit unknowledgeable in here parts.. in this

[GoldenLag]

isnt there wireless solutions that use 60ghz networking to connect with minimal to no latency?

 

that way you just have to power the headset and the wifi band. 

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, Aristotle2019 said:

Hey, is there a good DC - DC PSU? From a company of reputation? 

HDPLEX would be what id use

1 minute ago, Aristotle2019 said:

And what are the big big big Li-Po batteries ? Like, cud u give me a link to one so I can see them?

I dont have any to link you but you need some Li-Po batteries with a lot of capacity and current output if you want a shot at getting enough power for a decent VR experience. 

3 minutes ago, Aristotle2019 said:

How exactly would the hot swapping work ? Two batteries is connected to the PSU, I hot-swap one while the other remains connected so I don't lose power but I end up get more power ? Or.. some other way ? I'm sorry I'm a bit unknowledgeable in here parts.. in this

Probably through the use of some battery controller tech you are going to need anyway. You would disconnect the ones low on juice as the fresh ones come online or something. Probably would have 

 

You could also just strap a 17" "desktop replacement" to your back but that wouldnt be much fun  

[Aristotle2019]

1 hour ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

HDPLEX would be what id use

Ah okk I'm checking out their site right now. 

This is the only feasible power supply 

https://hdplex.com/hdplex-800w-dc-atx-with-16v-63vdc-input.html

The other two are 400 or 200

To power it. A large capacity DC battery. Which is those Li-Po batteries Ur telling me of (just confirming, those mean Lithium Polymer right?)

 

1 hour ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

dont have any to link you but you need some Li-Po batteries with a lot of capacity and current output if you want a shot at getting enough power for a decent VR experience. 

I'll check out huge batteries for the pc afterwards then. For the headset, I read this gives 5-6 hours of gameplay. 

https://www.amazon.com/TalentCell-Rechargeable-12000mAh-Multi-led-indicator/dp/B00ME3ZH7C?tag=mbnx2-20&ascsubtag=UUvrUdUnU37985YYm

 

I found this frame on the same page 

https://www.amazon.com/L-I-C-BackPack-shoulder-straps-waistbelt/dp/B000KD3GTE?tag=mbnx2-20&ascsubtag=UUvrUdUnU37985YYm

 

So.. how does one get an ITX mounting frame? Once that's bolted down, all u gotta do is mount the hardware, fasten it, and find it a ventilated cover with futuristic bag like looks , rite? Maybe some more backplates for the power supply 

1 hour ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

Probably through the use of some battery controller tech you are going to need anyway

This demands serious digging and another thread here

 

1 hour ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

You could also just strap a 17" "desktop replacement" to your back but that wouldnt be much fun

Ikr!!!

[seon123]

3 hours ago, Aristotle2019 said:

I read this gives 5-6 hours of gameplay. 

https://www.amazon.com/TalentCell-Rechargeable-12000mAh-Multi-led-indicator/dp/B00ME3ZH7C?tag=mbnx2-20&ascsubtag=UUvrUdUnU37985YYm

In what world...?

This is extremely basic stuff. The capacity is listed as either 12V 6000mAh or 5V 12000 mAh. We'll use the higher number of 12V 6000mAh to help it and to get an upper bound. This is 72Wh. For the PC power consumption, we'll use a 1660, a fairly low power GPU, with a TDP of 120W. Well ignore the power used by the rest of the PC. 72Wh/120W = 0,6h = 36 minutes. 

 

And keep in mind, this assumes the power bank isn't lying, and that it's 100% efficient, and that the only part of the system that draws power is the GPU. The actual game time will be much lower. 

 

So what would you need as a minimum for 5 hours of power, in terms of just weight? We'll use the same assumptions as above. 

5h*120W/(265Wh/kg) = 2,3kg

265Wh/kg is the highest energy density of Li-ion/LiPo according to Wikipedia. The actual density will be lower for real batteries. Using the power bank you linked, it would be 2,9kg. 

That's the weight of a heavy/very heavy gaming laptop. Just in batteries. Add to that the weight of off the shelf desktop parts, and you end up with something quite impractical. 

