StripeySnake Posted April 9, 2022 Author Share Posted April 9, 2022 I hadn't actually seen that before, and that's probably the closest project I've seen to mine so far. Mine should be much smaller though, coming in a full .6 inches thinner or so at 2.7 instead of 3.34 inches thick, as well as my footprint is also about 2.8 inches less wide horizontally, but around .6 inches longer front to back because of the jet engine rear on my design. I can say that I should have roughly 2x the cpu cooling as he used 1x 40mm triple rad and I'm using two of them. Additionally, as long as I can cable manage it, my design has the components a lot more tightly packed together in order to make it as small as possible. I can also safely say that my project should be visually considerably smaller and more polished than this one, I actually put a couple hundred hours into modelling in the past year for that reason, although weight should either be a bit less or the same. I also used a premade proprietary display from the m17x R4 instead of dealing with building my own which should help aesthetics and functionality quite a bit at the cost of making it a bit harder to find and work with. Someday I might design my own display assembly for the project but for now I'm going to stay with that. To emphasize the actual scale of this project, here's a picture of it alongside my m17x R4 (It's really just propped up parts rn, I'm only halfway through the 3d printing) As you can see, she isn't exactly thin or small, but she's a far cry from a giant brick of materials either. I haven't fit the outer panels or keyboard or dsiplay on properly, that's all just a mock up, so expect it to look a lot nicer when finished of course, but that's about how large it'll be. 1 4 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 That photo is awesome! I was actually having a hard time with scale from your other pictures and this makes it really clear. Very nice design and very acceptable dimensions in my opinion. It looks like you are really on the right track and you are definitely covering a niche that does not have much attention at all (surprisingly so!). Can't wait to see your first prototype - it will be well worth the wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 BTW - you're getting me more interested in this. It looks like in the US you can get a similar display on ebay for under $250 with some good options. Keyboard options are out there and appear to be well under $100. The Zotac 3070 GPU is a around $1K new, and half that used - but I'd be worried about getting a crypto mining burned out unit if it's used... I think you said clearance is 50mm? So yeah the Zotac 3070s I looked at is around 41.5mm thick 220W (e.g. ZT-A30700H-10PLHR). The "TI" version adds 90W and 18.2mm (and a 3080 would be a better choice at that point). But the Zotac "Amp Holo" 3070 (not TI) version is thicker as well at 58.7mm so I guess you have to be careful when buying these... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 Yeah the only 3070 I found that would fit is the small dual fan zotac 3070 non TI version, and that should be able to coexist with the 600 watt flex atx PSU quite well. I would honestly recommend a 3060, because in this day and age almost any game will run extremely well and still look good on the card, and you don't really have to worry about maxing your specs for the sake of futureproofing, as in say 5 years I'm sure the 6060 or whatever is standard then should hopefully be able to just slot into the case. I'm afraid high end cards such as the "90" spec cards will only continue to get bigger and hotter, but I think Nvidia and AMD will be forced to continue to offer smaller options in their 60/70 models. Also, to use the Zotac 3070, you would need a modified version of the right (left) side panel to accommodate the fact that that card is really heckin tall. Additionally, I would suggest not using "flow through" cards in this case, as it will end up pushing hot air out of the VRAM intake on the palmrest, and that will probably make your left wrist very sweaty. Additionally, the hot air from the gpu is going to get pulled through the first CPU radiator, so a hotter GPU will also affect CPU temps some. Additionally, you might be able to get away with, say a 5600x and 3060 both being watercooled, which would increase rad performance some, not having to deal with hotter air, and make the whole system a bit lighter with more internal room. Also keep in mind for chassis clearance to always round down a bit, as the GPU is going to need a bit of room for airflow on the back, and the light tapering on the front of the case knocks 3-5mm off of that clearance right over the GPU. OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Did you check out this Asus "EKWB" one? https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Graphics-Cards/ASUS/RTX3070-8G-EK/ It requires liquid cooling - but maybe that would work? Dimension is 209 x 111.5 x 21.5 so very slim and short. Definitely more expensive and harder to find than the Zotac... And of course there's a 3080 (and I think 3090 lol) model - not sure this would be at all viable or not (certainly not price wise - I only saw ones for over $3K...) https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Graphics-Cards/ASUS/RTX3080-10G-EK/techspec/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 Actually a 3080/90 is viable from both a PSU and space standpoint, as with a modded server PSU you could pull the wattage needed, and there's enough room, the only issue is cooling. There isn't really a way to cool the cpu without the watercooling loop, and putting both cpu and gpu on it is like using a 140mm radiator for each component individually. As far as I know, most decent CPUs and GPUs would easily be able to overwhelm the cooling system, so unless you want to run some insane undervolt and downclock, cooling would be your biggest concern. That's why I'd reccomend something like a 3060 for watercooling, although this discussion is getting very theoretical, as I have yet to properly test the cooling capacity of the system. OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Fair enough and I totally get your point. The cooling game is really the hard part and I get your point about the 2060. I think it's going to be really interesting to see what you discover as you move forward with that. I would actually be pretty happy with a system where I could "detach" the screen and keyboard (kind of like having an ultrathin book on top) and have a wire back to the main unit. Then I wouldn't mind letting the main unit run hot (or like a hair dryer). It would still be important to have them attach when space is a premium and for travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 Actually, I was considering setting up some sort of "rail" system with the GPU and GPU slot, which would enable you to slide the GPU out of the side of the case for greatly improved airflow, and to allow it to vent into open air rather than into the CPU rads. I haven't worked on it in my prototype, but an alternative side panel/ right keyboard wing part set could possibly enable that. It would probably be pretty simple to connect said rail to a sensor of some sort and have it auto apply a low power profile when the GPU is internal. 1 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 That would be a really nice feature - great alternative to those "eGPU" cases (that are huge...). And yeah having it clock down when "docked" would be really amazing. I actually have a random modding question - would it be tough to take a laptop keyboard and display and connect them directly to a desktop? The goal would be to have a thin folding keyboard + display that you could plug into a regular desktop with a long cable (or cable bundle). I'm guessing this would have to be a viewport+usb wire bundle unless there's a really easy way to get both onto the same thunderbolt bus. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 Well as a matter of fact, that's exactly what I did actually. I'm using an LVDS inverter board to connect the original M17x R4 laptop display to my GPU, and it is confirmed working. It has a little side button board you can see poking through in the picture, which controls the display settings. As for the keyboard, it's a lot more complicated, but I followed a tutorial on using a custom soldered PCB alongside a teensy microcontroller to convert the original M17x R4 keyboard into a usb one, that then connects to the internal USB header on the mobo. I haven't gotten it working yet, but it's proven to be possible and I just need to do a bit of debugging. With this technique, basically any laptop keyboard can be adapted to the chassis, with minor modifications to the footprint for some. 1 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Is this it here? https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-USB-Laptop-Keyboard-Controller/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 Yup, that's it. Pretty complex project but very versatile. 1 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Yeah, I'm just checking it out. I wasn't aware of the Teensy micro-controller. That's some hairy soldering there! Not sure I'd want to handle the surface mount work. But really cool that he provides all PCB specs for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 Definitely tricky souldering, and that might be the problem with my attempt. Currently manually shorting pins gets an output, but the keys on the keyboard don't. A couple other things could also be the problem though, so i'm still working on it 1 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Kudos for taking all this on! Were there any other boards you had to have made for this project or is that about it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eban Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 8 hours ago, StripeySnake said: I did consider thin mini ITX and such, but the issue is that performance and compatibility are very limited, as thin min itx boards are rare, lack PCIE 16x, and often use laptop CPUs. At the cost of thickness, I decided to go with standard mini itx for compatibility's sake, as well as to keep the ability to use a good GPU. Ok, thin mini is out. Good to know OH...that's a good video. I can see at 03:09 that it uses a similar water cooler block to @StripeySnake first picture. And at 07:31 how he connected the GPU laying on its side. See I am that ignorant when it comes to desktop hardware, I didn't know there was a cable! There was also a good comment about using a touch display. Thank you @FredSRichardson 1 Thunderchild // Lenovo Legion Y740 17" i7-9750H rtx2080maxQ win10 RainBird // Alienware 17 (Ranger) i7-4910mq gtx860m win10LTSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 That's all I know of. I'm sure something else exists, but that was what was readily available. If I do end up selling kits I'd include the controller all set up for USB EDIT: I misread your question. That's the only custom PCB the project is currently using, the display controller is premade. 