(This post may be taking this thread into the realm of system building, but in an attempt not to start yet another dangling thread I am placing it here. If any moderator feels this should be moved / split, I'll understand their discretion.)
Last week my laptop developed severe issues and is not booting. As it is/was my primary system, I have tried my best to diagnose and repair it to no avail. This has brought rebuilding this portable system back to the forefront. At least this way it should be easier, faster, and cheaper for me to fix a potential hardware failure.
Objectives: portability, stability, efficiency, durability
Usage: general use, moderate gaming, photo editing -- possibly video editing and learning how to setup and use virtual machines (mostly for using older utilities and games)
Case is a luggable Baby-AT, model KS-700-A. Interior dimensions : 8.5" wide by 13" deep, full height expansion cards +~20mm above bracket
CPU: Intel Core i7-4770S
Graphics: NVidia GeForce GTX 750Ti
Audio: some external USB solution
16 GiB RAM -- possibly expand to 32 later
It's difficult to pick other parts without settling on a motherboard. Here are three I have found that will physically fit in the case:
- TYAN S5533GM2NR-LE http://www.tyan.com/Motherboards_S5533_S5533GM2NR-LE
Mini-ITX with ECC ram support for 16 GiB and PCIe 3.0 16x slot. Unlikely candidate as places I have found selling it seem to only sell to registered companies, and, as such, I have no idea on price. - FOXCONN H81MXV-D http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDe ... -us0000611
Around $55 to $60 US. Small Micro-ATX, seemingly non-ECC up to 16 GiB, unknown PICe version slots, one 16X and one 1X, and unknown SATA III speed. I know it states 8.5 inches wide, but I'm a bit skeptical with the headers past the last slot. - SuperMicro X10SLE-F http://www.supermicro.com/products/moth ... 0SLE-F.cfm
Around $205 to $210 US. 4.6"Wx11.7"D -- a custom board that happens to be within dimensions. 32 GiB ECC, PCIe 3.0 8x slot (not sure how on a C224 chip mobo)
This is really getting exotic, and I'm hesitant to get a board with connectors I'm not even sure what are used for (at the back end.) Also, it only states specifically it supports 4th generation Core i3 processors, with no mention of i5 or i7.
I really want ECC RAM for the added stability, especially given that the price gap is fairly small at this time. I am ready to accept that there may not be a motherboard that supports ECC, the CPU, and the GPU while fitting inside this case, though.
I would like for this to be entirely passively cooled, but likely will end up with a large, slow fan. Large, weighty heatsinks might be an issue in terms of portability and physically stressing boards.
For a display, I thought a Pixel Qi PQ101WX01 would be nice to go with the portable and low power objectives while being 10.1 inches would fit the front panel :
Datasheet PDF (
http://www.pixelqi.com/yahoo_site_admin ... 201705.pdf )
The issue with that is providing an LVDS signal to run it. DisplayPort is supposed to output LVDS, but at the least I'd need a converter, plus might not find a GTX 750Ti with DP.
If worse comes to worse, I'll just use just an external monitor.
Lastly, undervolting; I would like to do it. Manuals are not so readily found to see if a motherboard does support this, plus, is this possible with an i7-4770S since it's already marked as a low power processor?