GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => Car audio => Topic started by: Josho on 20 March 2009, 17:22
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Going through all the ideas on this one.
I can easilly get hold of a Dell laptop, 1.6GHz 512MB RAM (up it to 1GB).
Or I could just buy a Micro-ATX which is a common board and parts are readilly available.
Then I saw on eBay a few brilliant little Mini-ITX boards.
They are more expensive for good ones, Here's an Asus one (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ASUS-A8N-BR-HP-COMPAQ-AM2-MOTHERBOARD-MINI-ITX-NEW_W0QQitemZ220381023244QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item220381023244&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318). That comes with no RAM or CPU but it does have room for AMD's AM2 processors and DDR2 RAM. So that would mean I could put a Dual-Core AMD in it if I wished. AMDs also run slightly cooler I believe.
There is also the top end ones, like this. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ZOTAC-GeForce-HTPC-9300-ITX-WiFi-Mini-ITX-Motherboard_W0QQitemZ330310373768QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Motherboards_CPUs?hash=item330310373768&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318)
Now this is a brilliant little board. Intel's 775 processors fit straight in that. Duo Core, Exreme no problems. It says passive cooling, but I'm sure it'll need a CPU cooler.
That can have up to 8GB RAM too. HDMI out and a decent graphics chip in that.
Now obviously that is more expensive, but if I save (if I can :grin:) then I can get that, and it can go in the boot probably and I'll have an excellent little PC for the car.
That has WiFi, so with a decent enough antena, I can use the home network to update my files. I'd have thought there would be no room in the case for hot air, and two sides of the case can just be 80mm fans and a mesh grill.
What are your thoughts?
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How much RAM are you planning on using, and what OS you gonna use?
Dan
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Gonna be a stripped down version of XP.
Probably 1-2 GBs of RAM. Processor I don't know. I MAY go dual core, but it's the heat that I'm worried about. The boot space it will take up is a bit of a worry, as I want it to look like it's supposed to be there, but I can't carpet it obviosly cause of the heat.
Will be in an aluminium case fabricated by my dad so if things bump into it it holds up.
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ah cool its just you said earlier about one of the motherboards taking 8gb of RAM and thought you was gonna put that in lol!, 32bit XP can only take up to 4gb iirc
Dan
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Oh, I'll be using Centrafuse and I'll be running one screen to start, then probably be putting two at the back.
I MIGHT make my own PSU for it, as it's 12v to 12v, 12v to 5v and 12v to 3.3v.
But then I think they sell a PSU designed for 12V, which if they do, I'll use.
Yes, 32bit can only handle 4GB. Might put that in. I might make it a half decent gamer, but because it is so small, it's the cooling. Maybe I'll go water cooling. LOL, I could put the radiator outside! :grin:
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lol yeah cooling gonna be your biggest problem i think, water cooling could be an option expensive tho!
dan
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You may laugh, but for a car this looks a good option: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-186-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326
Energy efficient and should run fairly cool. Comes with the CPU so not bad for £66.69 inc VAT.
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Might be. It's the pump and rad that will cost. If I get a job soon though, I can spend my money on that.
Watercooling would be awesome, I'd have to mount one rad outside and one in the boot with fans LOL!
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You may laugh, but for a car this looks a good option: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-186-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326
Energy efficient and should run fairly cool. Comes with the CPU so not bad for £66.69 inc VAT.
That may be what I'll get. Plenty of power for a CarPC. I was being greedy and thinking games, LOL.
Thanks for that, that's an excellent price.
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that does seem pretty dam good for the money
Dan
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Does. May get it.
I'll sum it up, do I really need HDMI ect in my car?
Well, I don't need HDMI, but would that board be good?
Not sure whether to go all out and spend a bit, then not have to upgrade.
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My advice is to keep it simple then you're less likely to run into problems.
This looks good btw: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128343
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Yeah. I suppose I just need it for music and films. Only slight issue I have with that board is that it's an intergrated chip.
Still might go for it though.
Thanks!
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Oh, want to try and steer clear of invertors, they create horrible noise thorugh the computer. One of the reasons I dislike laptops.
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Intel Atom mini itx board, matx power supply
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Oh, want to try and steer clear of invertors, they create horrible noise thorugh the computer. One of the reasons I dislike laptops.
I thought you could run a laptop straight from the DC of the car?
Personally I think a lot of those solutions are overkill. I'd go for a cheap laptop and it'll easily power / run what you need. 4GB are you serious?! What are you hoping to run?
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Nah, was just going through posibilitys.
Mean that people could PC game at the back.
Laptops are about 18-20V. To turn it to 12V would mean moding the circuit in the laptop.
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Agreed as soon as you go to games you have to up everything in terms of spec. There are a lot of convertors about for laptops to run off 12v DC and they're not invertors. I'd consider these.
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Utterly pointless building a PC into your car mate. Just another thing to make your car more nickable and why bother when you could just use a laptop?
Fair enough if your wife had kicked you out the house and you were living in your car.. or you were a business man that spent most of their life in their car.. apart from that it's pointless if you're in your car too busy driving!
It is still a cool project though to use to learn things.
Also, why would you want to game on a PC in a car?! it's physically impossible :D Just build an xbox into the car. My mate has an old xbox crystal built into his which works well :)
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LOL, was just thinking through things with the gaming. No point really.
Reason for PC is:
Music
Films
Dual screens
Car management (connects via VAG-COM)
Devices such as warning you if your tyres go flat
GPS
Handsfree
Internet if you want to quickly look something up
Ease and luxury of use.
Screen will either be mounted infront of the gear shift, or I'll move the heater controls and buttons down adn get rid of the ash tray. I've seen this done on a VR6 and a Corrado.
I might make a plate that covers it, I dunno.
PC will be hidden away somewhere.
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Carputers are pretty good and can cost a lot less than the equivalent double-din satnav units. You can run sat-nav, DVDs, music etc through them and that's just the start of it. I can see there are a lot of reasons to put one in 8)
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Haha, you know what someone suggested on another forum about watercooling?
Join it to the car's radiator! :laugh:
Nice boiled CPU!
I would put a radiator under the car, but wouldn't motorway speeds with air pressure FUBAR the fans that would be needed on the radiator for using the PC at idle?
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-000-ZT
A little bit more expensive but it looks well kitted out and is smaller form than the Gigabyte GA-GC230D.
Here's a review: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2009/03/18/zotac-geforce-9300-itx-wifi-review/1
Look for an energy efficient Core 2 Duo and get 2GB DDR2-800MHz memory and it would be ideal.
EDIT: How about this for a case? http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1421.html
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an awsome mod if done right. the way this guys done it is spot on, check it out may help with ideas etc.. http://www.argyrides.eu/bmw/mods/carputer/carputer.htm (http://www.argyrides.eu/bmw/mods/carputer/carputer.htm)
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http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/pcs/2009/03/20/nvidia-ion-platform-performance/1 (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/pcs/2009/03/20/nvidia-ion-platform-performance/1)
Nvidia Ion, smaller than micro-atx and can handle 1080p video, if you really need that for a tiny monitor in your car :laugh:
seriously though, fits in the palm of your hand. What more could you want