Play Your Favorite PC Games Anywhere with This Portable Computing Setup in a Suitcase

A quick overview

When thinking of a portable gaming or workstation setup, most people would imagine a laptop on a dock with a possible extra monitor added, but they are often lacking in screen real-estate and expandability. This is what inspired YouTuber Matthew Perks (AKA DIY Perks) to build his own portable computing solution that fits entirely within a suitcase- screens and peripherals included.

Isolating the displays

The first major challenge of creating such a device was getting the three screens out of their native enclosures and into the suitcase. Perks began by carefully popping out a large LCD panel from the monitor's body and disconnecting the attached cables. Next, he designed a few plastic brackets that lock into the aluminum tabs holding the screen in place. This was repeated two more times for a pair of 1080p screens that act as a type of window when they fold out from the suitcase. He also used several 144Hz Freesync-enabled driver boards, which allow for the panels to receive input data from the graphics card and show it, since the monitors' control boards were removed at the beginning.

Designing a chassis

eIn order to mount everything, the chassis was required to act as a strong framework, since major rattling or bumps could cause certain components to become detached or even break. Perks fashioned a central backplane from a fairly thick sheet of aluminum. Each display panel was also held in place by its own special frame, with the two side ones containing a hinge for the side pieces.

The mini computer

Nothing in this project was perhaps as important as the PC, as it is responsible for taking in all of the various inputs and doing something with them. To save space, Perks chose a mini ITX motherboard that allowed for him to add an extremely powerful 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, 64GB of Crucial Ballistix 3600MHz RAM, and an RTX 3080 graphics card. This combination of components is one of the best for both productivity and gaming setups, making it a great choice for a highly capable PC.

Integrating IO and speakers

The vast majority of the IO is handled by the motherboard, including USB, networking (WiFi and Bluetooth), a pair of solid state drives for storing files, and audio outputs. Rather than being forced to wear headphones or plug in a pair of speakers each time he wanted to use the PC, Perks mounted a subwoofer and a couple of speakers at the base of the central backplate. A pair of cheap audio amplifier boards then take the sound coming from the motherboard and boost it to a high enough level for a great listening experience.

Cooling everything off

With great power comes great heat production, and that is even more true for compact systems where heat can quickly build up and overwhelm under-performing cooling solutions, leading to thermal throttling and/or shutdowns. It was for these reasons that Perks opted to add a massive waterblock onto the top of the Ryzen 5950X as well as the RTX 3080 since have a combined TDP of 425 watts. A small pump moves water through tubing that carries the heat away from the components and dumps it into a radiator for exchange with the surrounding air volume. And to take things several steps further, Perks chose to use four low-profile radiators that hold seven 40mm fans each for a total of 28 fans.

Gaming on the suitcase PC

Coolant added and monitors connected, it was finally time for Perks to unfurl the side monitors and boot up the machine. Given all of the powerful hardware contained within, it was able to excel in general video editing tasks and gaming, as expected. And because important data should never be stored in just one location, let alone a portable computer, the PC was also attached to a NAS storage solution for regular backups.

All-in-all, this DIY suitcase PC was a a great showcase of how components could be arranged in a unique way to create an interesting project.