Zotac's off the shelf VR Go 2.0 weighs 4,7kg, and uses essentially laptop parts (read: lightweight and low power), and has a claimed battery life of 1,5 hours. 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13574/zotac-unveils-vr-go-20-wearable-pc

 

Come on, don't be so lazy, this is extremely basic stuff. Do these back of the envelope calculations. 

Edited October 4, 2019 by seon123
Something something

[OrionFOTL]

6 minutes ago, seon123 said:

In what world...?

This is extremely basic stuff. The capacity is listed as either 12V 6000mAh or 5V 12000 mAh. We'll use the higher number of 12V 6000mAh to help it and to get an upper bound. This is 72Wh. For the PC power consumption, we'll use a 1660, a fairly low power GPU, with a TDP of 120W. Well ignore the power used by the rest of the PC. 72Wh/120W = 0,6h = 36 minutes. 

 

And keep in mind, this assumes the power bank isn't lying, and that it's 100% efficient, and that the only part of the system that draws power is the GPU. The actual game time will be much lower. 

Also in addition to your game time calculations, this powerbank can't even output 120W. The specs say it can only output 3A@12V (36W), so even if it has enough capacity to run for ~30 minutes at 120W, it's still impossible because it can only output a quarter of that power.

 

[Kilrah]

ITX mobo, good CPU, ITX GPU connected via a riser to avoid movement damage/reduce size, HDPlex 400W DC-ATX, big drone battery such as this. Build own case, or take something like this.

Battery will give you about 1-1.5h runtime, total weight probably about 4kg.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Zotac did one a couple of years ago, it was hella e x p o n s i v e though. If you were gonna do it you could optimize for low power draw with something like this

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-8400T 1.7 GHz 6-Core OEM/Tray Processor	$199.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-L9i 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler	$39.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock B365M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard	$85.98 @ Newegg
Memory	Patriot Viper Elite 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	$59.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$64.56 @ OutletPC
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card	$263.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$743.36
	Mail-in rebates	-$30.00
	Total	$713.36
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-04 09:17 EDT-0400

PCPP says 226w and it overestimates quite a bit, so one of those 350W Dell DC-DC PSUs would work, and you'd wanna get the biggest battery you could, or maybe 2 if you could find a way to deliver the power. Use a backpack with a hard back and use riser for the GPU and like secure it to the back of the backpack as well, and you could run the video cables through a hole to the headset. That might work I guess

[Kilrah]

I'm actually right in the middle of upgrading/redesigning my travel SFF PC that already has all the size and power requirements and I already have large 6S drone batteries, so I think I'll order one of those DC-DC HDplex so I can give this a go since it'll literally be the only piece I'll be missing.

I have an Oculus Quest which is great for large scale room tracking, and the wired link to a PC is supposed to come next month...

[Aristotle2019]

4 hours ago, orbitalbuzzsaw said:

Zotac did one a couple of years ago, it was hella e x p o n s i v e though. If you were gonna do it you could optimize for low power draw with something like this

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-8400T 1.7 GHz 6-Core OEM/Tray Processor	$199.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-L9i 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler	$39.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock B365M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard	$85.98 @ Newegg
Memory	Patriot Viper Elite 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	$59.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$64.56 @ OutletPC
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card	$263.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$743.36
	Mail-in rebates	-$30.00
	Total	$713.36
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-04 09:17 EDT-0400

PCPP says 226w and it overestimates quite a bit, so one of those 350W Dell DC-DC PSUs would work, and you'd wanna get the biggest battery you could, or maybe 2 if you could find a way to deliver the power. Use a backpack with a hard back and use riser for the GPU and like secure it to the back of the backpack as well, and you could run the video cables through a hole to the headset. That might work I guess

 

6 hours ago, Kilrah said:

ITX mobo, good CPU, ITX GPU connected via a riser to avoid movement damage/reduce size, HDPlex 400W DC-ATX, big drone battery such as this. Build own case, or take something like this.

Battery will give you about 1-1.5h runtime, total weight probably about 4kg.

thanks ! this is actually great. 

i was considering a beefier gpu, like a 2060..? coz, better vr performance at higher fps? tell me if i'm wrong. 

 

[Aristotle2019]

6 hours ago, seon123 said:

In what world...?

