Car mp3 player, hookin up power

[forgoten]

ok, i've posted some threads on this b4, and i decieded i'm guna wing it!
and below is a pic of the power connector::::...

now i know i'm guna need the 12v and the 5v and the ground, but what about the 3.3 volt. do i need that for the motherboard, i'd assume so, but for a car mp3 comptuer player i dont think so :eh?:

umm... plz help... and how would i go about hookin all this to my batery, there is 3 different voltages there?

[Shep]

You will need the 3.3v for the motherboard to work. I would buy a power inverter and plug in the pc power supply it would be much easier and probly work better too. To figure out what size inverter you need, look on the power supply and see how many Amps it can draw from the AC source and multiply the AC Amps by the AC voltage. That will give you Watts and then you can find a inverter that can handel it. You can always get one that is rated for higher wattage but one that is rated for less won't last very long if it works at all.

[Monaco]

Unless you have an older Volkswagon or something, your car electrical system puts out 12volts. There are other voltages availible, but not at the battery- and for a high drain idea like this you really really want it connected at the battery.

Also, you'll need a convertor to turn it to AC for you PSU like Shep said. Unfortunately, a convertor that is both strong enough and clean enough to reliably power a PC will cost a LOT of money. To make matters worse, your car's alternator may not have enough extra juice to run your PC at the same time the engine's running, headlights on, radio, etc.

I know there are ways around ALL these problems, but they take a lot of work!:D I used to do car stereo installation back in the day, we only 1 time put a PC in a guys car, and that was for GPS not MP3s. Way easier to do if the PC has no drives!:D

[Sir-Epix]

What I would have done, was take a whole power supply, and hook that up to your mobo. Then I would take the power cord, and connect it into a DC/AC converter. That should work, then take it to the battery, but make sure that it is not runnin 24/7. Also make sure your altenator can handle the load of everything, or else you will be buying a lot of batteries.

[JigPu]

If you are good at electronics, you could build a circut that hooks up to the batery, and puts out the straight 12, 5V and the 3.3V. The only problem I can see with this setup though, is when you put more of a load on your batt and the voltage drops (or the exact opposite. No load, and higher voltages). I don't know how far the voltages can go out of spec before it's 'bad'.

Power inverter sounds like the best solution to me...
JigPu