Briefcase LAN PC

[Soonercoop]

Current Progress:

 

Hello everyone, I'm beginning a new project build that will hopefully become my new LAN rig and I figured I should share it for inspiration and advice along the way. I've been increasingly wanting a mobile solution of sorts but I don't want to allocate the money for a gaming laptop for many reasons, namely lack of upgrade-ability and high cost for performance. Since I've got loads of old desktop hardware lying around, I figured I could make myself a decent briefcase PC for significantly less than an equivalent laptop. Is it the most practical or even cost-effective solution? Certainly not. Is it a badass solution? Certainly.

 

Parts are as follows. They may not be the cutting edge, but they will get the job done the few times I need them.

CPU: AMD FX 6100

GPU: Zotac 1050ti 4gb (Being modeled by an EVGA 750ti momentarily)

Motherboard: MSI 760GM-P23

Memory: 8gb Generic Kingston 1600mhz ddr3

CPU Cooler: Ghetto rigged joint Thermaltake/Noctua cooler

Power Supply: Some old itx 240w

Storage: 240GB ADATA SSD (Yes, I can happily live with this low capacity)

 

I will be using many ideas from the briefcase builds I've seen in the past and I plan to improve on their builds to fit my needs. I will be using some 1/4" board to mount all of the hardware excluding the intake fans in a test bench type fashion so that the entire system can be removed from the case for ease of use and rigid construction. I will also be re-purposing the lcd panel from an old laptop rather than using a fullsize monitor. I personally prefer lugging around a larger monitor for LANs anyway, so this will save me lots of money and weight of the final product while still allowing the system to function as an AIO when I need it to. I will also be adding i/o to the outside of the system to allow for peripheral connectivity and the use of up to two external displays. Finally, I do plan to completely seal off the compartments of the case excluding air intakes and apply some carbon fiber vinyl wrap on the top deck above the components for a quality look compared to many existing briefcase mods.

 

I found a decent toolbox lying around in my garage and went to work planning a layout and mounting for the components.

 

It's a bit messy on the inside as I had to tear out some foam inserts that were very well adhered to the case. Some sanding and wood paneling on the inside will fix that up.

 

I managed to salvage my old thermaltake cooler by replacing the ungodly loud 75mm proprietary fan with a much nicer 80mm noctua one.

 

And thanks to this bad boy, I will be able to easily affix a power socket to the outside of the case without much modding. It is quite a low wattage, but after 24 hours of sustained benchmarking I have concluded it will do nicely while taking up very little space.

 

Here is where I plan to mount everything for now. It may look like there is plenty of open space but once all of the cabling and the top panel are done, I believe it is going to be a very tight fit. 

 

So that's all for now. All of the parts I will need excluding the monitor control board and gpu upgrade will be coming in within the week, so I expect updates to be decently swift. I'd appreciate criticisms, comments, and suggestions for the build as well as suggestions for the name of the rig. 

 

[NoRomanBatmansAllowed]

Looks great!

[Heesleemer]

Why not flip the gpu up so it can also get air, just get a longer PCI E extension 

[KrZaj]

Good idea. Had the same few yrs back but never got to it. Subbed!

[Soonercoop]

3 hours ago, Heesleemer said:

Why not flip the gpu up so it can also get air, just get a longer PCI E extension 

I'll just be drilling a hole for a bottom intake for the gpu. Mounting it upside down would be more difficult because the bracket would screw in right next to the motherboard, leaving me little room for a sturdy support to screw it into. You'll see what I have planned for the mount later, I want it to be very secure and shock resistant. The system will have an intake fan directly under the gpu to compensate for the height of the gpu's i/o when I do the cabling and it should bring in enough air from the 1/2" gap under the case.

[Heesleemer]

27 minutes ago, Soonercoop21 said:

I'll just be drilling a hole for a bottom intake for the gpu. Mounting it upside down would be more difficult because the bracket would screw in right next to the motherboard, leaving me little room for a sturdy support to screw it into. You'll see what I have planned for the mount later, I want it to be very secure and shock resistant. The system will have an intake fan directly under the gpu to compensate for the height of the gpu's i/o when I do the cabling and it should bring in enough air from the 1/2" gap under the case.

Excited to see it!

[Wazfoodle]

I love this, You should walk around with it once done handcuffed to your arm,,, in a trench coat... 

 

Subbed I have to see this!

[Soonercoop]

1 hour ago, Wazfoodle said:

I love this, You should walk around with it once done handcuffed to your arm,,, in a trench coat... 

 

Subbed I have to see this!

Thanks! Most of my supplies are due to arrive tomorrow and I've almost got the hardware all mounted. Expect updates by the end of the week.

[Soonercoop]

Many parts I need will still not be arriving until tonight or tomorrow so I figured I would post a small update of where the project is at now. I hacked up some old case parts for the motherboard and psu mount so they can now be securely mounted in the case. I also got the mounting board done and bolted to the case. Once I have the other fans, filters, grills, display port and hdmi extensions, and pci extension, I should be able to complete the whole bottom section of the case by the end of my break from school. After that, I can begin working on the screen. 

 

The case so far

 

With components

 

Luckily there is just enough clearance for the top panel above the cpu cooler so all has gone to plan so far. I hope to have more exciting updates this weekend.

[Chris94_NOR]

Insane! People have this crazy ideas. I love it! Imagine going at the office with this.

[Soonercoop]

So I've almost got the pc part of the case done! I still have a lot to do until the finished product but as a proof of concept the briefcase system has been a success. The system booted up properly and after running heaven for a few hours, the cpu is at 40c at idle and 60c under full load while the gpu is only 30c idle and 65c -70c under load.

The top panel is not screwed on because it is a hassle to mess with and I was doing some testing with temperatures. The GPU is also just kind of thrown in as I still do not have the final card that will be staying in the system. Otherwise though, everything is secure and ready to go.

 

I had to do a lot of sanding and I bolted some supports for the top panel in the case.

 

I also added a hole for the bottom intake and gpu.

 

With the components mounted and wiring done inside:

 

 

The top panel has a hole for the cpu cooler and two noctua nf f12s. All of the fans except the cpu cooler are grilled and filtered.

 

 

So now all that's left is the monitor, some aluminum shields to clean up the i/o, an actual power button, some carbon fiber vinyl wrap on the top panel, and hinge angle adjustment for the top half of the case. Really happy how it has turned out so far. Hopefully I will have an update nearing the final product next weekend. Thanks for viewing!

 

[IOI-655321]

Such an amazing idea. If that were a mass-produced case I would buy it. I applaud you sir.

[Wazfoodle]

Wow,

[Soonercoop]

So I have not made the progress I was hoping but I have made much progress nonetheless. I've since gotten the gtx 1050, the controller board for my lcd, the power button, and some cabling I needed to power the monitor from the computer's psu. 

 

I first got the monitor together, tested, and working and I made a faceplate for the lcd and mounted it. I won't be adding the controller board and power supply for it just yet as I have some more work to do on the board before I can get to that. I think it looks quite nice and I'm fond of the massive almost arcade or crt style bezel for some reason. I think it adds a lot to the diy style of the case. (Keep in mind the monitor on this thing is more of a utility for installing games and stuff before LANs. I'll be lugging around a fullsize one normally.) This at least allows me a 'laptop' type use case when I want to use the thing quickly and easily as an aio.

 

 

 

I went ahead and did up a nice little cover for the front usb and audio. It's not perfect but it's absolutely functional and it looks far better than before.

 

 

I have also downgraded the system to a gtx 1050 to keep cost a little lower and due to lack of availability and reasonable pricing of 1050 ti cards. I am happy with how it performs and it was worth the $50 reduction for a similarly performing card.

 

So that's all for now. Progress has slowed because of the engineering I have to do step by step to keep the system modular and maintain upgrade-ability. It seems each part I add creates more and more unforseen problems to solve. All that is really left is some quick drilling and bolting to affix the monitor panel and some creative solutions for i/o covers for the display outputs and ethernet input. After that, it's just a matter of vinyl wrapping the wooden panels and assembling the system. I hope to have the entire system completely assembled in its final form by the end of the next weekend but we'll see what my schoolwork and developing difficulties have to say about that. 

 

[Soonercoop]

I know it's been a while since I've had an update, so I figured I'd drop a sneak peek of the final build. I have a just little more work and testing to do. Final glam shots with good lighting and no potato camera to come soon.

 

 

[HeroXLazer]

This is pure "gold" (or "silver").

[Soonercoop]

7 minutes ago, HeroXLazer said:

This is pure "gold" (or "silver").

I don't quite get the quotation marks. Or am I missing something?
 

[HeroXLazer]

3 minutes ago, Soonercoop21 said:

I don't quite get the quotation marks. Or am I missing something?
 

I just put quotations in if it's figurative. It a personal preference. Also, where did you get the keycaps from?

[Soonercoop]

1 minute ago, HeroXLazer said:

I just put quotations in if it's figurative. It a personal preference. Also, where did you get the keycaps from?

They are NKPC blank keycaps from massdrop + some stock ones from the original poker.

[HeroXLazer]

38 minutes ago, Soonercoop21 said:

They are NKPC blank keycaps from massdrop + some stock ones from the original poker.

Oh, those.