New to this forum, Lotus Project.

**BoyRacer0013** · 12-05-2011, 07:21 PM

Alright, do ya'll think this will cut my power needs down to where I can use a m4 atx?

**stretch4x4** · 12-05-2011, 07:30 PM

Just skimmed over your thread here so apologies if I missed too much.
I am using a zotac zbox nano for the size at this stage as I want it to go in my dash. It however has a HDMI output and a displayport which I believe can be used to daisy chain monitors. Might be an option for driving multiple monitors.. It also uses and AMD e350 chip which is low power but still quite a lot of grunt..

**BoyRacer0013** · 12-05-2011, 07:45 PM

I thought about using a mini-PC for my setup, but I don't think that the ones in my price range have the grunt I need to do what I want.

**soundman98** · 12-05-2011, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by BoyRacer0013

Alright, do ya'll think this will cut my power needs down to where I can use a m4 atx?

:S

kind of..

most here don't use anything higher then 75w tdp processors, and there are multiple members running i3's off m2 psu's with no issues.

while i think it should work, i am hesitant to say it in confidence..

honestly, the usb screen has the possibility of drawing more power, as the other screens could be powered either by the cars power, or by external voltage regulators, whereas the usb screens need to be powered off the mo. bo.

the other thing to remember is that in most cases, carpc's are not getting taxed to their limits like a powerful desktop unit might be. as such, the actual power usage is a lot lower, so you can get away with a lot smaller psu then you would be able to using the same parts in a gaming pc...

**BoyRacer0013** · 12-05-2011, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by soundman98

usb screens need to be powered off the mo. bo.

I don't think that the USB screens need to be powered off the mobo. I would think it is possible to power them via a separate power source by hooking the power wires of the USB cable to it, or just with a powered USB hub...

I have been playing around with some PSU wattage calcs online. I'm getting around 200-250 watts (256w at full load) with 5 powered usb devices.

**soundman98** · 12-05-2011, 08:53 PM

yeah, your right--i guess i got to specific...

in the case of the psu calc's, then it sounds like the m4 is the best bet..

i am always inclined to recommend the dsatx over the m4 due to the support, though hopefully you never need it..i only needed it once when my dsatx unexpectedly died, and zootjeff was very prompt with emailing me back and getting the issue worked out.

**stretch4x4** · 12-06-2011, 04:40 AM

The zotac one I am using cost me $300 including ram. By the time you bought any other mobo, ram and processor you would be getting pretty close..
That is comparable to an i3, if you hand off some of the critical parts to a gauge only machine should be plenty powerful enough.. but all depends, just food for thought.

**BoyRacer0013** · 12-06-2011, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by stretch4x4

The zotac one I am using cost me $300 including ram. By the time you bought any other mobo, ram and processor you would be getting pretty close..
That is comparable to an i3, if you hand off some of the critical parts to a gauge only machine should be plenty powerful enough.. but all depends, just food for thought.

I am trying to avoid running two separate machines, so I need to be able to run TunerStudio, and a VM with win 7 running FreeICE. So I decided to go with a quad-core AMD APU and 4gb of RAM.

**HiJackZX1** · 12-06-2011, 08:30 PM

Yea, the screens run off of USB power from the Mobo, but its not a huge draw. It will always use 5V and 500ma, no matter what, because the PC itself is only rated to use 5V 500ma. The card can not just start using more then that. From my experience a USB to VGA card works best when connected directly to the Mobo. On hubs they can act iffy, I dont know why, but they do, or least from my experience.

If you want to lower your PSU to a M4-ATX, then add up all the amps for all the USB devices you plan to use and base it on that. Also take into effect that the PC itself uses 5V power so calculate the Mobo's use also.

**BoyRacer0013** · 12-06-2011, 09:13 PM

The above calcs are with 5 USB devices, but I'm thinking about powering the stuff for the VM on a hub and giving control of the hub to the VM. If I do that I will only be powering, 3ish devices of mobo power. Oh, and I don't plan on running any USB only monitors, only the standard VGA / DVI / HDMI monitors (with USB for touch control) AND one or two USB graphics cards. But all of this stuff is just theory, until I get my hands on the hardware...

... Then it's play time!!!