Hey brother. My Asus g14 died. I travel once a month and stay in hotels and work on pc. I’m Learninv ML and want to know if a mini Itx is a viable solution instead. I will build it out to the max because why not right lol. I will carry a couple ultra thin monitors and keys. That do you think about my idea? What about the mini PC as well?
Ok, so it sounds like what you want is:
As for what parts are feasible, well, biggest problem is going to be cooling and keeping the dust out of your PC. The link above will give you some tips and tricks at least. Realistically you are looking at something like a 7700 XT / 4070 Super with two fans and a length of 270 mm. You could go for something really small like the Dan A4 8 liter case but again, it will not be a super beast even when you watercool it. Anything above 15 liters is kinda a hassle to lug around, but doable.
If you are thinking larger-but-portable the Sliger Cerberus might be up your alley, screens come separately as you say, and perhaps two units, one briefcase with two screens and then the actual computer unit.
Good luck! ![]()
An ITX build in Wendell’s beloved Cooler Master NR200P is viable, as well, though graphics card size is the main concern.
Certain laptops are perfectly capable, but research SHOULD be done in the area of self serviceability.
I’ve been travelling overseas with a mini ITX PC for the past year and have found <10L and a portable monitor in a camera bag to be quite a manageable compromise. (I put my keyboard / mouse in a backpack.)
Build 1: DAN A4-SFX (7.2L) with Intel i7-13700K, ASRock PG/ITX-TB4, Intel A770 LE
Bag: Manfrotto Advanced Messenger Camera Bag M III
This was my initial setup, and travelled 2 countries with it (20+ hour flight). It was not too painful. A4-SFX allows up to 48mm cooler height, and 2 slots GPU. Initially, I used Noctua L9i for cooler, then switched to Thermalright AXP90 (with Noctua A9x14 HS-PWM fan swap, though non-copper).
This one works surprisingly well. Standard AXP90 (not a full copper variant) allows up to ~100W to be dissipated, so, 13700K worked fine at PL1=PL2=125W power limit. Longer running tasks get throttled, and fans do get noisy when that happens, but I found it to be an OK tradeoff. Capping it at 95W makes a very good noise/performance level.
Intel was chosen here because of iGPU (for VFIO setup), and AM5 was still very expensive at the time I was assembling this machine.
Build 2: FormD T1 (9.95L) with Intel i7-13700K, ASRock PG/ITX-TB4, MSI RTX 3090 Trio
Bag: Vanguard Divider Bag 40
This is the second iteration of the same machine. T1 allows for a more adjustable cooler height, etc. depending on the GPU height. I opted for a bigger GPU for this one, rather than a bigger cooler. I switched the cooler initially to Alpenföhn Blackridge, decided it was a pain to do anything and the performance was not worth it. Eventually, I ended up with Thermalright AXP90 Full Copper (have to order from Aliexpress). The Full Copper variant allows up to ~120W, so there’s more headroom for the 13700K.
The bigger case and GPU adds some extra weight, but I have been to 2 countries (again 20+ hours flight) with it. It’s considerably more painful than with A4-SFX especially during security check. This build is perfectly fine for a domestic travel, so I’ve been using it and not revert to A4-SFX (since I don’t have any planned overseas travel for a while). I did move back to A770, though (to lessen the weight).
Inno3D has 2-slots 4070 Ti, which could have been a good choice for this one. But instead of buying a new GPU, I decided I needed a smaller build, which leads me to…
Build 3: Custom case (<5L WIP) with AMD 7950X3D, ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I, Palit 4060 Ti StormX (2 slot/half-width).
Bag: fit in my backpack (planned) ![]()
Still WIP, trying to get it down to <5L with Flex ATX and half-width GPU for easier oversea travels. I thought about using Velka 3 for this, but decided I want to try making my own case. I’m using L9a-AM5 for this one and have some trouble getting it cooled unless it is running in Eco 65W mode (due to X3D and chiplet).
I’m in a middle of redoing the whole thing (since I mis-remembered my 3D printer max dimensions) and have been busy with other stuff, so no progress on this one yet. I planned to CNC the thing once I got 3D-printed prototype working.
I’ve also got 5800X3D in NR200. While I love the case, I would recommend against using NR200 for “travel build”. It’s way too big to travel comfortably with it.
That reminds me, if you really want to go small and are prepared to buy a small GPU and/or watercool GPU, I have three companies to recommend:
Do be aware we are now in the “So-Small-It-Hurts” realm with cases that have a very narrow choice for components to go into them.
MiniPCs such as Minisforum and the like are also a thing and offers good enough gaming performance. The problem is that their firmware are a bit shoddy sometimes and its not so reliable. You might get more consistent performance and reliability with a true miniITX form factor.
Alternatively since you seem to be on the techy side, consider running the ML at home with a powerful server/workstation and just remote connect to it with an ultralight laptop. Downside is that you will always need an internet connection to get anything done on the ML side.
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