Building laptop from scratch

Hey, I was going to buy a new gaming laptop - but I don't feel like paying 2000$, so I thought that maybe I could buy one of those customizable laptops, buy the standard, then buy the upgrades seperately and put them in myself and profit.
Turns out I can, and there's a lot of money to be saved. However, if I'm going to replace everything anyways, I might aswell build it from scratch right?
I don't have any experience at all with this, but I'm a 2nd year electrical engineer student, so I have some fundamental knowledge about electronics in general.

I made a list of the things that I want in it. So now is the time to decide what motherboard I need right?
But I can't really find any good sites where they have specifications on what motherboards are compatible with what. So if you have any suggestions on that please feel free to post a link, I'd really appreciate that.

I went in to this site Configurator
Because the Sager NP9150 is very similar to what components I've chosen. And I wanted to know what motherboard it has and if/where I can get it. I'd greatly appreciate some help on that aswell. Or if you know of a notebook motherboard that is similar, that'd be awesome too.

One more thing, a newb question I suppose. I realise that motherboards have different cooling systems etc. that can be superior to others. But other than that and ofcourse the compatibillity issues extra inputs etc. are there some motherboards that are simply faster than others? Because I don't want to go ahead and buy high-speed processors and RAM if my motherboard is going to completely counteract that speed somehow. I don't believe this is the case, but if it is, how do I keep an eye on stuff like that?

Lastly, feel free to post some general tips. Things to avoid and things to make sure, that'd be great.
I realise that in a project like this, mistakes can become expensive. But this project is not just about saving money, it's also to expand my knowledge in my actual field of study. =)

Thanks for taking your time of reading this, have a nice day. -Santa

 

Laptops don't work like this, at all. I'm sorry, but what you are trying to do is impossible. Aside from processors, ram, hard drives, power adapters and sometimes LCD screens, there is ZERO compatibility between anything. A barebones is the cheapest and most basic thing you can get without spending double or triple trying to build the same exact system out of spare parts you found on ebay.

 

You basicly just listed all the components that I'd ever be interested in replacing.. So I'm confused now. What exactly are you saying can't be done?

 

what a noob. trying to build a notebook from scratch without having some basic knowlage? are you in narnia?
forget it.
the best thing you can do is to buy a barebone notebook and upgrading it yourself.
with some modding you might try to add more I/O ports and eventually upgrade the LCD. but it won't save you any money, it will actually increase the price. and a lot.

Realise that you can't buy a notebook motherboard. they are not desktops. Actually, you could try to buy parts but those parts are very expensive.
and how do you expect to make a cheap chassis? each motherboard has it's own chassis and cooling.
do you own a factory or something?
forget it. your idea is just a non sense.

Just buy a barebone and add components yourself. you can even get ES cpu's from ebay. it will save you a lot.
more then that can't be done sorry. good luck.

 

I wish building a notebook from scratch made economic sense. But as others have said, it just doesn't.

Even sometimes buying a barebones and getting the components on ebay can come out worse than just buying a complete system.

The resellers don't have much of a markup on their notebooks.

The only reason to go through all the trouble of building it yourself is if you need really good build quality.
Or if you can't find the config that you want from a reseller.

There was one forum member that made his own, but he took the project down because of some negativity.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...octitron-ground-up-custom-laptop-project.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/windows-os-software/338625-what-operating-system-octitron.html

 

I don't think your a noob. Its actually a good idea. I would suggest buying a clevo barebones laptop that fits your minimum requirements (Sager laptops are built of of clevo) then stick in a hardrive, Ram and processor and you will have a perfect laptop. BUT most laptops these days are extremely customizable so I would suggest xoticpc.com , the hp dv6tqe or something from toshiba if you want it cheap. If you need any more help pm me.

 

adding components to a barebone it's NOT building a notebook from scratch.

it just depends on what you want to get but imo it's always cheaper, even if it is for a little margin.
of course the savings will be much higher if you go high-end. even much higher if you get an ES cpu.
I'm using one atm and it was 70% cheaper then OEM and it performs the same. I just can't tell you where I got it because stupidly it's against forum rules to discuss ES cpu's.

but even if you can't get a barebones sometimes getting the minimum specifications and upgrade later and selling the older components can save a lot of money. specially whith some brands like alienware.

