Portable Gaming Desktop build? Not Laptop...

[rcknrolfender79]

Hey guys, I've been thinking about building a new gaming rig but I need something portable. Is it possible to build a desktop that would be in a fairly small case that would still run extremely demanding games and still have efficient cooling. Maybe a stupid question but is there a case monitor and keyboard combo type thing thats all attached and meant to be portable? I game at work and my laptop I think is about to be a little more than out dated with DX11 only games coming out. And dont really want to spend $1000 plus on a laptop I cant upgrade in the future.

My current laptop is a Sager x8100 i7 840 qm, with dual nvidia 285m's in SLI. Weighs roughly 20 lbs.

Weight really isnt that big of an issue(if its under 35 lbs I'll be more than happy). Mainly I dont want to have to go through the hassle of hooking up a full desktop rig and unhooking it multiple times a day. Size is a bit of an issue.. I would like to be around 18 inch as far as monitor size and case as close to that as possible or smaller.

Basically I'm looking for a desktop with as close to the portability of a large gaming laptop as possible. Or a laptop with desktop components that isn't insanely over priced and easily upgradeable.

Wanting to stay around $1000. Would like an intel i5 or i7 rig with either a 770 gtx or R9 280x with 16 gb RAM.

Sorry if any of this seems dumb. Just thought I'd see if anyone has any ideas or knows of any products that would work for me. Thank you.

 

[jaraldo]

Yea it would depend how small you want it.

Is something like this small enough? 16.30" x 7.28" x 14.57"

 

[rcknrolfender79]

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-304-black

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=345

What about these?

 

[jaraldo]

I'm guessing those would cost you a pretty penny. I see some silverstones similar to that going for $133-150.

Tell me what you think of this case.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/silverstone-case-ps08b
It's roughly the same size as the silverstone you linked. Possibly slightly smaller

 

[jaraldo]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($85.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.92 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($269.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer H226HQLbid 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-R8 PWM 31.4 CFM 80mm Fan ($14.14 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($19.50 @ Amazon)
Total: $1060.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-11 05:33 EDT-0400)

Things can be adjusted quite a bit. I wasn't sure what you wanted out of this build so I made it over budget to see what you would want to cut back from it. Wasn't sure if you needed a operating system either.

Anything in specific you need it to have except be small? I tried to make it as quiet as possible to.

 

[rcknrolfender79]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($85.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.92 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($269.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer H226HQLbid 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-R8 PWM 31.4 CFM 80mm Fan ($14.14 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($19.50 @ Amazon)
Total: $1060.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-11 05:33 EDT-0400)

Things can be adjusted quite a bit. I wasn't sure what you wanted out of this build so I made it over budget to see what you would want to cut back from it. Wasn't sure if you needed a operating system either.

Anything in specific you need it to have except be small? I tried to make it as quiet as possible to.

Thanks for the reply. Not sure on a case yet been looking at a bunch trying to catch some vids to see how big they are next to a person. I think this is the build I've come up with so far.. I will probably go off of ebay. Can most usually catch a lot better deals on there..

CPU - i7 4770k $300
GPU - amd R9 290x $269
RAM - Crucial Ballistix sport 8gb RAM = $70
HDD - 2tb HDD - $80
Mobo - Asus MAXIMUS VI IMPACT MINI ITX - $250
Power Supply - $80
Case -

(I do some video editing, digital painting, and 3D Modeling so figured I'd be better off to stick with an i7.)

I didnt really know how many watts I should be looking for in a power supply. But from what I saw on ebay and the one you linked I can get one for about $80. As far as the most appealing cases I've seen so far I'd have to say the Silverstone SG09 seems to be the most appealing. I need one thats a little on the short side. But would like to get even smaller if I can find one. So a horizontal rig would be great as well. As far as Monitors go I've got a few setting around the house that will work great. Mainly just worried about the pc its self and getting as much as possible into as small an enclosure as possible lol. Not gonna do SLI or Crossfire. Just want a single card setup.

 

[jaraldo]

Well, did you look at the measurements between cases? 😛

I know, I thought your case was going to be super small to until I compared them.

