Question i7 8550u, any use for a desktop?

[TheDeRek]

I've just lost the battery on my Asus Vivobook (X542UN). And I was wonder/hoping to find a way to convert this laptop into desktop box of some kind.

The problem is, I'm not sure if this is even possible? Hours of googling and the closest thing I can find is a so-called "barebones" PC that already had the chip in it.

I could replace the battery on the laptop, but it's a craptop even with a working battery tbh, only 2 hours power and it's also poorly built, so I was looking to put the components to better use.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

[TheDeRek]

I've got a sad feeling that it can't be done after reading this thread: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/kaby-lake-refresh-motherboards.3449975/#post-20869679

So it's probably a soldered chip? Therefor I probably can't do anything with it.

Crap! 😛

 

[delaro]

Is it possible to stick the entire Motherboard into a Desktop Case? Yes
Is it possible to use a External GPU on the motherboard? Yes
Is it possible to remove the CPU and stick it into a Desktop motherboard? No...for a normal person.. Yes if your a bored engineer with lots of time to kill. It's a BGA chip so.. soldered right in.

Any of the above is going to be time consuming and require some MacGyvering skills. Why not just replace the battery and look at a external GPU?

 

[cryoburner]

If you don't want to replace the battery, have you tried simply running it plugged into the power adapter without a battery, essentially treating it as a desktop? If you wanted, you could even plug in an external keyboard, mouse and monitor, and set it to remain turned on when the lid is closed. And as was said, an external GPU dock might be an option, if you wanted more graphics performance for gaming.

 

[tennis2]

Yeah, you can totally use it without a battery. It's still a computer.

Time to get the creative juices flowing. You don't need to use the laptop's screen, keyboard, trackpad, none of it. The nice thing is that it's paper flat!

How about a picture frame?

 

[mdd1963]

SOme laptops will not function without a battery present, even when on AC power...(sad but true)

If it powers up without it's battery installed, great......; many or even most do....