Thread: Kensbey's Carpc

i finally got around to ordering the parts i needed, and most of them got here today:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L.
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz
Ram: Kingston DDR2 2x1G

i put this all together with a 6600GT that i had lying around and mounted in the custom tray:


i had an old 120gig laptop hdd sitting around, so i decided to use this. it will be more resistant to bumps and shakes than a desktop drive, and i didnt want to buy a new drive when i already had this one, had to purchase an adapter to make it work with the motherboard tho:


so, for now, im just waiting on the power supply. i have ordered a m4-atx, but i live in australia, so it will take a while to get here. also have to buy a soundcard yet.

Still waiting on the powersupply, so no more progress with pc yet. so i spent the day working on the audio side of of my car. in particular, mounting the two amps in the boot:

these are both connected ans working, and it sounds great, even just running off my ipod, going to sound awesome once i get the computer in and fiddle with sound a bit.

After quite a wait, the powersupply arrived . for now the computer is just sitting on the bench while i install software etc.. will install into glove box once that is done.
i am running windows xp, and with most software installed, the computer boots from completely off to playing music in 34 seconds. 30 seconds if using hibernate.

also, i have removed the 6600gt... it was just too big for the case i have in mind... i dont really think it was neccessary anyway... the onboard gfx handles videos etc very well.

i did however buy a sound blaster X-fi.... this sound card is amazing!!!!!!! the quality is in another league from the sound my old laptop used to put out.... and the crystallizer software package that it comes with makes a massive difference too.

testing on bench:

ok, so im made some more progress... i build an acrylic case to mount the pc in. the powersupply is fixed to the roof of this, and the hdd to the side.. the motherboard tray setup slides straight in the front:







so just gotta mount it all now... which shouldnt take too long. going to see family for christmas so wont make much progress untill after that...

hey all, havent posted in while, so ive done quite a lot since my last post. firstly, i have upgraded all the speakers... kinda blew up one of my old 6" cones. so i have brand new speakers in front and rear... and they sound amazing .


have also finished mounting pc in glove box... all running good now! i installed a pc fan in the dash as well (just under the holes you can see in the pic below) to blow cold air into the pc, seems to be working well.

i am overall impressed with the performance of the setup... music quality is brilliant! and surround sound in movies rocks! i was stuck waiting for roadworks the other day so i threw on ironman... surround sound was so good i was almost disappointed when we started moving agen!
also, i bought a usb gps of eBay and have that connected, and running brilliantly!

so i guess at this point i can classify the protect as finished. however, there are still things to be added on, ideas i have include a fan speed controller and temperature monitor, reversing camera, and still looking at options for dvd drives...
screen isnt really as glary as it looks in pics below, camera phone just makes it look that way... actually a very nice picture.



kk so what does everyone think?

Whats the model of that gps it looks like excatly what i need

gps is not branded... got it of ebay from hong kong... $9.90, with 30 bucks postage to aus

I looked, maybe I missed it - what make/model is that screen?