Laptop converted to desktop

[ClonicMechanics]

Hello guys, I have a brother that broke his laptop earlier this year. Instead of throwing it away I would like to repurpose it into a desktop case. I have an idea already for making most of it work but finding a case that could house the motherboard has been difficult. Any help would be appreciated. He’s already gotten something I just don’t want it to end up as E-waste when I could use it for something. 

[starry]

1 minute ago, ClonicMechanics said:

Hello guys, I have a brother that broke his laptop earlier this year. Instead of throwing it away I would like to repurpose it into a desktop case. I have an idea already for making most of it work but finding a case that could house the motherboard has been difficult. Any help would be appreciated. He’s already gotten something I just don’t want it to end up as E-waste when I could use it for something. 

There are a few guides on youtube for turning an old laptop into an AOI if I recall correctly, might give those a go.

 

You wont find a case that will fit the laptop components out of the box, since they will not be standard ATX parts. You will need to do some modding no matter how you look at it.

[zeusthemoose]

What part broke and what laptop is it? If its just the screen, you could remove it and keep the body. You could just connect a monitor to it and attach a mouse and keyboard or use the built-in keyboard and track pad.

[ClonicMechanics]

55 minutes ago, zeusthemoose said:

What part broke and what laptop is it? If its just the screen, you could remove it and keep the body. You could just connect a monitor to it and attach a mouse and keyboard or use the built-in keyboard and track pad.

Well I guess I should have been more specific Im hoping to make a little lan Pc out of it. Its a Msi gaming laptop with i5-8600 and a gtx 1050ti 4gb. The screen to replace it was more then what we paid for it new right now.

[Froody129]

4 minutes ago, ClonicMechanics said:

Well I guess I should have been more specific Im hoping to make a little lan Pc out of it. Its a Msi gaming laptop with i5-8600 and a gtx 1050ti 4gb. The screen to replace it was more then what we paid for it new right now.

If it's just the screen that broke I would just get an external monitor and use it as a mini PC. Otherwise you can try get a new screen and replace it yourself. It varies from not too hard to literally impossible depending on the laptop though.

 

[zeusthemoose]

26 minutes ago, ClonicMechanics said:

Well I guess I should have been more specific Im hoping to make a little lan Pc out of it. Its a Msi gaming laptop with i5-8600 and a gtx 1050ti 4gb. The screen to replace it was more then what we paid for it new right now.

So then just remove the display half and use whatever ports available to connect a monitor (or portable screen) and it will be more portable then almost any other case available.

[ClonicMechanics]

7 minutes ago, zeusthemoose said:

So then just remove the display half and use whatever ports available to connect a monitor (or portable screen) and it will be more portable then almost any other case available.

I may decide to do that or I may decide to try something like what DIY Perks has done before.

[kkpatel87]

7 hours ago, ClonicMechanics said:

Hello guys, I have a brother that broke his laptop earlier this year. Instead of throwing it away I would like to repurpose it into a desktop case. I have an idea already for making most of it work but finding a case that could house the motherboard has been difficult. Any help would be appreciated. He’s already gotten something I just don’t want it to end up as E-waste when I could use it for something. 

You will basically have to do one of the following:

1. Design a custom case that has identical motherboard mounting positions as the current laptop chassis.
2. Get a blank enclosure and modify it to fit your board.
3. Use some creative construction and fiberglass to repurpose the laptop chassis as a SFF computer.

Good luck!

[RobV1306]

So my suggestion is a bit different to what others suggest, but it could just be the aerospace engineer in me! However, please note that my suggestion relies on the laptop internals being a single board, no daughter boards or other stuff attached with ribbon cables etc).

 

I'd suggest the following:

1. Using a vernier caliper or similar, measure the locations of the holes through the board to give you a pattern of holes.
   • I'd suggest picking a corner of the motherboard to measure from and measure vertical and horizontal dimensions for each hole.
2. Measure the overall size of the board (as in a bounding box)
3. Create a drawing using a rectangle slightly larger than the bounding box (maybe add about 1cm to all sides), and then identify the hole positions on them with a diameter of around 2mm.
4. Email said drawing to a laser cutting supplier and have it laser cut using 2.5mm thick steel (should be very cheap).
5. Optional step - paint laser cut steel.
6. Using 2mm holes created by laser cutter as a guide, drill the holes out to the appropriate pilot drill size for the standoffs you want to use.
7. Tap the holes to the correct thread for your standoffs
8. Screw in standoffs to support the board.
9. Mount the board to the standoffs.
10. Buy an appropriately sized box and glue the steel to the bottom.
11. Cut holes for I/O as appropriate.

This will essentially make it a mini PC in a box.

 

What this approach doesn't include are instructions for dealing with cooling since your laptop is likely cooled with heat pipes etc which are not always screwed down to the board etc.

 

If you want to try this route but have questions, just let me know.