Suitcase Computer - serious please help !

I realize many of you are tired of this "please help me put together ...." but I'm seriously screwed if I don't get this right the first time

My company is transferring me to of all places Central Africa for a year , no joke !

So I really need help putting together a system that I can take with me .
(micro ATX or similar that would fit into a Med-Lrg suitcase, but that still fits standard size components without having the bulk of a full sized desktop).

Since I'd prefer to order everything in one shot (probably NewEgg ), I'd really appreciate any input for suggestions on each and every component (especially details like : "doesn't come with 6-pin cable, so order that seperately !", etc...)

My primary uses: lots of HD-Video editing (so Firewire and DVI/HDMI full 1080p connection also needed !)
heavy graphic apps (Photoshop on 250Mb+ images)
gaming, internet, watch movies

OS - 64bit, probably Vista64 with upgrade to Win7

512Mb-1Tb Graphic

DDR3 Ram (4-8Gb +), 2x 1Tb HD's, Dual layer /Bluray

6+ USB2 ports, and Wireless

quiet PSU (a generally quiet setup)

BUDGET: I'm hoping to stay within the $1300 mark (more only if absolutely justifiable).

To all who are up to the task - thanks (I have about 2 weeks to get this set up )

Joe

Going by your needs, I think you really should consider as high powered of a laptop as you can afford.
First of all, you aren't going to beat a laptop's portability. The most ridiculously expensive laptops out there are at most 15 lbs, the majority are well under 10.

Unless your company is paying for your extra baggage fees, every lb. counts.
Second, it will solve most of your power concerns. I also think it's a good idea to find out what kind of power situation you're getting into, but laptops are much more tolerant with foreign power distribution. All you will need is the regional plug adapter. Since laptops can run on their battery power, there's no need to worry about brownouts, a small surge protector should meet your needs. Bringing a UPS to Africa would probably use up the rest of your weight allowance, so if you want to bring more than a change of underwear to Africa, you'll have to stay small.

I'm not sure how long you will be in Africa, but is there any specific reason why you absolutely have to bring a compact desktop? All your tasks can be performed by any laptop that's over $1,000, a $1,500 laptop would not be far behind desktop performance. As I see it, the major reason to own a desktop computer is that they are easy to repair and upgrade. The performance advantage is there, but in your case I think it takes a backseat to portability. You probably won't be doing many upgrades in central Africa, the closest Fry's or Microcenter is a long ways off.

Here's a quick build I put together, though there's still plenty of room for tailoring. The Gfx card could possibly be bumped up, though I wouldn't go all out on a card just now. Unfortunately your timeframe is 2 weeks, and that might not be enough time to get the 5000 series ATI cards that are due out on the 22nd. I just put in 2 Samsung F3's for a 2 TB RAID array, or for use as 2 separate drives since they are priced well right now. Not sure what kind of I/O performance you're looking for out of this build. As for PSU, silverstone makes a good PSU to match the SG03-B that includes short cables, but it was almost $40 more than the Corsair. I figure for $40 in savings for a top notch PSU, you can deal with using a couple extra twisty ties to manage cord length.

Total cost comes out to $939.92 before adding an OS, so plenty of room to change things. You could even put in a 60 GB OCZ Vertex for a OS/Apps drive.

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I think the most "mobile" case you will find is an HTPC case. To give you a rough idea, think "VCR" size, shape, and orientation (horizontal, true desktop-type).

For example, I have two PCs in this form. Both cases are now discontinued, but there are others:

1) ZALMAN Silver Aluminum HD160XT-S ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811235008

This case is 6.75" high, 17 1/8" wide, and 18 1/8 deep (but cables extend the needed depth by 3" or so). It is large by HTPC standards. This case holds an Intel quad OC'd to 3.6GHz, a GTS 250, 4 HD, 1 DVD, and two PCI cards (TV and Wireless Network). It maintains very acceptable temperatures when gaming with a good aftermarket cooler.


2) Antec Aluminum Veris Fusion Black 430 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with IR receiver - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129030

This box is smaller (don't have measurements atm) holds an E8400 (stock), 1HD, 1 DVD, 8800GTS, stock cooler. Runs fine.

If you happen to cram a really hot vid card in one, you can cover your mistake by running with the top off

Take a look here:

Antec New Solution NSK2480 Black/Silver 0.8mm cold-rolled steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 380W (Antec Earthwatts) Power Supply - Retail $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129034

Put a small LCD on top of it in a suitcase, surround with old clothes, pop a new i5 in there, and have something still useful when you get back.

And here I was hoping you were going to build a system inside a suitcase...boooooo

All the benchmarks I've seen have shown the i7 860 as a more capable processor at stock speeds, and with overclocking the i7 920 doesn't beat it by much at comparable percentages of overclock. the only reasons to stick with i7 920 are if you are an extremely hardcore gamer and need all the PCI-E lanes you can get for dual and triple Gfx card configurations. the X38 platform still performs much better than the p55 chipset in this area. The other reason is if you plan on upgrading to the 6-core processors coming with intel's core i9 processors sometime next year. These will work with the x38 architecture, and not the p55.

I don't think you won't have problems with heat with just a single 4870, even in Africa.

I wouldn't go so far as to say 2x4GB RAM is overkill, but you may be better off with 4GB of higher quality RAM that has lower stock voltages and better timings. If we all could throw the budget out of the window, 8GB of high quality RAM would be best.

The parts list I put up earlier would work just fine, if you have no plans of overclocking, there isn't a whole lot to gain by getting a more expensive motherboard. You want to spend enough on the board so you get quality parts, but you will not need advanced overclocking features, optimizations for multiple GPU configurations, additional host controllers for more SATA drives, or extra LAN ports.

As for the 8GB vs 4GB high quality RAM performance increase, theoretically there should be a small gain, but I don't know of anyone who has done benchmarks to actually show a difference. The main issue is if the editing programs you are using are coded to be native 64-bit, and are the applications able to address that much RAM for multithreaded tasks?

Otherwise, I don't think there's much more to add to the build.

the Xigmatek i7 coolers seem to be pretty size friendly, but I've never used one personally so I can't say for sure.

Case fan connectors aren't going to be a huge issue. If you get molex fans, you can connect them directly to the PSU. Only advantage to the 4-pin ones is that they are variable speed, and can be controlled by the motherboard and/or fan controller software. Personally I think if you get good quality fans that are quiet enough at full speed, don't worry about speed control.

It's been ages since I've worked with capture cards, sparkle used to make nice digitizers back in the day, but I'm not current on what the experts like now.

I haven't jumped on the BluRay wagon simply because the drives and media are way more expensive than DVD-R still.

As for RAM, I don't have that much brand loyalty, as long as the specs are good and the price is good, that's what I go with. I'd just make sure you do your build with enough time to do an RMA in case you get a bum module.