Thread: Another Newb Build... give me a hand here.

Originally Posted by rickhigginshtbr

Alright, this will be going into my 03 Grand Am and designed for show. How I want the motherboard / subs / amps displayed I already have figured out. But, the CarPC setup itself...

Motherboard - Don't know the specifics, my old desktop... believe it has a 1.8 Pentium 3, retired it for the 3.4 P4 I'm using now.
HD - Grabbin a solid state for the OS / software.
Power Supply - Help me out here
Monitor - Lilliput 8" touch screen in dash / Larger in trunk lid
Soundcard - Help me here, requirement is great audio quality
4-Port USB hub in front+rear
GPS, Bluetooth, etc will be added on too... My main things that i'm unclear on are the audio and the power. What gauge wire would be run to the PSU?

PSU is going to depend on some more specific details of your system. Each little component, even a GPS will add to the power draw. I personally used and M-2ATX a while back, moved to an M4-ATX and had trouble. I sue and Opus 360W and it's great. As far as gauged to the PSU I would run 4-8 GA to a dist. block. You will see the gauge of the PSU wires to be hooked up is rather small, 16-18G I believe.

Sound is a whole other department. Personally I sue and OLD soundblaster live 5.1 card ($10-20) on ebay and the KX Custom Audio Drivers. I delivers some incredible sound. Some use onboard sound, some use large PCI Digital cards, I would search.

Definitely going to want to use a PCI-based card for aesthetic purposes if possible.... And I may have that same card floatin around too.

The PSU is only going to need 16-18 gauge wiring? Wow, would of expected more... Maybe I can run new power wire back from the front since my 0/1 gauge is going to be split between the 2 amps. 1 amp that i'm running now is an older 1600-watt Boss 4-channel that's powering my front components and 2 12's, but I want that to run all the speakers and add another amp for just the subs.

Other items would be a slot drive dvd, wireless keyboard and mouse for tailgates with the regular monitor in the trunk. I may considering adding the fusion brain for more function as well, plus the odb2 goodies. 360 watt should be fine, right?

Originally Posted by DarquePervert

First off, I suggest at least trying your onboard sound (assuming your system has onboard sound) and see if it meets your needs for audio.
If it does not, then purchase a sound card. If you don't need a sound card, then you've saved some coin.

PCI cards need to be secured in a vehicle installation, as the vibrations & bumps from normal driving can cause expansion cards to work themselves loose. If that happens while the PC is on, it can damage hardware, which I'm sure you don't want.


If you're running 0awg for the amps, you might consider a distro block (if you haven't already) with a suitable wire (8-12awg is typical, depending on the setup) running to the PC.

while some of the smaller power supplies could probably run off 16 gauge, i would never run any smaller than 12ga for a m1-m3, or no smaller than 10ga for m4/dsatx(i ran 8ga for my dsatx). you can always fuse a larger line to take less current, so it really isn't hurting anything (except your wallet) to run 4/8ga to the power supply-- it just gves you room to expand later, without having to re-run power wire.

for the sound cards, i had a sb audigy(i think?), and loved the kx project drivers, but ended up having issues with the pci extension it was connected with not allowing the system to boot(my install location had a max clearance of 2"). i ended up moving over to a usb sound card.

Originally Posted by soundman98

while some of the smaller power supplies could probably run off 16 gauge, i would never run any smaller than 12ga for a m1-m3, or no smaller than 10ga for m4/dsatx(i ran 8ga for my dsatx). you can always fuse a larger line to take less current, so it really isn't hurting anything (except your wallet) to run 4/8ga to the power supply-- it just gves you room to expand later, without having to re-run power wire.

for the sound cards, i had a sb audigy(i think?), and loved the kx project drivers, but ended up having issues with the pci extension it was connected with not allowing the system to boot(my install location had a max clearance of 2"). i ended up moving over to a usb sound card.

You guys missed what I said. I would run 4-9 to the the Distro block and then if you ever look at the Ground, ign, and acc wire coming off these PSU's the wires are tiny. I wasn't talking about the main supply from the battery.

if you're using a p3 motherboard, chances are there isn't any sata port and 99% of ssd out there is ide, better watch out for that.