Portable pc!

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sin^2(x) + cos^2(x) +e^(i*pi)
Hello, I've been woking on this project for a bit now, mostly doing research (lots and lots of research). I think I have decided on a portable Computer, that can run a fair mount of indie games, and probably some higher level emulation. I've looked at previous attempts at a DIY and most of them seem clunky, unfinished or just not powerful enough to run any games I would like to play. I would love an Aya-neo but I doubt those are going to be out for a while.

Motivation / Inspiration

Over the Spring I've been lucky enough to get a decent graphics card and built a gaming pc. Having to go onto road trips and such has made me wish for a handheld version of a PC, though I think being able to play AAA games won't be in reach right now, being able to play PC terraria on the go, along with Persona4 and Persona5 are my goals for this project. Being able to play dark souls on the go with my switch makes me dream of what I might be able to achieve.

Plan

I plan to use a Latte Panda Delta 800, its got decent enough specs, and it should be powerful enough to run most 2d games, and up to Wii/PS2 games, and even though emulation isn't perfect, it should be sufficient enough for my needs.

Planned specs so far



-1TB SSD storage
I'm using an M.2 drive, I'm hoping that the big storage won't be too detrimental to battery life or heating.

-5.5" 1080p Monitor + Multitouch screen
I wanted to use a 7" full HD monitor but apparently they are pretty rare, and the ones that do exist cost more than I want to spend. 5.5" should be good enough for most games, but if 5.5" turns out to be a detriment, I'll shill the money for a bigger screen, either trying for a 6.2" or 7"


-Latte Panda alpha 800
Its got battery integration for the most part, so that's why I want to go with something like this instead of an amd dev board, even though that would definitely have more power for gaming and such.

-Lipo battery 8000mah 7.4V

-Intel 8th m3--8100y

-8GB DDR3 RAM
it is DDR3, but there's not much I can do much about that since it's integrated

-Operating system
I kind of want to use something like a dual boot between recalbox and Windows, but I think I'll probably just running everything through windows

Pictures

I've been wanting to go for a Nintendo feel, so I was gonna go with a switch lite form factor but it was too small to contain everything, and the way to fit everything would be to make it thiccer, but I don't want to go over an inch of thickness.
1623358361237.png

I tried to make it wider, but Fusion didnt like that and I've tried to fix it but fusion said no. which made me sad cause I printed a bunch of test pieces that were really promising, I've through most of them out but heres a pic of some of them.
IMG_3386.jpg


thankfully though I know the bezel I printed is the perfect size, so atleast I can use that.
I was going to go Nvidia portable form factor, but it wasn't nintendo enough for me, so I decided to go with that one modern gameboy concept that I love.

I've messed all day with the proportions of the controller parts of this one, and I think I've gotten it to a part that I like and so I think now I'll put in the interior mounting. I've messed with layouts a bit, and I think everything should fit. right now it's at 26mm, but I think that's bound to change.
1623358715883.png



I'm taking this alot slower than I take my other projects in hopes of finishing it. I've been test printing a lot of parts to check tolerances, hoping that when I finally print the whole case I won't have to print more than one, even though that's a pretty high dream, if I take it slow hopefully I'll be able to x3.
Have a nice day!
 

Dmcke5

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2020 1st Place Winner
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Definitely interested to see how this one goes! I've considered the latte panda for the same purpose a few times but haven't been able to bring myself to pull the trigger on it due to how expensive they are compared to other more powerful compact pc solutions.

On the subject of the screen, lattepanda actually has a 7" screen that you may be interested in. https://www.lattepanda.com/products/5.html
IMO its probably one of the biggest advantages of the latte panda because it will plug directly into the board, no external driver needed or anything. Just a couple of ribbon cables. I know its not 1080p but the reduced resolution is honestly going to help you with running modern pc titles and anything you are likely to emulate would've run natively at a lower res than that.

Anyway, keep up the good work, I look forward to seeing some updates!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
578
Likes
663
Location
Constant Fear
Portables
sin^2(x) + cos^2(x) +e^(i*pi)
Definitely interested to see how this one goes! I've considered the latte panda for the same purpose a few times but haven't been able to bring myself to pull the trigger on it due to how expensive they are compared to other more powerful compact pc solutions.

On the subject of the screen, lattepanda actually has a 7" screen that you may be interested in. https://www.lattepanda.com/products/5.html
IMO its probably one of the biggest advantages of the latte panda because it will plug directly into the board, no external driver needed or anything. Just a couple of ribbon cables. I know its not 1080p but the reduced resolution is honestly going to help you with running modern pc titles and anything you are likely to emulate would've run natively at a lower res than that.

Anyway, keep up the good work, I look forward to seeing some updates!
Yeah it's definitely a daunting price tag T-T, your UFO Concept was definitely a very big inspiration for this!

Re-doing the Thermal paste I started benchmarking games, nothing scientific but see what works, and what doesn't.
A lot of Indie games can push out 1080p with tweaking Intel's Extreme tuning utility, most games run very smoothly.
The only game I haven't been able to get running at good speeds is Darksouls Remastered (at 720 I could only get like 25~ fps, which is unplayable sadly).
PS2 games run pretty well, Persona 4 I get mixed results, but definitely playable, and with more tweaking I think I can push 1080p. Terraria I can run a steady 1080p 60 fps. DS games run, usually able to run at 2x-3x
I think I'll stay with the smaller screen, since it didnt seem too bad with the size, my only concern is having enough space, since it's a small screen I can't have the system as big without weird proportions.

Now case design:

I've moved away from the futuristic DMG look, and I've gone more into a WII U gamepad feel, the ergonomics of the tablet are honestly some of the best I've ever held in my hand. WII U in general might of been a mistake, but the wii u gamepad feels better in the hands way better than the Switch.
I've re-done my case about three times now, I think this will hopefully be the final revision, I'm not sure as to how to print it though, because of all the bumps and what not.

pics:

1624738763150.png

1624738811612.png1624738837290.png1624738860929.png1624738988436.png
 

Dmcke5

.
2020 1st Place Winner
Joined
Feb 16, 2020
Messages
216
Likes
883
Location
Queensland, Australia
Portables
3
Yeah it's definitely a daunting price tag T-T, your UFO Concept was definitely a very big inspiration for this!

Re-doing the Thermal paste I started benchmarking games, nothing scientific but see what works, and what doesn't.
A lot of Indie games can push out 1080p with tweaking Intel's Extreme tuning utility, most games run very smoothly.
The only game I haven't been able to get running at good speeds is Darksouls Remastered (at 720 I could only get like 25~ fps, which is unplayable sadly).
PS2 games run pretty well, Persona 4 I get mixed results, but definitely playable, and with more tweaking I think I can push 1080p. Terraria I can run a steady 1080p 60 fps. DS games run, usually able to run at 2x-3x
I think I'll stay with the smaller screen, since it didnt seem too bad with the size, my only concern is having enough space, since it's a small screen I can't have the system as big without weird proportions.

Now case design:

I've moved away from the futuristic DMG look, and I've gone more into a WII U gamepad feel, the ergonomics of the tablet are honestly some of the best I've ever held in my hand. WII U in general might of been a mistake, but the wii u gamepad feels better in the hands way better than the Switch.
I've re-done my case about three times now, I think this will hopefully be the final revision, I'm not sure as to how to print it though, because of all the bumps and what not.

pics:

View attachment 17819
View attachment 17820View attachment 17821View attachment 17822View attachment 17823
Hopefully you can fit it all in behind the 5" screen, I only mentioned the latte-panda one so you know you've got some other options if you need to make it bigger.
Keep up the good work!
 
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