Power question...

tangeray · 06-08-2005, 09:30 PM

I've been browsing these forums for the past 2 months now....I've seen allot of people using the VIA motherboards cause they say they are light on the power side. Im planning on getting the opus 150w power supply and im tryin to plan my system. I just puirchased a lilli 7" touch. My question is.....

-Everyones systems always have GPS, optical drives, microphones, and all these tuner type cards and card drives, but how is everyone doing that when the Micro ATX boards only come with 1 PCI expansion slot?

-I was going to go with a stadard comp size with a athlon 2500+ Barton core, with about 512 in ram, a CDRW-DVD drive, 40GB 7200 RPM WD drive, and an AUdiy 2 EX caRD. Wehn i run that wattage down, im at about 270 watts!!!!!! so this means i cant use my opus 150 now right?...This is horrible.

--What are my options? can i use laptop drives and such?...where else can i get more power?...and what will work for my proposed setup. Im tryuin to keep cost down cause im poor. Thanks

Tangeray

Bugbyte · 06-08-2005, 09:53 PM

Have you checked the FAQ Emporium on this site? There's a thread on powering your PC. It sounds like you need an inverter rather than an Opus.

You can see why people go with the lower power systems.

Jahntassa · 06-08-2005, 10:23 PM

Also, USB is a wonderful thing. GPS's are usually either Serial or USB.

Optical drives can be done with USB with the right stuff, ie. enclosures. Mine is firewire, and works great.

Microphones...well.. soundcard or USB. Your choice.

Even PCMCIA cards can be done USB. TV Tuners as well. I had an ATI USB TVWonder at one point.

And if you're running that much, an inverter would definitely be the way to go... it's not quite as efficient, but running that much wattage, would be safer.

starfox · 06-09-2005, 03:52 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by tangeray

I was going to go with a stadard comp size with a athlon 2500+ Barton core, with about 512 in ram, a CDRW-DVD drive, 40GB 7200 RPM WD drive, and an AUdiy 2 EX caRD. Wehn i run that wattage down, im at about 270 watts!!!!!! so this means i cant use my opus 150 now right?...This is horrible.

Most people go for the Via stuff because it's lower powered, and because it's so much smaller! Smaller stuff is easier to fit in your car; try place a normal sized PC in your boot and see how much space it takes up. Also, the higher power you go, the hotter everything runs and it becomes pretty hard to boot your computer and keep it running happily after parking in the sun all day in summer (unless you live in a cold area).

I had an ATX case in my boot for a while, and it was really annoying because i couldn't fit as much in my boot. I guess it's not so much of a problem with some of you American guys who have bigger cars and trucks though..

DarquePervert · 06-09-2005, 07:15 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by tangeray

-Everyones systems always have GPS, optical drives, microphones, and all these tuner type cards and card drives, but how is everyone doing that when the Micro ATX boards only come with 1 PCI expansion slot?

USB and/or firewire. It's been around for years.

Quote:

-I was going to go with a stadard comp size with a athlon 2500+ Barton core, with about 512 in ram, a CDRW-DVD drive, 40GB 7200 RPM WD drive, and an AUdiy 2 EX caRD. Wehn i run that wattage down, im at about 270 watts!!!!!! so this means i cant use my opus 150 now right?...This is horrible.

It's not horrible, it's just overpowered.
Ther are other options, however. You can use an inverter to run your system. There are tank circuits and shutdown controllers and all sorts of add-ons to setup your system the way you'd like using an inverter.
There are also Keypower DC-DC PSUs that are rated for 250w. They don't have the fancy features of the Opus (Shutdown controller, crank survival, etc.), but these can be added as well.
Otherwise, you're going to have to rethink your plans to fit the limitations of the Opus 150w.

Welcome to our world!

Quote:

--What are my options? can i use laptop drives and such?...where else can i get more power?...and what will work for my proposed setup. Im tryuin to keep cost down cause im poor. Thanks

Yes, you can use laptop drives. Lots of people swear by them.
There are many options that will work within your 'power budget'. A lot of people use VIA EPIA boards because of the low power draw. A lot of people feel there's not enough computing grunt to do what they want, especially when they've got an overclocked Athlon64 on their desk at home

A viable option is an AthlonXP mobile or a Mobile Pentium. They may or may not fit into your financial budget, however.

Realistically, if you're on a tight financial budget, you may need to get an inverter that will power your setup (be sure to get one that's rated for 1-1/2 times your PC's power supply) and just run with it, adding functionality later.

tangeray · 06-09-2005, 10:40 PM

Thanks for all the responses everyone. Im starting to replan everything now.

Let me try with some more info to try and better get my goals across....

Main Focus of CarPC---->Intense audio, Pc to process all audio signals

I would also like to toy with wardriving and GPS stuff using navivoice 1.7

-->I guess, since you guys have explained the VIA boards with USB inputs, firewire etc..etc, That might be a viable direction for me to go.

-I really dont want to go to an inverter because i want to avoid line noise in the audio and also im in a pretty hot climate so i wanted to get the opus for the most efficient power transfer possible. Also, i need the shutdown controllerts and such likie that.

--I guess the best question for me to ask , is can someone throw a suggestion in for me that can utilize the opus PSU and still maintain all the functionallity that i want in the PC....Space is not a factor in my car since im mounting whatever I get in my spare tire compartment cause I've allready moddified it for a continuous flow cooling system. Thanks guys.

Tangeray

Bodgy · 06-10-2005, 12:50 AM

Hmmm, pardon the silly question, but where's your spare going once the pc is installed?

tangeray · 06-10-2005, 01:10 AM

Never had one to begin with....Not worried about it anyways. Anywho, can someone give me some speccs of their working systems that they power with an opus 150....? Every time I try and put together a system using the online calculators, i get the bare bone **** and im still at just about 130 watts before screen draw!!...Im gonna be using a lilli 7" Touchscreen. ThANks...

Tangeray

RS3RS · 06-10-2005, 01:58 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by tangeray

Anywho, can someone give me some speccs of their working systems that they power with an opus 150....?

I'll pitch in. Here's my system, powered by the OPUS 150:
2.4 ghZ Celeron
MicroATX motherboard
7200 RPM Seagate 3.5" hard drive
CD-ROM drive
Two sticks of memory
AGP Video card
PCI Sound card
PCI TV Tuner card
Self-powered USB hub powering illuminated keyboard and optical mouse
two case fans at full blast (counting CPU fan)
Digital camera card reader

And my 7" Lilliput is also powered by the 12v line from the OPUS.

I'm really impressed with what this little thing can do. I've had no hang-ups or freezups or anything I believe to be related to power.

tangeray · 06-10-2005, 06:52 PM

Awesome!! thats everythinhg that i wanted!! Anyone else got any systems running off the opus 150?...What microatx boards did you guys use? and is the via epia board with the built in processor any good??