Thread: Intel Motherboard for car???

Originally Posted by dark_muppet

I found this micro-ATX motherboard that I'd like to use.

I'd like to put a good videocard in teh AGP slot, 1 gig of ram, a 250 gig hdd, a cd/dvd combo and an intel p4 processor. I plan on building my own case using several fans (also running off the computer's power)

I'm worried about power. Can I run all this off a Opus 150W? If so, what's teh fastest processor I could run safely and the best agp video card I could use?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Well the first question is easy..... No way..... I feel that a desktop with the same components would come with probably at least a 400 Watt PSU.....

I am all for people doing what they want, so don't take this the wrong way, but why would you want so much computing power in your car???

For that much wattage needs I would think you only hope is maybe splitting the componets between two or three Opus 150W, or an inverter, which ain't the best in my opinion...

well I want the computer in my car to have some awesome graphics and speed for visualizations etc that will need smooth graphics. I figure something around a p4 2 ghz would be fine for processor.

I have seen people mention DC-DC supplies in the 250W range on this forum, and you probably would need one along those lines. Maybe you could double up the sproggy design, and that would do it. The 1gb of RAM would definatly be a waste btw, the odds of you using that in a carputer are VERY small.

I agree with the above poster, the far more pocket-friendly, easier to install, and still very powerful system, would be to use the moble barton cpu.

are there any flex atx or mirco atx mainboards that take the athlon xp-m chip. I did a quick goodle search and did not find any?

Originally Posted by brady

Wow, that is a lot for a car computer. You don't need all that much to have nice video/visualizations/movies. I think my setup is even overkill (minus the HD) I would suggest cutting down a bit on the setup. Like was suggested an AMD XP low 2000s.

No no, not a AMD XP (none of them are any good wattage wise). The mobile version, that fitts into a normal socket-A is what was being talked about, designed for use in laptops. Intels Pentium-M is a great CPU (also designed for use in laptops) as it doesn't take alot of power, and its got good performance per Mhz (ie a 1 ghz P-m is faster than a 1 ghz P4-m) however they do not fit into a standard socket-478, I have seen a mini-itx for a pentium-m goto http://www.commell.com.tw/Product/SBC.htm Scroll down near the bottom.

An AMD XP takes alot more power than an Intel P4

Edit: Gramatical stuff.

Scratch out AGP card from your list and go for it.
It will work with Opus 150.

2.6 GHz will work for certain.

Good cooling solution is required.