The case in my build. 13.98" x 6.57" x 15.75" = 1446.61'' cubed
The case in your build 11.61'' x 8.6'' x 13.97'' = 1397.84'' cubed

The difference is my case will be 1/3 the cost or more and you case is fairly similar in size.

I'm happy you kind of have an idea about things, but it would be more beneficial to both of us if you just edited my list or made your own on pcpartpicker. With a total, your build looks amazing. But you are already passed the $1000 in your build and you don't have your $100 case, your $100 monitor or the $80 in cooling which I think in a small space is at least somewhat necessary. ($1300 total)

So you will have to decide on what you prioritize in your build. Unless you are really trying to do professional video editing you won't need an i7. Any reason you need a $250 mobo? This is a $1000 budget build and the mobo will not give you any better performance in general compared to the CPU/GPU.
If you aren't overclocking you don't really need a K series CPU or any mobo over $100. I'd suggest keeping the extra fans though as your case will become very hot.

Try to make a new build on pcpartpicker and we can go from there.

 

[rcknrolfender79]

Well, did you look at the measurements between cases? 😛

I know, I thought your case was going to be super small to until I compared them.

The case in my build. 13.98" x 6.57" x 15.75" = 1446.61'' cubed
The case in your build 11.61'' x 8.6'' x 13.97'' = 1397.84'' cubed

The difference is my case will be 1/3 the cost or more and you case is fairly similar in size.

I'm happy you kind of have an idea about things, but it would be more beneficial to both of us if you just edited my list or made your own on pcpartpicker. With a total, your build looks amazing. But you are already passed the $1000 in your build and you don't have your $100 case, your $100 monitor or the $80 in cooling which I think in a small space is at least somewhat necessary. ($1300 total)

So you will have to decide on what you prioritize in your build. Unless you are really trying to do professional video editing you won't need an i7. Any reason you need a $250 mobo? This is a $1000 budget build and the mobo will not give you any better performance in general compared to the CPU/GPU.
If you aren't overclocking you don't really need a K series CPU or any mobo over $100. I'd suggest keeping the extra fans though as your case will become very hot.

Try to make a new build on pcpartpicker and we can go from there.

I meant to say R9 280X not 290X btw. The reason I picked the more expensive mobo is because it has built in wifi and a good on board sound card. Also it makes it extremely easy to over clock if I want to do that. But mostly I was interested in a board with a good sound card. I should have also mentioned that I do a lot of music as well. I spend a ton of time with creative/design apps if i'm not gaming. And no I dont do real serious video editing but I do a lot of stuff that is very cpu intensive like rendering 3D images with high poly models and a I dabble in both 2D and 3D animation. Some digital painting apps are pretty cpu instensive as well when you start using a lot of layers and use custom brushes with really high spray rates (hate it when a brush lags lol). Also when mixing/mastering a song with a ton of tracks it gets pretty cpu heavy as well (I use Sonar X3 btw). This is the reason I went with an i7 over the i5 as the multithreading comes in handy and helps out a lot in a lot of these cases.

As far as the mobo goes I'm not real familiar with mobo's. And am very open to suggestion in that area. Would I be better off buying a cheaper one without wifi and without a sound card and just throwing in my own?

Also I dont know how to do the pcpartpicker thing. Will look at it better when I get off work. I gotta go to work here in about 30 minutes (at midnight) will be off at 8 in the morning.

As far as my 1000 limit goes I'm alright with going a little over if need be. I just want a good quality build that will last a long while. In other words I'd rather spend a little more on a part that will last me a couple years longer than a cheaper alternative. I will probably buy 1 piece at a time then sell my laptop for about a grand if I can get it and buy the rest.

And like I said on the monitor we can leave that out of the over all price I have a few setting around the house I can use as well as a mouse. Could probably come up with a keyboard too but I'll probably buy a decent gaming keyboard instead.

I need to find a tape measure and look at some measurements of cases to get a better idea of what I'm looking at. Space is limited at work so I need to be careful with choosing a case. And as far as priority with a case... The two biggest are efficient cooling and space. Dont really care if it looks cool (of course that would be nice but its not a must) I just want it to be small enough to work in the area I have at work, easy to move around, and keep everythign inside more than cool enough. Dont really want to go with any kind of liquid cooling as thats just an accident waiting to happen especially since I'll be moving it around so much. (shutting down packing up, putting it in the car, getting it back out setting it up at work, then shutting down taking it home, and setting up at home again repeat that 4 days a week sometimes more)

 

[jaraldo]

Ok, thank you for that very detailed reply helps quite a bit.

As for the mobo, I'm not very well informed on wifi/sound cards built into them. I do know a good OC mobo can be had for $120-130 and a good sound card 75-$100, I'm not sure how the built-in wifi/sound card would compare to discrete ones though. I do think it'd probably just as easy to OC a $130 one as it would be to OC a $250 one though.

It would be nice to know a real max limit for you. As with every $100+ we can really enhance your computers capabilities.

I also agree liquid cooling is not worth it at all. If you aren't some insane hard core 5.0ghz+ guy then air cooling should be fine.

Hard to say if a $1,200 laptop wouldn't be better to be honest. I'm not quite sure it'd be worth it to bring a computer like that each day back and forth, unplug/plug in then the ware of it; Just the chance of damage on the way to and from work etc. Something to consider, since laptops are made for this and I think a $1000+ laptop would satisfy your gaming needs too.

It might only have 50% the power of a $1,000 desktop but still might be worth considering.

 

[rcknrolfender79]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($87.89 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($279.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1286.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-12 16:11 EDT-0400

What do you think about this list? And the mobo, cpu cooler and power supply are all debateable. With the case I picked I kind of had to go with a smaller cooler and as far as whats offered for air coolers its pretty limited so I figured I'd pick a decent water cooler. Is there any chance of them leaking? Never messed with them. That case is about as small as it gets if I want to keep the R9 280x... and I definitely do. Cooler Master makes the Elite 110 as well and its almost a perfect little cube that would be awesome but theres just not enough length to get the r9 280x in unfortunately, so I had to settle for the Elite 130.

 

[rcknrolfender79]

Snip

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[jaraldo]

hehe, ok no laptops! 😀

You've obviously done a lot of research so kudos to you. Pcpartpicker had a warning about your CPU cooler not fitting, but I found enough threads confirming it will fit.

Besides that, your build is great! I just adjusted a few minor things which some are optional in my opinion.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($279.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($87.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-R8 PWM 31.4 CFM 80mm Fan ($14.14 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1373.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-13 00:58 EDT-0400

I noticed you didn't have a SSD in your build. It's a great improvement for the OS and applications when compared to a HDD.
I swapped your PSU out for one that was cheaper, equal in quality and a 750w which gives you the room you need to SLI later if you want.
In such a small space I would keep those noctua fans in your build, the ones that come with the elite 130 won't be good enough.

 

[rcknrolfender79]

hehe, ok no laptops! 😀

You've obviously done a lot of research so kudos to you. Pcpartpicker had a warning about your CPU cooler not fitting, but I found enough threads confirming it will fit.

Besides that, your build is great! I just adjusted a few minor things which some are optional in my opinion.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($279.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($87.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-R8 PWM 31.4 CFM 80mm Fan ($14.14 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1373.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-13 00:58 EDT-0400

I noticed you didn't have a SSD in your build. It's a great improvement for the OS and applications when compared to a HDD.
I swapped your PSU out for one that was cheaper, equal in quality and a 750w which gives you the room you need to SLI later if you want.
In such a small space I would keep those noctua fans in your build, the ones that come with the elite 130 won't be good enough.

Thanks for the help! And I didnt mean to ignore you.. I was up quite a few hours past my bed time studying and quickly posted that when I got it finished and hit the hay lol. And I think I'm gonna stray from laptops. Its a bummer spending a ton of money on something that you cant really upgrade and depreciates by an extreme amount in a very short time. My laptop was a $4,000 laptop new in 09. Its a Sager X8100. I didnt pay that for it I bought it used for a grand a couple years ago. But I'm hoping I can get my money back and get something that I can maintain and keep up to date a lot longer.

This will be my last post til probably Sunday night or Monday. Going out of town for the weekend. Talk to you then.

 

[jaraldo]

no worries 😛

I think it's looking pretty completed to me as of now. Unless you need a CD Drive/blueray player or something.