New noob question from HeyItWRX!

**heyitwrx** · 07-01-2004, 10:40 PM

Ok anyone one who read my last post knows that I am planning on putting a carputer in my G35 coupe. But I don´t want to custom build the whole computer from parts (I´m not that good with the hardware side of computers). So I was thinking going the route of one of those mini PC things I´ve read about. I will begin life as a starving college student this fall so I don´t want anything too overkill. I was wondering though what is the best pre-made system (meaning computer not whole system) for running mp3´s, DVD, Divx movies, GPS, OBD II, basic office features, and light gaming (its not like I´m gonna host a Counter-Strike game or anything just some decent computer games)? By best i mean good enough to do all this and anything else I might need without needing to take out a student loan to get the whole thing in the car.
Thanks for the help!

**acura cl** · 07-05-2004, 11:21 AM

for a starving college student you have an awesome car

free bump for ya.

if you can save up and build a mini-itx machine with a dc-dc p/s you will be happier in the long run.

**stevieg** · 07-05-2004, 04:31 PM

BUT at the end of the day if you're not good with the hardware side of things, you will come unstuck sometime, PC based car computers aren't ready for the general user yet, find out what their support contract is like before you buy and how easy it is to get in touch.

**heyitwrx** · 07-05-2004, 07:32 PM

Thanks for answering guys (i was wondering if anyone was going to!), but I realized that I will probably end up custom buiding it anyway. I don´t want to pay for a CD or DVD drive in the case b/c it will be mounted in the trunk making it hard to use that to play movies etc. so I will put one in the glove compartment. So how hard is it to build a custom carputer? I´ve never built a computer from parts before, I´ve only added parts to an existing computer (adding CD-ROMs, etc.). I know this has probably been asked many times before, but I kinda want specifics so...exactly what do I need in the case? Like i said the DVD will be up front. Thanks for the help!

**stevieg** · 07-06-2004, 03:09 AM

weird I am sure I mentioned a supplier in my post above and it seems to have disappeared?

**podcake** · 07-12-2004, 06:22 PM

hey u asked how dificult is it to build a pc from scratch?

well damned easy is the truth, if you have parts that all fit and are compatible with each other ( watch out for people like dell, they like to custom make power supplies and the such)

u need a few basic things to make a pc ( i am talking generic here, not fancy)
you need a motherboard
into that you plug a suitable chip ( usually with some kind of heatsink and/or fan)
you then put ram in the slot(s)
connect a power supply to the motherboard
connect a hard drive to the power supply and to the motherboard using suitable leads ( for mobo to hdd u need 40 or 80 pin ide cable- doesnt really matter which)
connect any optical drives in the same way
floppy drives use a slightly smaller ide style lead ( fewer connections)
plug it in and power it up

SORTED

it really is as simple as pluging it all in
( tho i recomend if you are not into pc building that you be VERY careful with parts, keep yourself earthed and use a case with everything fasened down
properly)

HAVE FUN!!

also one last thing u need to think how you are getting the cble up fornt for the dvd drive ( can be tricky)