There are plenty of gaming laptops on the market these days, but none quite fit the requirements of one [ParticularlyPippin]. Thus, they set out on building their own portable computer, ending up with a rig in a briefcase with a decidedly cyberpunk feel.
The design relies on desktop components, with the idea being to make a machine with better upgradability than a typical laptop. The briefcase itself is a nice deep-shell unit, and was given a wooden baseboard to hold all the components. It was then provided with standoffs and mountings for a Mini-ITX motherboard, as well as all the necessary add-ons like fans and storage. As in many odd-form-factor builds, a PCI-E riser cable comes in handy to hook up the GPU.
As for the user interface, a USB portable monitor is paired with a mechanical keyboard for the appropriate amount of clackity-clack when hacking out in the field. The icing on the cake, however, are the RGB strip backlights controlled via MSI’s software that really make the final result pop.
It’s a tidy portable build and one that hopefully provides [ParticularlyPippin] with the necessary grunt for their work wherever they can tote a briefcase. It’s not the first homebrew luggable we’ve seen, and it won’t be the last; there’s simply something compelling about the briefcase form factor. If you’re cooking up your own in the home lab, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
Very nice, though the keyboard like that seems like a bad idea. Still looks great, seems like it should work well, a little ergonomic inconvenience (and probably should pack it with some foam when closed to be sure nothing scratches the screen) isn’t bad for desktop performance in such a small package.
I once did something similar to keep my old desktop available during major house renovations – back then ‘gaming’ laptops barely existed, cost a fortune I didn’t have, and were really really inferior even to the old desktop in performance.
Mine however was nothing like as pretty – hand soldered extension to the gutted monitors LVDS cable bridging the halves (the monitors electronics went in the bottom on standoffs over the mobo), screaming banshee 1U power supply, and no mood lighting. All made by me, in a hurry with hand tools, kind of surprised it worked so well for years after. Unsurprisingly the monitor stopped functioning first, I assumed it was my bodged cable extension finally failing but by then it was so very surplus to my requirements its parts just went to local computer charity and recycling centre.
It is truly sad PIO (Parallel I/O) never took off. It has a PCIe edge connector on the other side of the board from the usual PCIe slots. Then no PCIe riser cables. A little harder to source, but obvious benefits. Both GPU and CPU fan stick out the same side. With a little work a VGA heatpipe could lay flat on it.
Its a thing in China, I have one of the boards from the link below and a Gigabyte branded 6th gen board. I had to order from Taobao using superbuy though. Benefits include 6th 7th 8th and 9th gen support.
Either use a T (35w) processor, or turn off Turbo boost in bios, if regular processors are what you have.
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/revoccases-rcc-tipio1-1-9l-thin-itx-pio-console-case.16711/
(I see a review for a 5900HX running at 100C check the stats on my i7 9700 LGA1151 laptop, realize its not an upgrade, and runs a lot cooler because it originally came with a 6700K.)
Don’t look now, but he can probably find the OEM of his old laptop and get a keyboard for 50-80 from ali express Ebay etc. Then he can sell his old one..
Next introduce him to DC atx power supplies and 15A DC buck converters, can use some drill packs to power that thing XD XD