Custom Carry On Case

[conzy]

Not that I can afford a gtx 1080 mini at the minute but I thought it would be a fun challenge to build a really small case that could support a 65watt TDP CPU and a 1070 / 1080 mini. This is what I came up with over the last week or so. Borrowing some inspiration from the community here. I like the internal DC PSU on the S4 mini and I like the "graphics card on the back" design of the A4 SFX. This was an attempt to make the smallest possible case that could take a 1070 mini comfortably and a 1080 mini at a squeeze!

What I have attached are just my initial "will everything fit" drawings.


I intend to put a highly ventilated U style cover on it. In the above images its lying on its side. You could use large feet to use it in that orientation so that the Graphics Card could intake adequately. But I think the upright orientation will be better for airflow.

Proposed Parts:
Substitute in equivalent parts for whenever this actually gets built..

Core i7 8700
ASRock Z370M
16GB ram
HDPLEX 400W Hi-Fi
Dell 330w brick
GTX 1070 mini
Samsung 960 EVO 250GB nvme drive
Crucial MX500 500GB
liheat 250mm pci riser

It hurts my wallet just thinking about the parts list. Part of me is also tempted to go the AM4 route and just throw in a 2200g and no video card so that I have a useable system for a few months until prices of GPU / ram calm down a bit. It would be disappointing though if I committed to AM4 and AMD failed to release a 65watt CPU to challenge the i7 8700

Anyway thats my plan. I know I could make my life easier and cheaper by going to 8-10 litres by using an SFX PSU etc but this is more of a fun challenge than a sensible PC build. Otherwise I'd buy a $29 Chinesium case

 

[conzy]

So the main impetus behind this build that it needs to travel from Melbourne Australia back to Ireland at the end of the year. While 4.2 litres is tempting all I really care about is that it fits in hand luggage. So I've mocked up some "large" designs that are still tiny compared to most commercial ITX cases. Part of the reason behind this is tinkering, I'd love to be able to overclock the CPU. And cost. an SFX PSU saves about $200 compared to a DC PSU / brick / riser card

Both of these designs can accommodate a Noctua NH-U9S which means overclocking and higher TDP CPUs would be possible

The first is a 6.9 litre design that can take a SFX PSU and GFX cards up to 230mm in length

The second is a 7.9 litre stacked design that can take an SFX-L PSU, GFX up to 175mm and a bunch of 2.5" drives


Thoughts?

 

[jtd871]

I'm supportive of your effort, but think that you will not do much better than a NFC S4M, Dan A4, Lazer3D LZ7, or Zaber Sentry for a mITX system. There's even a bag for your needs.

Don't know what the requirement for so many 2.5" drives is, but you could put 2 NVME drives and/or 2 2.5" drives in a Dan A4 (with the right motherboard).

 

[Stylis10]

Whilst I am all for new designs and would encourage you to build your own case (there's something satisfying about doing that), I personally have a Lian Li PC-Q21, which travels in my hand luggage atleast 6 times a year from East Africa to India or to the UK (only ever been stopped once by airport security because the guy wanted to know what case I had and what my specs were... He was a gamer and sff enthusiast)

I have modifies it for more fans, other than that its I think an 8L case and it's easily fits in my carry on with space left for my laptop, tablet, headphones and a few boxes of chocolates.

It takes time to plan and build a case, just keep that in consideration.

 

[conzy]

The Lian Li PC-Q21 looks like a great case actually, I was always a big Lian Li fan.

Why spend $80-$250 on a great case when you can spend $100s and countless hours making your own worse case

This is going to be a labour of love / hate. I love all the cases mentioned and they have given me great inspiration. But all of them have some compromise, you can have a long GPU but a small CPU cooler. Or you need risers or external bricks etc. The fact that I should be able to get a "large" cooler like the NH-U9S, an SFX L PSU and up to 230mm cards into less than 8 litres without using risers still makes this a fun project worth pursuing