My Carpc
11-30-2008, 08:44 PM
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Vehicle: 2006 Pontiac GTO
Ok, due to popular demand I will post some technical details on my CarPC setup. Hopefully there is enough info here to get people started smile.gif
I started by buying a 'used' package from a guy on mp3car.com. It was nice as it included a ton of stuff, as well as cables and such. I decided to upgrade parts of it, so I'm gonna post my final setup and a few of my thoughts.
I ended up getting some pretty fast hardware. Do you NEED a really fast computer? Probably not. Do you see the difference? Most definitely. You want this thing to respond instantly to your commands, you want to load the GPS application in a few seconds, you want it to boot fast, and you want it to be responsive. I think that you can get good hardware today for SO cheap that it's really not worth it to get a slow computer.
In case you're not familiar to what a computer has inside, here's a little primer:
- at the heart of the computer is the CPU, or processor. This is just a chip with a lot of pins.
- thne you have RAM or memory. It is a stick of chips that can store data short-term (while it's powered).
- Hard drives are used to store data long-term.
- The Mainboard or motherboard connects everything together. It has a socket into which you stick the CPU. It has slots into which you stick the RAM stick(s). It usually comes with a lot of devices integrated right on it: USB (it has USB plugs), Video (VGA) output, Network, and Audio (has 3.5mm jacks on it). You also connect the hard-drives to it.
- Power supply: all these things need power; the mainboard has a huge connector and maybe another small one through which it gets a number of voltages on different lines. The hard-disks also use power through cables from the power supply.
So basically you need to get all these devices (hard drive, motherboard with stuff mounted on it, and power supply) inside a single case.
There are many different layouts (sizes) for the motherboards. The most popular one for CarPCs is mini-ITX, which is 170 by 170 mm.
Ok, so here are my current components, and a few of my reasons. I think they are all really great value (really good performance for the money).
Mainboard - $60
After trying out a VIA EPIA and a P4M, I decided I want a faster computer. I decided to use Intel's Core 2 platform (what most desktops/laptops use nowadays). This motherboard is AMAZINGLY cheap for a Core 2, mini-ITX motherboard. I had no idea if it would be good being so cheap and all, but it works really good so far.
ZOTAC NF630I-D-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813500012
This motherboard includes good onboard 5.1 audio. It has three 3.5mm jacks on it, so you can use jack to RCA cables from RadioShack to connect the output to amplifiers. The motherboard supports SATA hard drives, and requires DDR2 memory.
CPU - $83
I chose the E5200 dual-core processor. It is really fast, it is comparable to the processor inside my desktop (which is pretty powerful).
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819116072
A cheaper, but slower option would be the Intel Celeron 440, about $55: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819116038
RAM - $15
1Gb of DDR2 RAM. More than this is not needed nor recommended because of possibly slower Hibernation resume times (see below).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820141298
Hard disk - $90
I REALLY wanted to get a fast hard disk. The CarPC is using hibernation to turn on and off. And of course, you want it to turn on as soon as possible. Hibernation means that the entire contents of the memory (RAM) is being copied to the hard disk. The computer can then turn off; when it is turned back on, all the data is being read from the hard disk back to memory, and you can continue from where you left off. This read is what takes most of the time when resuming from hibernation. So you want a hard disk with fast transfer rate. I looked around for benchmarks, and this was the 2.5" hard disk with the fastest rate (among reasonably prices hard disks):
Seagate Momentus 7200.3 ST9320421AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148336
Case, Power supply - $150
I used the VoomPC case with the M2-ATX power supply. The power supply works like this: it has a permanent +12V connection to the battery, and it is also connected to a switched wire (like the ACC wire that has power when the key is at ACC, basically when the clock and radio is on). When you turn the key to ACC, the power supply sees this and turns on the computer. When you turn off the key, the power supply sends the 'power off' signal to the computer (exactly what happens when you push the power off button on your desktop). The computer then powers off or hibernates (depending on what it's set to do, in Control Panel->Power->Advanced). The power supply allows some time for the computer to turn off. If the computer gets stuck powering off, it forcefully turns off after a few minutes.
A good case will have designated places to mount the mainboard, a 2.5" hard disk, and the power supply.
