LAN Setup and Advice?

[Edge]

So I'm planning to go to The Gathering next year in Norway, which is basically a huge LAN event. I'm going to have to take a computer, monitor and peripherals, so it's gonna be tricky when flying across.

(Note, I don't intend on taking my main PC. It's going to be an NZXT Phantom build, so much too big to really attempt to take that over with a monitor.)

Does anyone have any experience or advice for this kinda thing? Whether it be how to safely ship a monitor over and ideas for a mini ITX build, or should I just buy a "gaming" laptop?

 

[Feronix]

As far as transport goes:
- Mechanical HDDs are not the greatest idea
- Take the GPU out
- No big CPU heatsinks

Do you really want to build a mini-ITX rig just for this event? If yes, what's the budget and will you be using parts from your main rig (could easily use the RAM and GPU, maybe the CPU too)?

 

[Edge]

As far as transport goes:
- Mechanical HDDs are not the greatest idea
- Take the GPU out
- No big CPU heatsinks

Seems logical. Don't want anything shaking around.

Do you really want to build a mini-ITX rig just for this event? If yes, what's the budget and will you be using parts from your main rig (could easily use the RAM and GPU, maybe the CPU too)?

I'm a bit torn to be honest. I plan on travelling a fair bit in future so it's more like the first instance of using it, than the sole use for it. I'm not sure if I'd be better off building mini-ITX or just buying a laptop.

Obviously laptop has a massive advantage in portability. I'd have the PC, a monitor and keyboard all nicely packed. Probably wouldn't even need a suitcase if I just bought a laptop.

But I can get a more powerful machine for better value with mini-ITX. So I'm not sure really. Perhaps a laptop really is superior for the convenience. If that's the case, what's the best gaming laptop up to 15"?

 

[Feronix]

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusV-15/

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexIV-LE/

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/VortexIV-15/

?

Or you could just build an ITX rig as your main rig and save yourself a lot of money.

 

[Edge]

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusV-15/

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexIV-LE/

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/VortexIV-15/

?

Or you could just build an ITX rig as your main rig and save yourself a lot of money.

I'm not really knowledgable about laptop hardware. Are those anywhere close to the power offered by, say, Razer Blade 14 or Alienware 14? Because if so they are great value.

As for main rig, I'm stuffing too much into it for ITX I think. And I'm a bit of a freak for aesthetics. I like boldness, even if it's at a premium.

 

[Feronix]

I'm not really knowledgable about laptop hardware. Are those anywhere close to the power offered by, say, Razer Blade 14 or Alienware 14? Because if so they are great value.

As for main rig, I'm stuffing too much into it for ITX I think. And I'm a bit of a freak for aesthetics. I like boldness, even if it's at a premium.

I honestly don't know what's in either of those laptops but from basic experience most people here can tell you that both Razer and Alienware tend to be quite overpriced.

Either way, the laptops from PCSpecialist will probably serve you fine for the occasional LAN party and such.

There are some ITX in which you can fit quite a lot like, 240mm rads, dual-GPU cards, multiple HDDs (can mount SSDs wherever you want) and higher end ITX boards will be able to handle an overclocked i7 and 16GBs of RAM perfectly fine.