How to convert an old Laptop to a Rack-Mountable Computer
The reason why I have started this DIY project is pretty simple: I have a homestudio/project studio where I usually have fun recording and mixing albums and, even if I have a pretty powerful computer (Mac Pro Intel Xeon 3.5ghz 12 core, 64gb of ram, nvme hard disk and a Radeon RX580 GPU), plugins are becoming increasingly heavy in terms of CPU power (especially Acustica Audio plugins can really take down your CPU!). On the other hand, I had an unused Sony Vaio Laptop from 2010 (Intel i5 with 4gb of ram) that, even if it is not the fastest computer on the globe, for sure it could be useful for something.
Last year, an open-source project called “AudioGridder” appears on GitHub: it allows to run plugins on another computer without affecting the main one (like VSL or a UAD card). It is incredibly promising and I have to say that it works really well, especially with AA plugins due to the efficient management of multitasking/multicore! So why “destroy” my Sony Vaio? Well, because if you have a studio, you surely like rack hardware, pretty obvious right? Rack is always so coooool! 😀 Of course, a rack computer like this can be used as a low wattage Linux server, a media-center powered by Plex etc. In short, the possibilities are endless.
Before getting started, please notice: you gonna open the laptop and remove the screen etc. therefore there is the possibility of broken it irretrievably; please be very careful! Please also read the entire tutorial before you do anything!
Let’s start!
My shopping list:
- Empty rack case: Adam Hall 87407V (Thomann)
- Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste (Amazon)
- Isopropyl Alcool (Amazon)
- Compressed Air Bottle (Amazon)
- USB fan 40×40 (Amazon)
- HDMI Dummy 4k/1080p adapter (Amazon)
- HDMI Extension Cable (Amazon)
- Usb 3.0 Extension Cable (Amazon)
- Heat Sinks (Amazon)
- Hard Disk SSD 120Gb (Amazon)
- 4/8 Gb of Ram (It depends on your laptop)
- Drill (Amazon)
- Drill Bits for Iron/metal (Amazon)
- Intel Sticker on Ebay
Ok, it may seem a pretty long list but actually what is mandatory is only the empty rack case. Anyway, I strongly suggest buying also the other stuff and I will explain why in a while.
The first step is to remove the motherboard from the case. As I said before, please be very careful, every laptop is different. Take your time and remove all the components from the motherboard: the monitor, speakers, trackpad, battery etc.
After more than 10 years, the temperature of the CPU was extremely high (75/80 degrees after only 1 minute!) and the fan was very noisy. Even if it not mandatory, I strongly suggest cleaning up everything (and thanks me later). You have to remove the dust, especially in the CPU fan using the compressed air bottle and most important, replace the thermal pad on the CPU, removing the heatsink:
Clean up the old paste with the isopropyl alcohol and replace it with the Noctua thermal paste (which is extremely efficient). After this, you can install the additional ram if needed and of course the new SSD hard disk (SSD hard disks are exceptionally fast compared to the old ones!).
Time to put the motherboard inside the rack! Before doing that, I suggest piercing the rack on the side where the CPU heater is placed in order to improve the heat dissipation:
Let’s move everything in the rack:
Some comments:
Starting from the left, I have connected the HDMI extender cable to the motherboard in order to facilitate the connection on the back to an external monitor or the dummy HDMI adapter if you wanna use vnc/teamviewer for a remote connection. Why an HDMI dummy adapter? The reason is that, on Windows, you cannot select a resolution higher than the original monitor without it. In this way, I’m able to select also 1080p/4k.
I have added a USB fan in order to improve the air circulation. It is quite effective.
I have 3 USB ports so I use a USB extension cable in order to facilitate access on the back once the rack is closed.
I have used a USB-to-ethernet adapter since it wasn’t possible to remove the original one from the case. Not a big issue.
I have connected the power button in front of the rack drilling the case (bottom right in the photo).
What I also did for improving the CPU temperature is to add some heatsink on the original one. I know, it is not very fancy but it works! The temperature has improved by 6/8 degrees!
Et voilà! Enjoy your rack-mounted server!