 

We do not allow selling ES CPUs in marketplace, discussion of ES CPUs in the rest of the forum is fine. It's still technically not permitted by Intel to sell ES CPUs, but it's been discussed many times that they are available on ebay and many members have asked about the various stepping codes without consequence.

 

things changed then because some years ago topics and posts were even closed and deleted because of ES cpu discussions.
The sale of an ES cpu cannot be rulled by a company in many countries. At least in my country if I own an item I'm entiteled to do whatever I want with it including, selling, borrowing, destroying and transforming it and if any company wants to forbide me from doing it it can be fined.

anyway, I only use ES cpu's. savings can be more then 500$. and performance is not affected.

 

The thing is, the early testers with an ES chips do not own it. It's basically lent to them, and they are supposed to return it.

Processors — Information about Intel Engineering/Qualification Sample Processors

 

Do NOT my friend, I repeat, dO not listen the the haters and troll that roam around this forum. They just jealous of your idea. That which you are trying to build although time consuming CAN be done with enough effort patient and in telligence. I will provide links to a website where you can see how other peoples work!!

see pictures!!:










DIY LAPTOP - YouTube

 

LOL!

If you call this thing laptop/notebook, then my definition of the same word is actually completly different...

This thing is just basicly PC in poorly done, ugly, big and completly impractice case...


Not sure if you are serious
or just trollin'
...

 

yeah that's really CHEAP and PORTABLE.
battery life 0 seconds.

 

I recall Intel going after some people putting them on the market, the ones who had initial access to the ES CPUs and either sold them to resellers or particulars. I don't know what the outcome was. Anyways, many here have ES CPUs and you can even see it in their signature.

It's possible that the rules were different at one point, however, i went through the rule thread as well as consulted other mods just to make sure it was ok to discuss ES CPUs. Haven't heard from Charles, i'd be surprised if he says otherwise, but if he does, i'll let you know.

As for building a laptop from scratch, one that has the form factor of a laptop is not gonna happen the same way you can with a desktop. The best you can do as others said is going with barebone.

Technically, it can be done, but you'd have to either have a chassis designed and built for a particular motherboard and the other components you want or you'd have to design chassis and mainboard so it would take other components available then have them made custom for a rather large price.

The other closest thing is a small form factor desktop with some minor modification, that however is not a laptop.

Slightly OT, but didn't Intel try to push for that at one point and it didn't take off?

 

That's one sexy DIY laptop there. It looks like it's just a hair too thick to be considered an ultrabook, but man, it's so close....

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

taking the idea from the DIY desktop / transportable it is possible to make somekind of device that would be similar to a notebook. but there are many issues.
desktop parts aren't made for portability. they consume much more power, space and have higher TDP's. also the porpose of building something cheaper will be ruined by the extensive modding needed to achieve somekind of portability.
Also performance wouldn't be great because in order to meet the portability requirement.

with that said it's really easy to make a notebook. the cheapest and easiest one I known off is using a raspberry pi. it won't run crysis or windows but it will run linux and it's usefull.

other idea is to mini itx motherboards. atom ones will give nice portability but not so great performance.
non atom it will give a good performance but not so great battery life. the cpu can be downclocked. problem is the graphic card. it's hard to find motherboards that support MXM and MXM cards are also hard to find and expensive.
desktop ones consume too much power. but a compromise can be achieved. an AMD HD 7750 consumes a very impressive 50W at load. it's a great card.

for the cooling it's easy to adapt other notebook coolers if neeeded.
for the lcd notebook lcd's can be used if the LVDS can be hacked. if not it's hard to adapt a desktop display but there are alternatives like small portable 14" usb displays.
for the battery it's easy to do need to known about electronics. the good part is that you can make a battery the size you want.

you might want to check about car pc's. they are small and some perform well.

but in the end like I said. for cost saving porposes is just stupid. costs will be much higher then any notebook. it will also be bulky, heavy and not portable.
possibly it can perform resonably but not as good as high end notebooks.


other thing you might find usefull is to search for xbox and ps3 mods. it can give you great ideas.

