An Audiophile Computer in the making: frankmehta's Fiesta S

frankmehta · 29th May 2010, 11:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invinsible

Way to go Frank, Finally the construction has commenced.

Good choice of hardware. Did you have a look at the M-audio audiophile 192 card ?

Thanks Abhishek. The MAudio card is good, but not as good as the Xonar D2X or the STX. It's more for recording in studios than playback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invinsible

I would suggest you also look at the Logitech diNovo mini keyboard, something what will be useful in night in the car as its backlit.

I have already purchased the Lenovo N5910. Have a look. Only thing is, it's not backlit. When did we ever need light to type anyways

Quote:

Originally Posted by rg_chn

Did I just read that right? I'd be more interested in an audition! It's not everyday that I see audios this kind.(I live in a country where people think the best speakers ever made are the xplods)
What's the financial damage this time?

LOL. You are welcome. The financial damage is still not ascertained. But this is a massive project, no doubt. Will have my accountant counting beans overtime for sure!

Quote:

Originally Posted by anku94

A TB MyBook for a Carputer ? That explains Cyrus43's 'You Crazy Crazy Dentist!!' part. =))

That might be used, or else the MyBook will be shifted home and a 1 tb 2.5" internal drive + 64 gb SSD will be used in combination. This MyBook will only be used to shuttle data from home to the car and vice versa.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shreyasma

Congrats Frank! Things are coming along very well. And nice choice of equipment as always.

Why not a slot-load drive instead? I know that the optical drive wont be used so often. But still..

EDIT: 2 optical drives?

Thanks Shreyas. Slot load drive was working out to too expensive. Anyways, this is going to be hidden away in the glove box. But the Transcend drive still looks quite chic.

Gilead · 29th May 2010, 11:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmehta

I have already purchased the Lenovo N5910. Have a look. Only thing is, it's not backlit. When did we ever need light to type anyways

There are 5 overhead lights in the Fiesta anyway. The interior can be lit like a stadium.

frankmehta · 29th May 2010, 11:54

Yes, LOL. Even the sound card lights up in it's own sweet christmas tree way ;-)

An Audiophile Computer in the making: frankmehta's Fiesta S-light1800.jpg

An Audiophile Computer in the making: frankmehta's Fiesta S-light2800.jpg

More photos of the sound card!

An Audiophile Computer in the making: frankmehta's Fiesta S-end733.jpg

An Audiophile Computer in the making: frankmehta's Fiesta S-asus_xonar_d2_01.jpg

An Audiophile Computer in the making: frankmehta's Fiesta S-81d0a97699014a14847b577fr4.jpg

navin · 29th May 2010, 12:16

Frank you are mad. You are Mumbai's answer to Freedabad's LBM.

What is the expected boot up time of your Carputer?

vkarulkar · 29th May 2010, 12:43

Excellant project franky! I hope a dentist need not visit ENT specialist after an year or so.

abhipuru16 · 29th May 2010, 12:45

Is a graphic card absolutely necessary for a carputer?

frankmehta · 29th May 2010, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by navin

Frank you are mad. You are Mumbai's answer to Freedabad's LBM.

What is the expected boot up time of your Carputer?

LOL. The expected boot up time (win 7) could be anywhere between 20-30 seconds. But most of the time, the carputer will be on HIBERNATE mode, which means the startup time will be almost half. About 15 seconds is a reasonable amount of time. Most USB drives on head units take about 7-8 seconds to RE-read when the car has been started, so about 10 seconds more than that is ok with me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkarulkar

Excellant project franky! I hope a dentist need not visit ENT specialist after an year or so.

Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhipuru16

Is a graphic card absolutely necessary for a carputer?

No. I think onboard video should cut it. I think adding a gfx card might burden the power supply a little. The aim is to keep it as simple and less power hungry as possible. And an onboard gfx chip will just do fine!

DerAlte · 29th May 2010, 12:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by navin

Frank you are mad. ...

