After doing a lot of research and lurking on these forums, I've spec'd out what I'm going to use to build my first CarPC. It's for a 2004 Honda Odyssey, so I've got plenty of room between the two front seats and am going to build a custom MDF case. As such, I'm going with more standard components instead of super-small components to keep the build simpler and upgrading a little more flexible. As such, my calculations show I'll need a beefier power supply. I probably can get away with the 250W opus, but I don't want to mess with not having enough power, so I'm going for the 320W.
I am soliciting feedback on my proposed configuration. My #1 application will be playing XVIDs on secondary composite video screen(s) in the back seat for my kids. After that, mp3 music, gps, the usual.
Anyway, here's the configuration I've put together (but not yet purchased). If anyone sees any problems, or has some suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks!
Mobo (onboard VGA for primary 7" LCD display):
ASUS M2V-MX AM2 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Orleans 1.8GHz Socket AM2 Processor
1 GB DDR2 800 RAM
Video Card (for secondary composite display of movies in back seat):
JATON VIDEO-118PCI-64DDR-TV GeForce2 MX400 64MB 64-bit DDR PCI Video Card
Hard-drive:
TOSHIBA MK1237GSX (HDD2D62) 120GB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive (actually already have this):
Panasonic UJ-85J-B Slim Slot load DVD±R/±RW/+RDL/RAM Multi Drive
Primary screen:
Lilliput 629 touchscreen
Secondary screen(s):
undecided (either two 7" composite video headrest screens, or one larger fold-down screen)
Power Supply:
Opus 320W power supply
I haven't decided whether I'm going to get an amp, or just a head unit with auxilary inputs. Also, haven't decided which GPS receiver to get or which front end to run. Front end will depend on how successful I am at getting it to launch the movie player on the secondary screen. It looks like you can just shell out to other commands, so I think I can hack something together if it's not built in.
Finally, to run power to the power supply, it looks like I should go with 9 gauge wire and a 40amp fuse (I've read
www.bcae1.com forwards and backwards). Anyway, I'm specifically basing that on the table on this page (althought it's for amplifiers, so I don't know the efficiency of the opus):
http://www.bcae1.com/wire.htm The opus itself has a 25A fuse, which confuses me because that would only be 300 watts at 12V. Maybe I can get away with 10 gauge and a 30A fuse?
Anyway, I'm a programmer and have built desktop systems, but this will be my first carpc. By posting this before purchasing a bunch of stuff, I'm hoping to avoid potential pitfalls.
tia,
David
Linear Mode