 

presumably raspberry pi placed on the back of a cheap tablet screen with video in with a keyboard docking station would work for you?

personally if you want to do something different buy a slightly older laptop off ebay and muck around with upgrades you could get a touch / swivel screen and make it into a touch screen router / nas / or anything

 

raspberry pi is expensive. ok cheap without add ons. but consider this, for less then 100$ you can get a cheap android tablet that already has:
battery
charger
display
input method (touchscreen)
more performance
wifi
bluetooth
webcam
gps
and so on.

if you add all this the price will be much higher then a cheap tablet.

there are also other micro pc's like raspberry pi.
but imo the best way to get a working pc is really buying a cheap tablet.
don't get me wrong raspberry pi is great. I've one and I love it. But I use it for other kinds applications.

 

It not impossible, just very, very difficult. In fact, I think its a very good idea. However, I also think the OP needs to do a lot more research. The first thing I would do is design the form factor. Start with the case--since thats what will sell your laptop--and move out from there.

 

I wonder if it is cost effective when comparing to high end notebooks because they are very expensive. let's compare about the same performance.

M18x
18.4" (60Hz) WideFHD WLED (1920x1080)
Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3610QM
2x AMD 7970M
8Gb sodimm
no HDD
Slot Load DVDRW/CDRW Drive
wifi
bluetooth
= $2670

mini itx
$100 mini itx motherboard
$200 i5-3450S
$250 AMD 7850
$50 8gb DDR3
$100 18" LCD
=700

so we have about $2000 for the chassis, battery, keyboard, charger, assembly, cooling etc etc.
so it may be cost effective but imo only at high end.


another better alternative is to wait for a cheap thunderbolt notebook. add a powerfull cpu and add a thunderbolt egpu. it will have the same performance of a desktop while being very portable at a very low price.

 

There is a difference between a laptop, which is something you cannot build yourself, and a portable SFF desktop. And designing yourself a laptop, while not actually impossible, is 0% doable in practice.

 

no one here is talking here about SFF desktops.
and it is doable since they alrleady exist.

 

You are/were, read your last post

Sent from my HTC One S

 

I wasn't. I was talking about building a NOTEBOOK using mini atx motherboards. not SFF desktops.

 

If you need a suitcase to wheel it around, to plug it into the wall for power, or is many times the size or weight of the largest commercial laptop ever built, it is not a notebook/laptop. But if it has been done, then surely you can come up with some examples, no?

 

@MrSatan , tell me you are trolling lol , that is too huge compare to laptop sound like desktop in a suitcase.

 

a suitecase can be similar sized to a large notebook. you don't need to plug it into the wall for power, it can have batteries. sure it will be heavy, note necessarely bigger. yes there are many examples on the web. there's also a 21" comercial notebook.

 

Yeah, there are some recurring themes in these "DIY laptops." No batteries, really low end components, extreme bulk and weight. I haven't found a single one that is something even remotely practical or cost-efficient.

 

All commercial portable devices are ubiquitously focused on delivering functionality in a form factor as compact as possible. Therefore, the manufacturers can't possibly standardize any component sizes.

The OP's proposition is almost as impossible as saying, well, I like the iPhone screen, the Exynos 5 CPU, the S-Pen technology, and the HTC style chassis - so I'm going to go buy the parts and build my own... if you're able to do that, you could become one hell of an entrepreneur.

 

I've an old notebook from 1985. it weights 9kg and it doesn't have a battery. but it does have a built-in printer.
so, portability is questionable.
also the most large well known notebooks 17" or 18" can weight a lot more then a normal person consider portable. often with 4kg-5kg.
so building a notebook with batteries and having a similar size of a 19" and having about 6kg is not bad at all.
it IS cost effecient (and very) at the high end only.

actually that's not totally true. there was a company called synapses phones that was trying to built a business model based on custom built smartphones. you could choose the screen, the cpu, the ram, the storage, the wifi chip, the camera, the battery etc etc just like you can do with a notebook.
unfortunately due to lack of funds they left failled to do it.
but it's tottaly possible.

actually the only reason why companies avoid standards and/or adopt them with some changes, is to avoid customers to make upgrades. just like MXM and most notebooks. or the screens and such
it will be a LOT easier and cheap to make standard interfaces and parts.
in a perfect world you would have some base models of several sizes and you could buy any mxm card and any lcd and so on.

