ION overkill for CarPC?

upspace · 09-15-2009, 03:47 AM

those new ion combos sound very promising (i.e. ASROCK ION 330) but let's face it. isnt an full hd capable onboard chip (nvidia9500) an overkill for a Car PC attached to a (low) quality 7-8 inch LCD panel?

the price is higher energy consumption (around 31 watts idle to 40 watts) compared to the onboard intel 950 solution (12 to 20 watt) which is more than enough for video replaying and even the most sophisticated gps 3d rendering in future.

And energy consumption is critical in car environment.

mentor · 09-15-2009, 04:57 AM

”640K ought to be enough for anybody.” Bill Gates, 1981

DarquePervert · 09-15-2009, 06:32 AM

Energy consumption is not as critical a factor as it was a few years ago.

A few years ago, there were only a couple or DC-DC PSU's available and the beefiest was capable of only 150w output. Now there are DC-DC PSUs that are capable of more than double that output.
While the DC-DC PSU product selection may not have a PSU capable of powering a high-end gaming rig or dual-processor CAD workstation, there are enough models available to power any reasonable setup in the car.

And I wouldn't use an Intel Atom processor to do 3D rendering, especially with the Intel 950 chipset.
Capable? Perhaps.
Practical? Not at all.

upspace · 09-15-2009, 07:08 AM

yeah but i am scared about having 10-20 watts in idle to full load compared to 30-40 watts on a car battery when engine is not on.

so you recommend the asrock ion nettop then? i also prefer this one because integrated cd-rom, 320 gb and quick boot.

bemenaker · 09-15-2009, 10:31 AM

Had the ION's been available when I built my carpc, that definitely would have been my choice. The power difference you are talking about isn't really that much, but the performance potential is.

Punky · 09-15-2009, 11:20 AM

Here's my opinion. Unless you have 3 kids traveling with you all the time, you probably won't be watching any movies in the car. I know because I don't either. I mean who'd watch it in the car with a crappy 7"er instead of watching it at home on a big screen. Not to mention watching 1080p on a 7" which most screen don't even have the resolution support.

I had a dedicated GPU in my car for about a year, then i realized that its never even used, which i consequently decide to remove it. My new carputer I've also decide to get an atom board without ion, to save cost, and unnecessary heat.

kev000 · 09-15-2009, 11:46 AM

The only reason why I'd get an ION is for the option of multiple video outs. The intel 950 chipset will not support using the onboard AND PCI video. Meaning, you have to use one or the other, not both. This is extremely limiting IMHO. The nvidia ION board will probably support dual video out onboard and you can add 2-4 more via the external PCI-E. That's a potential screen for everyone in the car!

soundman98 · 09-15-2009, 12:11 PM

overkill is very relative-- as was pointed out to me before(the member name escapes me), some members prefer to play blueray in their car, so they don't have to buy 2 different discs of every movie-- one for the car, and one for home.

also, with audio processing, a atom can, and does work, but i would never have a problem upgrading to a faster processor for faster/better/more processing.

and the cruel reality is that the newer windows os's are starting to become heavily reliant on better systems than what they used to (we know kev000...)

, so a better system is starting to become a requirement.

seninha · 09-15-2009, 04:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by kev000

The only reason why I'd get an ION is for the option of multiple video outs. The intel 950 chipset will not support using the onboard AND PCI video. Meaning, you have to use one or the other, not both.

I dont know what mainboard you are using but everyone with a PCI slot is able to do dual view.
As long as you use a PCI VGA card.

In my car I use the D945GCLF2 (intel 950 chipset) with a ATI 7000 Radeon PCI VGA card.
This card as a VGA and a TV-out.
Touchscreen is attached to the VGA and both rear headrest screens are attached to the TV-out. (I disabled the onbard VGA)

Now the kids (3 in total

) can watch a movie while I navigate on my touchscreen.
Use the have AVI's in the car but I notice that when using Sygic Drive the movies started to slow down.
CPU didn't (Atom 330) like it mutch.
thats why I converted them all to MPEG. Good enough for the 7"screen I have.

kev000 · 09-15-2009, 04:50 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by seninha

I dont know what mainboard you are using but everyone with a PCI slot is able to do dual view.
As long as you use a PCI VGA card.

In my car I use the D945GCLF2 (intel 950 chipset) with a ATI 7000 Radeon PCI VGA card.
This card as a VGA and a TV-out.
Touchscreen is attached to the VGA and both rear headrest screens are attached to the TV-out. (I disabled the onbard VGA)

Correct. You can use a PCI video card that has dual outputs. What I meant was you can't use the PCI video AND the onboard at the same time. The bios disables the onboard if you use the PCI card. It probably has something to do with only 1 PCI lane for video... idk for sure. All I know is I'm told by intel that there is not intel chipset with onboard video that will allow you to use both the onboard and any external video at the same time.

DarquePervert · 09-15-2009, 08:27 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by upspace

yeah but i am scared about having 10-20 watts in idle to full load compared to 30-40 watts on a car battery when engine is not on.

Why?
36w @ 12v = 3a.
That's three LCD monitors right there. 30-40w isn't all that much. Shoot, my CPU by itself draws up to 45w, and it's a mobile AthlonXP. Factor in the HDD, the cooling, USB devices, etc. and my power draw is probably close to 4 times the max draw of the Ion board at idle.

No power issues to date!

Get over you fear. As long as you're not trying to run a CPU with 125w TDP (like some P4s and high-end quad-cores), you shouldn't have any issues, so long as you plan your setup thoroughly.

bratnetwork · 09-15-2009, 09:23 PM

36w / 3amps.... ur headlights take more power than that when you turn them on....

SFiorito · 09-15-2009, 09:50 PM

I'm running a Zotac ION board. It's great, no power issues I've found. And to be honest I really didn't spend the time to figure out my exact power requirements.

I just dusted off some old parts I had laying around and just got the mobo and low-profile RAM. I'm running the board fanless with just 2 low-power fans in the VoomPC 2 case. It survived a 12+ hour round trip in August without probs (no overheating either). Performance is great too.

hailrazer · 09-15-2009, 10:07 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by soundman98

overkill is very relative-- as was pointed out to me before(the member name escapes me), some members prefer to play blueray in their car, so they don't have to buy 2 different discs of every movie-- one for the car, and one for home.

That would be me

But yea an Ion with the Geforce chip like I have in the Acer Aspire Revo does a wonderful job.

Muttz · 09-16-2009, 01:02 AM

Hello. I've been lurking for awhile and I'm just starting to shop. I have an Intel D945GCLF so far and not a big deal if I don't use it.

I've been looking at the AsRock ION 330 and the Acer Revo R3600 and wondering if either of these would be good to use. I'm not concerned about the power draw. I am wondering if I am going to be sorry down the road due to the lack of a PCI slot. The Revo is so small and Tiger Direct Canada has a great deal on them right now. (I don't see it on the US site) It includes a wireless keyboard and mouse and free upgrade to Win 7 in October. It's like the AsRock 330, same board, chipset but smaller hd and no optical drive. It's about the size of the Asus eee nettop, so it's a lot smaller that the AsRock.

Lol, I guess it just goes against my grain to buy a desktop off the shelf. I've never done it before.

Am I going to be sorry later on if I don't have a PCI slot? I am planning on GPS, possibly XM radio and I'd really like to have ODD-II.

Thanks.

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