Battery for intel nuc?

[Docretier]

I had the idea of making a portable, low end gaming system using an intel nuc board with the i3 7100u. Now when I say low end, I mean 2d side scroller low end. My intent is to create a system similar to the switch, but it’s loaded with windows and I will only using it for those really low end games, maybe discord too. It would be attached to the back of a small touch screen and I would attempt to integrate an xbox controller in a custom case. I was wondering if there is a battery or UPS I could pair with it that would power both the nuc and screen, or would I need two separate banks. Feel free to tell me how bad of an idea this is as well, because I already know that extreme disappointment awaits me. 

[Coaxialgamer]

1 minute ago, Docretier said:

I had the idea of making a portable, low end gaming system using an intel nuc board with the i3 7100u. Now when I say low end, I mean 2d side scroller low end. My intent is to create a system similar to the switch, but it’s loaded with windows and I will only using it for those really low end games, maybe discord too. It would be attached to the back of a small touch screen and I would attempt to integrate an xbox controller in a custom case. I was wondering if there is a battery or UPS I could pair with it that would power both the nuc and screen, or would I need two separate banks. Feel free to tell me how bad of an idea this is as well, because I already know that extreme disappointment awaits me. 

Depending on the level you're trying to go , you could just disassemble a couple usb battery banks and wire them directly to the unit as needed ( 12V step up might be required ).

As long as you're comfortable making custom power circuits ( with the help of off the shelf parts) , it should be fairly trivial to do so.

[Electronics Wizardy]

How about a laptop or a tablet? That has a screen, battery and computer in one unit.

[Mira Yurizaki]

You can find a laptop battery bank that has an AC output (example). It may not provide enough juice for more than a few hours though with the NUC and monitor combined.

Edited March 28, 2018 by M.Yurizaki
Link I posted had USB Type C only ones in the mix :S

[Docretier]

35 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

How about a laptop or a tablet? That has a screen, battery and computer in one unit.

But I want to make it really small like the switch, my intent is to have it small enough to fit in small bag an take up little space. And before you say “just buy a switch,” I want it to have windows so I can play games from my steam library. Also I don’t want to be stuck with Nintendo’s lineup of games because majority of them don’t interest me

[TPNxl]

I don't think that a NUC would give you the portability or power you want. NUCs are 4 inches square, and with a fan, an inch thick. Remember, that's just for the NUC itself. You'd then need to attach a battery which might be pretty easy (like others have said) with laptop battery cells such as the Panasonic 18650 cell - just remember to provide the correct input voltage and enough current to power the NUC and display by using multiple cells (and maybe a transformer for the display). For a controller you could probably just use actual Switch Joy-Cons using a utility like WiinUPro. In the end, you'd end up with a 6-7 inch tablet device (or appropriately sized) that is 1 inch thick - not the most portable if you ask me. Battery life would probably be around 2 hours when gaming. The total cost would be about:

- $300 for the NUC board/fan

- $60 for 8GB of RAM (1x8GB)

- $60 for a cheap M.2 SSD (a 2.5" HDD takes up too much space)

- $50 for the battery cells and circuitry

- $50 for the display/touch assembly

- $20 for a 3D-printed casing (more if you want a better case)

- $60 for a pair of Joy-Cons

- $100 for a copy of Windows

In total you'd probably end up spending $700 for the parts, and you would also have to fabricate the case and assemble the device yourself.

The Core i3-7100U is very weak for actual PC gaming unless you use it just for the 2D side-scrollers you mentioned earlier; I suspect that for $700 you wouldn't be very satisfied with the end result considering that for that money you could just buy a budget gaming laptop. It would be less portable, but it would be able to play a ton more games than what you have suggested to build.

In the end it's definitely possible to battery power a NUC and build it into a Switch-like form factor but the results wouldn't be super useful in my opinion.

[Jayloth]

Since the original question wasn't answer 'Is it possible to power the NUC and touch screen of a battery pack'  

The answer is yes.  

There are a number of products available that will power both a NUC and screen.  If you get a touch screen that only requires 5 Volts and 2 Amps you can get away with just plugging the screen power in to a USB power port on the NUC.  You mainly just need to look for a pack that supports at outputs at least 65Watts.  Or 19 volts at 3.42 WATTS.  I've seen some packs that output 20v at 5amps.  Which means it would provide enough power for a 100 watt requirement.  The NUC will only draw 3.42 WATTS means the 20 volt output is still safe the voltage will decrease but the draw decreased.  Which also means the capacity of the battery will increase.  

From research a pack that meets the criteria is going to cost 80 to 130 dollars.  And will last between 1.5 to 3.5 hours depending on the amount of money spent.  

Just look around for external laptop battery packs.  

I'm interested in the project because I would to do the same thing with a VR capable NUC.  I considered using a VR capable laptop but they are heavier and larger than a comparable NUC with a battery pack.  While it might cost more...I don't need another laptop but can use another NUC.  

You can also make your own pack.  But there are some considerations that make it not cost effective and a decent understanding of batteries is needed.  Its not really difficult however.  

[Koalaroo1]

I want to do the same thing but with a laptop chassis/shell from my current laptop one day as I love this thing just wish it were more powerful, my idea was to mount one of these get a battery that would power the screen and everything and maybe get two or three hours of gaming out of it. get some extender cables plug them in and secure them into the old usb slots and stuff, just get rid of slots I don't use.