 

So now your definition of laptop doesn't mean it has to be portable or even have a battery? I mean come on. Next you are going to tell me that an ATX computer with a handle on it is a "laptop." Because that is pretty much what all these DIY "laptops" are.

I don't know what makes you think this, but it is not true at all. You gain upgradability and compatibility, but the entire rest of the design will suffer due to compromises that would have to be made. Laptops come in all different shapes and sizes, so that there is probably one for everybody. Manufacturers have almost a blank slate with how they design each laptop, so that allows them to cut costs, improve cooling, shrink the design as best as they can, etc. I don't think manufacturers would want to make their products worse, cost more, and be less differentiated just to whet the appetite of a handful of people on notebookreview.

 

the narrowminded mentality is what keep things from evolving. it is way much cheaper to use standards. it's not an argument. it's a fact. you really need to learn more about manufacturing processes.
the reality shows a different thing. most OEM's produce standard parts. just look at clevo, the manufacturer of the most upgradable ones with loads of interchangable parts also much cheaper then other brands equivalent for some reason. they don't do it for an ODM they do it for themselves and then companies buy it from clevo.
on the other side you get loads of ODM's each one with each design that asks some company to produce the notebook for them. since the design is always different because they want it and because they don't care about higher costs the finished product is often made without standards. the finished product has an higher price. just look at apple.
That's how it works in the real world.

 

I think you got it messed up. The reason Apples are expensive are mostly due to the Apple logo. Apple isn't some boutique, 10,000 computer company like Voodoo was. They make millions of units, costs for creating a new standard are quite low. Meaning the costs of having new parts created in custom boards (to fit the chassis and screw hole placement) is greatly reduced.

Nearly every notebook (PC, inc. apple) that requires a chassis redesigns means that manufacturer will ask for new parts to be made to fit the chassis/screw placements, etc. (Cable, ribbon, connectors, etc). All have to be custom made.

Anyways moving on. Unless you're talking volume, no one can make a custom laptop for cheaper than they can buy one.

 

apple it was just an example. compare the highest end toshiba with the same specs in a clevo and check the prices.

and no. redesings are NOT needed.

about pricewise of building a notebook, it just depends on the specs and weight.
imo you can build a cheaper sub 6kg notebook that performs better then the best notebook on earth.

 

Ok. Now I know 100% for sure you are completely full of it.

I'm not sure what makes you believe Clevo laptops are more upgradeable than any others. In what way is the hardware more upgradeable? They are certainly not. They are cheaper because they are generic laptops. The company just makes and sells laptops to resellers and that is it.

Any examples? No, of course not.

 

you really need some macroeconomy classes.

I gave some examples on previous posts. But I can do it again.

there are several ways to add a monitor either usb powered or ac powered. one is not necessarely bigger or heavier or has an higher power consumption then the other.
99$ 15.6" AOC usb powered monitor Newegg.com - AOC e1649Fwu Black 16" (15.6" viewable) 16ms USB Powered WLED Backlit Widescreen LCD Monitor 200 cd/m2 500:1 without frame and unneeded components 0.5kg or less.
150$ mini itx motherboard
Newegg.com - ASRock Z77E-ITX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
ASRock > Products > Z77E-ITX about 0.4kg you can also opt for a motherboard for a mobile cpu.
$350 intel Core i7-3770K (3.9GHz Turbo)
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K about 0.025kg
88$ 2x8gb DDR3 about 0.05kg
260$ AMD 7850 Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card 0.45kg

didn't include HDD's because they cost and weight the same on a notebook.

that's 947$ 1.02kg.
sure you have now to include many things liike the chassis the battery the connectors the cooling system etc

but you can compare it to a Clevo P270WM with the same performance
http://www.avadirect.com/gaming-laptop-configurator.asp?PRID=23298
i7 3820
2x GTX 675M
$2715
5.5 kg

$2715-$947= $1768
5.5kg-1.02kg= 4.48kg

imo with that money you could built a chassis and everything else and still save loads of money as well as making it lighter.

 

First lets point out obvious flaws in your system:
1. No PSU. (will add considerable weight).
2. No optical drive moar weight).
3. Cables=More weight.
4. Fans=more weight.
5. Case: ??? of weight.
6. Stock heatsink for the CPU? In a slim box?
7. No Hard drive?

