Newcompute's New Computer Turns a 4k Monitor Into the Side Panel of a Luggable All-in-One
Sick of carrying multiple boxes around, Newcompute combined a compact display with a custom chassis to build a powerful all-in-one PC.
Pseudonymous video editor "Newcompute" has put together a real tower of power with a difference: it's a just-about-luggable all-in-one which turns an LCD display into its own side panel, for video editing anywhere and any time.
"I am a video editor," Newcompute explains by way of background to the build. "I got tired of dragging my full tower and monitor around, so I am prototyping this all-in-one luggable centered around the smallest 4k monitor I could find."
In some respects, what Newcompute has built is a fairly standard tower — using, primarily, off-the-shelf components, including an Asus Prime Z380-A motherboard with an Intel Core i9-9900k processor, 64GB of DDR4 RAM, an MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, 1TB of Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) storage, and a Thunderbolt 3 card for interfacing with external hardware. What he's built it in, by contrast, is something new.
"The frame is built of 2020 aluminum extrusion," Newcompute explains, "and the panels are 3D-printed. I already had the build in a case, and needed to make it more portable." The answer to the portability: designing a new chassis in which a 24" LG 24UD58-B 4k display is turned into the side panel, meaning only one box to carry when moving from work site to work site.
"It's actually relatively spacious on the inside," Newcompute says of the design, which puts the graphics card at the front so it can pull in cool outside air and uses a 360mm all-in-one water cooling system with the radiator positioned at the top of the case to keep the CPU cool. "It's not super convenient," Newcompute confesses, "but more relatively convenient than a tower and monitor. I'm happy with it."
"Yes, a laptop is better for this use case," Newcompute admits. "[An Apple] M1/M2 MacBook, [or NVIDIA GeForce RTX] 4090 laptops would all be more convenient than this. I already had all these parts, needed them to be mildly portable, and I had a lot of fun building it. The thermals are excellent, what isn't pictured is the ventilation on the bottom and side. The LED panel is actually a large source of heat, but does not heat up the other components enough to notice. The top of the case is a 360mm rad with exhaust fans."
More information is available in Newcompute's Reddit post.