Well for months and months ive wanted to start putting my computer knowledge to the test and undertake a I.C.E/CARputer installation, And after some research this is what ive come up with for specs. All audio will go through a 4 channel amp.

Motherboard And Chip - Intel D201GLY2A Little Valley with 1.33 GHz Celeron Processor (Fan Cooled) - $74.99USD
Power - M4-ATX 250W Intelligent DC-DC PSU - $115.00USD
Ram - 1 Gig Corsair VS1GB533D2 Value Select PC-4200 - $34.00AUD
HDD - Samsung 160GB IDE 5400RPM 2.5" HDD - $85.00AUD
GPS Reciever - Royaltek USB GPS Receiver G Mouse - $36.00AUD
Keyboard - Logitech diNovo Mini Wireless Keyboard (Bluetooth) - $154.99USD
Mouse - The Ergonomic Touchpad - $29.95USD
Bluetooth - USB Dongel - $10.00AUD
Wifi - USB Dongel - $20.00AUD
Case - Custom Make - $100AUD
Monitor - 7" Double Din Screen - $298.00AUD
CD/DVD Burner Drive - Pioneer DVR-K06 Slim Internal DVD Burner - $119.00AUD
Frontend - RoadRunner - Free
OS - TinyXP Beast Edition - Free

All Up - $1200 (Including Delivery and Exchange Rate)

Any Comments Welcomed

Don't source anything from the US, you can do better.

the hardest thing im finding to get in aus is the motherboard/chip combo and the power supply

not many mini-itx distributers in aus nor of the dc-dc psu's

Jaycar do a carputer PSU.

Page 263 of the 2008 catalogue.
Part number is XC-4876.
Basic Specs are :-
205 Watt
ATX compatible
1 FDD connector
1 HDD connector
1 P4 connector
1 ATX MB connector

Cost is $99.00.
go to Jaycar.com.au

Gerry

I sourced my powersupply from the US off the store "321short-circuit" on ebay.

The M2-ATX only cost $75 and i chose $10 cheap shipping. It turned up 3 days later and works perfect !

Most stores i found in australia for the M2-ATX had them very very overpriced.

Most electronics for my carpc build i sourced from overseas. Its too much of a niche market in AUS atm.

Oh and i notice you want a M4 ATX 250w. By looking at ur specs a 160w m2-atx would drive those parts with ease. I hav my 160w powering a 3ghz pentium 4 with a desktop motherboard.

Jaycar do a carputer PSU.

Page 263 of the 2008 catalogue.
Part number is XC-4876.
Basic Specs are :-
205 Watt
ATX compatible
1 FDD connector
1 HDD connector
1 P4 connector
1 ATX MB connector

Cost is $99.00.
go to Jaycar.com.au

Gerry

do you know if this has any on/off options depending on ignition status (programable shutdown/sleep etc)? or is it just a straight power supply.

do you know if this has any on/off options depending on ignition status (programable shutdown/sleep etc)? or is it just a straight power supply.
From the looks of the jaycar website, it does not seem to have a shutdown / startup controller.

It looks very simple in its circuit design. It probably would not survive well with engine cranking while the computer is on.

From the looks of the jaycar website, it does not seem to have a shutdown / startup controller.

It looks very simple in its circuit design. It probably would not survive well with engine cranking while the computer is on.
damn, i was getting excited.

the m2/3/4 seem to be the only available option, and they are all from overseas

OPUS power supplies are regarded as the best on MP3Car forums, apparently the M2/3/4 are not as reliable with some motherboards. I guess it just depends what fits your budget.

I hav my 160w powering a 3ghz pentium 4 with a desktop motherboard.

how does this go with draining your battery?
i thought about using a normal desktop motherboard for my carpc project but was told that it'll use too much power, can ur battery handle it.

how does this go with draining your battery?
i thought about using a normal desktop motherboard for my carpc project but was told that it'll use too much power, can ur battery handle it.

Hahaha true. Without the engine running I can go for about 45min - 1.5hrs before car becomes unstartable depending how loudly I play the music. This is on a crappy RACQ 420CCA battery. I have bought a battery charger so i just hook that upto the car while I fiddle with the car pc in the garage. Eventually ill buy a yellowtop or equivalent that will let me power it for longer without the engine running.