This is not exactly what I have, but close enough:
http://cgi.ebay.com/M2-ATX-Car-PC-Carputer...120103001r21042
Putting it all together
The care will most likely come with instructions. You first mount the mainboard onto the bottom of the case. Then you add the CPU and memory onto it. Then you mount the hard disk and the power supply. This is how that will look:
The hard disk is mounted under the power supply. The fan on the CPU is the one that came with it. Unfortunately it was too big to fit in my case. So I went to Microcenter and got a really slim general purpose cooling fan. I cut out the stock fan and kept the bottom plastic part that mounts on the mainboard. I then glued the Microcenter fan to the plastic part. Kind of ghetto, but did the job:
The fan is mounted with screws onto a small metal frame (came with the fan). You can see the yellow contact cement I used to glue this frame to the black plastic part. The whole thing looks like this:
The screen - $200
I am using the VM80b screen, got it off ebay. You can go with better brand (like Lilliput) but it will cost more. This one has worked well so far and is very visible during the day.
http://www.short-circuit.com/product/VM80B.html
It is molded in the radio surround; (I bought the surround already made for this screen from a member here). I took the screen apart, and there were different separate boards inside it. Some of them I didn't need (buttons, inputs other than VGA). The others I mounted on the back of the screen by gluing some plastic mounts. It was a bit of work, and you need to be careful to not screw anything up.
The screen comes with a remote control, and you can separate the IR sensor from inside the monitor, and make it that it sticks out near the cig lighter. That way you can still use the remote control to control brightness and whatnot.
Peripherals
Depending on what you want to do with the PC, you will need certain peripherals. The most useful is a GPS receiver, I have a 32 channel MTK that works amazingly well:
http://www.buygpsnow.com/Globaltop-GMR75-U...S-Receiver.aspx
As my computer is in the trunk, I used a USB hub in front of the car to plug in the touchscreen, and the GPS module which are upfront. I also got another small USB hub and mounted it inside the ashtray so I can easily attach an external drive or a keyboard when needed.
Connections
Here is a sketch of my connections:
I chose to connect the LCD to the M2ATX rather than the car's battery: although the manual says that it can handle any voltage between 10-15V (or something like that), I read that they are in general more prone to failure when the voltage source isn't constant. I used 16 awg wire for the connections, and standard USB and VGA cables.
As for Audio, all my speakers are amped, and the amplifiers are in my trunk right next to my CarPC. I just used jack-to-rca cables to connect them. The onboard audio is amazingly clean, I was expecting it to be a little noisy, but it is ok.
Software
I used a program called nLite to remove parts of Windows XP that I don't need, making it lighter and faster. I splurged and bought the CentraFuse frontend, it looks amazing and works great. I use iGuidance 4 for GPS, and there is a Centrafuse plugin that allows me to use it from within the frontend.
You can visit the mp3car.com forums to learn more about this stuff, there's a lot more than one man can post about smile.gif
A couple more pics of my setup: http://picasaweb.google.com/radu.rd2/Carpc#
I started by buying a 'used' package from a guy on mp3car.com. It was nice as it included a ton of stuff, as well as cables and such. I decided to upgrade parts of it, so I'm gonna post my final setup and a few of my thoughts.
I ended up getting some pretty fast hardware. Do you NEED a really fast computer? Probably not. Do you see the difference? Most definitely. You want this thing to respond instantly to your commands, you want to load the GPS application in a few seconds, you want it to boot fast, and you want it to be responsive. I think that you can get good hardware today for SO cheap that it's really not worth it to get a slow computer.
In case you're not familiar to what a computer has inside, here's a little primer:
- at the heart of the computer is the CPU, or processor. This is just a chip with a lot of pins.
- thne you have RAM or memory. It is a stick of chips that can store data short-term (while it's powered).
- Hard drives are used to store data long-term.
- The Mainboard or motherboard connects everything together. It has a socket into which you stick the CPU. It has slots into which you stick the RAM stick(s). It usually comes with a lot of devices integrated right on it: USB (it has USB plugs), Video (VGA) output, Network, and Audio (has 3.5mm jacks on it). You also connect the hard-drives to it.
- Power supply: all these things need power; the mainboard has a huge connector and maybe another small one through which it gets a number of voltages on different lines. The hard-disks also use power through cables from the power supply.
So basically you need to get all these devices (hard drive, motherboard with stuff mounted on it, and power supply) inside a single case.
There are many different layouts (sizes) for the motherboards. The most popular one for CarPCs is mini-ITX, which is 170 by 170 mm.
