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04-19-2009, 08:02 PM
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#1
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FLAC
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,200
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WuNgUn PIC'S-Water cooled car PC 95% done!
(****ty camera warning!)
Here is the latest pics of my carputer setup....the dash and trunk...
I'm thinking about repainting the center console...just not perfect. I nicked the paint fitting the machine acrylic cover as well.
But you'll note the pair of USB ports where the ashtray use to live, as well as the engine start/stop button, which is now fully functional...
You'll notice the rectangular 'grooves'...these wil be used for illumination (blue LED of course) in the near future.
The two dots are status LED's for the push-button start...orange when the start sequence has started, and a green LED for when it's started and ready to drive.
And of course, below the screen, the pair of VU meters and the Powermate volume/control knob...
(Ignore the finger prints!)
Here it is booting up...
And loaded (Centrafuse 2 frontend)...I'm using Phidgets USB sensors to monitor inside and outside temps, outside humidity as well as current flow to the PC and battery voltage...
The center portion also displays my tire pressure and temperatures, nav data, among other things...
The trunk, I made the finishing cuts on it yesterday...
I was hoping the LED lighting would permeate thru the machined acrylic better, but I'll add two more strips to the front side of it to even the lighting better...
There are also 2 CCFL tubes in the main 'window', which aren't well illuminated with the lighting/camera...
The two exhaust fans also run with blue LED's...
Right now, it's the raw MDF. I'm going to chamfer the cutouts and cover it in carbon-look black vinyl...
The 'window' to the PC has a framed piece that's covered in speaker grill cloth that can optionally be used to keep it hidden...
I'll see if I can get some more shots when it gets darker out...
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04-19-2009, 08:31 PM
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#2
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FLAC
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,200
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04-19-2009, 08:43 PM
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#3
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Newbie
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Kurdistan,Iraq
Posts: 27
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Nice work
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04-19-2009, 09:29 PM
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#4
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Low Bitrate
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 71
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Awesome build, and nice pics too!
What are those two white plastic rings next to your 120mm fans? Are they just there to reflect the uv lights?
How much heat does your system generate, and what temps does your water cooling help bring it down too? I'm building a system for a 125W TDP CPU, and have started thinking about my options to cool in a hot trunk, and have considered water. I may throw some questions about it to you at some point.
Again, nice work!
Last edited by eigenVector; 04-19-2009 at 09:33 PM.
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04-19-2009, 10:47 PM
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#5
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Variable Bitrate
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Haledon, NJ
Posts: 314
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that is sweet... i like how clean the wires and everything are run in the trunk
Last edited by bratnetwork; 04-20-2009 at 07:44 PM.
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04-20-2009, 10:08 AM
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#6
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FLAC
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,200
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Quote: Originally Posted by eigenVector  Awesome build, and nice pics too!
What are those two white plastic rings next to your 120mm fans? Are they just there to reflect the uv lights?
How much heat does your system generate, and what temps does your water cooling help bring it down too? I'm building a system for a 125W TDP CPU, and have started thinking about my options to cool in a hot trunk, and have considered water. I may throw some questions about it to you at some point.
Again, nice work!
Those a CCFL rings...blue. They are on a 12V regulator, so they don't light up real bright unless the car is running. The blow easily, so I have to keep them on the vReg...
Heat? Well, I have Speedfan set to come on a 50C, but it rarely does. Mind you, it's still spring! BTW, it's a dual core AMD 2.2Ghz CPU...
If I run RightMark CPU clock, the temps stay down pretty low...just having the coolant flowing is enough to keep it cool.
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04-20-2009, 07:23 PM
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#7
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FLAC
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,200
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04-20-2009, 08:29 PM
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#8
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Newbie
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 49
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You are pretty brave water cooling in a car. 
Looks neat.
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04-21-2009, 09:32 AM
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#9
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FLAC
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,200
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Nah...it's all good.
After all, the engine is water cooled, and it doesn't spring leaks! 
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04-23-2009, 11:24 AM
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#10
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Newbie
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2
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Glad to see the inside of your car is as nice as your outside 
__________________
---
2005 ZX3
Stock 6 Disc MP3 CD Unit
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04-23-2009, 11:51 AM
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#11
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Variable Bitrate
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: The Evergreen State, Washington
Posts: 340
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Wow! It's looking fantastic wungun! Rock On with the amd 2.2 dual core, and full blown ATX setup. I don't see any potiential heat issues, so that's great planning and execution on your part of building the enclosure. Looks like you're almost ready to cover the MDF. How the hell did you cut the wood so perfectly?
What are you running on the graphics output, AGP or PCI-E? Make and model please...
I also see you have two audio cards, how well do they work together?
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04-23-2009, 01:26 PM
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#12
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FLAC
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,200
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Thanks!!
Well, the cutting wasn't perfect...this was my second board At $15, I can fix a mistake or two!
Because my car has a sub enclosure on the left side of the trunk, everything is shifted to the right...including the spare tire well...
So I tried to offset the PC case to the left a bit, same with the amps, to try to keep it 'looking' centered...
Turned out okay I think...you can't really tell the offset is there.
The amp acrylic cover needed to be trimmed, as did the amp rack, so I could move the PC case as far forward as possible...
All in all, I'm happy with it...
I might finish the chamfering and lighting today, and see about getting it covered...
The graphics are on-board...I was running a water cooled 9600 Pro, but it died. Used too much power anyways, so I simplified it. The board is an ATI chipset, socket 939 MSI...can't think of the model off hand...it's an odd one!
The 2 sound cards were risky! Never done that before! Turns out, they CAN live side by side, from a hardware standpoint, no problem...
The software gets confused though!! So I never use it. I set 'em up with the software, one at a time (set channels and output quality), and that 'stuck'.
The major issues were the drivers...or driver quality to be exact. I could NOT find a set of drivers that would independantly output to each channel when routing them thru AudioMulch with ASIO drivers.
There was always an issue of crosstalk (not good when running active cross over!), and the center/sub channel would ALWAYS output as center/sub.
Turns out, there is an older Vista driver that WOULD work properly, except Vista sucked for a carputer...
However, strangely enough, those same Vista drivers installed fine on XP, and worked! The only problem was the record lines...Vista uses something far different than XP when it comes to recording...
But I solved that by using the on-board audio for my line in and mic inputs
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04-23-2009, 02:01 PM
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#13
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Variable Bitrate
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: The Evergreen State, Washington
Posts: 340
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Right on! It's weird that we have to revert back to an earlier OS version when attempting to get our components to work. I can relate to that! My MICROSOFT GPS and it's software did not work properly with Microsoft Windows Vista. However, it works great with XP and windows 7! LOL! Perhaps drivers aren't mature enough for Vista, or they simply bypassed that OS. I could never grasp the concept. Microsoft might have said "F Vista!"
Anyway, back to your project; Your motherboard (NF7) is the same one I have in my house, and so is the white mac usb keyboard. The NF7 is virtually invincible! Are you located in Washington too?
Now, Pioneer makes some great car speakers, and your mounting is pretty impressive. Did you have modify the openings or did the speakers simply bolt right in to the existing holes?
I see this audio setup as 5.1 surround sound, couldn't this be archived by one audio card?
I dig the water cooling concept, it's going to be a big attn grabber. If you have time, post some pics of the car too. Great job mate!
Last edited by dMand; 04-23-2009 at 02:04 PM.
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04-23-2009, 02:18 PM
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#14
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Variable Bitrate
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: The Evergreen State, Washington
Posts: 340
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Do you have pics of the LCD fabrication and install? I'd like to check them out and gain some insight on how you did that. Been thinking about doing one on my dash, but a lot of things have to be replaced and relocated, like my head unit and the DVDRW. Those are two things I can't see doing without. In the same token, no head unit requires an amp or two. So I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place should I decide on an in-dash LCD.
Nevertheless, I'll have to think of another location to put them, It's going to be a tough call!
Do you have a cdrom or dvdrom, and head unit in there somewhere?
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04-23-2009, 04:38 PM
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#15
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FLAC
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,200
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Quote: Originally Posted by dMand Your motherboard (NF7) is the same one I have in my house, and so is the white mac usb keyboard. The NF7 is virtually invincible! Are you located in Washington too?
Actually, that's my old board...long story, but I thought I blew it, and ended up buying a used MSI 939...
And as I found out, the ATI chipset was FAR superior to the nF7 for PCI traffic/latency! I never would of guessed!
The Mac keyboard belongs to the wife
I'm in Stratford Ontario, Canada...
Quote: Originally Posted by dMand Now, Pioneer makes some great car speakers, and your mounting is pretty impressive. Did you have modify the openings or did the speakers simply bolt right in to the existing holes?
These PRS's have a reputation for outstanding midrange punch...and I do mean punch! Just phenominal. If there is a weak area, it's the tweeter when used with the Pioneer crossovers. They can be a little sharp/harsh/fatiguing...
But I fixed that problem by running active cross overs! Tuned to my liking!
Quote: Originally Posted by dMand I see this audio setup as 5.1 surround sound, couldn't this be archived by one audio card?
Nope...
Running active cross overs requires that the tweeter and the driver run off their own channel/line...
So basically, each L/R output jack on the sound card is going to a set of speakers...L is low-pass, for the driver, and R is hi-pass, for the tweeter
So, for just the front and rear speakers, there are 8 channels needed, which CAN be done with 1 sound card, but I also need a sub out and an output for the VU meters...
Quote: Originally Posted by dMand ...post some pics of the car too. Great job mate!
Custom made LED signals...
After 2nd coat of sealant...
LED tails...
LED driving lights...
Custom LED fogs...
Custom mounted Infinity FX35 HID projectors with RS lenses...
At the races...
Custom match-painted Yakima...
Quote: Originally Posted by dMand Do you have pics of the LCD fabrication and install?
Not really...I basically opened up the DIN opening, and epoxied the Lilliput frame to the backside...and because the frame isn't contoured like my dash, I used craft store popsicle sticks laid down to fill the space up between the dash and the frame, epoxied in place...
Then it was just body filler and sanding and painting!
Quote: Originally Posted by dMand Do you have a cdrom or dvdrom, and head unit in there somewhere?
Yup, a DVD-ROM, mounted in the glove box...
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