Some photos of my setup

Dimitris1976 · 03-05-2002, 06:53 PM

At last I found some free time to post some photos of my setup.
They are not the best pictures in the world due to the lighting conditions and my car is not so clean (I noticed that using a flash at night makes the car mats etc to look much dirtier than they really are).
Also the inside pictures of the case I bet they don't make too much sense but I posted them anyway to show how I arranged everything in the box in order to make it as compact as possible, while I still have three PCI slots available for upgrades and a full size (Keypower) DC-DC PSU in the case.
To mount the screen on the dash, I used the original ball and socket mount that came with it- slightly modified for a cleaner installation. I could make the cable that goes to the screen invisible, but I chose not to so that I can remove the screen faster when I park the car in a bad neibourhood.
Unfortunately I couldn't have the screen on, cause the computer was at home at that time for some modifications. Everybody nows how a 6 inch TFT screen supplied by a TV output looks like anyway.

http://photos.yahoo.com/dmihgr

Comments?
By the way the case is 34 x 29 x 22 cm

Owlmeat · 03-06-2002, 09:30 AM

Dimitris1976,

Very clean layout! I like your layout on the back of the case...NO WIRES FLOPPING AROUND!

1) With your Keypower, did you decide to run both - and ground to chassis ground?

2) Do you think you really need to 2 push/pull 80mm fans, or are for just in case purposes?

3) I see something next to the power supply, is that a shut-down controller?

Dimitris1976 · 03-06-2002, 10:25 AM

Owlmeal,

1) PSU's ground, PSU's negative pole and motherboard (through one of it's mounting holes) are common ground. The case is made out of MDF so obviously cannot be grounded.

2) I have 1 80mm pull fan at the back of the case next to the PSU- right in front of the CPU (2 80mm pull fans, if you count the PSU's fan too) and one 90mm push fan in front - between the CPU and the PCI slots- that turns on by the BIOS's thermal control only when the CPU temperature rises above 35C.
I never saw it running 'till now - the CPU's temp ia always 27C- but of course it's still winter.

3) The shut down controller is next to PSU but I doubt you can see it. It's behind the PSU, under the tank circuit and main switch and covered by all these cables. I was too lazy to take apart the computer to take the photos :-)

Owlmeat · 03-06-2002, 02:39 PM

Did you connect the common ground (mobo, - psu pole) to your vehicle chassis ground?

Dimitris1976 · 03-06-2002, 05:04 PM

YES! - PSU's Ground, PSU's (-), Mobo and car's chassis are one common ground.

grandamp3 · 03-08-2002, 04:24 PM

Any idea about how much the entire setup cost you? That is just the parts for the case, no mobo, etc. I really like the way it looks and it got my brain moving to do something like this myself. I have seen plexiglass but I dont like the idea of gluing and stuff like that, especially see-through.

Thanx

Dimitris1976 · 03-08-2002, 09:30 PM

I started building a plexiglass case myself, but didn't like it and abandoned the project and built this. I realized that home made carPC's internals usually don't look very cool with all these wires etc. So I desided I don't wont to see them through a transparent plexi case.
As for the cost...these are the prices approximately:

1) DC-DC 250W ATX PSU - $130
2) Supermicro 370 SED motherboard - $100
3) DVD-ROM drive - already had
4) Laptop HDD - already had
5) Switches, parts for the shut down controller, case parts, tank circuit parts, various hardware, fans, cables, etc - not more than $60
6) Screen - $180 (eBay)
7) Celeron 800Mhz - $75 (a year ago)
8) 128MB Ram - $ 20
9) Mouse remote - $25