Shayughul

Ummm...Hi. New person here....I have some questions.

I want to build a carputer. I plan on doing GPS, DVD, Solitaire....those sort of things. Possibly play Star Wars Galaxies on the machine.

I have this problem thou. I don't have anything under a 1700 Mhz proc and board. I don't really want to buy anything new cause I have about 5 PC's worth of parts laying around.

So recently I decided that I wanted to put my Dual Proc board in my car. Why not...it isn't doing anything else.

I don't wanna do ITX or anything...I want the Dual Proc =)

I understand...I think...that my biggest issue here is going to be power. and possibly heat. Heat I can deal with but I am a bit of a power newb. I know nothing about electricity.

What are my options as far as powering a PC with these specs.

Dual 1800 AMD procs.
ATI 9700 Pro
1 7200 RPM HDD
and a DVD ROM drive.

Currently it is way overpowered I am told as I have a 650 Watt PS in there. Heh...like the title says.

The display is a 7" lilliput cause I had one laying here for a previous project that didn't work out =)

So learn me about power....please

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Confused

With that kind of power usage, you'll probably be asking too much of the best option, which is the Opus 150W.

Could you maybe swap the dualie into your server at home, and take the slowest CPU and put that in the car That will be a much better option, as there is almost nothing that a dual CPU system would be needed for in a car.

Also, you won't be playing any games at a resolution much higher than 800x600 on that display anyway, so a graphics card that powerful isn't really needed either.


If you do decide to go with that, your only real bet will be to try one of these high-power output inverters.


Garry

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Shayughul

I completlely understand that there isn't much I wil use the Dual Proc for in the car. Honestly I wanted it more for the looks. I plan on encasing it in plexi with some neon lights and placing it in the boot.

i think my slowest computer that i could scrape togather is a AMD 1700 with the ATI 9700 .......rest of the hardware would be the same....

BTW..the Dualie would run on a smaller PS....possibly like a 400 or 350 from what I have read.....the 600 is way overkill...I only bought it cause it lit up ...the PS did that is....lol

so how about the Dualies with a smaller PS? or a 1700? either of those possible you think?

Confused

The 9700 may be pushing the limits of an Opus, but the Opus is grossly under-rated anyway It can push out way more than 150W of real power.

Most "home" pc power supplies are grossly OVER-rated, so a 600W PSU may only give out 300W of good, usable power, in the extreme cases!

Unless of course your 600W PSU cost you about $100, in which case it might be rated well, but probably not if you paid $40 for it


Garry

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Shayughul

Man...its like I have my own personal guru right here for all my questions....you rock man.

And you avatar...that is priceless...love the cat in the lime helmet...i think that is what that is....lol

ok...so I could drop it down to the 1700 AMD...and maybe scale down to a ATI 9000....those are pretty low end ATi cards....

I think I might just jump in and give it a try...I am not attached to any of the hardware really....so if something goes up in smoke I won't cry....much.

I will probably try it out with a inverter first...just to make sure it works...and then spend the cash on the Opus...I have read alot about those while lurking on these boards. Seems like they are worth the investment.

Looks like I have a weekend project now.

Confused

Heh, just glad I'm able to help, and for you you're probably glad I hadn't decided to go to bed yet It's fast approaching midnight, and i'm still as perky as ever with my Visual Basic coding and forum browsing!

Yes, the Opus is definately a good investment, I am very glad I got mine Get the hardware/software set up and to your liking outside the car with a standard PSU, then when you've got the Opus, chuck that straight into the car. Unless you have an inverter already, don't bother getting one, put that money into your "Opus fund" and you'll have the Opus even sooner than you would if you bought yourself an inverter as well

Good luck with the project, when it's done be sure to post it in the Show Off Your Project forum


Garry

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Animepix

ummmm... You want to run a dual processor and use a ATI 9700 pro, and your worried about overkill?

Shayughul

The only reason I would be worried is cause I have to find something that will handle that power in the car.

lol

Animepix

well, couldn't you always use 2 opus 150w? Don't know if this would work but i'd be nice if it did.

eCar™

You can always use an inverter and any size AC PSU you want.

4.9 EF Futura

This is what I would have suggested. I'm running an AMD Thunderbird 1333mhz with a GeForce 4MX, two HDD's and a DVD ROM. This is all powered beatifully buy a 250W PS and a 300W inverter.

Dont think you'd have too many problems running a dual CPU mobo if used an inverter and a beefy AC PS.

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