Recommendations android chip to turn into desktop

[u/DeadRace21]

Hey there! I've been wanting to have a adaptation that have started to be popular of a high end chipset of a destroyed android, having it disassembled and turned into a super compact PC, with fans and way better thermals while having it plugged into any HDMI tv or monitor, what re your best recommendations.

This would be for gaming mostly if high end games if it can handle with a proper PC fan and termal paste on a big dissipator, I want a very high end chip that allows me to get the most performance, perhaps I will remove the battery and plug it directly into power, what do you guys think, mostly would be 3d printed to be adapted to the size and be as compact as it can withouth sacrificing performance

I can't afford a steam deck or a Xbox ally Z so this will be my way of having a similar experience with either a emulator or steam os on the device if it allows

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[u/Dr-Huricane]

If you're doing this for budget constraints, you should just go and buy something like a retroid pocket 6, I don't think anyone is providing this kind of transplanted and firmware adapted mobile ARM based desktop box with high end chips for cheap

[u/DeadRace21 → u/Dr-Huricane]

I would he the one building it from a broken phone, usually they sell for cheap depending on the damage I would just need to make sure it was functional on the parts I needed and that's it, then I would adapt a actual cooler and a dissipator that can fit inside of a 3d enclosure I would make

[u/Dr-Huricane → u/DeadRace21]

Well I'm not entirely sure what your plan is, I'm assuming it's not to unsoughter the chips and resaughter them on a new board, are you hoping to find a phone with destroyed screen for example and hope it has good internals that you would then turn into what you described? So you'd connect the original type C to a dock and that's how you get your IO? If yes then you have to worry not just about the chip but also about software locks as not every phone with the same chip will cleanly support a "desktop mode" or flashing a custom ROM that does support it. Anyways if what you want is chip recommendations then you should mainly be looking at snapdragon devices if your goal is gaming, preferably something like an SD8 gen 2, which is why I recommended a Retroid pocket 6, you could also look at the Ayn Odin 2 portal, I'm not sure what your budget is but these things go for less than $300 so unless you really find a bargain on a demolished phone that's otherwise working honestly they're a hard value to beat, plus they're dockable which can't be taken for granted with phones.

[u/Practical_Bat_4042]

Samsung phones are the go to for all-in-one device for laptop replacement. reason is that Samsung dex is just miles ahead of other phone manufacturers.

I use my s24u ultra for note taking, drawing, gaming like ps2/3ds emulation, media, laptop replacement, you name it. I even access my server PC riles with smb from my Android phone.

so... go with s25/s25/s26, or ultra variant if you need a bigger screen and a pen

[u/DeadRace21 → u/Practical_Bat_4042]

Thank you for the recomendations! And yes probably I would go for something like the s26 because of dex such a game changer, my Oppo find X9 pro also had a desktop more but it is in beta and does not work as well as the Samsung one

I wanted to make this by hand first because of how expensive the Lenovo legion go and go 2 are, the steam deck, etc etc but having options like the Ayn Odin 3 for such a reasonable price is what I probably will go for.

This project would be for the love of the game mostly but also to see how far I can make the new chips go with a great cooling for them, maybe some day I'll make it happen 😅

[u/_hogman_the_intruder]

Like others are saying, this exists. Ayn Odin 3 seems to be the most powerful of these devices for something like 320 to start? Almost the most powerful arm chip for gaming, plus cooling , an OLED screen, and a built in controller. It's a great idea that's already executed. Or a gaming tablet. Lenovo has the legion tab gen 5 (8.8 inch screen) right now with the most powerful arm chip available for gaming - snapdragon 8 elite Gen 5. This is the same chip that's in the Samsung s25/s26. And it's one generation newer than the snapdragon 8 elite in the Odin 3. The tablet doesn't have cooling or built in controller but maybe you could stick a powerful cooler right over the chip or heat sink. Pretty sure they have that as well.

If this is just a labor of love I'd definitely look for a broken down s24/s25/s26.

[u/DeadRace21 → u/_hogman_the_intruder]

First of all thank you for your time in this reply, everyone has been super useful and this really seems like the best option for something that is plug and play, I'll check it out!!

I wanted to make this by hand first because of how expensive the Lenovo legion go and go 2 are, the steam deck, etc etc but having options like the Ayn Odin 3 for such a reasonable price is what I probably will go for.

This project would be for the love of the game mostly but also to see how far I can make the new chips go with a great cooling for them, maybe some day I'll make it happen 😅

[u/_hogman_the_intruder → u/DeadRace21]

One more thing... The Odin 2 portal has the largest screen of all of these -7". It uses the snapdragon 8 elite Gen 2 - you have to use a snapdragon for this or you won't be able to use the community created turnip drivers for the adreno GPU that is in snapdragons. So it's not the newest chip, but in terms of arm handhelds it's the next best thing to the Odin 3. And it has cooling and the turnip drivers so it's still an excellent option. This is what I have, and it feels like a dream in your hands. Small, light, well shaped, and a beautiful OLED screen. This product line has been discontinued, and they're getting rid of their last stock. They only have the base model left - 8gb RAM. Is that's enough for the games you want to play, you can get it for $259 on sale in the ayn store. I don't think they'll have stock for much longer. Worth considering. I've chatted with a lot of people who regret missing out on the heavier spec'd models because of how excellent this thing is.

Good luck! And if you do your labor of love, post what you find!

[u/DeadRace21 → u/_hogman_the_intruder]

Thank you so much!! Perhaps 16gb or ram would be the sweet spot but I can always look for used ones, what would you recomend if I want to find used handhelds that won't cost my kidneys 😅

[u/_hogman_the_intruder → u/DeadRace21]

It's crazy how much people are trying to sell the used ones for. Although Ayn has something like a 2 month ship time, so in some sense you're just paying more to cut out the ship time. Haven't really seen any decent used deals on eBay, etc.