Ok, so here are my current components, and a few of my reasons. I think they are all really great value (really good performance for the money).
Mainboard - $60
After trying out a VIA EPIA and a P4M, I decided I want a faster computer. I decided to use Intel's Core 2 platform (what most desktops/laptops use nowadays). This motherboard is AMAZINGLY cheap for a Core 2, mini-ITX motherboard. I had no idea if it would be good being so cheap and all, but it works really good so far.
ZOTAC NF630I-D-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813500012
This motherboard includes good onboard 5.1 audio. It has three 3.5mm jacks on it, so you can use jack to RCA cables from RadioShack to connect the output to amplifiers. The motherboard supports SATA hard drives, and requires DDR2 memory.
CPU - $83
I chose the E5200 dual-core processor. It is really fast, it is comparable to the processor inside my desktop (which is pretty powerful).
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819116072
A cheaper, but slower option would be the Intel Celeron 440, about $55: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819116038
RAM - $15
1Gb of DDR2 RAM. More than this is not needed nor recommended because of possibly slower Hibernation resume times (see below).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820141298
Hard disk - $90
I REALLY wanted to get a fast hard disk. The CarPC is using hibernation to turn on and off. And of course, you want it to turn on as soon as possible. Hibernation means that the entire contents of the memory (RAM) is being copied to the hard disk. The computer can then turn off; when it is turned back on, all the data is being read from the hard disk back to memory, and you can continue from where you left off. This read is what takes most of the time when resuming from hibernation. So you want a hard disk with fast transfer rate. I looked around for benchmarks, and this was the 2.5" hard disk with the fastest rate (among reasonably prices hard disks):
Seagate Momentus 7200.3 ST9320421AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148336
Case, Power supply - $150
I used the VoomPC case with the M2-ATX power supply. The power supply works like this: it has a permanent +12V connection to the battery, and it is also connected to a switched wire (like the ACC wire that has power when the key is at ACC, basically when the clock and radio is on). When you turn the key to ACC, the power supply sees this and turns on the computer. When you turn off the key, the power supply sends the 'power off' signal to the computer (exactly what happens when you push the power off button on your desktop). The computer then powers off or hibernates (depending on what it's set to do, in Control Panel->Power->Advanced). The power supply allows some time for the computer to turn off. If the computer gets stuck powering off, it forcefully turns off after a few minutes.
A good case will have designated places to mount the mainboard, a 2.5" hard disk, and the power supply.
This is not exactly what I have, but close enough:
http://cgi.ebay.com/M2-ATX-Car-PC-Carputer...120103001r21042
Putting it all together
The care will most likely come with instructions. You first mount the mainboard onto the bottom of the case. Then you add the CPU and memory onto it. Then you mount the hard disk and the power supply. This is how that will look:
The hard disk is mounted under the power supply. The fan on the CPU is the one that came with it. Unfortunately it was too big to fit in my case. So I went to Microcenter and got a really slim general purpose cooling fan. I cut out the stock fan and kept the bottom plastic part that mounts on the mainboard. I then glued the Microcenter fan to the plastic part. Kind of ghetto, but did the job:
The fan is mounted with screws onto a small metal frame (came with the fan). You can see the yellow contact cement I used to glue this frame to the black plastic part. The whole thing looks like this:
The screen - $200
I am using the VM80b screen, got it off ebay. You can go with better brand (like Lilliput) but it will cost more. This one has worked well so far and is very visible during the day.
http://www.short-circuit.com/product/VM80B.html
It is molded in the radio surround; (I bought the surround already made for this screen from a member here). I took the screen apart, and there were different separate boards inside it. Some of them I didn't need (buttons, inputs other than VGA). The others I mounted on the back of the screen by gluing some plastic mounts. It was a bit of work, and you need to be careful to not screw anything up.
The screen comes with a remote control, and you can separate the IR sensor from inside the monitor, and make it that it sticks out near the cig lighter. That way you can still use the remote control to control brightness and whatnot.
Peripherals
Depending on what you want to do with the PC, you will need certain peripherals. The most useful is a GPS receiver, I have a 32 channel MTK that works amazingly well:
http://www.buygpsnow.com/Globaltop-GMR75-U...S-Receiver.aspx
As my computer is in the trunk, I used a USB hub in front of the car to plug in the touchscreen, and the GPS module which are upfront. I also got another small USB hub and mounted it inside the ashtray so I can easily attach an external drive or a keyboard when needed.
