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03-03-2005, 01:46 AM
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#1
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Newbie
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Vic, Australia
Vehicle: 1993 Nissan 180SX
Posts: 32
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opus PSU too weak for me?
i've been reading this site for the last two days straight trying to learn about getting a carputer installation going.
i've come to the conclusion that instead of an inverter i'll just fork out more money to get the 150watt opus dc-dc psu.
i'm planning to run an old P3 500mhz computer with 384mb ram, 2 HDD's, 1 DVD player and possible some USB stuff too.
i've searched and used one of those psu calculators, and it comes out to about 200-215watts.
will i be better off getting a stronger PSU with inverter? or will the OPUS be sufficient even though its under my required wattage?
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03-03-2005, 02:05 AM
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#2
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My Village Called
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Berkeley, CA
Vehicle: 1995 Lexus SC300 1997 Mazda Miata
Posts: 10,763
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Remove one of the HDs.
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03-03-2005, 02:08 AM
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#3
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Maximum Bitrate
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SE Michigan
Vehicle: MR2 Spyder
Posts: 750
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It may be sufficient - a number of people have claimed to put considerably more than the stated load on the opuses. And your calculation is probably the cumelative peak draws, which you'll probably never actually see. Still I'm not so sure it's such a good idea though, as you risk reduced lifespan of the opus, or spontanious shutdown when say the 3 drives happen to spin up simultaniously.
If I were you, I'd try to stick with the opus (they really are quite nice) but try to trim the consumption side. Do you really need 2 HDDs? Or 384MB of RAM?
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03-03-2005, 02:10 AM
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#4
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Newbie
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Vic, Australia
Vehicle: 1993 Nissan 180SX
Posts: 32
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i suppose i could cut down the ram to maybe 256.
i was going to use 2 hdd's cause i have 2 40gb hdd's in the computer atm, guess i could go out and buy like a 120gb! possibly have no dvd drive for the moment too.
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03-03-2005, 06:57 AM
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#5
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Neither darque nor pervert
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: In The Sticks near The 'Ham
Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tacoma X-Cab
Posts: 11,598
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Quote: Originally Posted by gummybear
i suppose i could cut down the ram to maybe 256.
i was going to use 2 hdd's cause i have 2 40gb hdd's in the computer atm, guess i could go out and buy like a 120gb! possibly have no dvd drive for the moment too.
What kind of video card?
Higher-end 3D cards can draw a substantial amount of juice....
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03-03-2005, 07:00 AM
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#6
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_
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Little Elm, Texas
Vehicle: VW GTi VR6 / Ducati 900 SS & S4R / Dakota R/T Supercharged
Posts: 13,221
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finding a place to put 2 hds might be a little difficult, or have you already test fit everything where you know you want it?
I would just go and get one drive honnestly...
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03-03-2005, 07:49 AM
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#7
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FLAC
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Boston
Vehicle: 2006 GMC Sierra 1500 Hybrid
Posts: 1,231
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unless you wanted the 2 HDD for a raid array, I'd say get one single drive. Drives are gonna command a decent amount of that power, 20w+ for 7200rpm.
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Quote: Originally Posted by ryuandwings 
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I been looking for that all over the net, but I can't find it.
Please help.
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03-03-2005, 03:32 PM
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#8
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Newbie
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Vic, Australia
Vehicle: 1993 Nissan 180SX
Posts: 32
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using an nvidia gf 4mx. don't think it'll chew up too much power, if not i'll go down to the OLD 3dfx voodoo 3 agp. lol
yeh and i'll stick to 1 hdd.
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03-04-2005, 11:07 AM
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#9
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Constant Bitrate
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 206
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Quote: Originally Posted by gummybear
using an nvidia gf 4mx. don't think it'll chew up too much power, if not i'll go down to the OLD 3dfx voodoo 3 agp. lol
yeh and i'll stick to 1 hdd.
Forget a 3D accelerator... It's probably gona suck as much power as the rest of the system..
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03-04-2005, 12:14 PM
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#10
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Maximum Bitrate
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Cali
Vehicle: 1999 VW Golf 2.slow :)
Posts: 664
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Quote: Originally Posted by KaiTech
Forget a 3D accelerator... It's probably gona suck as much power as the rest of the system..
considering that it is a PIII 500 and the video card is a Geforce2 (yes, it is, its not Geforce4) the power consumption should be well within Opus limits. My PIII 700 takes at most 40Watts, so I would assume a 500 would take even less, and I believe the video card consumes at most 15-20 Watts, since it is a slower and castrated version of full-fledged Geforce2.
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03-04-2005, 12:46 PM
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#11
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Newbie
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: California
Vehicle: 2005/Dodge/Magnum
Posts: 23
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2 cents: last week i removed one of the processors from my carpc. i was using a spare computer (dual PIII 1G) with 2HD that wouldn't start w/o the car running and couldn't survive reboots (400W inverter).
With everything installed, it was about a bit more than 130W 11Amp draw. after doing a bunch of research, i realized that i was trying to polish a turd. unless i was willing to spend a little money and buy the parts that actualy worked for my system, it was going to suck.
rather than buying larger power supplys to power atx boards with multiple HD's, then determining i need to sell it all on ebay and buy the right stuff, i cut my losses, ate the cost of my 400W inverter, and picked up parts with the appropriate power consumption.
it cost a little money up front, but i've gone from 130w/11a+ to 48W/4a.
moral of the story, i wanted to have a carpc for the cost of the inverter and the display. i found that you get what you pay for, and that route is ok to start, but it's realy going to suck and you're going to spend more time frustrated by the carpc than enjoying it.
in the end, it's cost me $400 more than i anticipated. after a month, i know i'm goign to be appreciating that 400bux for the frustration that it's saving me.
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