Car Computer Worklog (pics)

[James Crivellone]

damn, you beat me to it! Good job, I don't mind the location, as long as you clean up the install (mainly the base where it connects to the dash)
I was thinking about putting the screen in the ash tray area, and the computer behind the passenger seat as I don't have a backseat anymore due to the rollbar. I'm also looking into water cooling with a radiator outside the car for any cooling issues.

You will not have any cooling issues, unless you are running a quad XEON or Operton rig back there, however at that point you would run into so many power issues its not even funny.

the fact of the matter is that you want to build a machine that is designed for mobile low wattage solutions

Pentium III Tualatin processors are great as they don't produce much heat
Older Pentium III's are great as well as you can toss big ass heatsinks on them that are securely mounted.

Pentium 4-M Processors, most will run in a normal P4 board and run on half the voltage and produce half the heat.

AMD Mobile Athlon, great processors, and will be what my final design is built around.

Watercooling in a car is more trouble then its worth, other then a cool factor, there is no need whatsoever

[Digitalwave]

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the computer to put together? Dimensions?

Where will it be mounted? Cooling issues in that spot? Vibration resistance?


I've always thought about running a computer in my car, but the only way I would do it is if it would fit in my spare tire, must handle heat (with whatever cooling options I have) and be very vibration resistant (sub is about 1 foot away).

I was originally going to run a Mobile Athlon 2500+, 512mb of ram, and 2 120gb hd's in raid 1, however I picked up this dell for like 40 bucks (may of been 50)

The current specs are a Pentium III 450, 512mb ram, 30GB hd, onboard vga, onboard lan, onboard audio, 802.11g wireless card, USB 2.0 Card, etc.

I had 256mb of that ram, the hd, the 802.11g card, and the usb2.0 card already though.

the screen was 239.99 through a group buy.

I plan on mounting the comptuer to the rear trunk wall, which should keep it nice and secure, as its a lower end p3 it already has a very large heatsink with fan on it, so it stays very cool, even pilled under my coat behind my seat......

In terms of Subs, I am still debating, i'm not a big bass guy, so I will probably not have a sub, also keep in mind that most subs are unshileded, which will just destroy whatever data you thought you had on that HD.

Dimensions, well its a Dell Optiplex GX1, has no floppy or cdrom, and the case is basically as big as the mobo, from the pic I posted behind the seat you can kinda get ideas on its size

So basically to get anything on to your computer, your going to pull the car into the garage and get it on your wireless network and transfer from a computer inside?

Are there going to be issues with skipping and long term reliability with a computer that is mounted in a car with a stiff suspension and low profile tires, jolting down the road all day long?

[Kruzen]

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the computer to put together? Dimensions?

Where will it be mounted? Cooling issues in that spot? Vibration resistance?


I've always thought about running a computer in my car, but the only way I would do it is if it would fit in my spare tire, must handle heat (with whatever cooling options I have) and be very vibration resistant (sub is about 1 foot away).

I was originally going to run a Mobile Athlon 2500+, 512mb of ram, and 2 120gb hd's in raid 1, however I picked up this dell for like 40 bucks (may of been 50)

The current specs are a Pentium III 450, 512mb ram, 30GB hd, onboard vga, onboard lan, onboard audio, 802.11g wireless card, USB 2.0 Card, etc.

I had 256mb of that ram, the hd, the 802.11g card, and the usb2.0 card already though.

the screen was 239.99 through a group buy.

I plan on mounting the comptuer to the rear trunk wall, which should keep it nice and secure, as its a lower end p3 it already has a very large heatsink with fan on it, so it stays very cool, even pilled under my coat behind my seat......

In terms of Subs, I am still debating, i'm not a big bass guy, so I will probably not have a sub, also keep in mind that most subs are unshileded, which will just destroy whatever data you thought you had on that HD.

Dimensions, well its a Dell Optiplex GX1, has no floppy or cdrom, and the case is basically as big as the mobo, from the pic I posted behind the seat you can kinda get ideas on its size

So basically to get anything on to your computer, your going to pull the car into the garage and get it on your wireless network and transfer from a computer inside?

Are there going to be issues with skipping and long term reliability with a computer that is mounted in a car with a stiff suspension and low profile tires, jolting down the road all day long?

not really.. hard drives are built to withstand several g's of force before beggining to fail.

[James Crivellone]

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the computer to put together? Dimensions?

Where will it be mounted? Cooling issues in that spot? Vibration resistance?


