2020 CS grad built a pc for work/games and am excited to learn more about SFF. Currently, I have an NR200 housing a Gigabyte B550I, AMD 3700x, MSI RTX 3080, and 32 Gb of ram all power by an SF750. I thought this would be portable enough but honestly, it has been a pain to transport and I would love to downsize into something carry-on friendly. I have been looking at the dan a4 and the IQUNIX ZX-1 but am open to other ideas.
Hey everyone!
- Thread starter conrad760
- Start date
You're having the exact experience that I knew I'd have if I went with NR200. It's just big enough to be comfortable to work in and small compared to towers, but it's kind of pushing it for carry-on. You really gotta get to the 10L mark for it to be good. When I was going to college I had the Shuttle XPC style builds, which are usually around 15L. It definitely worked and fit, but practically speaking it's kind of questionable.
Even going down to 10L it's going to be really dense, the hardware is similar to bricks in density. I'm thinking that although it's possible to wrap it in clothes and put it in a typical carry-on, it could be potentially a better experience to make a perfectly fitted foam lined pelican case with the suitable accessories (telescoping handle? definitely want wheels) for the computer. Although some cheaper airlines try to limit you to a single carryon, as long as you're not trying to bring multiple very bulky items with you, i've never had problems. I'm still researching the pelican case angle... it might also just make more sense to make some sort of padded pouch that has handles and just leverage a normal carryon luggage by putting it in the bottom. The main idea here is that the PC will be so heavy youll want to have some system to help you manipulate it while you're in the security checkpoint, as it's a certainty that itll need to come out for bomb sniffing.
I have a ZX-1 incoming in the mail this week and will be setting up my 5950X and 3080 TUF in it. Hopefully it ends up fitting, I think it will but I worry about the PCIe cables.
I ordered the ZX-1 the first day I learned about it. I had been looking around for the perfect ITX case and just hadn't found the right one. It just ticks so many boxes. One thing I suspect though is that the GPU may end up slightly starved for air. I reckon it'd be easy to get custom side panels, and also to leave the side panels off during use. I wanted to make sure that the case would be robust enough for traveling and the design achieves this while being better looking than everything else.
Good luck!
Even going down to 10L it's going to be really dense, the hardware is similar to bricks in density. I'm thinking that although it's possible to wrap it in clothes and put it in a typical carry-on, it could be potentially a better experience to make a perfectly fitted foam lined pelican case with the suitable accessories (telescoping handle? definitely want wheels) for the computer. Although some cheaper airlines try to limit you to a single carryon, as long as you're not trying to bring multiple very bulky items with you, i've never had problems. I'm still researching the pelican case angle... it might also just make more sense to make some sort of padded pouch that has handles and just leverage a normal carryon luggage by putting it in the bottom. The main idea here is that the PC will be so heavy youll want to have some system to help you manipulate it while you're in the security checkpoint, as it's a certainty that itll need to come out for bomb sniffing.
I have a ZX-1 incoming in the mail this week and will be setting up my 5950X and 3080 TUF in it. Hopefully it ends up fitting, I think it will but I worry about the PCIe cables.
I ordered the ZX-1 the first day I learned about it. I had been looking around for the perfect ITX case and just hadn't found the right one. It just ticks so many boxes. One thing I suspect though is that the GPU may end up slightly starved for air. I reckon it'd be easy to get custom side panels, and also to leave the side panels off during use. I wanted to make sure that the case would be robust enough for traveling and the design achieves this while being better looking than everything else.
Good luck!
Thanks! So quick update here my GPU was 323 mm which was comfy in the NR200 but moving it to anything else was just so slightly too big. I ended up doing a local trade with (now friend) internet stranger for his evga ultra which is only 300 mm! So I went ahead and bought a Velka 7 (they ship a few hours away from me) and a NH-L9a-AM4 cooler.
I looked at the pelican cases and that seems like a really popular move but I have also gotten to watch my luggage collapse off the cart from the window seat and don't think any case could dampen that fall enough to save a pc... And waiting around for baggage is my least favorite part of the whole ride. Instead, I got a BIG backpack {40L}. Specifically the Goruck GR2. If you are a student they have some nice discounts and here are some pics with the 3080 box for scale. I am hoping this is big enough to hold the pc, a spare screen, a work laptop, and a few pairs of clothes. If this doesn't work out or the velka 7 is running too hot I might swap to a pelican case.
I looked at the pelican cases and that seems like a really popular move but I have also gotten to watch my luggage collapse off the cart from the window seat and don't think any case could dampen that fall enough to save a pc... And waiting around for baggage is my least favorite part of the whole ride. Instead, I got a BIG backpack {40L}. Specifically the Goruck GR2. If you are a student they have some nice discounts and here are some pics with the 3080 box for scale. I am hoping this is big enough to hold the pc, a spare screen, a work laptop, and a few pairs of clothes. If this doesn't work out or the velka 7 is running too hot I might swap to a pelican case.
Yeah at no point was I suggesting checking the bag, pelican or otherwise. You just can’t risk it, I wouldn’t even consider doing that even if you fill your case with expanding foam...
Nice, good luck with your build. I wanted more thermal headroom with my build so I went with a 10L case. It’s turning out well. The real challenge was GPU clearing the AIO tube! I didn’t even think to worry about that. It somehow fits though. 5950x runs hot with PBO on. Really hot.
Nice, good luck with your build. I wanted more thermal headroom with my build so I went with a 10L case. It’s turning out well. The real challenge was GPU clearing the AIO tube! I didn’t even think to worry about that. It somehow fits though. 5950x runs hot with PBO on. Really hot.
randomly reviewing my posts here and just want to update that my ZX-1 build went great, i had my workstation there but that 5950X is as of now in an ATX mobo and case, as the connectivity is far better and I'm actually making use of it.
ZX-1 is hosting a 5800X3D at the moment with the TUF3080 but I got a 3080 XC3 through a whole evga RMA saga, and that gave me the idea to downsize further into a Velka 7. Will be going from the 240mm AIO to a low profile air cooler, i think it will be possible to keep it cool enough for games at least. The 11L form factor of the water cooling version of the ZX1 is still too big to practically travel with although it is already plenty portable, I just want it not to completely take over my backpack. I'll be much more likely to bring it if it can just only consume like half my backpack... so I am gearing back up for a build again. Stoked about it
ZX-1 is hosting a 5800X3D at the moment with the TUF3080 but I got a 3080 XC3 through a whole evga RMA saga, and that gave me the idea to downsize further into a Velka 7. Will be going from the 240mm AIO to a low profile air cooler, i think it will be possible to keep it cool enough for games at least. The 11L form factor of the water cooling version of the ZX1 is still too big to practically travel with although it is already plenty portable, I just want it not to completely take over my backpack. I'll be much more likely to bring it if it can just only consume like half my backpack... so I am gearing back up for a build again. Stoked about it
