The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Build an ultra portable gaming pc with the Zotac Zbox EN670?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by ItsIggy, Jul 16, 2014.

  1. ItsIggy

    ItsIggy Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    19
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    6
    So recently I've been in need of something that has everything all in one, a system,screen and keyboard, and it has to be small form factor, and able to play games such as TitanFall and GW2 on High settings (1080P) and I'm working with a strict budget of 850$. So I found the Zotac Zbox EN760, which comes with the following:

    Core i5 4200U / 1.6 GHz
    RAM 8 GB
    HDD 1 TB
    GTX 860M / HD Graphics 4400
    GigE
    WLAN : Bluetooth 4.0
    802.11ac

    For only 650$, I found this to be an exceptional deal, and I really like it, and the fact that it can mount onto a monitor had me thinking that I could find a 15.6" screen, mount it onto the back of it, and somehow attach a keyboard, or just have the keyboard not attached.

    I was wondering if I would be able to find say a shell, like the casing of a laptop, that has the screen and the keyboard, but no motherboard, or any components inside of it, and fit everything from the EN760 into it?

    I'm also wondering if the CPU would bottleneck the GPU at all, since the U series is made to save power, which could be a problem when I need the performance to run games at high settings.

    Any ideas are appreciated!
     
    ItsIggy, Jul 16, 2014
    #1
  2. alexhawker

    alexhawker Spent Gladiator

    Reputations:
    500
    Messages:
    2,540
    Likes Received:
    792
    Trophy Points:
    131
    In a word, yes.
     
    alexhawker, Jul 16, 2014
    #2
  3. Porter

    Porter Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    786
    Messages:
    2,219
    Likes Received:
    1,044
    Trophy Points:
    181
    Nice! I did this same thing once, except it was not ultraportable, just a semi-portable full sized desktop that was easier to setup and teardown.

    I used a "smaller" case that a held full sized main board and GPU (mid-ATX maybe??). Basically it was the smallest case I could find that held full sized, full powered everything. I didn't want to be limited on power in any way. I had a 21" display with speakers bolted to the side panel of the case and all cabling self contained except the mouse and keyboard, and the two AC cords for display and tower. It worked great for what I used it for but it just wasn't the same and a notebook.

    It was a cheaper way for portability though for anyone who may want to move it weekly or carry to friends house or lan party a little easier. Plus it took up minimal desk space too, less than a notebook with monitor does anyway.
     
    Porter, Jul 16, 2014
    #3
  4. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

    Reputations:
    1,456
    Messages:
    8,707
    Likes Received:
    3,315
    Trophy Points:
    431
    The CPU is not good enough.. Try getting a i7-4700MQ at least in this config...
     
    TomJGX, Jul 18, 2014
    #4