Ol’ Beastie’s breaks 40,000 km! (WALL OF TEXT, BUT NOT YOUR AVERAGE WALL OF TEXT)
It has been 1 year and 2 months since I built Ol’ Beastie last year, but that’s hardly unique or noteworthy amongst us enthusiasts. No, the real reason for this special occasion is that by 6:30pm Pacific Time tonight, Ol’ Beastie will have travelled 46,676km since its first flight out of YVR in September 2015.
That means that by the end of today, my rig will truly have gone once “’round the world”, which is roughly equivalent to 40,075km. And here it is, pre-achievement at the swissport lounge (unfortunately No. 1 was "full" (BS)), sitting pretty @ 39,102km beside the complementary Mac. BA unwittingly enabled this entire endeavour as they have and have maintained what is undoubtedly the most lenient carry-on size and weight restrictions in the industry, kudos to BA for that.
In the space of 9 months, Ol’ Beastie has 5 flights (soon to be 6). Today, the rig takes its first flight on a BA A388 (G-XLEC, which happens to be my first A388 too), a marked departure from the usual BA 744 or AC 77W. Early on, two budget components kicked the bucket, proving that this task is not for the faint of heart or manufacturing quality, but tougher replacements swiftly took their places and Ol’ Beastie has trucked on for months with nary a hitch. Credit also needs to be given to the ordinary, foam-filled, black Pelican 1510 that shrouds the rig in protection. The quality and endurance of the near-legendary (amongst photographers, at least) 1510 is unmatched, and mine has certainly proven itself many times over.
Owners of rigs with high-performance loops sucking heat away from mighty 5960Xs and (now) powerful GTX 1080s are bound to scoff at my nondescript, battered 15L SG08 containing a veteran 4790K and physically reinforced but inept-for-games GTX 750 Ti, but I know that tackling something like this and succeeding gives a sense of pride that even the best of the best in pure, ludicrously expensive performance cannot bring. My rig does virtually
everything,
anywhere, while maintaining
easy access for easy maintenance and
room for airflow, all without the help of proprietary products; it’s the perfect complement to my 12-inch Macbook as well.
Ol’ Beastie was conceived while I was browsing TPU forums one day and decided that a carry-on desktop was the way to go for a true enthusiast at heart, not some bulky gaming laptop or proprietary SFF off-the-shelf. TPU is a welcoming and friendly community like no other; I have been here the longest out of all the forums in which I participated, and I don’t intend to leave. So thank you to TPU for helping me develop as an enthusiast / indirectly aiding in the conception of this rig, and a big FU to all those who told me “it can’t be done” / “it’ll get damaged, you need uber special rubber mobo standoffs” / “just get a laptop”.
Pre-trip Ol’ Beastie with tag-team POK3Rs. Will be reunited with proper camera in 24 hours. Rig will get a proper photo sesh at home, after the trip is finished.
now i can finally control my fans instead of having them at 100% (well i still have them at 100% when gaming ...) 150ish Mo memory print ... i have seen worse for a monitoring/control soft.
). I'm glad to see that the PC is still going strong and does exactly what you need it to. Stories like these are why I love coming to TPU! 
as i said ... lot much to do to rejoin tabascosauz's one 
