Sorry 2. is that it doesn't matter what Mother Board your using. On mine right now I could slap a 80 or 100 gig. hard drive on it right now. He would have to have a MB that would have an IDE or SIDE connectors for a hard drive. I think you were referring to how much memory or random accsess memory (RAM) it could handle, cause those have limitations on MB'*. And 3. the only possible way for a meltdown is for the internal temp inside the box for the comp. would have to reach 220-250 degrees. My trunk does'nt get that hot, it doesn't have and open say like windows to let that much heat in, you could leave your passthru open and have something letting air in if you were that worried about it, which I wouldn't alot of us have high powered amps that produce more heat than a comp. could without melting or getting hot in the trunk. Sorry I read A+ Cert. for Dummy'* book, I know just a few things about comp'*.

No no... I know what I am talking about and you only disapproved yourself by sayign that you read +A for dummies. You could stick a 100gig drive on a computer with 200 mhz but it would only recognize... about 32 gigs of it, if even that. Also you would probably have to get a new ide controller, ie Maxtor Ultra-ATA/133 PCI adapter, if it would work to handle the extra bits. Now "maybe" you could find a bios update for a 5 year old mb but I seriously doubt manufacturers are still updating bios'* for them. Now generally speaking a computer that old would be running Windows 98, for windows 98 to recognize it, the drivers would have to be updated, and again if the manufacturing is still updating windows 98, which it isnt.

Oh and... computers arent amplifiers, slight difference to say the least.

WOOF

Ok then if you say that it would only reconize 32gigs of it then that'* still plenty of space. I have over 300 songs taking only 1.5 gigs, if your planing to have tons of songs and I mean tons then you would go bigger. Why would the MB only reconize 32gigs of it, most hard drives have drivers or there plug and play so Windows would reconize that it'* 100 gigis. Like when I put more RAM in, the plug and play reconized it and that was it, I had more RAM. I'm sure you would have a CD or something to install the hard drive to tell Windows how big it actually is. And you can go ahead and rat on me about reading A+ for Dummy'*, I'm only 17 and I don't care, I know enough about comp'* already.

Kuhl is almost completely correct the older MBs only recoginise 32mb that is because the headr/sectors/tracks are only defined to go so high limiting the amount of total hd space. but there are programs to trick the MB and let you use more i have a copy of it i got with me western digital.

The DC to DC will work and you would be best to use a version of dos other wise the computer will scan the HD for errors if power is enterupted but if you wanted get a bigger alt and a seccond battery so you will not have to worry about draining your Battery.

I will post the info about going DC to Dc as soon as i look.

im going to use the second alternator and batteries to totally remove the comp from the car'* electrical system, which is a very good idea

im going to mount the extra alternator high and forward on the motor with custom mounts and a extended serpintine belt

im also going to cut a 4" hole in the trunk of the car with a splash sheild underneath to mount a fan run off the comp

my p1 233 runs w/ 2 wd 60g hdd'* now, so im not seeing hd space as problematic

i have 256Mb SDRAM, so thats not a problem either

alot of you seem to underesimate these older boxes.....

Some motherboards are better made than others and more expandable but I was refering to 80-130 gig hard drives.

And you have to post some pics when ya get this thing done. I wanna see how this is going to work.

Also if the ide controller and mb doesnt have the means to be able to interupt what the drive is trying to tell the computer, then all the plug and play in the world wont make it recognize a 100gig hard drive. I dont think windows detects ram with plug and play its a job for the motherboard.

I've been a little pissy lately, finals and all, but that +a dummy thing really got me lol. Sorry man. I am a little immature, when your a freshman in college you throw all your inhibitions behind you and become what you have been trying your entire life to defeat and damn child again.

NP man, it'* ok. You guys know more than me anyways, I'm a little punk 17 year old. I'm a little cranky alot from working and the such. I didn't read all of the book but the essentials. I have taken my old Pakard Bell apart with the Pent. 1 in it with 133Mhz, big o' 2 MB video card. When we bought that comp. it was top of the line, we didn't have to worry bout hard drives filling up or if games would'nt work on it.

psstt... im a punk 17yo too.... 18 in 33 days... w00t w00t

Heck ya, I still got 4 months to go.

just got to thinkin bout it... how many watts would this system require?
ive got a 300w ps in my 233mhz... how much could a 15" lcd possibly take, i think a 500w inverter would be enough