1 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 I think you could start a whole community around this idea. The one danger with selling kits is that you might find yourself in a really time consuming tech support role. Having a forum with a bunch of like minded enthusiasts could distribute the load. Also by selling as little as possible of the final system you offload a lot of things you don't need to support. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 @Eban - yes that video opened my eyes to what this might look like or at least what you're in for when doing this kind of stuff. I was pretty amazed to see the guy just take apart those old displays and mount them to plexiglass - it actually worked surprisingly well. I am glad the display on my laptop is really flexible though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 On 4/9/2022 at 10:25 PM, FredSRichardson said: I think you could start a whole community around this idea. The one danger with selling kits is that you might find yourself in a really time consuming tech support role. Having a forum with a bunch of like minded enthusiasts could distribute the load. Also by selling as little as possible of the final system you offload a lot of things you don't need to support. I really like that idea, if it all works out. The main idea behind selling kits would be initially to perfect the design, as each time I print a part I make small adjustments to make things fit better, as well as to help gather basic support for the design. If it eve did end up going somewhere, then I could probably sell the kits for a bit more too, which would make it worth my while from a monetary standpoint, as I'm about to go to college, and every little bit helps after all. 2 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eban Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 4 minutes ago, FredSRichardson said: I think you could start a whole community around this idea. The one danger with selling kits is that you might find yourself in a really time consuming tech support role. Having a forum with a bunch of like minded enthusiasts could distribute the load. Also by selling as little as possible of the final system you offload a lot of things you don't need to support. Maybe they are waiting; but on this forum I am wondering why more people are not commenting. Everyone here literally wants the best that their hardware can give. Oh well. I love the idea. 1 Thunderchild // Lenovo Legion Y740 17" i7-9750H rtx2080maxQ win10 RainBird // Alienware 17 (Ranger) i7-4910mq gtx860m win10LTSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripeySnake Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 Honestly though, I don't really care that much how much attention it gets as long as anyone who wants to can access it. The main goal from start to finish of this project is and has been to make it accessible to anyone who goes looking for it, and to come out with a pretty cool laptop for myself to boot. I also have yet to actually finish the build, and I'm sure it will be more interesting to more people when I have it up and running outputting insane CPU performance with actually decent aesthetics to boot. 2 OWNED: 14 R1 - 4710MQ @ 3.6 Ghz, hd 4600, 12gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz JANKTOP IV Mini-ITX Laptop - R5 2600X, 16gb DDR4 3000 Mhz, RX 5700 XT - (ONGOING) Under my wing: 15 R3 - GTX 1060 6gb, i7 7700HQ, 16gb DDR4 17 R4 - RX 470 8gb i7 6700HQ, 16gb DDR4 M17x R4 - 3630QM, Quadro P4000, 16gb DDR3L 1600 Mhz M17x R2 - i7 920XM @ 3.4 Ghz, GTX 770m 2gb, 16gb DDR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eban Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 1 minute ago, StripeySnake said: I really like that idea, if it all works out. The main idea behind selling kits would be initially to perfect the design, as each time I print a park I make small adjustments to make things fit better, as well as to help gather basic support for the design. If it eve did end up going somewhere, then I could probably sell the kits for a bit more too, which would make it worth my while from a monetary standpoint, as I'm about to go to college, and every little bit helps after all. Definitely add your time value to price of the kit. I can see 1 or 2 kits as proof of concept and word of mouth advertising being free as ok. But You have to pay yourself a wage! 1 Thunderchild // Lenovo Legion Y740 17" i7-9750H rtx2080maxQ win10 RainBird // Alienware 17 (Ranger) i7-4910mq gtx860m win10LTSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Very nice! His "flying leads" freak me out LOL! I would have to buy a really good soldering iron before taking any of that on - but I used to do a ton of soldering back in the day. I'll have to read a bit more about the teensy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredSRichardson Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Yeah, the forum here is a bit hard to track - there are a lot of "sleeper" threads here I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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