Memories, as the car this was all in has now gone, the toys remail, and will be fitted to my current xm time permitting as i 'upgrade' it...
so here goes the old post..
Parts choice and background
This is my Citroen XM install, a Work In Progress, but coming on nicely....
I decided on an AMD geode as its not too expensive for a processor and power consumption is low enough for a car PC, I have gone with the small m1-atx power supply, as I plan to power all my accessorys with a separate supply from the main PC.
For a screen I had an IBM 4820 but decided to treat myself to a smaller screen as it would fit nicely in the centre console, the 4820 used to catch my leg now and again, and look rather 'tacked on' as opposed to being actually fitted.
Sound is from a separate 4 channel amplifier of about 75 real watts, I dont want to enter competitions just to be able to hear a bit of music as I drive.
I choose the silabs FM radio stick after trying a few others, and it replaces my old DSBR100 nicely and has much better reception.
Graphics card is an odd one... Its an old matrox marvel g400, and it cant be beat, no one has ever been able to show me a better card for two screen output, and I still hold that challenge open to all, I have tried card after card, and none work as good, downside is there old, a bit power hungry and hot running, and they don't support XP very well....
Keyboard is as yet undecided, I am looking for something small and wireless, and a wireless mouse for times when the touchscreen is just not accurate enough, I have chunky fingers.
I also have an alps touchpad, like on laptops, I'm used to using those so its second nature.
PC will be a boot mount and it will also have its own 12v battery, its 17ah and came from a car starter, this will be connected to the cars main batter via a relay from the ignition to get a charge as the car is drive, and will allow about 2 hrs of running without touching the car battery, which is a great worry lifted from my mind about what if the PC gets left on, I know I wont have a flat battery....
So, motherboard.....
PCchips 848 v5 , oh yes, great board, for its price....
Advantages, 6 usb2, onboard 6 channel sound, price.
Disadvantages, cheap chipset and boot issues.....
Reason for choice, bundled with cpu and specs fit, boot issues not a problem , just remember to leave 30 seconds between switching off and on, or it wont boot.....
Battery.........
Charge relay
OK - Test build !
Here is the MB screwed to a piece of wood, small pads are used to lift it off the wood slightly, its not fastened with MB screws as they wont bite into the woold, instead 10mm long self tapping screws are used, with padding to protect the MB, these are long enough to securely hold the board, but not penetrate through the wood.
Charge relay is fitted above the board, HD fitted same way next to charge relay, and then battery is mounted on steel sheet (from an old PC case) to the wood and to hold it off the MB.
M1-atx is mounted with velcro to an L plate on the top of the battery steel.
Its very tight, and the wires getting the way of each other, so its a messy fitting for now, but it allows me to see whats going on and poke about.
A spare IDE cable is fitted incase I need a dvdrom, a power switch is fitted to m1-atx ign line to override the car ignition for testing.
The 4 core black cable is audio, and the duck tape is to hold the carpet to the wood while the spray glue drys, its not a part of the install!