With car on - no problems at all. Even survives engine cranks

The carputer is really the lowest power consumer of my audio system. The amps can pull up to 120A wheras the computer will only pull up to 15A

oh true.
just i have 2 amps one pulling 800rms and the other 240rms (i think)
so dont want to but much more strain on my battery. (its quiet a good battery tho)
but desktop motherboards are ALOT cheaper and have more room for upgrading. i dont think ill be using the carputer with the car off so i dont suppose it matters that much.
so u dont have ANY problems whislt the car is on??

what about a duel battery system to run it? just an idea / thought that crossed my mind :nuts:

oh true.
just i have 2 amps one pulling 800rms and the other 240rms (i think)
so dont want to but much more strain on my battery. (its quiet a good battery tho)
but desktop motherboards are ALOT cheaper and have more room for upgrading. i dont think ill be using the carputer with the car off so i dont suppose it matters that much.
so u dont have ANY problems whislt the car is on??

I dont think there is a massive difference in power consumption between desktop motherboards and car ones ie most desktop motherboards consume 20-35w. There is a big difference once you compare processor options. Ie, most carpcs have intel mobile or via chips which consume about 30w of power, wheras a desktop class celeron consumes about 60w, P4 about 80w. I would also reccomend a desktop motherboard with graphics card built in, most midrange graphics cards can consume 100w of power these days.

I have no problems whatsoever while the car is on. Even with my carpc + music blasting loud my alternator still manages to charge my battery from flat to past 12V in an hour.

I actually have all my amps (800wrms mono + 4x100wrms) and carputer on the same line from the battery that only has a 100A fuse, and it has still not blown.

I dont think there is a massive difference in power consumption between desktop motherboards and car ones ie most desktop motherboards consume 20-35w. There is a big difference once you compare processor options. Ie, most carpcs have intel mobile or via chips which consume about 30w of power, wheras a desktop class celeron consumes about 60w, P4 about 80w. I would also reccomend a desktop motherboard with graphics card built in, most midrange graphics cards can consume 100w of power these days.

I have no problems whatsoever while the car is on. Even with my carpc + music blasting loud my alternator still manages to charge my battery from flat to past 12V in an hour.

I actually have all my amps (800wrms mono + 4x100wrms) and carputer on the same line from the battery that only has a 100A fuse, and it has still not blown.

oh ok. thanks


what about a duel battery system to run it? just an idea / thought that crossed my mind :nuts:

to what i can gather a dual battery system is complicated and quiet expensive. dont think i wanna go to that much trouble just to run a carputer. thanks for the idea anyway.

I have been looking into a dual battery system for quiet a while now, should be able to do the whole thing without much extra cost, however they would only be running in parallel, no fancy electronics.

I went with a desktop board, and that is for the simple fact that it is easy to upgrade and a lot cheaper, how long ago did we change from AT to ATX? Going to be a while yet before ATX is fully replaced.

The load placed on your battery is not really an issue, and if at any point it does become an issue you have bigger problems.

I think ATX would still be here for a while. I think one of the main reasons AT were phased out was because of the dangerous power supplies ( the on/off switch was on the psu then bolted to the front of the case instead of the motherboard pins )

ie always wondered if i could just chuck my desktop running gear in a smaller box and run it.. so all i pretty much need is a different PSU.. or am i way off..

pretty close, the best way to do it is buy an DC>AC inverter and off you go, check on ebay probably best to go for a 600W one.

it's not always as easy as a DC-AC converter. the standard mobos/cpus draw a lot of power, same with the 3.5 hdds, cd roms, plus you will have several usb's etc. all this will struggle with the power coming from the car

using a mini-itx mobo and 2.5 hdd draw less power, less noise, much smaller

it's not always as easy as a DC-AC converter. the standard mobos/cpus draw a lot of power, same with the 3.5 hdds, cd roms, plus you will have several usb's etc. all this will struggle with the power coming from the car

using a mini-itx mobo and 2.5 hdd draw less power, less noise, much smaller


Yes it is. A full gaming rig running cod4 uses only 100W's, are you saying that music playback uses more?

Noise may be an issue in a studi, in your car the computer isn't going to be noticable.

well i guess i dont know what im talking about then

with the new intel 45nm CPU's whole desktop computers (mobo,cpu,ram,dvd-burner,3.5' hdd, low end graphics card) they are drawing less than 100w however alot of the mini-itx systems are rated as little as 20-25w for CPU and Mobo and thats at full load.
there is no reason a desktop PC can't be used as long as you don't want to run it too long with out the car running and ur battery/alternator are good.

ehehe...

I have just got a new carputer (a different one than I posted a few weeks ago).

Its a standard desktop system with a 2ghz dualcore with a 7300GT graphics card etc..

It is alot more power efficient than my old 3ghz P4!! - chews only about 80w even with a 500gb 7200rpm hdd + DVD burner etc

Will update my thread in a few days :P