This is extremely basic stuff. The capacity is listed as either 12V 6000mAh or 5V 12000 mAh. We'll use the higher number of 12V 6000mAh to help it and to get an upper bound. This is 72Wh. For the PC power consumption, we'll use a 1660, a fairly low power GPU, with a TDP of 120W. Well ignore the power used by the rest of the PC. 72Wh/120W = 0,6h = 36 minutes. 

 

And keep in mind, this assumes the power bank isn't lying, and that it's 100% efficient, and that the only part of the system that draws power is the GPU. The actual game time will be much lower. 

 

So what would you need as a minimum for 5 hours of power, in terms of just weight? We'll use the same assumptions as above. 

5h*120W/(265Wh/kg) = 2,3kg

265Wh/kg is the highest energy density of Li-ion/LiPo according to Wikipedia. The actual density will be lower for real batteries. Using the power bank you linked, it would be 2,9kg. 

That's the weight of a heavy/very heavy gaming laptop. Just in batteries. Add to that the weight of off the shelf desktop parts, and you end up with something quite impractical. 

Zotac's off the shelf VR Go 2.0 weighs 4,7kg, and uses essentially laptop parts (read: lightweight and low power), and has a claimed battery life of 1,5 hours. 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13574/zotac-unveils-vr-go-20-wearable-pc

 

Come on, don't be so lazy, this is extremely basic stuff. Do these back of the envelope calculations. 

hey! no! u got me wrong :/

that power bank is the power source for the vr headset - as i read somewhere. i feel utterly stupid and my net is bad i am unable to extract vr headset tdp and calculate how long it'll run on the power bank 

6 hours ago, OrionFOTL said:

Also in addition to your game time calculations, this powerbank can't even output 120W. The specs say it can only output 3A@12V (36W), so even if it has enough capacity to run for ~30 minutes at 120W, it's still impossible because it can only output a quarter of that power.

 

but if that's the case, i guess it wont do what i thought it would

 

 

pls tell me if the vr headset actually needs an additional power source.

 

 

10 hours ago, Aristotle2019 said:

This is the only feasible power supply 

https://hdplex.com/hdplex-800w-dc-atx-with-16v-63vdc-input.html

this is the power supply i mentioned for the actual pc components ! this powers my mobo, cpu, gpu 

i know i chose a very big one, but it's only for example 

this wud do, right? power the pc components? then u cud power the the dc-dc psu with dc batteries which u charge n the go

 

a user @Kilra mentioned, this Turnigy High Capacity 14000mAh 6S 12C Lipo Pack w/XT90 cud be used for an hdplex 400 dc-atx, so two in case we consider the dcplex 800 dc-atx? 

i just think if one goes for better components 400 wud fall short by a terribly low margin

 

thanks though for all your help...

[Kilrah]

34 minutes ago, Aristotle2019 said:

that power bank is the power source for the vr headset - as i read somewhere. i feel utterly stupid and my net is bad i am unable to extract vr headset tdp and calculate how long it'll run on the power bank 

Unless I missed it you didn't mention what headset you were planning to use. But if you want the backpack to make sense it'll likely be one with inside-out tracking such as the rift S, that just gets its power from the PC's USB port.

 

34 minutes ago, Aristotle2019 said:

so two in case we consider the dcplex 800 dc-atx? 

It's really unlikely you'd need to go to the 800W model.The 400W is single rail so you're not going to have issues due to overloading one. Even top of the line will fit, an RTX2070 is rated at 175W, a 9900K at 95W, let's say 30W of accessories and you're still only at 300.

[Aristotle2019]

3 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Unless I missed it you didn't mention what headset you were planning to use. But if you want the backpack to make sense it'll likely be one with inside-out tracking such as the rift S, that just gets its power from the PC's USB port.

oh.. then that's alright. i actually wasnt aware of it getting its power from the usb cable.

4 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

It's really unlikely you'd need to go to the 800W model.The 400W is single rail so you're not going to have issues due to overloading one. Even top of the line will fit, an RTX2070 is rated at 175W, a 9900K at 95W, let's say 30W of accessories and you're still only at 300.

95W i5-9600k+ 175W rtx 2060S

ah it's the same..

 

thanks... :) 

[Aristotle2019]

7 hours ago, seon123 said:

So what would you need as a minimum for 5 hours of power, in terms of just weight? We'll use the same assumptions as above. 