Connections
Here is a sketch of my connections:
I chose to connect the LCD to the M2ATX rather than the car's battery: although the manual says that it can handle any voltage between 10-15V (or something like that), I read that they are in general more prone to failure when the voltage source isn't constant. I used 16 awg wire for the connections, and standard USB and VGA cables.
As for Audio, all my speakers are amped, and the amplifiers are in my trunk right next to my CarPC. I just used jack-to-rca cables to connect them. The onboard audio is amazingly clean, I was expecting it to be a little noisy, but it is ok.
Software
I used a program called nLite to remove parts of Windows XP that I don't need, making it lighter and faster. I splurged and bought the CentraFuse frontend, it looks amazing and works great. I use iGuidance 4 for GPS, and there is a Centrafuse plugin that allows me to use it from within the frontend.
You can visit the mp3car.com forums to learn more about this stuff, there's a lot more than one man can post about smile.gif
A couple more pics of my setup: http://picasaweb.google.com/radu.rd2/Carpc#
11-30-2008, 09:14 PM
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Thanks guys!
Frozen: yes, I think I even PMed you about it, it was the EXACT same screen the surround was molded for, everything fit perfectly smile.gif Thanks again!
Frozen: yes, I think I even PMed you about it, it was the EXACT same screen the surround was molded for, everything fit perfectly smile.gif Thanks again!
11-30-2008, 09:21 PM
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Thanks for stickying this Urson. I was going to but left just before it got posted. Im hoping Tibby01 adds some tips or something and we can get some good info together. And when someone builds it they can put up their specs here. Mine will be very similar to Radus.
11-30-2008, 09:36 PM
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we could also show completed car pc setups in another stickied thread ericy. either way, something like a carpc is something that need a bit more understanding than going to crutchfields to buy parts,lol.
11-30-2008, 10:06 PM
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i do have some tips, learned mostly from mistakes i've made along the way. here are some(mostly in order of importance):
1. put it in the trunk. there are few places to keep a carpc anywhere else in a tib, and if you put it under the seat it will attract all sorts of trash/moisture and generally just be a pain in the ass fitting it in. store it in the trunk, you probably already have ample power back there from amps and you will only have to run a vga cable, cat5 for usb slots, and another wire for your startup controller for a basic setup.
2. don't put a keyboard in the visor. keep a mini one in the glove compartment or something. not worth it for the amount of time/effort.
3. dont waste money on an expensive case.
4. going for hvac carpc control will be tough. there are solutions out there but the problem is most cars have different setups and a cost fluctuates pretty wildly depending on what type you have.
that's all for now.
1. put it in the trunk. there are few places to keep a carpc anywhere else in a tib, and if you put it under the seat it will attract all sorts of trash/moisture and generally just be a pain in the ass fitting it in. store it in the trunk, you probably already have ample power back there from amps and you will only have to run a vga cable, cat5 for usb slots, and another wire for your startup controller for a basic setup.
2. don't put a keyboard in the visor. keep a mini one in the glove compartment or something. not worth it for the amount of time/effort.
3. dont waste money on an expensive case.
4. going for hvac carpc control will be tough. there are solutions out there but the problem is most cars have different setups and a cost fluctuates pretty wildly depending on what type you have.
that's all for now.
11-30-2008, 10:12 PM
#10
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I second the pc in the trunk thing. It is very easy to remove in case you want to upgrade or fix something inside (like a noisy fan or something). It is also easy to "reboot": just go to the trunk and unplug then plug in the power connector.
By the way: if the power connector is not accessible, a reset button mounted in an accessible place WILL be necessary, there will be times when the computer will fail hibernation resume for some weird reason. I
I keep a tiny keyboard in the door pocket. I wasted money buying one of those flexible keyboards, it was impossible to use in my lap, you need a hard surface to put it on. I ended up getting this one, very nice: http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?p...&cat_id=034
By the way: if the power connector is not accessible, a reset button mounted in an accessible place WILL be necessary, there will be times when the computer will fail hibernation resume for some weird reason. I
I keep a tiny keyboard in the door pocket. I wasted money buying one of those flexible keyboards, it was impossible to use in my lap, you need a hard surface to put it on. I ended up getting this one, very nice: http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?p...&cat_id=034