I have a strong feeling you've rarely disassembled laptops before.. Or maybe even built a system. If I took all the components, no heat sinks, chassis, power adapter or battery. You would end up with about the weight of a motherboard and desktop hard drive... maybe. The real weight often comes from a battery, adapter, and sometimes the LCD. The rest of the parts are relatively low weight.

Sorry dude but a 7" thick box. Is not a notebook. It's a slim desktop.
A good chassis to fit all that in,while keeping thermals in check will look like a gigantic box.
So you had a $900 budget. HDD= $60-$80, PSU: $100+, Custom chassis to slim it down milled: Easily $1,000~. Optical drive, $50,fans, $80-$120 (or at least I would spend this much to get the best performance/noise/power).

 

I'm very experienced in building pc's and modding, I even had an IT company.
Actually if you search you can see some of my notebook mods in this forum.

you are right pointing some flaws but:
1. No PSU. (will add considerable weight).
no notebook has a PSU inside. it has a charger for the batteries. so it could be external.
2. No optical drive moar weight).
I see no reason for optical disks to exist. it would weight the same in a notebook.
3. Cables=More weight. you can use an external one if you want.
those cables would weight more in a custom built system for sure
4. Fans=more weight.
I was thinking watercoling but yes more weight. I said that.
5. Case: ??? of weight.
the case would be the most heavier thing. but imo comparing to 5.5kg from the other notebook it wouldn't weight that much.
6. Stock heatsink for the CPU? In a slim box?
watercooling. but if you want air there's many small cpu coolers. check server cpu coolers. hundreds of models.
7. No Hard drive?
the HDD weight and cost the same as in a notebook.


there are a few chalanges like the hinge, the battery system, the custom chassis. the rest is peanuts.
weight will be around 5kg if that much.

1.05kg
0.2kg 2x 2.5HDD
0.4kg cables and electronics for the charging system
1kg cooling system
0.5kg lifepo4 batteries
0.3kg misc stuff if you want, bluetooth wifi keyboard touchpad gps 3G
=3.45
imo you could easily get built case for less then 1kg
=4.45kg

947$
200$ watercooling cpu + gpu
100$ misc stuff + cables
200$ psu and electronics
40$ battery
=1487$

2715-1486=1228$
still less then
please don't tell me that a case costs more then 1000$....


actually this is such a good idea that the only reason I don't do it is because I don't want such a bulky and heavy notebook. but that's the same reason why I don't have a 17" or bigger notebook. that and because I believe a thunderbolt egpu is the perfect solution.

 

I would bring up when I was involved in building a prototype laptop (dual hexa xeon processors, bunch of other stuff) but that was build for a whole other reason, and budget was not a limitation. End result was a 16lbs behemoth, 3.75" thick. Cost, something around $45,000. Not counting the costs of the R&D. Anyways that's what US Taxes end up as at times.

Anyways can you explain these points and provide existing examples:

Chassis: Which one, price, and weight of the entire system w/ chassis.
Watercooling: How will you cool a CPU/GPU with $200? I spent nearly $350 on a CPU/GPU loop without size limitations. How much weight would this add? I already have numbers in my head, and on spec sheets.

Fans: No fans then, even for the radiator? How are you going to keep mosfet/hdd/ram cool?...

2 Lbs casing? How? Even Lian Li (100% aluminum can't do a 2lbs system that could fit all of the hardware in.)

Seriously kid, at this point I wouldn't trust for you to build me a simple system.

Battery life: 0.000000001 seconds. Maybe.

 

you can't compare a dual hexa xeon to a macbook because a macbook doesn't have the same performance........

there are many ideas for a chassis, just check portable xbox360 and ps3 cases. actually with $1000 you could even order a CNC custom built chassis.
watercooling can be more or less expensive depending on components just like a pc. ofc if you add things like $150 waterblocks it's gonna be more expensive. if you keep things simple like a small universal kit it will be a lot more easier and cheap.
if you want fans you can add them. what is the problem with that?

and get real. probably I'm older enough to be your father.

the battery life just depends on the battery size you want. but like the clevo it would be like 30min for the same size.

 

I was going to respond to this, but realized I am wasting my time.
Xbox 360... Ps3... Wow.

