Cooling Tweaks, UI and FM Improvement

Hello and welcome to post #11 of my blog on building an integrated in-car computer system.

It has been quite a while since my last post; work on the project has slowed due to other commitments taking priority. However significant progress has been made since my last update. I have been tweaking and improving the system to optimize its performance and ease of use. I also performed a full inspection on the internals of the computer to check for dust. More on that later.

The first major improvement to the system was the cooling. As detailed in previous posts, Corsair Link was chosen to run the cooling system. This is a software controlled hardware based system that is versatile for controlling large system's fans and lighting. However, after reviewing its performance I decided that it was surplus to requirements, as there was a better alternative available.  This came in the form of the motherboard's on-board fans controller, which works with the software suite supplied with the the manufacturer. I decided to remove corsair link and instead run the fans directly off the motherboard headers. This change proved beneficial as the ASUS software system does a very good job at controlling the fans and actually runs the computer far quieter than Corsair Link.

However, to achieve this the console needed to be unmounted from the vehicle, the computer removed from the console, and the fans rewired to the motherboard headers.

Computer stripped apart. There is no significant dust build-up in the case or on the components

The wires from the left hand fan needed to be extended to reach the motherboard header but other than that the modification was very straightforward.

Empty rear section of the console where the corsair link controller was

Once the computer was remounted to the vehicle, I uninstalled Corsair Link as it was no longer needed and also interfering with the Asus software. After that, I opened Asus AI suite 3 and selected Fan Xpert 3 (The proprietary fan control software) and activated the auto tune feature. This automatically tunes the fans for specific purposes and gives the user four modes to select how loud they want the fans to run. 

Fan Xpert Softwware tuning the fans

After the automatic tuning was complete the system now manages itself and will automatically adjust the CPU and two case fans to keep the CPU temperature within operating limits. 

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Much more attention has been paid to the quality of signal cable running through the vehicle and avoiding interference. The second major modification made to the system was to improve the FM radio signal quality. Previously I was using the small magnetic base antenna that came with the USB dongle to receive FM radio signals. This was hopelessly inadequate to the point where the radio was unusable. 

As discussed in previous posts, I ordered a complicated system of cables and adapters to adapt the vehicles's factory FM plug to a common plug, extend it up to the roof-space then adapt it again to  the small MCX plug on the dongle. This was a doomed system from the start. Instead of fitting it, I enlisted the help of some friends in the communications industry. They used crimp connectors and a coaxial cable to extend the factory wiring harness, then terminated the extension in a standard BNC fitting.

Terminated BNC fitting with coaxial cable

From the BNC fitting in the photo above, a BNC-MCX adapter cable plugs straight in to the USB dongle. In addition to running a quality coaxial cable to the dongle, the dongle itself was relocated to behind the computer via a USB extension cable. This has also improved signal quality as the coaxial cable ran next to the power cables for the PC and was causing interference.

To complete the system, I also wired the factory electric antenna to a switch mounted overhead in the the switch holder to manually extend and retract the antenna. 

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A major improvement to the windows UI has also been made. The desktop layout of windows was insufficient, so I found software to replace the windows shell with a more touch friendly version. This comes in the form of Thinix Touch. I am still configuring the system as it has many many settings to configure. More on that in later posts.

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Further attention has been paid to cable management and isolation of signal cables from power cables. When rebuilding the computer the power and signal cables for the GPS were separated.

Rebuild console. Note the signal cables for the Wifi/BT and GPS reciever are separated.

The dual band Bluetooth/Wifi antenna has been relocated to the front of the console. However, there have been significant interference/bandwidth problems with bluetooth from the start. If a wifi connection is active on the car computer while bluetooth is streaming audio, it causes the bluetooth to badly stutter and lag. To fix this problem I have decided to buy a USB Bluetooth adapter and run Blutetooth completely separately via a separate antenna. More on that in later posts.

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Finally, problems have arisen in the low quality cable used to run audio from the PC's 3.5mm plug down to the amplifiers. Interference can be heard through the speakers if the cable is not properly positioned. To rectify this I will replace and rerun the cable with high quality leads. And instead of using the 3.5mm plug I will use the RCA ports on the front of the computer case.

I would like to thank my friends for helping me with the coaxial wiring and assisting with the computer rebuild. Your help is much appreciated :)

That's it for now. More modifications and optimizations will follow in coming posts. Thanks for reading.