Thread: Newbie here

without taking into account the room under the seat (i'll measure on the weekend), do you guys think that case would be suitable for housing the PC?

---------- Post added at 04:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 PM ----------

Originally Posted by stretch4x4

Yep so if it is not deep enough (My din space is about 180mmx180mm and the board I want to use is about 170mmx170mm)
Do something like this and lift the back up:
Scion xB '06, in-dash Atom 330, Lilliput 889GL; details, pictures, links. Index: pg 1
By raising it you give yourself extra space for cables at the back.
For example if you raise it 90mm I have 110mm or so to work with the depth of the board is now only 145mm if my trig is correct.
Alternatively put it up on an angle like that and then have the cables come out to the side if you have more room. Then you can still mount drives and power supplies above and below it

But feel free to go under the seat, that is just not an option for me as I have a four wheel drive and I am sure that one day my computer will get wet if I keep it there!

I can't see what you're refering to sorry...

That case would probably be ok. Just a few things to consider if it's internally still the same as their previous model. The model I have, there is a plate that the hdd and cd-rom mount to that is across the motherboard. My Intel GCLF2 fit ok, but when I replaced it with my Jetway NC62K and AMD 4850e CPU, I couldn't tighten down the hdd plate or it would rub the CPU fan. I found the lowest profile cpu cooler I could find and it still touched. It's a tight fit in that case. Even with the Intel mobo, I had issues with cables and crap being in the way. It's just an extremely small space. I ended up cutting the excess wire out of the PSU connector and splicing it back together to help with the squeeze.

an extremely small case is what i'm after and i'm pretty sure it has decent ventilation on the side for airflow so i won't have to worry about heat...
also i won't be fitting a cd/dvd rom either, so that will give me a bit of room..
i think i'll go ahead and order one.
Thanks

Ok another question about power..
should i run say a 10gauge power cable to the AMP, and then another 10gauge power cable to the PC or is that overkill?
Should i just run 1 power cable to the fuse, then from that run 2 cables to AMP/PC?

The pc i don't see using a great deal of power so i think another cable for that would be not needed.. how do others do it?

I would run the thickest wire you can. Who knows what you want to run in the future. If you do the bare minimum now, then it would require another wire run when the time comes. Do beefy now, and upgrades become easier. A very thick wire that is overkill is not a bad thing. I thin wire that can't handle the current is a potential fire. A few extra bucks upfront is well worth it.

As for 1 big into multiple, or multiple smaller, that is up to you. My previous install used multiple smaller (but still overly large) wires from the battery to the back. Because they were smaller, I could get them into the channel that ran on the side of the car in more of an oval shape whereas 0/1 gauge would not have fit in the channel and allowed the trim pieces to snap back on.

If you have the room for 1 big wire into a distribution block and smaller out from there, then that is what I would recommend.

For the power this mobo draws i believe about 40W(absolute max probably less ~33W), including ram and HDD.
So i'm thinking I'll run 2 cables with a fuse each, 8 gauge(30A fuse) for the AMP, and 10gauge(15A fuse) for the CarPC.
Both cables are larger than what i think would be the minimum needed..
I'm not going for huge sound or anything, just a working music/radio player etc, so won't be pumping large amounts of power through to the (factory) speakers etc.
Does this make sense?

i just posted in another thread with a similar idea:ford mustang nook install--he wanted to use the factory wiring to power some components..

the best-case scenario is to run a single power run to the devices, and use the same ground point for both the pc, and the amp. this is to minimize the chances of things like ground loops..

but, my install isn't like that-- due to the pc being under the seat, and my amps are in the trunk.. but because i used separate ground points for each, i raised my chances of getting a ground loop, which i fortunately, don't have..

personally, i would just run 8ga for everything. the cost difference isn't much, so you won't be saving much more then a couple bucks.. then if you ever do decide to upgrade components, your are just a fuse-change away from the higher capacity.

if you have a wall-mart near you, they have complete amp wiring kits for around $20 for the 8ga kit.. i have used a kit like it in 3 installs(my car has the 8ga, and a 4ga ran in it, and my brothers car has the 8ga kit), and while the cost, and quality is a little questionable compared to the more expensive name-brand stuff, it seems to work great for budget-strapped installs..


i know there is a lot of conflicting things on-line regarding power wire, and fuses sizes, so i'll restate it in simplest form:

the fuse on a power wire is never to protect the device. if your device has a built in fuse, that is the job of that fuse, or if your device doesn't have a fuse, install one very close to the device.

the fuse on the power wire is to protect the wire in a worst-case scenario-- ie. the car get sheared in half.. if this happened, the main fuse is supposed to blow to prevent the power from welding the cable to the car, or worse-- like starting a fire from spilled gas.

as such, the fuse rating at the battery connection should be just above the max draw of what ever devices you have connected to that cable-- regardless of if that is a 10ga, 4ga, or 0ga wire run.. and yes, as long as you install the correct fuse, there is no reason that you can't put a device that consumes a small amount of power, on a very large wire size.

That's where i draw a blank though, cos i don't know what size fuses i should have.
I will also have to run seperate cables like you, as the PC will be under the seat, and the AMP in the boot.

The manual for the AMP says it has a built in fuse (though for the life of me i can't find where it is), this thread seems to imply it has external fuse..?? http://www.caraudioforum.com/showthr...dence+fxa-5100
I don't think the PC has a built in fuse anywhere.. a 15A fuse for that might be too big.. i don't know..
The manual also states to use 4gauge, so i guess i'll do that it also states to install 2 additional fuses, 1 near battery and 1 near amp.... but doesn't say what size...

Also when it comes time i might need a little help setting the crossovers etc.. i also have no idea about that stuff..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...smDSCF0226.jpg

And i was going to ask abou tthese sort of packs, whether they're suitable or not worth getting:
http://i55.tinypic.com/2ldhi5s.jpg

Also, i'm in australia, so no wal-mart, but other shop do have packs
Cheers

I did some research, and you aren't the only one who doesn't know what size fuse to use for that amp. Back in 2009 the best guess answer was to use a 60A to 80A fuse.

http://boardreader.com/thread/fuse_r...1fvkX6t38.html

Your intelligent power supply will be fused. If your power supply takes a 15A fuse then a 100A fuse by the battery should be fine.