 

that's what happen when you realise you were wrong.
here some ideas.
benheck.com Forums • View topic - Portable Desktop PC
Briefcase Computer, a Cheap DIY Transportable Desktop - The UberReview
stealth computer - Rugged portable PCs with expansion slot capability and a 20" LCD Monitor, mobile, lunchbox PCs.
POWERTEK: MICRO PC IN A OFFICE BRIEF CASE

 

You really are desperate arent you? I thought you were taking this seriously when you really aren't thats why I said I wasted my time. You're grasping at some of the worst conceived portable desktops I've seen. I can just go grab an HTPC casing with a handle, and make it a bit more portable...

You claimed you could build something cheaper than a Sager notebook. While keeping comparable weight. Let's look at your proposed systems.
I am going to forgive you, because it's evident that you probably didn't even click the links. Probably just went to google: typed in "portable desktop" and copied the first three links that looked legit.

1. Link. Portable Desktop PC (0 battery life). Not a laptop by any stretch.

The system he showed would likely be at. Looking at about 25-30 lbs once built.

Zeikos ZE-HC36
5.4 LBS Alone (High quality PSU alone= another 6 lbs~). That's 12lbs. Add in heat sink, dedicated high end GPU, hard drives, motherboard and aluminum plate for the motherboard tray... I am thinking 30 lbs once built...
Dimensions: 18 x 13.5 x 6.5 inches Nice and portable...

End result: Fail.

2. No dedicated GPU. No space for serious cooling means no i7 3770k. Super slow system as it stands. My M4600 can run worlds around it. Even if I were to put the latest and greates, what type of GPU could fit in there? Not even going to touch other points like weight and dimensions.

3. Nice man, finally something suitable... Price tag: "$4895.00" for a Sandy bridge dual core.. i3... GPU... unknown probably some cheap $50 card. If that. Now here's the kicker...
Battery life: 0.

 

well if you have access to a 3d printer... you could make your own chassis and buy the mother board and parts seperate. kind of a hassle though.

 

sherlock I was just giving you examples of cases. not complete systems.

or a CNC machine. btw those services cost like 50 to 100$ per hour of work. making a full case will take like 1 to 2 hours. so it's really easy (for some people) to see that it costs way much less then 1500$.

 

Okay.
/10char

 

Not that I want to get into your discussion about building your own laptop, but where can you get something cnc'd for 50-100 bucks... I need that website/phone number. I have some stuff I have designed I need cnc'd and the cheapest I could find was around 500 bucks an hour plus labor,materials, and a 3k min order.

Also those things you linked are not laptops.

 

You guys are just feeding a troll you know?

I personally don't know how a mod hasn't gotten on this guy's case yet. Rude first post back when the thread was started, and using pointless reasons to attempt tipping the argument in his favor.

Who cares if you're old enough to be our dad? Just as an FYI, go say that to a prodigy in your career field. Pretty sure the little kid who knows more than you would really appreciate that.


Simply stating that it's just not feasible to create a machine from scratch would be more than preferable than stating that the idea is retarded. See the difference between those two responses? One sounds neutral and the other is just mean. Understanding the difference is what makes you a socially capable person. Attacking someone on the internet for not understanding stuff like this is what makes others turn against you.

Look up a few 'cause and effect' scenarios and see if you can relate.

 

Correct. $3,000 minimum sounds right for the overall cost. What the dude mentioned is barely scratching the scab on the surface.

Hours rate go from $50-$100 are correct, however that charge is strictly for ONLY the machine use time aka the amount of time the milling operation takes.
If you need high tolerances, Makinos runs about $175/hr of machine use time.

These fees do not cover: Materials, machining setup time, test runs, and other costs I am sure a CNC worker can come up with.

PS: All CNC operations (prototyping or manufacturing) should have a long wait list. If they don't have a wait list, don't bother using them.

 

A while back (three years ago? More?) there was a user named K-Tron who tried just that, to make a laptop from the ground up. The working title was "Octitron" and it was to have "eight of everything". I forgot the specifics.

He made a thread documenting the project. A few months later the people keeping up with the thread concluded that you needed lots of engineering skill, tools, special materials, and literally money enough to throw away.

The machine itself was a huge, heavy, unwieldy monster. Granted, this project was from around the time when Core2Quads and 8GB DDR2 was considered a big deal.

After a bit he basically erased all posts regarding it, so we never found out what happened to Octitron.