Thread: Cold weather operators, how do you keep the 'puter warm?

Originally Posted by rijk

Use in a car, its silent
Or use the same stuff you put in the radiator of your car.

Question:

Is there a topic with a list of all the board and the minimum temp they operated.

Like:

Forum name..., mobo…………......…, temp startup, temp malfunction, age board, power-supply
Rijk………........, Commell 673NS……, +9C……......., +4C……….........…, 17 moths., M2 / DSX12VD

With good quiet fans you can have a silent carpc with no hassle of watercooling

Originally Posted by Maheriano

The hard drive is the problem in most cases, not the board.

No, not necessarily. Ive had boards that would fail in low temperatures (-15C) before the hard drive. I ended up having to rebuild from scratch based on components that other users mentioned would work in the cold. Here are some good sources to help people decide what boards to buy that will handle the cold:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/powe...ards-psus.html
(note how the MII10k only works down to -15c)

http://www.cartft.com/community/Story/freeze

Maybe it would be easier if someone started a wiki on this. Anyways:

Forum name..., mobo…………..............., temp startup, temp malfunction, age board..., power-supply..., harddrive.......,suspected failer
Rijk………........, Commell 673NS…........., +9C……......., +4C……….........…, 17 moths...., M2 / DSX12VD.., SSD 8 Gb......., mobo
andrewb........, EPIA-5000.................., -30..........., -42..................., 0 months ?., M2.................., ?.................., mobo
andrewb........, EPIA-M10 /k..............., -35..........., -42..................., 0 months ?., M2.................., ?.................., mobo
andrewb........, EPIA-MII-10K.............., -15..........., -42..................., 0 months ?., M2.................., ?.................., mobo
cartft..........., Jetway 7F2WE-1G-OC..., ?.............., -40..................., 0 months ?., M2.................., ?.................., mobo
cartft..........., Jetway 7F2WE-1G3-OC., ?.............., -40..................., 0 months ?., M2.................., ?.................., mobo
cartft..........., Jetway 7F2WE-1G5-OC., ?.............., -40..................., 0 months ?., M2.................., ?.................., mobo
Maheriano....., Via Epia M10000..........., -17..........., -17..................., 24 months.., M1 ATX............, Toshiba 5400 RPM, Hard Drive
nobb............, Via Epia M10000..........., -35C........., -35C................., 2 months..., M2-ATX........, Seagate EE25 ST940814AM (automotive grade, aftermarket model).......,...Hard drive wont spin fast enough

Originally Posted by rijk

But if i am not mistaken these mobo's all have the processor onboard?, so onboard can deal better with the cold?

I dont think its the processor. The problem seems to be capacitors. Solid state silicon chips like processors can function down to almost cryogenic levels (according to an engineering journal I read).

I said before I just use a laptop, (I'm old, I don't care if it looks cool, haha)
but for 'true' carputers, can I suggest running a laptop HD cable ($10?) to a little square housing in the dash for the drive ($5 3.5 drive bay for a desktop). Put a handle on the front of the drive. (or the rectangle of dash material ya just cut out for it)

I'd recommend putting some kind of catch or lock on the front of the drive bay, to keep it from coming loose while accessing the drive, and maybe a microswitch in the back to turn on the computer when the drive is fully seated.

(imagine dual drive set-ups like that!!! ...stop..swap..copy ...stop...swap..copy ...stop...swap...copy ...oh $#!T! Copyright lawyers chasing me in an Apache helicopter!!!!)

Just kidding! But backups would be way easier. 2+ SHARED cars with carputers would be perfect. Each driver uses their own HD with net passwords, contact lists, networking settings, songs, 'media' recorder and engine tuning settings etc...

Some kick-a$$ OBD II car with the programming box/cable installed would be a cool experiment. Owner's HD sets it unlimited (hey, he bought the car!), 'Guest' HD de-tunes it and limits top speed, blocks message alerts while in motion, turns on the microphone and camera...haha, now you guys hate me....