Modder builds gaming handheld powered by an RTX 4090 laptop GPU and Intel i9-14900HX — system sports 12.5-inch 4K display, 175W mobile GPU

DIY handheld packing an RTX 4090 Laptop GPU
(Image credit: Qingchen DIY on Bilibili)

A China-based computing enthusiast and modder has created a gaming handheld that pushes the envelope for the form factor. Qingchen DIY on Bilibili put together a massive 12.5-inch handheld, sporting a 4K screen (h/t VideoCardz). To power those abundant pixels, a beefy Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU was commandeered into action. However, the cherry on top of this delicious portable tech confection is undoubtedly the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU.

AMD dominates the PC gaming handheld marketplace with its awesome APUs packaging some of its latest desktop CPU and GPU technologies for pint-sized portables like the Asus ROG Ally X and Steam Deck OLED. Intel presented some fierce competition with MSI and its Lunar Lake handheld last year. However, the dominant PC desktop gaming combo of an Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU has failed to get a look-in on this exciting new market. Perhaps Quingchen DIY wanted to see what was possible if the Blue and Green teams were to team up in this segment…

According to the Bilibili video, this physically imposing handheld was made possible by the modder skillfully crafting a Tongfang chassis into a handheld form factor. You are probably more familiar with Tongfang than you would be aware, as the Hong Kong-based company is reportedly an ODM for several well-known PC makers in the West – brands such as PC Specialist, XMG, Eluktronics, and Maingear.

Quingchen DIY packed two of the most potent processors available for laptops into this handheld creation. There’s the i9-14900HX CPU inside (8x P-cores and 16x E-cores), aided and abetted in modern 3D gaming titles by the powerful RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (9,728 CUDA cores and 16GB VRAM).

If you are struggling to conceptualize this amount of mobile performance in this handheld creation, we’ll make it easy for you. We’ve reviewed both the MSI Titan 18 HX and Alienware m18 R4 laptops. Both are thrusted into portable gaming greatness by the same Intel/Nvidia combo as here. Both were also 18-inch behemoths, making this 12.5-inch handheld feel not that huge, after all.

(Image credit: Qingchen DIY on Bilibili)

It might therefore be worrying to know that the same processing power is shoehorned into a 12.5-inch handheld, but thermals are fine, as far as we can determine. For example, the modder reported GPU temperatures remained below 72°C while running God of War and Horizon Forbidden West, while chewing through almost 175W. The games were tested at native resolution on the 4K IPS display this device is built around.

Other key specs of this handheld include the provision of 64GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and twin 2TB SSDs for storage. Both upgradable. We also know the device demoed comes with a 50Wh battery – probably best reserved for just short spells between AC outlets.

We are probably still a way off a commercial Intel + Nvidia handheld gaming PC device. It actually looks more likely that Nvidia could try something bold without its Blue buddy. Specifically, the Nvidia N1 and N1X are expected to hit consumer portables, including gaming-focused machines, sometime in 2026. This SoC could be a winner in the portable sphere, packing up to 20 Arm cores and a Blackwell GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores. AMD appears to have plenty of time to craft a response, though.

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Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

  • JamesJones44
    Oh my, what's the battery life on that? 10 minutes?
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    JamesJones44 said:
    Oh my, what's the battery life on that? 10 minutes?
    Actually in between 15 and 20 minutes for just the hardware, not counting the display etc.
    Reply
  • ezst036
    Too bad its not easy from the various manufacturers to build your own handheld from scratch like a desktop tower.

    (Lian Li, Corsair, Seasonic, Samsung, In Win, Logitech, Silverstone, Thermaltake, NZXT, Gigabyte, MSI, etc etc)
    Reply
  • Bone61
    I'm not a gamer but this is pretty cool even if it requires a power cord tether
    Reply
  • ManDaddio
    This is exactly what I wish the handhelds were. I don't really care for the AMD chips. I want Nvidia RTX and Intel. Raw power.
    Reply
  • ManDaddio
    Pierce2623 said:
    Actually in between 15 and 20 minutes for just the hardware, not counting the display etc.
    Yeah but you can downclock everything quite significantly and still get wonderful performance out of this.
    I was playing around with my 4090 on my desktop and I turned my wattage all the way down to like 30% and it was still rocking and a rolling. Much less of course but I could still play all of my games just fine.
    With the hardware that they have in the handhelds now you are stuck at the low maximum.
    I'd rather start hi so I have the opportunity for full performance and then if I need to go on the go just down clock that baby.
    Reply
  • ManDaddio
    Regarding the future as mentioned in the article, Nvidia and SteamOS can be perfect together. I hope Nvidia will consider this.
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    ManDaddio said:
    Yeah but you can downclock everything quite significantly and still get wonderful performance out of this.
    I was playing around with my 4090 on my desktop and I turned my wattage all the way down to like 30% and it was still rocking and a rolling. Much less of course but I could still play all of my games just fine.
    With the hardware that they have in the handhelds now you are stuck at the low maximum.
    I'd rather start hi so I have the opportunity for full performance and then if I need to go on the go just down clock that baby.
    Oh definitely but you can’t turn the CPU and GPU combined down to the 15w needed to get somewhat decent battery life
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    ManDaddio said:
    This is exactly what I wish the handhelds were. I don't really care for the AMD chips. I want Nvidia RTX and Intel. Raw power.
    Intel chips simply don’t provide peak gaming performance. I would t call that “raw power”.
    Reply
  • StreakinX
    Doubles as a hand warmer, no gloves required to play outside in the winter!
    Reply