Battery-Powered Mini-ITX Computer Help

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

Currently, I am working on a project and needed to build a mid-grade Mini-ITX desktop inside of a bass guitar. I plan on building the bass guitar, and wanted to have a pc with a skylake pentium that I can use to record and edit music without having to be at a desktop. I have everything except a PSU, and wanted to be able to use a battery so it is easier to use where having a power cable could be troublesome or dangerous. Are there any solutions to this problem? I would like to keep this part on a budget of around 70 USD. Thanks!

[Electronics Wizardy]

You want a laptop

 

But if you want to do this get a thin mini itx board and a lead acid battery. Cheap and works. You could also get one of those pico psu's

[Funtron5000]

Well, something like this may be a good place to start. It'll give you power to the 24 pin of the board, but I'm not sure about the 4 or 6 pin of the cpu power. These types of things were used to build really tiny PC's in unconventional cases like a NES.

 

http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/it.A/id.417/.f

[Funtron5000]

There is one with a 4-pin connector for CPU and 150W

 

http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-150-XT

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

The pico's look cool, but I am contemplating putting a small 720p touchscreen into the mix so it is easier to use. Also, would this processor be power efficient and be able to be passive-cooled: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117625

[Pauleh]

If I were you I would buy a laptop and hack it up to fit inside the guitar if you want the portability, but if you were to mount it on the wall I would just take a server rack 1u psu or external psu and have all the cables to the pc running out of the 6.3 mm audio jack on the guitar. I can't see it being dangerous, probably more safe then a battery. Also, using a battery would be quite impractical becuase editing music would drain the battery quite quickly.

[Funtron5000]

2 minutes ago, TheHeadPhonesGuy said:

The pico's look cool, but I am contemplating putting a small 720p touchscreen into the mix so it is easier to use. Also, would this processor be power efficient and be able to be passive-cooled: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117625

I couldn't imagine the 65W TDP being practical for passive cooling. But, I think everyone else is right. Use a laptop motherboard. Much easier, cheaper, and you can use the laptop's battery.

[Funtron5000]

Things like this also exist. Just add RAM, storage, and power via the 12V connector. Not sure how well it'll work, but it's a thing.

 

http://www.viatech.com/en/boards/pico-itx/epia-p910/

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

1 minute ago, Funtron5000 said:

I couldn't imagine the 65W TDP being practical for passive cooling. But, I think everyone else is right. Use a laptop motherboard. Much easier, cheaper, and you can use the laptop's battery.

Ok, but in the event that I have to send the laptop back, it would be a pain in the ass to take it out and put it back together. Could an Intel Compute Stick with Debian 8.5 (Jessie) work better?

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

3 minutes ago, Funtron5000 said:

Things like this also exist. Just add RAM, storage, and power via the 12V connector. Not sure how well it'll work, but it's a thing.

 

http://www.viatech.com/en/boards/pico-itx/epia-p91

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

Ok that might work.

 

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

Oh my, $360 is way too much for me to spend. Would the compute stick line from Intel work?

[Funtron5000]

3 minutes ago, TheHeadPhonesGuy said:

Oh my, $360 is way too much for me to spend. Would the compute stick line from Intel work?

It should if paired with a decent size USB battery bank.

 

Edit: But the compute stick only has one USB 3.0 on it. You may want a hub as well to plug things into it and make sure that whatever LCD solution you're using supports HDMI or use some kind of adapter there.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Funtron5000
Added information

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

Ok, an Intel® Compute Stick STK1A32Sc with Debian Jessie with a swap partition on 3gb, and dual usb batteries should work. One thing thought; I do not know if the compute stick has analog input and output. I it does not, what converter should I go with that is not going to cost too much?

[Funtron5000]

You'll have to look up some adapter. I really don't think it has analog I/O

[TheHeadPhonesGuy]

It does not have input, and output is via HDMI, but I can convert the HDMI into DVI and PC audio out, and I can get an amp cable to usb connector for an ok price. And the compute stick can run headless and be remote accessed, so I can use an old phone as a touch-screen monitor. And it can double as a lan-party computer with a keyboard and monitor. Just killed two birds with one stone. Thanks for everyone's assistance!