The B.F.L.

So this idea came to me early this spring. Originally I wanted what was more or less a complete gaming desktop that was truly portable (battery power.) After learning that no affordable battery(ies) on the market could power a 8800 and a Q6600, I revised the idea to be AC powered, yet still very portable. My original idea was the Traportazoid. It was a behemoth, at nearly 2 feet wide. I decided to scale back, making this a portable desktop instead of a portable desk.

Current Status: Awaiting input.





Parts list:
Motherboard: Intel BOXDG31PR LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Q6600
CPU Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS 8700 NT 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Ram: 1 gb DDR2 800 for now, will upgrade to 2 x 2gb
Hdd: 2 320 Gb Western Digital I had originally planned on a 500 Gb storage disk, and a Raptor for boot/ programs, but decided this was over kill, I had this 320 gb laying around anyways.
Powersupply: 500 watt 1U server psu
Optical: Sony NEC Optiarc Black E-IDE(ATAPI) 12.7mm Slim Combo Drive
Monitor: generic Viewsonic vg 150 15 in monitor, hacked to bits- the poor thing
Other: Belkin USB wireless G adapter Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 ADESSO AKB-410PB Keyboard w/ touchpad Note this will be installed using a right angle adapter also from orbit micro
Video Card: Leadtek 512 mb 8600 GT I had one of these laying around collecting dust. Note: the Video card will be installed horizontally to the motherboard, using This Adapter.



This is the original plan- its been scaled back quite a bit, but you get the jist.




An initial mockup


a newer mockup


Now we shall disassemble the monitor to see what we're working with. (okay so i actually did it before I took the previous mockup pics. Get over it.)




Poor thing. Does it know the fate that awaits it?




Getting started.



Who needs all those extra pieces anyways?



I finally found what I was looking for.



So I got a little carried away taking things apart. I decided to rip apart my old portable dvd player to use the screen as a panel mod on my main rig.

More pics to follow when I start doing mockups with the actual components.

Further preparations on the monitor:






Ripping apart the PSU trying to find a quieter cooling method:






After doing some testing with temp probes and various fan configurations, I found that 2 80mm fans placed on top of the open power supply sucking hot air out actually keeps things about 5 degrees cooler then stock (and about 30 db quieter.) So I'm going to make a shroud out of acrylic that will hold 2 80mm fans and replace the stock metal enclosure (well half of it.) The fans will either be 7 volted, or 5 volted, I'll have to do some more testing to determine that.

Now we move on to another problem. Here you can see my riser/ribbon used to reposition the videocard. I have some questions on cooling. Is it safe to sandwich that ribbon between the tv tuner and vid card? do I need to allow a gap for airflow? Here's a pic:




oooooooou pretty. as you can see I've decided to upgrade my vid card, an 8600gt with a q6600 didn't seem right.


awesome keyboard/touchpad, perfect for this build.

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Looking forward to seeing more!!

Also will be looking forward to seeing more, Subscribed!

+2 Subscribed!

Subscribed .. Looks awesome so far

update: I'm still debating on how I'm going to fabricate the case itself. the frame will be 3/4 in aluminum angle iron. I have 16 sq ft of opaque black plastic to work with from devs. The case itself is simple- but the lcd frame may prove tricky- i'll probably use Ben Heck's xbox 360 laptop guide as a starting point. I'm also building a homemade cnc for use on this project- theres an engadget guide for it. cheers.

I jst got the money I need to finish the project- and also a lead on parts for the cnc machine I'm building for it. More to come soon!

Where did you find the guide for the cnc? I would love to give that a try if it works well enough.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/29/how-to-build-your-own-cnc-machine-part-1/ Part one of 3.

Intersting project, never thought about a server PSU...

Sometime in the next couple years im going to get my touchscreen LCD portable PC running

Cant wait to see you get more work done on this


subbed

Server psu? Another forum member suggested it. The only downside is a higher price and the need for adapters to get "standard" connectors.

Awesome looking stuff here Gimpster good luck with the CNC machine I hope the threaded rod allows enough control over the cutter to do precise cuts with it. I think you should post a few pics of the cnc when you get it all finished.

There is a power supply you can get that is the same size as a CD Rom drive and fits 5.25 bay

will try and find a link for you to it

Decided to go with the server psu- the 5.25in psu's only went up to 300 watts. Bought the q6600 off of newegg, along with a 10 dollar cooler that had great reviews. Bought the server psu from circotech.com. So now I'm waiting on the UPS man- in the meantime I'll start constructing a brace/cover for the LCD. Oh and my recent O'C'ing spree resulted in a dead mobo on my gming rig- so the BFL now has 2 gigs of ram and an 8600 lol. And now I have to finish it soon- I have no gaming rig atm, only my laptop with integrated graphics.

added more pics