Page 2 - A DEV concept project.

I was only thinking laptop earlier on, once I thought of the rucksack I realised it wouldn't need to be as compact... and also laptop hardware is quite limited din terms of upgrade-ability...

it would definitely need to be in a shielded / reinforced case though. last thing you want is two halves of a motherboard .

large "tower" heatsinks would be out of the question too, which is when i thought of having it water-cooled.

has anyone else had a look at AMD's DTX Specification ? it's basically like micro-ATX, a little smaller, more compact, but they only allow for two PCI(e) slots... two DIMM's, and limited CPU's, so they're out I guess... (plus it's likely to only be AMD CPU's, which rules out Core2 Quatro's )

I think a full ATX board would be overkill though... I mean who uses 4-7 PCI slots? all you really need is two PCI-e's, maybe a couple of PCI's for "netowkring" (EDIT: I saw this mistake as I clicked "Post" ) etc. and enough slots for memory.

ah, complexity.

Well, it all depends on the intended end-use of the system. If it's just a GP computer for surfing the net and doing paperwork, then a mini-ATX would do the trick nicely. If you want a powerful gaming rig, then a full ATX board will be the way to go.

Hell, a mini-ATX rig can fit into a freakin' soda can... we could computerize that bicycle helmet you wear when you are riding on the short bus! (that was not directed at anyone in particular, it just sounded funny).

... in fact, we could stuff a computer into one of those painfully cute stuffed animal backpack thingys-- a computer-bear!

BAHAHAHAHA....


Anyway ya DTX would probably the most viable option for a semi-portable pc. Especially mini-dtx am2 compatible, 2 dimms like anubis said, and a pci-e slot for the gpu and a pci slot for a sound card with plenty of room for hard drives and what not in the case. Watercooling would be a much bigger pain to move around and would take up a lot more space than a desktop heatsink, you just have to stick with a smaller one, something similar to a stock heatsink.

Has anybody seen an LCD screen that can be "plugged in" to the box? It'd be great if we could just plug in our display to the computer.

ive been thinking about a mod build for some time now, thing is i dont get much influence to get the creative juices flowing, i was looking over at mini-itx last week and most of the projects, as cool as they are, seem a little tired and outdated.

brainstorm is needed indeed

so this has got to be portable with either full size atx or that mini dtx.

does it have to have a built in keyboard and if you need it mouse?

If so I suggest a trackball mouse like what was on some of the early laptops

What im thinking is a slot loading dvd setup in a atx case thats laid on its side or build your own case and have it like a laptop but much better.

or does it have to be as small as possible?

If thats the case how good are u at taking apart lcd casing and building customized cases? Because Im thinking something on the lines of the imacs but without the gay apple logo.

Need more info though

I am still working on this and been playing with the 3D drawing program that Anubis sent me.
Things:
Weatherproof and airport resistant (lol)
Few cords but montor can detach (19-21")
Keyboard and mouse will be wireless so that is not a problem.
I want full power and interchangeability CPU, V-CARD.

Question is there a way to ?bend? the motherboard into a layed down L shape short side pointing down with the PCIE on the side/Thinking of MB upsidedown to the montor when closed.

I think I know what you mean CY... bending it to make an angle-iron sort of shape.

Given the design of most motherboard, I think you'll find it hard to find one with a clear line across it without components in the way. plus bending the PCB would be difficult, would probably require heating to soften it. then of course you have the problem of the multi-layered tracks, stretching the copper around a corner would be tenuous at best...

interchangeable graphics card may also throw a spannar in the works on the portability front. where there is a socket, there is a connector to snap. however, if it didn't have a massive cooler it may be light enough to flex slightly.

water proofing... Peli case? it's the best way. it makes the whole thing self-contained. it'll be very hard to beat that kind of quality and durability.

when you say full power, I take it you mean completely self-contained, plug into the wall as one box and go kind of thing? or are you on about the "power" capabilities of the components? as in full speck modern CPU? if so, I'd definitely go Core based at the moment, maybe you could find a mobile chip to reduce the heat given off.

you could probably run the whole thing from car batteries through an inverter too. but you'd either need a lot of them, or need to keep the engine running to power it for any amound of time.


oh, and recently I saw a tiny (think 3 stacked DVD's, ish...) projector. that could be really useful.

Two Words : Riser Cards