5h*120W/(265Wh/kg) = 2,3kg

265Wh/kg is the highest energy density of Li-ion/LiPo according to Wikipedia. The actual density will be lower for real batteries. Using the power bank you linked, it would be 2,9kg. 

That's the weight of a heavy/very heavy gaming laptop. Just in batteries. Add to that the weight of off the shelf desktop parts, and you end up with something quite impractical. 

Zotac's off the shelf VR Go 2.0 weighs 4,7kg, and uses essentially laptop parts (read: lightweight and low power), and has a claimed battery life of 1,5 hours. 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13574/zotac-unveils-vr-go-20-wearable-pc

 

Come on, don't be so lazy, this is extremely basic stuff. Do these back of the envelope calculations. 

i'm sorry.. :( the math doesn't really add up to me 

if i'm asking for too much.. u don't have to reply :( i dont want to be a burden (i'm not being melodramatic here)

 

so..um, an hdplex 400w dc-atx psu.

what battery to power it?

Turnigy High Capacity 20000mAh 6S 12C Lipo Pack w/XT90 as mentioned by a user above 

SKU9067000388-0

Brand - Turnigy

Shipping Weight - 2580.0000

Packaging Length - 220.00

Packaging Width - 80.00

Packaging Height - 110.00

Capacity (mAh) - 20000.00

Discharge(c) - 12.00

Max Charge Rate(C) - 2.00

Length-A(mm)  - 203.00

Height-B(mm) - 93.00

Width-C(mm) - 70.00

 

i dont see the li-po density,so i cudnt emulate ur calculations. 

cud u plss explain if and how this will work..?

 

i've compiled a list of the pc components -

i5-9600k, asus rtx 2060 super evo (dual fan) (but it's 2.7 slot) OR asus rtx 2060 super turbo (blower fan but only 2 slots). team t-force dark z 8gb*2 16 gb 3000mhz ram, intel 760p m.2 512gb, phanteks 22cm gpu riser cable, msi mpg z390-I gaming edge ac mobo, noctua nh L9i 

[Zando_]

4 minutes ago, Aristotle2019 said:

've compiled a list of the pc components -

i5-9600k, asus rtx 2060 super evo (dual fan) (but it's 2.7 slot) OR asus rtx 2060 super turbo (blower fan but only 2 slots). team t-force dark z 8gb*2 16 gb 3000mhz ram, intel 760p m.2 512gb, phanteks 22cm gpu riser cable, msi mpg z390-I gaming edge ac mobo, noctua nh L9i 

Wouldn't an R5 3600 with PBO disabled use a lot less power? Also, if you can run your VR games off a 1660 Ti that'd be a better choice, again because of the low power consumption. 

[Aristotle2019]

4 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Wouldn't an R5 3600 with PBO disabled use a lot less power? 

i have.. no idea

 

ok so i checked it. 

nonetheless. 

 

5 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Also, if you can run your VR games off a 1660 Ti that'd be a better choice, again because of the low power consumption. 

but getting a beefier gpu also means i can use it for better pc gaming when not in vr

or is that idea again farfetch'd?

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, Aristotle2019 said:

but getting a beefier gpu also means i can use it for better pc gaming when not in vr

or is that idea again farfetch'd?

If you want it to run off a battery, you're better off going with the absolute lowest power draw that still runs the software you need decently. 

[Aristotle2019]

35 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

If you want it to run off a battery, you're better off going with the absolute lowest power draw that still runs the software you need decently. 

mm okay makes sense

 

[Choidebu]

First post here in LTT forum. Not many battery projects here, eh?

 

 

Anyone saw Linus and Anthony built an efficient gaming rig? Stunning results! Made me joined the forum...

 

Here is My project on SFF.forum, I'm aiming low - 65W cpu and 75W gpu, currently on 18 (6S3P) reclaimed cells equivalent to 22.2V nominal 4.5Ah battery pack. Managed to get short of 2 hours on video playback, everything stock. Will test out gaming soon (gonna be short I know - 1 hours should be possible.

 

With new cells it's easily double that, and power-optimized like Linus and Anthony did, another 30-40% on top of that. I even reduce the number of cells to make it flight worthy. Currently my rig is 4 kg (no cheating - PSU is internal). Volume is close to 5 Litres.

 

I do believe it's feasible enough now...