05 Pontiac Grand-AM - AMD X2 250 AM3 CarPC

**eigenVector** · 10-23-2009, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by skeet2331

Do you plan on hibernating the computer? With 4GB of ram i don't know what you will use it all for. 1GB is usually more than enough.

I'm revisiting this question due to changes in system configuration. I haven't come across a situation where I've utilized more than 2GB of memory so far. I may remove one stick for a while, but I'm not really worried about hibernating 4gb. if anything, removing a stick could potentially decrease my boot times. As far as disk spaces goes i had a 30GB SSD installed previously, and 4gb is huge on that disk for hibernating. I'm replacing it with a 120GB SSD now, which will help out quite a bit.

Also, I don't really have to worry about hibernation times anymore, because I've setup my computer to enter sleep mode when I turn off my car. If I don't return to the car within 30 minutes, it will automatically wake itself up to enter hibernation mode. This has been explained in another thread, but basically as long as it doesn't take an hour to hibernate, I'm okay with it.

**eigenVector** · 10-25-2009, 08:56 AM

Battery Update:
After replacing the battery I drove the car for about 45 minutes (averaging 65mph) when the battery light came on, followed by my stereo cutting off, airbag light cutting on, security light turning on, and my fuel gauge dropping to empty. I was close to home when this happened and was able to park it before it completely died on me. The engine had a very strange growling sound, and there was a bad aroma coming from the engine.

The guys at Merchant's Tire, who I had just bought the battery from after getting some major engine work done, paid to have it toed back to their shop to see what was wrong. We were thinking they had forgotten to reconnect the alternator or something, but it turns out the battery just had a bad cell in it and wouldn't charge. I am quite glad Merchant's was gracious enough to pay for the toeing out of their pocket and fix any damages they may had caused. I'll be picking it back up today.

**eigenVector** · 04-21-2010, 09:29 PM

CPU Upgrade time!
With summer on the way I decided to drop my 95W TDP CPU back to a 65W TDP one. This is not to say a downgrade by any means however. Zotac informed me that AM3 processors were now supported on my AM2+ mini-itx board. Great! So I went and picked up one of those dual core 3.0Ghz Athlon II's from newegg.com ($65 USD... not bad). I've installed it and will be testing it out in the morning.

So why the upgrade? Well temperatures were fine since I installed the 120mm panaflo last summer, however anytime my car is idle, I can hear the fan from the front seat. So I'm swapping it out for a slightly less powerful and quieter spare Scythe s-flex 120mm fan. This should assist in keeping the system quiet, well ventilated, and of course the lower wattage TDP CPU will save a bit on power consumption, especially since the power saving features of AMD Cool-n-Quiet and C1E aren't supported by my motherboard.

Plus I've been doing a lot of multi-core enhancements to my CarPC App since the release of Microsoft .NET 4 and Visual Studio 2010. It seems the separate l2 cache design in this new line of Athlon's should show some interesting comparisons to the dual core phenom based 7850 I had installed previously. Can't wait to see how it goes on my commute to work in the morning.

**eigenVector** · 09-09-2010, 01:13 PM

Many new components updated and installed
Goals:
Quicker uptime (Resuming from sleep works appropriately)
Less power drain on car (Proper CPU scaling)
Quicker Memory (DDR2 -> DDR3)
Better graphics GF8200 -> ATI HD 4250
Faster Periphrials: Support for USB3.0 for future enhancements
Better monitor visibility in daytime

Replaced motherboard with ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe.
Replaced 10' VGA / USB cables with 15' HDMI cables
Replaced Lilliput EBY - 701 VGA monitor with Hi Brightness 669GL w/5Wire touch

I was amazed by how much difference the high brightness makes on this monitor. Thanks mp3car.com!!!

**eigenVector** · 09-09-2010, 01:16 PM

In the upcomming week I'm planning to move the monitor into the dash.
Purchase made: Bybyte double din for lilliput 669GL. (Thanks mo-co-so.com and bybyte)
Purchase made: 90* Angle HDMI adapter
Relocate stereo