My Build...any input appreciated.

boypdp · 09-26-2006, 10:41 AM

Hell everyone, I have been trollin around these forums for a while now. Thought I should sign up and start participating.

Here are my basic thoughts on a mobile PC.

Processor
Core 2 Duo T7200 2ghz - Merom(mobile)

Motherboard
AOpen i945GTm-VHL

Anyone know a similar mobo that supports more RAM?

Hard Drive
Seagate EE25 40gb

This is one of their drives for extreme environments. If anyone has any more info on these types of drives, not just seagate, that have a larger capacity, please let me know.

Power Supply
DS-ATX 220W

RAM
TBD

CASE
will build myself

Thanks in advance for any input anyone may have. Ill continue to browse around and try to find some answers.

09-26-2006, 11:41 AM

I'm actually building a Celeron M system, so it uses the 915 chipset. Here's another MSI board that uses the 945GT chipset. Reviews are mixed, but don't take my word for it. I'm just showing you another board eheh:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130046

thunderdepot · 09-26-2006, 06:48 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by boypdp

Hell everyone, I have been trollin around these forums for a while now. Thought I should sign up and start participating.

Here are my basic thoughts on a mobile PC.

Processor
Core 2 Duo T7200 2ghz

Motherboard
AOpen i945GTm-VHL

Anyone know a similar mobo that supports more RAM?

Hard Drive
Seagate EE25 40gb

This is one of their drives for extreme environments. If anyone has any more info on these types of drives, not just seagate, that have a larger capacity, please let me know.

Power Supply
DS-ATX 220W

RAM
TBD

CASE
will build myself

Thanks in advance for any input anyone may have. Ill continue to browse around and try to find some answers.

Way too powerful for a car pc. You do not need/want a core 2 duo in a car pc.

Go for something that is less power hungry such as a sempron or celeron, heck even go with a mobile chip that is designed for laptops. You can also go the via route but those are getting to be overpriced for their performance.
512MB of RAM is plenty for almost all systems.

40GB hard drive makes you somewhat limited, just all depends on how much music / videos you have. Once it is formatted, windows is installed, and all of your programs are installed you have about 30GB left of space. May or may not be enough for you.

Remember this is a mobile pc not a powerhouse!

Welcome to the forum NOOB!

GFridrich3 · 09-26-2006, 06:58 PM

I just bought the Jetway Via Vista MiniITX with the 1.5Ghz Esther chip. Its been working great and seems very fast for such a little chip. Even under full load its barely breaking a sweat at just around 110 degrees. Takes full speed DDR-2 533mhz up to 1gb which im running too. Pretty powerful board for its size and you can get it just about anywhere for around 175 shipped or less if you dig a little.

ckny · 09-27-2006, 12:11 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by GFridrich3

I just bought the Jetway Via Vista MiniITX with the 1.5Ghz Esther chip. Its been working great and seems very fast for such a little chip. Even under full load its barely breaking a sweat at just around 110 degrees. Takes full speed DDR-2 533mhz up to 1gb which im running too. Pretty powerful board for its size and you can get it just about anywhere for around 175 shipped or less if you dig a little.

I was looking into getting this board and running it with a m2-atx power supply. I've heard these boards have some issues - can you tell me about it? Does it go to sleep, resume well? Any reasons not to go with it?

There's a seller on ebay selling them for $150.

boypdp · 09-27-2006, 11:16 AM

Maybe it will help to explain the use of this PC.

It will be used for data acquisition in a test vehicle. So it needs to be powerful and somewhat expandable. This isn't just for listening to music or viewing vidoes.

DarquePervert · 09-27-2006, 11:52 AM

Hell, my setup in my truck is more powerful of a PC than I actually need, too.
Don't let them dissuade you from persuing your project in earnest.

As far as the CPU choice, it should be fine. You could even use a less-expensive power supply like the M2ATX, however if you want the expandibility, then the beefier power supply is worth the extra expense and power capabilities, IMHO.

Quote: Originally Posted by thunderdepot

Go for something that is less power hungry such as a sempron or celeron, heck even go with a mobile chip that is designed for laptops.

This blanket statement is not correct in all circumstances. There are Celeron chips that suck more power than their P4 counterparts.
If you'd actually look at the specs, he did select a mobile CPU.

thunderdepot · 09-27-2006, 09:32 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by DarquePervert

Hell, my setup in my truck is more powerful of a PC than I actually need, too.
Don't let them dissuade you from persuing your project in earnest.

As far as the CPU choice, it should be fine. You could even use a less-expensive power supply like the M2ATX, however if you want the expandibility, then the beefier power supply is worth the extra expense and power capabilities, IMHO.

This blanket statement is not correct in all circumstances. There are Celeron chips that suck more power than their P4 counterparts.
If you'd actually look at the specs, he did select a mobile CPU.

Very true, you have to investigate before you buy. One thing that is important with car pc's is the power consumption. As a general rule of thumb celerons use less then p4's, not always though.

And the noob edited his post which made my post look like I was ignorant. He did not have a mobile cpu selected in his original post (look at my reply). He also did not explain what he was going to use it for.

geeky_hawkes · 09-28-2006, 06:37 AM

More power in the cpu is never going to hurt you, lets be honest the carpc software out and around is constantly evolving to do more, so having some redundancy in your system will only stand you in good sted for the future.

DarquePervert · 09-28-2006, 06:41 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by thunderdepot

And the noob edited his post which made my post look like I was ignorant. He did not have a mobile cpu selected in his original post (look at my reply). He also did not explain what he was going to use it for.

I missed that. My bad

boypdp · 09-28-2006, 09:31 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by thunderdepot

...And the noob edited his post which made my post look like I was ignorant. He did not have a mobile cpu selected in his original post (look at my reply). He also did not explain what he was going to use it for.

Yes I did edit my post after you posted. I did however always have a mobile CPU selected. I just added the Mobile part on the end, after reading your original post, to make it more clear.

Does anyone have any information on the Meroms about their power consumption under a full load? In their spec they are stated at 34w.

JpLelko · 11-01-2006, 08:30 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by boypdp

Does anyone have any information on the Meroms about their power consumption under a full load? In their spec they are stated at 34w.

I am going to put a Core 2 Duo into my truck. I have looked up the specs and the 34w for the Merom sounds about right, I know its about 25w at idle. sounds like an awesome system. Also, don't let any one discurage you from building what you want. Just because some hick is stuck an old p3 into his old camero, and thinks it's fast (both the PC and the car), doesn't mean you shouldn't create something great. It is all about what you want because you have to live with it. I personally say Core Duo all the way. If you can build it, through it back in there face. thats the motto i live by.