I've always thought about running a computer in my car, but the only way I would do it is if it would fit in my spare tire, must handle heat (with whatever cooling options I have) and be very vibration resistant (sub is about 1 foot away).

I was originally going to run a Mobile Athlon 2500+, 512mb of ram, and 2 120gb hd's in raid 1, however I picked up this dell for like 40 bucks (may of been 50)

The current specs are a Pentium III 450, 512mb ram, 30GB hd, onboard vga, onboard lan, onboard audio, 802.11g wireless card, USB 2.0 Card, etc.

I had 256mb of that ram, the hd, the 802.11g card, and the usb2.0 card already though.

the screen was 239.99 through a group buy.

I plan on mounting the comptuer to the rear trunk wall, which should keep it nice and secure, as its a lower end p3 it already has a very large heatsink with fan on it, so it stays very cool, even pilled under my coat behind my seat......

In terms of Subs, I am still debating, i'm not a big bass guy, so I will probably not have a sub, also keep in mind that most subs are unshileded, which will just destroy whatever data you thought you had on that HD.

Dimensions, well its a Dell Optiplex GX1, has no floppy or cdrom, and the case is basically as big as the mobo, from the pic I posted behind the seat you can kinda get ideas on its size

So basically to get anything on to your computer, your going to pull the car into the garage and get it on your wireless network and transfer from a computer inside?

Are there going to be issues with skipping and long term reliability with a computer that is mounted in a car with a stiff suspension and low profile tires, jolting down the road all day long?

I will have the computer sync up automatically with my home PC when its in range and download/update teh music collection, plus traffic etc. I can also get realtime data using my cellphone as a modem.


Long term, I plan on raiding 2 hd's to prevent any data loss, however I have always had excellent luck with HD's in a car, never had one fail, I do want to build some form of an enclosure to protect the drive though

[spencers]

I smell a shuttle SN45G project. :)

[DanGillan]

damn, nice work, who friggen cares what it looks like, its in a convenient spot, and it does a shitload of stuff, i wish i could do that, nice work man!

[James Crivellone]

I smell a shuttle SN45G project. :)

your not the only one :-D

[808BMW]

So you may not need watercooling, but I seriously think it'll get too hot in the spare tire tub. Will a fan blowing across the heatsink be enough? I'm not sure, since it's only blowing hot air around :P

Dunno what to do about shielding...

[benDASHDASH]

So you may not need watercooling, but I seriously think it'll get too hot in the spare tire tub. Will a fan blowing across the heatsink be enough? I'm not sure, since it's only blowing hot air around :P

Dunno what to do about shielding...

I think he was going to eventually mount it to one of the sides of the trunk. Even if inside the carpet lining, the vents should let air flow as needed.

[kylebes1]

so fill me in on this, other than running a megaquirt it has no performance value, but eventually will give you some WOW?

if all you were doing is controling the megasquirt would you need the screen?

[James Crivellone]

so fill me in on this, other than running a megaquirt it has no performance value, but eventually will give you some WOW?

if all you were doing is controling the megasquirt would you need the screen?

performance value is nada. it simply displays real time diag shit

it also does nav, music, movie,s etc

[Axxe]

Read the thread before you post.

A mobile barton (2500+) in homemade case will a HD cradle is probably the best as far as temp/power/price is concerned. As for shielding, there has got to be some sort of material that stops magnetic fields.

[kylebes1]

Read the thread before you post.

i just look at the pictures, reading is over rated. I was just trying to make conversation about the things purpose and what made him decide to use it. with all the work I am sure it has taken it was probably doen for something good, and it seems it was.

sounds like it will be a good thing to have at the track if it does not add much weight, could be good if you had fully adjustible suspension and are dialing it i guess.

do any head unit/DVD players have inputs that you could use to conseal the monitor? I know it may be to BLING but I think that would add to the cool factor and maybe some to the functionality.

[James Crivellone]

Read the thread before you post.

i just look at the pictures, reading is over rated. I was just trying to make conversation about the things purpose and what made him decide to use it. with all the work I am sure it has taken it was probably doen for something good, and it seems it was.

sounds like it will be a good thing to have at the track if it does not add much weight, could be good if you had fully adjustible suspension and are dialing it i guess.

do any head unit/DVD players have inputs that you could use to conseal the monitor? I know it may be to BLING but I think that would add to the cool factor and maybe some to the functionality.

most headunits with built in flip up LCD's hit the washer stalk, and do not have VGA in, and some are not even touch screen

[MR 325]

Wow, didn't see this thread until today.

Nice work James, your car just gets better and better. Wanna trade for a 1991 325i? :razz: