Laptop-to-multimedia-server BUILD

[Sir_Ranzalot]

Hello guys,

 

I have some 4 year old gaming laptop lying around and i want to give it some kind of use, as long as the hardware is still usable.

I dont want to use it as it is, because even in idle, the vents get pretty loud and, thermals are veeery bad. (No dust inside, its just kind of a crappy case i guess)

The purpose of the modified computer is going to be streaming audio to the Hi-fi and streaming Movies to the TV.

 

The laptop is an XMG p502, featuring:

• Clevo p150em case
• Intel i7 3740qm (4x2,7ghz)
• AMD Radeon HD7970m gpu
• wlan, bt, etc.

The screen is pretty good, its only 1080p but its got very good overall image quality. The Problem is i cant really think of any use for the panel, as i am probably going to have the multimedia pc hooked to the TV all the time.

 

My main question is:

Are there good solutions to remote control the multimedia pc from my windows tablet, main pc or maybe from my smartphone (android)?

 

 

For the case i have totally no idea what i am going to use, but i am willing to buy a new case if i can find someting that fits and looks nice. (maybe http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-202)

I dont really need any I/O accessable except maybe some USB port, as everything will be hooked up permanently.

So the new case will basically be an enclosure thats ventilated and hopefully this will fix noise and thermals.

The motherboard is about

36cm*18cm (36cm*25cm incl. the 2,5'' hdd)

 

I will edit some pictures in here as soon as i got the laptop opened up.

I would love to see someone that has already done something like this, but i couldnt find very much on the forum.

 

 

 

cheers, 

Sir Ranzalot

 

 

EDIT1: if someone would have a teardown for the clevo p150em it would probably save me alot of hassle

EDIT2: added pictures of the mobo.

[Sir_Ranzalot]

Wow, why didnt i think of Team Viewer, thanks

 

I am going to stay with the stock cooling and the large box. i think mineral oil is too much effort for this project... altough i want to try it sometime... 

 

Thick fabric for dampening sounds good, but how am i going to manage the outtakes? I kind of have to leave them open for the sake of airflow...

[ProjectBox153]

Wow, that's a super overkill machine for a media center if I've ever seen one. It beats my best computer. Are you going to build a custom case for better looks or use a pre built case?

[Sir_Ranzalot]

1 minute ago, Jamiec1130 said:

Wow, that's a super overkill machine for a media center if I've ever seen one. It beats my best computer. Are you going to build a custom case for better looks or use a pre built case?

Yeah, it is... but apart from selling the laptop i got no use for it  Also i can use it to play some game-pad-controlled games, as i dont own any console.

I was thinking about doing a custom case, but i really like this one: http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-202

For 70 bucks tough, I really have to double check if everything fits, before i order it^^

[Meic]

51 minutes ago, Sir_Ranzalot said:

Are there good solutions to remote control the multimedia pc from my windows tablet, main pc or maybe from my smartphone (android)?

I have tried a few apps to control my media PC from both android phone and windows laptop (including teamviewer), they were all flaky or annoying to connect every time I wanted to use them. In the end, I found that by far simplest option was a wireless keyboard with trackpad.

 

The one I use: https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/wireless-touch-keyboard-k400-plus?crid=27  (I have an older verion but looks basically the same)

 

 

54 minutes ago, Sir_Ranzalot said:

The screen is pretty good, its only 1080p but its got very good overall image quality. The Problem is i cant really think of any use for the panel, as i am probably going to have the multimedia pc hooked to the TV all the time.

One option that I am thinking about doing with my old laptop screen but haven't got round to is turning it into a extra monitor: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Convert-a-Laptop-LCD-into-an-External-Monit/