Ultraportable mini-ITX or gaming laptop?

[Snikerdoodlz]

I received my Alienware 14 laptop over a year ago. Back then I wasn't too tech savvy, but I've come a long way (mainly from watching Linus Tech Tips). I've recently been looking into replacing my Alienware 14 with a mini-ITX desktop using the following specs: (I haven't planned everything out yet, but here are the basics)

 

Mini-box m350 ini-ITX case

AMD APU (a10-7850k, but considering waiting for better ones to come out in the future with Zen and Arctic Islands on the horizon)

Asus MB168B USB 3.0 1366x768 (or any other portable monitor)

External battery (12v 10-12a)

 

I want to go with an APU because I don't really have need of too much graphical power. Probably the most intensive game I will ever play is along the lines of BeamNG.drive or PVZ Garden Warfare. Mostly I play games such as Terraria, which hardly need any power to run decently. I also sometimes edit videos in Magix 2014. An APU would use less power than a combo and take up way less space by eliminating a dedicated GPU.

 

My parents are divorced, so I take my laptop from house to house often. At both houses I have desks with external monitors that I use with my laptop, along with an external keyboard and mouse. I sometimes take my laptop to school, but for that I have a roller bag that is just large enough to house my laptop flat on the floor of it (14" screen size)

 

As I learned more about technology, I became more interested in actual hardware instead of just pre-assembled stuff, which isn't very cool first of all because you don't built it yourself, and desktop hardware can be more powerful and is plainly cooler than laptops for amateur hardware enthusiasts (like me), although laptops are more expensive, they have a great portability factor with built-in screens, keyboards, and touchpads, and internal batteries with monitoring to boot. You really can't have all of that with a laptop. With a laptop you can have it on your lap and use it, while for the mini-ITX built I am planning you would have to deal with the computer and the monitor. I could possibly somehow mount that tiny case behind the monitor and have it stand upright, though.

 

I don't really need to bring it to school right now, but sometimes the school-provided HP Elitebooks can be a little less than up-to-snuff, but we never really do stuff that requires powerful hardware, anyway. However, I'm only in 8th grade and my requirements for high school might be different. But then again, with a portable screen and a battery if there isn't an outlet, I could definitely make it work.

 

What do you think about this? What are your thoughts about this project?

[applesuxD]

I received my Alienware 14 laptop over a year ago. Back then I wasn't too tech savvy, but I've come a long way (mainly from watching Linus Tech Tips). I've recently been looking into replacing my Alienware 14 with a mini-ITX desktop using the following specs: (I haven't planned everything out yet, but here are the basics)

Mini-box m350 ini-ITX case

AMD APU (a10-7850k, but considering waiting for better ones to come out in the future with Zen and Arctic Islands on the horizon)

Asus MB168B USB 3.0 1366x768 (or any other portable monitor)

External battery (12v 10-12a)

I want to go with an APU because I don't really have need of too much graphical power. Probably the most intensive game I will ever play is along the lines of BeamNG.drive or PVZ Garden Warfare. Mostly I play games such as Terraria, which hardly need any power to run decently. I also sometimes edit videos in Magix 2014. An APU would use less power than a combo and take up way less space by eliminating a dedicated GPU.

My parents are divorced, so I take my laptop from house to house often. At both houses I have desks with external monitors that I use with my laptop, along with an external keyboard and mouse. I sometimes take my laptop to school, but for that I have a roller bag that is just large enough to house my laptop flat on the floor of it (14" screen size)

As I learned more about technology, I became more interested in actual hardware instead of just pre-assembled stuff, which isn't very cool first of all because you don't built it yourself, and desktop hardware can be more powerful and is plainly cooler than laptops for amateur hardware enthusiasts (like me), although laptops are more expensive, they have a great portability factor with built-in screens, keyboards, and touchpads, and internal batteries with monitoring to boot. You really can't have all of that with a laptop. With a laptop you can have it on your lap and use it, while for the mini-ITX built I am planning you would have to deal with the computer and the monitor. I could possibly somehow mount that tiny case behind the monitor and have it stand upright, though.

I don't really need to bring it to school right now, but sometimes the school-provided HP Elitebooks can be a little less than up-to-snuff, but we never really do stuff that requires powerful hardware, anyway. However, I'm only in 8th grade and my requirements for high school might be different. But then again, with a portable screen and a battery if there isn't an outlet, I could definitely make it work.

What do you think about this? What are your thoughts about this project?

Its great!,yo am sorry to hear about ur parents man,good that u are keeping in contact still

If u don mind waiting,maybe zen has alot to offer

[SuperShires]

-snip-

Could you not build in a Silverstone Raven RVZ01? its still super portable and can house a GPU.

But if you only play low demanding games I guess the APU route is a good option.

[Toto123456]

rvz02 is a kickass case though, however u need to realise that even the so-call 'ultra portable' pc isn't really 'portable' with all the cables, monitor, mouse, keyboard it is NOT portable unless u live in a tiny confined space.

 

my advice, full sized pc + big smart phone. I used these when I was in uni and I was very happy. if u really need a laptop just get something like macbook air, surface etc. a full size pc doesn't even have to be expensive imo

 

but if ur on a budget, go get a job or find a way to make more money. all problems will be solved and u dont need to decide very much. remember money = opportunity = options

[Prysin]

Get a 7870k APU and some 2400MHz (2x 4GB minimum) RAM with either the Gigabyte A88X ITX or ASRock A88X ITX board.... great combo, works perfectly. Own such a setup myself!

[GodSpoon]

 

 

Josiah? lol 

 

Make sure you get the fastest ram (at least 2400mhz) you can to feed that APU and your gold! Sounds like an awesome plan

[ElZamo92]

I don't know if you can still find it, but the case in this video looks like it was made for you: 

[Prysin]

just gonna add this:

7870k @ 768p resolution should be able to hit 45-60 FPS with high settings in almost any game.