So many motherboards! which one to choose??

**Swifty** · 07-22-2006, 02:59 PM

Hi,
Im relitively new to the car pc world and im currently running a 7" lilliput in the dash, powered by my old 1.2 celeron laptop.

Over the past few weeks the laptop has been giving me some stick(lagging, freezing, breaking) so ive chucked it and decided to do it the proper way.
Ive been researching motherboards for my new setup such as the epia mII1200. but then realising thats still 1.2ghz, the same as the junk ive just got rid of....do i go to atx boards ?

so ive decided to post on here to see if you guys can convince me that i am doing the right thing and this mobo will be amazing

All i want to do is play music, DvDs, and run navigation software, feel free to suggest other boards i could rig up. power is not a prob, price maybe.
cheers.

**FC3S** · 07-22-2006, 03:15 PM

ughh, prepare to be flamed by someone

the 1.2ghz is perfect for mp3's, dvd/gps might lag slightly if u have other things running, but it'll be fine

**Swifty** · 07-22-2006, 03:18 PM

Lol i no ill get flamed but i dont really care, you gota start sumwhere ay. thanks anyway think ill just get it and see how it goes.

**FC3S** · 07-22-2006, 03:21 PM

well, the 1.2ghz is the fastest u get get mini-itx (i think), which a lot of people on this forum use, and all i've read about them is that they're good little boards, not the fastest, but faster processors use more power, which most people try to cut down on

u could go micro-atx and get a faster processor if you wanted (thats what im gonna do), or get a vid card or whatever else to get the mobo working how you want it

**CdRsKuLL** · 07-22-2006, 03:27 PM

If you have enough room then defo go for a micro ATX board, grab a amd processor and you will still be cheaper than a epia. Your looking about an extra 6 cm's but the performance difference is lots.. I'm running a sempron 3000 no probs. very happy. I would pick a board with a decent video chip on it like a nvidia 6100.. its not great for games but far better than your uni crap.

so if u got the room get a proper board ! stay away from epias if poss :-)

CdR

**volum3rider** · 07-22-2006, 03:28 PM

There is actually a company out there that uses VIA chipsets and have a 1.4 ghz board out now. They also make a 1.2 ghz board which i have and overclocked to 1.4 ghz safely with barely any increses in temperature. The compnay is named freetech and uses the exact same chipsets as the ones made by VIA. One of my friends has the 1.4 ghz board and I overclocked that to about 1.6 ghz safely also. That should be more than enough for playing music.

**Swifty** · 07-22-2006, 03:31 PM

Ok thanks, micro-atx seems more logical, ill have a look and see what i can find.

**yrean** · 07-22-2006, 04:45 PM

logically you dont need a huge system. you also have to look at the perspective of where are you going to mount your pc. If you dont have alot of space then the itx is the way to go since there the smallest out there. you dont need a 4ghz machine in a car. you just need something to get the job done.

**BDVirus** · 07-22-2006, 11:06 PM

hey swifty check out newegg.com they have quite a bit of mATX to choose from

i personally like AMD AM2 boards then use the athalon x2 3800+, its dual core and only 35 watts at load. The bench's ive seen with a full system (2 gb ram, dvd burner, desktop hd, nvidia 6150 chipset with integrated graphics) only uses 81 watts at load, so its easily do-able in a car