So this might be the most ridiculous idea in the history of modding but I just recently got hold of a vintage Toshiba T1200 laptop from 1988. It weighs more than any laptop I've ever seen (even more than my old ASUS G73JH) and is about 3 inches thick. To think such computers were called portable boggles the mind.
Anyhow, the idea is to turn this 25 year old laptop into a beastly portable gaming machine. I've already thought out the layout and only have a couple more details to work out. I'll go with a mini ITX mobo and will use a 90 degree PCIe adaptor to fit the GPU horizontally. There is enough space for an HDD but I'll go SSD-only on this one. Because the GPU will take up the place of the battery cabinet, I'll probably end up fitting a battery behind the display panel.
The display casing is around an inch thick so there should be plenty of space there. The downside is I probably won't be able to fit a screen bigger than 13 inches, so I'm not sure whether to bother to put a screen at all.
I'm considering leaving the original keyboard in and try to source some serial/usb connector or maybe just replace the membrane with one from a modern keyboard and make it even simpler. But there's not enough space under the keyboard to fit a dvd drive, so I might after all decide to replace it with a laptop keyboard so I can fit a slim drive under it and maybe even have space for another SSD or a second battery, not sure about that one yet.
So those are all the parts that I've figured out thus far. There's a few tidbits I need to resolve:
1. Cooling. There isn't much room on top of the CPU so I might just leave the stock intel cooler, cut out a piece on the top and replace it with mesh and then get a couple 80mm fans on the right side for exhaust. I might also see if I have enough room to fit a low profile cooler on it, we'll see. Don't want anything to bulge out of the top of the case. I'll do the same for the GPU and use a blower type model, though I'm not sure which GPU I'm gonna use, I'll take measures and see how what's the biggest card I can fit.
2. Power. there's enough space left between the GPU and the left edge of the case that I might be able to find some custom PSU for one of those small footprint business PCs that would fit there, but it would depend on what GPU I get in there. It would have to be at least a 400W unit if I put something like a gtx560, but if I get my way I want to get a 680 in there. I've also considered the possibility of an external PSU but it would not look good at all because of the sheer amount of cables and extensions I'd have to use. I think the power delivery will be the biggest challenge of this rig. Anybody got any brilliant ideas?
3. Styling. I am mostly aiming at keeping the original look of it except for the extra grill I'll have to put in to allow for proper ventilation, but I've also considered giving the case a paint job because honestly the yellowish plastic looks horrible. So that's something I'm not sure of yet but will figure it out later. The priority now is getting the internals and the layout to work.
Of course the whole project is merely in the planning stages. If I do decide to go through with it It'll take some time. Not because I don't have enough free time to work on it but because sourcing those components will cost a pretty penny and I can only afford to use a small part of my salary for this project. I would like to hear your opinions and comments.
Do you think this might be an original idea worthy of the time and money that would go into it?
Do you have any other idea to do something even crazier with it?
Anyhow, the idea is to turn this 25 year old laptop into a beastly portable gaming machine. I've already thought out the layout and only have a couple more details to work out. I'll go with a mini ITX mobo and will use a 90 degree PCIe adaptor to fit the GPU horizontally. There is enough space for an HDD but I'll go SSD-only on this one. Because the GPU will take up the place of the battery cabinet, I'll probably end up fitting a battery behind the display panel.
The display casing is around an inch thick so there should be plenty of space there. The downside is I probably won't be able to fit a screen bigger than 13 inches, so I'm not sure whether to bother to put a screen at all.
I'm considering leaving the original keyboard in and try to source some serial/usb connector or maybe just replace the membrane with one from a modern keyboard and make it even simpler. But there's not enough space under the keyboard to fit a dvd drive, so I might after all decide to replace it with a laptop keyboard so I can fit a slim drive under it and maybe even have space for another SSD or a second battery, not sure about that one yet.
So those are all the parts that I've figured out thus far. There's a few tidbits I need to resolve:
1. Cooling. There isn't much room on top of the CPU so I might just leave the stock intel cooler, cut out a piece on the top and replace it with mesh and then get a couple 80mm fans on the right side for exhaust. I might also see if I have enough room to fit a low profile cooler on it, we'll see. Don't want anything to bulge out of the top of the case. I'll do the same for the GPU and use a blower type model, though I'm not sure which GPU I'm gonna use, I'll take measures and see how what's the biggest card I can fit.
2. Power. there's enough space left between the GPU and the left edge of the case that I might be able to find some custom PSU for one of those small footprint business PCs that would fit there, but it would depend on what GPU I get in there. It would have to be at least a 400W unit if I put something like a gtx560, but if I get my way I want to get a 680 in there. I've also considered the possibility of an external PSU but it would not look good at all because of the sheer amount of cables and extensions I'd have to use. I think the power delivery will be the biggest challenge of this rig. Anybody got any brilliant ideas?
3. Styling. I am mostly aiming at keeping the original look of it except for the extra grill I'll have to put in to allow for proper ventilation, but I've also considered giving the case a paint job because honestly the yellowish plastic looks horrible. So that's something I'm not sure of yet but will figure it out later. The priority now is getting the internals and the layout to work.
Of course the whole project is merely in the planning stages. If I do decide to go through with it It'll take some time. Not because I don't have enough free time to work on it but because sourcing those components will cost a pretty penny and I can only afford to use a small part of my salary for this project. I would like to hear your opinions and comments.
Do you think this might be an original idea worthy of the time and money that would go into it?
Do you have any other idea to do something even crazier with it?
)
