Reddit Mod Turns Nubia Z70 Ultra Into a Desktop-Like Witcher 3 Handheld
A Reddit modding experiment takes a Nubia Z70 Ultra and turns it into something closer to a desktop gaming box—pushing the Snapdragon 8 Elite far past typical smartphone thermals with an extreme, custom cooling setup.
Smartphone turned “desktop” with DIY acrylic cooling
The project centers on a Nubia Z70 Ultra powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite, housed in a custom-built acrylic enclosure. The device is positioned between two full-sized CPU coolers, with the builder aiming to stretch the phone’s thermal limits as far as possible under sustained load.
Rather than switching to a different chip or upgrading hardware, the experiment is intentionally about endurance: how far a smartphone-class SoC can maintain performance when it’s cooled like desktop components.
- Device: Nubia Z70 Ultra
- Chip: Snapdragon 8 Elite (Prime cores up to 4.32 GHz)
- Cooling method: acrylic housing between two large CPU coolers
Stress test stability and Linux desktop via Termux
To quantify the results, the builder ran 3DMark’s “Wild Life Extreme Stress Test.” In the best run the phone scored 6,980 points, while the worst run landed at 6,910. Over 20 loops, the reported stability was 99%, with only a 70-point spread between the highest and lowest result.
On the software side, the project also moves the phone toward “desktop” behavior. The modder uses Termux together with XFCE4 to create an ARM Linux desktop experience, controllable with an external monitor, plus a keyboard and mouse. The builder also notes that Dofus runs directly within the Linux environment.
Windows gaming demo: The Witcher 3 at 1080p Ultra
The most attention-grabbing part is a Windows gaming demonstration. Using the same phone hardware, the modder reportedly runs The Witcher 3 at 1,920 × 1,080 resolution with the Ultra preset.
Performance varies by scene, with the builder claiming roughly 20 to 30 frames per second and GPU utilization around 99% during the run. While this is far below what a modern gaming PC would deliver, it’s presented as proof that certain PC-style gaming scenarios can be forced onto a smartphone platform—especially with extreme thermal headroom and the right software setup.
What’s next
The creator says the project is not finished yet. They plan further software tuning, along with more testing and comparisons, emphasizing that the current results should be treated as an in-progress demonstration rather than a final benchmark.
