Wassup Widd'it I'm finally faced with 8-10 weeks of free time, after the last of my exams and I can finally get going on my BMW PC, inspired by Need For Speed: Most Wanted. My ideas are developed from mods I have seen in the past such as the GTRPC: http://members.iinet.net.au/~winndyne/ And especially, Rockport's Most Wanted: http://www.ultraproducts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1311 To start me off, I've got myself: A 1/8 Scale RC BMW from my good friend, chrisheys of eBay. More on the car later.... Its smaller than Jason Hess's Rockport's Most Wanted PC, which might make space problems when I try to squeeze everything in, but because I'm a man, with a few weeks in the workshop, and plenty of coffee, I'll get it all in somehow... I don't really want it too big either. This fits perfectly on my desk, with room for a good 20+ inch monitor or two. The GTRPC doesn't have a CD drive, and I personally don't feel I'd be able to live without a CD drive, so I'll have to try my best to fit one in, whether it costs a bit extra to get a laptop drive. Now I know that this is basically the same idea as Jason Hess's, but hey, I'm sure he won't mind me being inspired by his mod, and I love NFS:MW anyway, and my mod may end up completely different. What I really wanted to do was and EVO, like the Tokyo Drift Evo VIII, (or was it a IX?) but I gave up after a month of looking for one and not finding a single scale model big enough to put a computer in. The technical specifications for all of this was as follows: 1. The Car PC must be beautiful, like the real M3 GTR form NFS:MW, and will have a very similar paint job 2. The Car PC must be stable, so limits on overclocking and some good cooling 3. The Car PC must be usable (plenty of horsepower), so I'm really trying to use an ATX, such as the Asus 650i SLi, though I suppose in the long run, mATX will suffice 4. The Car PC should be able to play any game I throw at it, whether the settings are on max or min or somewhere in between 5. Test games will include: Need For Speed (carbon perhaps? though Most Wanted would be more appropriate), Supreme Commander and Battlefield 2142 6. The Car PC must not inconvenience the PC user in any way, so a DVD rewriter (might have to be slimline) and even a Floppy drive, if I can 7. The Car PC should be built with around or under £600 In due time, after getting a good way into this, I'll be customising my own mice, keyboards, monitors and speakers for the mod as well, and I've already had an idea for a water cooling system as well... Please do feel free to give me any ideas or thoughts you may have, and wish me luck for the couple of exams I have left, after which I'll be firing up the old dremel and working magic to make my dream computer system
I'm interested in seeing this evolve. Is there enough room for the components. A mATX is 9.6in by 9.6in. Good luck and I look forward this project. Good luck
Designing..... Well, I downloaded SketchUp and I'm learning to use it. A bit awkward but quite easy to get a grasp of especially if you've used things like Alias Maya before or 3DS Max (which I never really understood properly either). Great thing about SketchUp is the great community who post stuff that they've made, like Mobos and CD Drives (I'll be sure to mention you all in my final plan). Well here we are, not looking too bad eh? Well, there's a 12cm fan at the bottom, because this will need to move a good bit of air to keep cool. Might have another actually. Other fans will be in the plastic of the car itself. Got me some neons! Really cheap on ebuyer, and of course the side of the GPU and mobo (this is an Asus Striker Extreme, so has the audio mounted out onto a card as well). Might have to unscrew the I/O shielding on the cards. My idea for the openings for the cables, (USB, DVI, network, sound) is to have a plastic door in the body work, on hinges (disguised in the paint work), which opens up to allow wires through. This won't matter much as it will face the other side on my desk most of the time. And this, is my idea for a CD mechanism. It had to be a slim DVD drive designed for laptops. It is mounted parallel to the bonnet, on MDF, and the idea is that its on a rack and pinion connected to the motor (more on this later). It opens up, roughly 5cm, to allow the drive to open over the windscreen. I would have done it the other way around, but there isn't much space, and the shape of the BMW bonnet sort of stops me (if you know what I mean). Still a bit crude as I haven't drafted it. OK, now I need some advice before I fire up the dremel, and I think you guys will know best. 1. Cooling!!! What should I do? where should the fans be placed? I want to avoid placing them on the plastic because it is hard to hide, and if my holes are too small, it'll start whining, (though I could try a few small fans under the bonnet or in the back). I want fans in the bottom, but should they be sending air in, or taking it out? Which way does air circulate best around a PC? What about dust? Would sending air in coat my mobo with dust? Help! 2. Materials. I have decided, because of my non-existent knowledge of welding and thermit reactions (I'm only 16!!!), I'd be sticking to MDF as a material to build th base with. Has anyone used MDF before and have any helpful advice? 3. General. How do you find my CD mounting idea? Could I make it more efficient? What about the loose PCI cards? Could anyone enlighten me on how I could keep them to stay in place? Use an acrylic I/O shield perhaps? Any contributions very much appreciated, and I will be eternally grateful. Regards
Hey Pfaffen, It's a tight squeeze, a really tight squeeze, with an ATX mobo, and I might just about manage, though I haven't bought a mobo yet, and might go MATX.
One idea: place the PS where it exhausts out of the car, and have the lower fan pushing air in. Block the airflow from the fan to the ps so the air has to go forward under the mobo and then back across. You can also use some ducting so the air flow goes across exactly the components you want it to.
ummmmmmm sory o dissapoint u but that dvd drive wont work there. there isnt enough room and how do you plan on opening it?? also how are you going to fit the mobo like that it is going into parts of the car! and that is going to be very hot inside that car will the case be able to handle it as you wont have much airflow through it. and one last thing how is it all going to fit under the casing....... well it wont properly. i think you need to think this through a bit more carefully.
Whoops, sorry keir, must have missed the bullet point. Don't worry work is in progress, and as soon as my uncle returns my camera this week, I'll put in some high-res pictures. I'll do something about the body work in future, but not sure what yet. Anyone know how epoxy resin works? It has to be a laptop drive widmod because there simply isn't enough room for our favourite slot loading ones. Bummer, eh? And x06jsp, what you said is basically the little piece of common sense which is eating me from inside As for the DVD drive, well, my rack (and pinion) is 7cm long, and between the bonnet and the roof, there is only about 5 cm to clear, so my hope is that when the drive opens, if it is mounted at the correct angle, it'll clear the windscreen. I intended to cut into the car to make room for the bit of extra ATX mobo, but I've finally decided upon mATX, so that won't be necessary as it slots in right into the wheelbase. Cooling is another major concern of mine. I want it all to stay nice and cool, and my ideas include a big 12 cm fan in the base, and smaller fans in the plastic itself. Dacusts idea is also good. Earlier today, I had this idea: The idea is the fans are split by the bar, and the mobo is on top. One fan sends air in onto the northbridge and processor areas, making it uber cool, and the other sends air out, having circulated it through the computer. There are also grilles/holes in the plastic above this fan, and the graphics card is somewhere in between, so that should help with cooling that as well. Probably needs a bit of airtight ducting to help take the air where it needs to go... What do you think?
good choice going with an matx mobo it wil look a lot cleaner and save you a lot of hassle. the cooling your desribing wil help alot! also what hsf do you plan on using? as for the dvd drive why not turn it around and have it coming out of the grill? or get hold of a slot loading drive and have it at the gril?
Glad you like it. I haven't given a HSF much thought, I don't intend much overclocking, but I'm not staying stock either. No room for a zalman here, perhaps arctic cooling? If I were to go conservative, I might choose an OCZ vindicator http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127285 or if I were to try something a bit more colourful, perhaps the Gigabyte http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/110379 though this can't be much samller thanmy zalman i suppose.... I would have liked a slot loading drive but I can't seem to find a good one anywhere.... any help? thanks
i wouldnt go with that gigabyte. it all just depends how much room you have in the car. so you will just have to measure and see. as for slot loading dvd drive ......http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=593641 there ya go.
lol, good old M-Power badges... I saw one on an old Ford Escort today Your right x06jsp, the gigabyte is a bit dodgy... I prefer the OCZ, and I'll measure up to see if there is room for a Scythe Katana. And thanks guys for the links, I'll remember to buy the IDE adapter as well, and I assure you, some starting-off pics are coming on very soon. Ok, for the mean time, what do you guys think of this idea. I got it when I saw an empty glue bottle, which reminded me of a NOS tank, like in street racers and such. How about a water cooling system? Most of this would have to be on the outside of the case, with the tygon/whatever tubing going into the car to the blocks. The reservoir could be a NOS tank/ex-Glue bottle. I got my hands on an old pump for a fiver on eBay, should be getting that tomorrow, and this, all enclosed in a small engine-block style case, with chrome veneer and 8 cylinders . Maybe the radiator and fan could be disguised as the engine fan? I'll have a go at it on SketchUp, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew just yet, better get a good way into the case itself, but it would be great to see what you guys (and girls?) think.