DrFrankBhaiMehta seems to be the soul-mate of that dear Gujju gentleman - both seem to freak out dabbling with hardware, ignoring all the software around!

abhipuru16 · 29th May 2010, 12:55

So, this pic here, I see a graphic card as well, Nvidia to be exact. Is this your home PC. Were you just testing out the equipment there?

frankmehta · 29th May 2010, 12:57

This is a photo taken from the internet sir. I haven't powered up the card yet. Sorry for not mentioning this yet.

abhipuru16 · 29th May 2010, 13:18

1. Now, how do we go about using the dvd drive in the boot. Is it just used ocassionally to trasfer songs to the PC or what?
I am complete noob in this.
2. What is the total cost involved like?
And please, do not call me "sir", I am way younger than you. Just turned 17 this 16th May.

frankmehta · 29th May 2010, 13:38

Quote:

1. Now, how do we go about using the dvd drive in the boot. Is it just used ocassionally to trasfer songs to the PC or what?

The DVD drive is to read/write/burn dvds. I have bought it so I can play all the discs I have presently. Will also use this drive for DVD Audio, just in case I don't feel like sitting and choosing songs from the hard drive

Quote:

2. What is the total cost involved like?

No idea about the cost, but just the 'puter should cost somewhere northwards of 70 k this time.

monty9991 · 29th May 2010, 13:41

this sound car looks nice frank..
I'd suggest you to make an acrylic custom made box for carpc and place the soundacard horizontally ( PCI card raiser) so that its beauty is seen.

I also wanted to put my carpc in the trunk along with the Amp in a cutom made box and lit it with LEDs. but dropped due to lack of time and i wanted to get my ICE done in delhi and carpc in the trunk was to be a DIY.

may be next time when i change my trunk layout, surely my carPC is going in the trunk with nice lights and LED cooling fans.

no1lives4ever · 29th May 2010, 14:26

What are you doing about vibrations? Most desktop PCs are not designed to be operated in a vibrating environment. Connectors for power supply, ram modules & addon cards can over time become unreliable due to the vibrations.

-- no1lives4ever

carfreak · 29th May 2010, 15:25

Congrats frankmehta, i am going to follow this thread very closely as i am also almost finalising on a fiesta and this is something which i had always in my mind when it came to car-puters!!!your criteria fits mine too perfectly

Quote:

Originally Posted by navin

Frank you are mad.

Guess i should give him some medications very soon!!

29th May 2010, 11:54	#33
frankmehta Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,029 Thanked: 3,668 Times View My Garage	Yes, LOL. Even the sound card lights up in it's own sweet christmas tree way ;-) More photos of the sound card!
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 12:16	#34
navin Team-BHP Support Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 25,412 Thanked: 9,959 Times	Frank you are mad. You are Mumbai's answer to Freedabad's LBM. What is the expected boot up time of your Carputer?
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 12:43	#35
vkarulkar BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 39 Thanked: 12 Times	Excellant project franky! I hope a dentist need not visit ENT specialist after an year or so.
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 12:45	#36
abhipuru16 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Faridabad Posts: 719 Thanked: 40 Times	Is a graphic card absolutely necessary for a carputer?
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 12:55	#39
abhipuru16 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Faridabad Posts: 719 Thanked: 40 Times	So, this pic here, I see a graphic card as well, Nvidia to be exact. Is this your home PC. Were you just testing out the equipment there?
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 12:57	#40
frankmehta Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,029 Thanked: 3,668 Times View My Garage	This is a photo taken from the internet sir. I haven't powered up the card yet. Sorry for not mentioning this yet.
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 13:18	#41
abhipuru16 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Faridabad Posts: 719 Thanked: 40 Times	1. Now, how do we go about using the dvd drive in the boot. Is it just used ocassionally to trasfer songs to the PC or what? I am complete noob in this. 2. What is the total cost involved like? And please, do not call me "sir", I am way younger than you. Just turned 17 this 16th May.
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 13:41	#43
monty9991 BANNED Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Ludhiana Posts: 706 Thanked: 42 Times View My Garage	this sound car looks nice frank.. I'd suggest you to make an acrylic custom made box for carpc and place the soundacard horizontally ( PCI card raiser) so that its beauty is seen. I also wanted to put my carpc in the trunk along with the Amp in a cutom made box and lit it with LEDs. but dropped due to lack of time and i wanted to get my ICE done in delhi and carpc in the trunk was to be a DIY. may be next time when i change my trunk layout, surely my carPC is going in the trunk with nice lights and LED cooling fans.
	() Thanks

29th May 2010, 14:26	#44
no1lives4ever BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 79 Thanked: 59 Times	What are you doing about vibrations? Most desktop PCs are not designed to be operated in a vibrating environment. Connectors for power supply, ram modules & addon cards can over time become unreliable due to the vibrations. -- no1lives4ever
	() Thanks