I'm in a bit of a bind here trying to decide what processor/board combo to run. Basically it stems from me not wanting to spend $200 on an Opus PS to run my old 1.6Ghz P4 comfortably (.18 Willamette core) especially since the good Mini-ITX P4 boards are so exspensive to begin with. I had wanted to run the P4 setup in the first place because I've read that the embedded VIA combos have a bit of a hard time playing superhigh bitrate DIVX/Xvid movies. This isn't so much of an issue now, but in the near future I'm quite sure all xvid and divx movies will be encoded this way.
Now I've read up on the newest EPIA board and it seems to be getting some nice reviews. If the 1.2Ghz MII-12000 will play all my xvid stuff and work with a cheaper power supply than the $200 Opus, I'll use it happily. But, the last thing I want is for my Carputer to be laggy or slow, ever. That certainly wouldn't be an issue with the P4 setup.
I've seen a lot of negative comments on the ITPS on here but I'll throw this out there anyway and see what you all have to say. Can the 60W PS that comes with my Morex 2699 case, combined with the ITPS available at Mini-box.com, be used to power my carputer with an MII-12000, 512 of PC2700, a Seagate 3.5" 120GB 7200rpm drive, a laptop DVD drive, and the 7" Lilliput Touchscreen? Or is it a case of me having to buy an Opus no matter what processor/board I choose? If that's the case I'll probably just run the P4 setup.
What do you all think I should do?
I would never use ITPS. Dump the 3.5" HDD because it uses 12V, use a laptop HDD, and get a carnetix CNX-1260 (I think that is the model). I shouldn't really holler because I am using an inverter now!!! (I have a CNX-1260 coming, however) with a travla c134 case. The 3.5" HDD needs at least 30 watts! The laptop HDD is only about 6 watts
Carputer currently 'ghettoed' into car!!!
EPIA MII-12000
Ampie Case with rigged extra USB
Hitachi 60GB
Holux GPS mouse with iGuidance 2.0
Lilliput 7" touchscreen
Netgear WG121 USB WiFi
Carnetix P1260
I'm running almost exactly the same setup except I have a laptop 2.5" HDD instead of a 3.5" running on a Morex 60watt PS in a 3677 case and a carnetix CNX-p1260. It runs great. You'll be fine, but you will have to swap the HDD.Originally Posted by Bootbox
I'm adding up the prices and it seems whatever route I take it will cost the same amount of money in the end. I already have the 120GB Seagate so if I have to pick up a laptop hard drive, that + the cost of the carnetix will = the cost of an Opus 150W.
If I get the Opus I've got 120GB of storage and a P4 in the car. If I go with the MII-12000 / Laptop hard drive I'll have a more shock proof solution at least, even though I'll have less storage and a louder CPU fan.
Of course the MII-12000 has that neat cardbus integrated in, I really like that, but then the P4 setup is the only way I know of right now to utilize my PC2700 stick to it's full potential.
I think you have a luxury problem... lolI'm adding up the prices and it seems whatever route I take it will cost the same amount of money in the end. I already have the 120GB Seagate so if I have to pick up a laptop hard drive, that + the cost of the carnetix will = the cost of an Opus 150W.
If I get the Opus I've got 120GB of storage and a P4 in the car. If I go with the MII-12000 / Laptop hard drive I'll have a more shock proof solution at least, even though I'll have less storage and a louder CPU fan.
Of course the MII-12000 has that neat cardbus integrated in, I really like that, but then the P4 setup is the only way I know of right now to utilize my PC2700 stick to it's full potential.
Why would you use "your PC2700 stick to it's full potential" in your car? That's really overkill, don't you think so. For most in-car applications you will not need a P4 and PC 2700 RAM. But then again... you still have a lot of choices to make, don't ya...
Needstorage
--------------------------
Who the hell is general failure?!?
And what the f@#k is he doing reading my drive C:\?
I know I don't really have to have a super powerful box in my car, it's just that I have all these spare parts laying around so I figured I'd use them. As far as the PC2700 goes, I know it's overkill, for now.
I've been through the whole "upgrade 6 months after you build your box" thing in the past and I'd hate to realize that the MII-12000 and PC2100 combo won't cut it 6 months to a year from now when everyone is ripping their DVDs to 2200KB/s xvids, or some great new in-car app comes out that takes tons of proc. power to run.
I still have a month or so until I'll have the money to get the rest of my parts, so I'll see what boards are out when the time comes. As it is right now the only board I really like in the P4 market is the iBase MB870 and it's still pretty pricey. Maybe the new EPIA stuff will be out by then too.
Go with the cheapest route with the parts you already have
You don't have to buy the Opus right now. Try it out with inverter and the old AC PSU to see how you like the setup. Only thing you need to buy right now is the inverter, and you can always use the inverter for something else if you get the Opus later.
2004 Matrix XR A7N8X-VM/400 AMD XP-M 2500+, DS-ATX
89 Supra Turbo P3 600E@750/Abit BE6 II, Alpine M-BUS Car2PC.
Y2K Accord Dell GX150
RoadRunner is the best FE PERIOD
EmoRebellion is a SCAMMER
I think I will wind up running the P4 setup and hope the price of the MB870 comes down a bit by the time I have the funds for it. I will swap out for a laptop hard drive asap if I run into power supply or vibration/shock issues (my aftermarket suspension setup is insanely stiff)
I appreciate everyone's info, thank you.
Just to let you know, there is a limit to what you do in a car. This is a completely different animal than your home computer. Space is your biggest concern with a car PC. MANY people run their carpc's off old laptops and that is adequate for your needs. In all odds, you will most probably never play an intense 3d game on your carpc, you will never do any video editing, you will never do anything that is really PC intensive EXCEPT for probably playing DVD's and MP3's. My point, the whole 6 month upgrade thing doesn't really apply to carpc's since their use is limited to certain functions.
-HD
I understand what you are saying.
I should have been a bit more clear I suppose. My main concern here is that while the VIA embedded solutions have many positive points, I have read many reviews that question their ability to play xvid and divx files properly, and even some that point out the need to run specific DVD playback software to get superbit DVDs to play well.
I would hate to buy an MII-12000 and a year from now go to show someone a movie or clip I've downloaded and have some lag in playback.
My aim with the P4 box would be to never have to worry about any of that as I'm quite sure it would be able to playback any sort of media I could throw at it for some time, at least the life of my current car. If the same is true of the newer 1.2Ghz EPIAs, I'll jump right on one. In addition to the low power requirements, the integrated cardbus is really rather slick.
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