Laptop Sized Briefcase PC

[MysticWhiteDragon]

My laptop is constantly, locking up and after testing I found that the CPU is going bad (not sure if it's a bad solder joint or something else).  Anyway, I usually have my laptop plugged in over 90% of the time.  I also have a perfectly good i5-6400k and 1050Ti in a Fractal Node 202 case which I rarely use and when I do, it's only for gaming.  So I decided, rather than buy a new laptop which I don't have money for currently, to build one.  So I'm going to post my progress in case others wish to do the same.

 

Thanks to a YouTube video about a PC inside an XBox One S case, it gave me the idea and had a link to a file for the hole placement on the acrylic.  I just have to change the location a bit.

Why do this? Because, it's easy to upgrade and is a good alternative for content creators and gamers who travel frequently and need a slightly more powerful PC.  Plus if one component goes bad, your not out of time or money because most of it can be replaced easily and quickly.  It's about the same size as my 15.6" laptop except about 3.5x thicker.  It should fit in a backpack easily.  Most difficult thing will the the thermals.

 

Here's the plan in case someone else wants to follow along and build their own.

 

Case: IRIS OHYAMA AM-10

          Dim: Outer: 415 x 290 x 100  Inner: 390 x 250 x 85

Motherboard: Any Mini-ITX

GPU: A mini graphics card

PSU: Silverstone SST–FX350–G (350W)

Screen: 15.6" laptop screen with driver board

Soundbar: TESS TSS-BR20 or similar USB powered soundbar

 

 

[MysticWhiteDragon]

Placement of motherboard, GPU, and PSU in the case is complete. Just need to dremel out a hole in the bottom of the case for the PSU. Got a bracket for WiFi adapter, but have to make the holes a little bigger. Also since I have low profile card, 2.5" drives will fit. However, I'll eventually change to m.2 drives with a SATA interface converter if possible to make for more room for cable management. 

[IAnthonyFX]

I wanted to do this on the past, it looks great! I just hope you dont travel by airplane often... security will hate you (main reason why I didnt ended up jumping for it. One Piece of advice, i would flip either flip your PSU or make a whole and put a fan grill where it is taking its intake and exhaust. Otherwise, you are very very crafty my bro
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=fan grill&Submit=ENE

[MysticWhiteDragon]

4 hours ago, IAnthonyFX said:

I wanted to do this on the past, it looks great! I just hope you dont travel by airplane often... security will hate you (main reason why I didnt ended up jumping for it. One Piece of advice, i would flip either flip your PSU or make a whole and put a fan grill where it is taking its intake and exhaust. Otherwise, you are very very crafty my bro
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=fan grill&Submit=ENE

Thanks!

I plan to cut out an area on the case to exhaust the heat and also allow for the power cable to stick out.  It will also allow me to screw the PSU to the case to make it more secure.  That is the reason why the PSU is in the center between the MB and GPU.  There is no way for the power cable to stick out if it's on the left or right side of the case.  Also I do plan on adding a few 30mm fans for additional intake (sides) and exhaust (rear) for additional airflow.  And yeah, I planned on getting some fan grills too.

[ShadowChaser]

Interesting idea, but why not just put a gechic monitor on your node 202?

[MysticWhiteDragon]

1 hour ago, ShadowChaser said:

Interesting idea, but why not just put a gechic monitor on your node 202?

Because this case is a little smaller, allowing it to fit in a backpack easier and it'll be easier than trying to mount a monitor to it. Not to mention a bit cleaner looking.  I'm trying to get as close to an upgradable style laptop as possible. 

[TheCamba]

Best of luck on your venture.  I hope everything works out.  If you had a 3d printer you could custom built mounts and brackets to make everything perfect.

[MysticWhiteDragon]

20 hours ago, TheCamba said:

Best of luck on your venture.  I hope everything works out.  If you had a 3d printer you could custom built mounts and brackets to make everything perfect.

Thanks!

 

I agree that a 3D printer would be great. I wish I had one. However, if I need something 3D printed, I guess I could order it through a service like shapeways. I've done that before. 

[TheCamba]

On 8/30/2018 at 5:45 AM, MysticWhiteDragon said:

Thanks!

 

I agree that a 3D printer would be great. I wish I had one. However, if I need something 3D printed, I guess I could order it through a service like shapeways. I've done that before. 

1

Any new updates?

[MysticWhiteDragon]

Just ordered a new low profile CPU cooler (the stock Intel one is too tall).  I also ordered a 15.6" 4K 60Hz IPS screen with driver board.  The cooler is suppose to arrive either today or tomorrow.  And the screen was just sent out from China.  FYI, the screen is one used in some Lenovo laptops. The screen is a NV156QUM-M32.  Not the best color gamut, but since I'm not a graphics or video editor it should be fine for me.  The reason I went for a 4K over 1080p is that it was only something like $30 more and since I do web design as a hobby, it will be easy to have a web browser open and Notepad++ for the coding side by side.  Plus, whatever graphic editing I do in PaintShop Pro 2018 will make good use of the extra resolution.

 

Only one modification to the outside of the case.  I may need to make some holes for airflow, but that is to be determined later.

 

The hardest thing will be finding someone who might be able to laser cut two acrylic pieces for me (1 for the top screen and 1 for over the PC, and ship them to Japan.  If anyone is able to help me out with this in the future, it would be great.

 

[MysticWhiteDragon]

There are also 3 different keyboards that I'm looking at.

 

1) Perixx PERIBOARD 519 H

Almost exactly like a laptop keyboard! And will fit perfectly length and width with a little bit of extra space to spare.  The height will be the only thing I will have to take a look at, but my #1 pick.

 

2)  Unbranded C202B

Probably the one I'm going to go with.  It's slimmer than the other one and still has nearly all the same functionality.

 

3)  Lexking BT-7101

No numeric keypad, but bluetooth option is nice.

 

Update: Bought the 519 H

[Adult Man]

or maybe just buy small compact cube case.

[MysticWhiteDragon]

7 hours ago, Adult Man said:

or maybe just buy small compact cube case.

Been there, done that. But still a pain to carry around. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, monitor power cable, PC power cable, possibly a power strip if only one outlet, HDMI cable, PC, speakers (if desired), and something to carry it all in. 

 

With this only the case and a single power cord would be needed. And everything would already be connected. Easy to setup or tear down and go. 

[MysticWhiteDragon]

I got the screen and driver board yesterday and it works really well. It even supports FreeSync (too bad I'm using an nVidia GTX 1050 Ti). The driver board is powered via a 12V barrel jack. So I'm going to use a molex to SATA adaptor and remove the SATA connection and solder it to the driver board. That will allow for one of the molex connectors to power the screen without a need for a second power supply. 

[MysticWhiteDragon]

Finally nearly finished. Got it all together and works great. I took off the bottom of the Perixx PERIBOARD 519H and attached it to a piece of acrylic. I don’t have any speakers inside currently because of space limitations.

 

I tested it under full load the GPU hit a max 55 and the GPU hit a max 67 with the back half of the keyboard acrylic raised about 2 inches.

 

In GTA V, CPU is about 45-47 and GPU 47-52.

 

I can even close the case completely.