‘I’m still amazed that it all came together and actually works’: YouTuber spends 14 months building a glorious gaming laptop from desktop parts

You ever take a look at your gaming laptop computer and assume, “Rattling, I want I might constructed this factor myself over the course of the final 14 months?” Me both—however the place would we be with out these keen to boldly go the place others will not?

YouTuber Socket Science spent over a yr making a completely bespoke DIY gaming laptop computer (by way of Hackaday), and never solely does it appear to truly run video games fairly properly, it additionally appears reasonably dashing. This appears to be as a lot a shock to Socket Science as to me, as a result of they are saying they’re “nonetheless amazed that all of it got here collectively and truly works”.

In explaining why they determined to undertake this activity, Socket Science factors out a considerably open secret about gaming laptop computer GPUs: they’re not so good as the desktop graphics playing cards of the identical identify. 

A laptop computer RTX 4080 is not as highly effective as a desktop one. In reality, a laptop computer RTX 4080 makes use of the identical AD104 GPU as a desktop RTX 4070 Ti. Throw in cellular energy limitations and you’ve got a not insignificantly worse chip.

So, what does Socket Science do about this? Yep, they re-fashion desktop components right into a gaming laptop computer. The components in query are an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, an XFX Radeon RX 6600, a Gigabyte ITX motherboard, some “very low profile RAM”, a 120 Hz QHD moveable gaming monitor, a skinny keyboard, a touchpad, and a DC-to-DC energy provide.

To state the apparent, constructing a laptop computer is nothing like constructing a PC. Constructing a PC is simple: Simply order the components and match all of them along with a great deal of area to spare. Not so with a laptop computer. Elements must be packed collectively tightly with densely packed cooling and laid out very strategically. It is often not a job for house fans.

I will not spoil each element as a result of the video’s properly price watching, however the basic gist is as follows: Socket Science makes every part skinny sufficient to put in laptop computer format because of numerous motherboard desoldering and snipping adopted by taking aside the graphics card to make use of simply the PCB with the GPU on. 

There’s numerous slapping collectively copper, heatsinks, and heatpipes, adopted by placing this all collectively inside a 3D printed case alongside some 3D printed followers. The bottom of the construct even consists of fishing line and popsicle sticks, apparently. 

Lastly, the LCD is taken out of the moveable monitor and arrange in a bespoke 3D printed lid, and the keyboard and touchpad is fitted into the bottom of the case. None of that is even mentioning the mottled copper end.

Simply writing my very simplified model made me really feel a bit overwhelmed—I can see why it took Socket Science 14 months. Price it, although? I will persist with spending a bit additional on a laptop computer with a seemingly misnomered chip, myself, however I am glad I’ve now witnessed a veritable gaming laptop computer being inbuilt DIY trend with out having to lift a finger.