Redditor turns Android phone into a desktop PC in a stroke of genius, sandwiching it between two huge CPU coolers so it runs Witcher 3 at 1080p ultra | Tech Radar

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Redditor turns Android phone into a desktop PC in a stroke of genius, sandwiching it between two huge CPU coolers so it runs Witcher 3 at 1080p ultra

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A Redditor has turned their phone into a desktop PC, sort of

This involves jamming the device between two hefty CPU coolers

The results are seriously impressive, including running PC games at playable frame rates on a Linux desktop

Wccftech spotted a Reddit post with a title that provides a succinct summary of the achievement here: "I turned my Nubia Z70 Ultra into a desktop PC with TWO CPU coolers – 99% stability, Linux desktop and 1080p Ultra Windows gaming."

To break this down, what the Redditor ('ntsow') has done is take the Nubia Z70 Ultra, an Android phone, and remove the screen. The display was transferred to the front of a custom-made acrylic case, and the phone itself was placed between two big old processor coolers, as mentioned, with direct contact on the Snapdragon chip's shielding (for the maximum cooling effect – which is why the screen must come off).

On the software side, the Redditor explains: "I'm running a full XFCE Linux desktop through Termux, with GPU acceleration, plus Windows apps/games. The goal is basically to use the phone as the whole PC."

Quite a few Redditors are asking how this system runs PC games, and the answer is via Wine and Box 64, or in some cases, using Game Native, an Android emulator.

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Given the cooling, this mobile Snapdragon chip can be pushed pretty hard, and more importantly, it can keep that up with sustained and taxing workloads.

The phone-turned-PC can run Windows games surprisingly well as a result – and the 24GB of RAM on-board doesn't hurt either (which is, of course, a pricey proposition on a PC these days).

What kind of frame rates does the Redditor get? We're told that The Witcher 3 runs at 20 to 30 frames per second (fps) at Full HD resolution and with 'ultra' details.

Remember, this is an Android phone playing Windows games, and to do so at a playable enough frame rate (it even goes over 30 fps at times) is impressive. What's also noteworthy is that the Snapdragon phone CPU used here isn't Qualcomm's top-tier mobile silicon. It's an older Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and as the Redditor points out, you'd get more pep from the newer Gen 5 processors (4.6GHz vs 4.3GHz).

Among the admirers, there are some alarms raised about the temperature recorded in The Witcher 3 screenshot. The Redditor explains that this is because it was grabbed with the phone running in 'Diablo Mode,' which pushes the components at full power with overclocking. If that isn't on, then the CPU doesn't get as toasty – although presumably you're not going to get over the 30 fps mark, either.

Still, this is a very nifty piece of work, and as one commenter on the thread remarks, it is: "One of the most insane things I've seen on Reddit in months."

I've got to agree, and while this is obviously a very extreme angle on modding, it may point the way to the future where phones are increasingly used as our computing devices.

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for Tech Radar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards