Running a powerful desktop PC in a van?

[FennecFox]

I'm considering living in a van after saving up enough money from my job. This isn't as much for travelling reasons, as it is for the sake of saving up as much money on living costs as possible so I can dedicate more money to my business, which is story based game development. However, I'd need a very powerful PC for this, and a laptop just won't cut it. Since everyone advises to use a laptop, I was wondering if it'd be at all possible to have a powerful PC since my most important work would need to be done on it. Should I consider an RV instead of a van? Would that provide more power?

Thank you in advance.

 

[BradKW]

Mobile power comes from one of 3 sources: Inverter off of the engine alternator, generator, or solar. Being reliant on having your engine running and alternator isn't generally a good choice for the long term. A generator is a bit noisy and eats gas, and in a smaller vehicle would need to be mounted outside on something like a travel hitch.

Solar can provide as much power as you have a) space to mount panels, and b) size of battery bank. Therefore a larger vehicle allows more room to add panels.

I just rebuilt my system with mobile in mind, and have a unboxed Kill-A-Watt metering device waiting for me to play around with. They aren't expensive and will allow you to calculate you power needs: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RGF29Q?keywords=kill a watt&qid=1454173993&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

I went from a full ATX to a mini-ITX form factor...it was a challenging build, but I ended up with a more powerful system that uses less power and is less than half the size. One of the key components is picking a power supply and understanding what your build's power needs actually are. PSU's are rated based on the 80plus system, bronze thru titanium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus

I went from a 750W gold to a 460W Platinum fanless, a huge upgrade in efficiency, especially at lower end of usage curve: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151099

I also switched from a very capable AMD GPU to a more efficient Nvidia: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RL2SLAG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
In general, Nvidia's offerings are much better on power atm.

Rest of system if you're curious: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A14ZW0I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811553020

I expect to have no trouble running this system as desired from about 500W solar and around 400Ah battery bank.

 

[minimotos95]

It's doable but expensive, you have to account for it when you setup your power. Especially if you are running it 10+ hours a day you will need a decent size battery bank and enough solar or a generator to keep it charged. Something bigger like an RV will help with the noise from the fans, I opted for passive cooling for my PC because even quieter heatssinks were annoying in such a small space. Many RVs also have built in generators. I can't run my gaming desktop at the moment because I quit using grid power and only have 100w of solar and a horrid battery bank but there was a guy named Flip on YouTube who was running a gaming desktop in the afternoon in a minivan with I want to say only 300w of solar but he moved back to S&B before long term reliability of that could be truly tested.

My first recommendation would be to get your hands on a kill-a-watt meter and see what your system actually draws, at idle, under full load and average. The monitor/TV as well.

 

[Oopslala]

I don't know how I missed reading about kill a watt meters before those thread, but it'll
Sure help a lot with peace of mind. Testing begins when it arrives on the first!

I'm also going to text my gaming PC, because why not? Doesn't hurt to know. Might have to test someone's ps4 as well.

Good luck on figuring out your required needs.

 

[SternWake]

When Lead acid batteries are depleted to the 50% range, they can accept huge charging currents and recharge efficiently. When they get in the 80% range the resistance to charge acceptance begins and increases the closer to get to 100%.

So, IF one requires huge amounts of electricity, a sufficient sized battery bank, and a high amp charging source employed in the morning hours when batteries are most likely to be the most depleted, can really return a lot into the batteries in a short amount of time. And then a sufficient amount of solar can finish off the slower task getting them to 100% or as near as possible, as it is important to return the batteries to 100% as often as possible to keep their capacity from shrinking too fast.

Since the powerful Desktop is likely to be running in the daylight hours, taking up a bunch of the solar output, one needs even more solar overhead to account for this.

If one has a generator, then there are very powerful plug in charging sources. Powermax makes 120 amp converter automatic chargers as well as Manual chargers with adjustable voltage, So one could return the batteries upto 80% quickly in the morning and then let a large amount of solar power the desktop during the rest of the day and hopefully have enough solar overhead to also top up the batteries as soon as possible as often as possible. You do not want batteries hovering in the 50 to 90% range. Their lifespan will be half or less than the same battery bank regularly brought to 100%. This is what most Newbies to battery power do not understand. Achieving the 100% recharge with lead acid batteries is key to good longevity, ultimately the # of deep cycles per $$ spent

http://powermaxconverters.com/product/pm4-series-2/

They sell adjustable voltage models that can reduce generator run times as automatic charging sources are timid in the 80%+ charged range dropping to a lower pressure/voltage too soon. They can also perform a 15.5v Equalization charge, which is necessary every so many cycles to return the batteries to their maximum remaining potential.

The Kill a watt is an awesome tool for determining how much battery capacity and recharging ability one needs. It is usually easier to use less electricity than to generate enough to not worry about it, if one is in the planning stages and does not already own the powerhog products/appliances needed to be powered. Make sure to add 15%-20% for inverter inefficiency.

Available roof space to add solar panels is a huge consideration as to the size of the battery bank and what one can power for how long, but in general, more is always better, and any and all charging sources should be employed to get the battery bank up as close to 100% as possible, as often as possible. The shorter one falls of this goal, the shorter the lifespan of the battery bank will be.

Seeking ideal battery life can be taken to ridiculous degrees. I feel it is important to at least know what 'Ideal' is regarding the care of lead acid batteries, and then one can make compromises to what is acceptable. 'Acceptable' is subjective to every person and their budget and here is where people offer their strong opinions as to what is 'just fine'. But 'just fine' means has not failed yet. Just fine for a certain # of accumulated deep cycles over a certain time frame actually means something though.

Many of Lead acid batteries detractions are negated with Lithium batteries, but the initial expense of Lithium and the different requirements to employing them properly and safely is not quite mainstream, yet. Some are doing it successfully, Blars, a member here is. I am hoping to have my AGM battery last until I have a firm grasp on Lithium requirements and the ability to afford the initial outlaying for their specific requirements. Hopefully their price and availability will be more tolerable at that point too.

 

[jimindenver]

How many hours on the computer and at what wattage. The last power supply I replaced was 450w, that's as much as the little A/C when it never cycles.

I have 750w of flat solar panel and 675 Ah of battery. The system can run 5-600w direct during peak hours in the summer. It can run the A/C and even toss the batteries a bone especially when it cycles. The problem is when you need it to replace last nights usage AND run it again during the day. Even if you reduced the usage and managed it, a few cloudy days would put the bank down quite a bit. I would want a generator capable of pushing a high output charger so that when you did need to catch up, you could in the shortest amount of time possible.

To give you a scale of my system. The three panels are 39x64 and weigh 150 pounds. The three batteries are 8-D's and weigh 157 pound each. I have the room on a 25 foot travel trailer with a 3000 pound cargo capacity. I can also carry a 230 watt portable if needed.

In just a extended van you may be able to get two 400+ watt 6 foot panels up there but for a serious system you would have to do as Bob and some truck campers do. Load up the top of the van and pull a utility trailer with it's roof loaded too. Done right I think you could have one heck of a system. The trailer would come in handy to hold the batteries too that are gonna weigh a lot unless you went LiPo. Might as well put the generator in there too because you need the back up to protect what will probably be a pricy bank no matter what route you go.

Other things to consider are location, time of year, weather conditions and your other needs as well. You can do it if you balance it all out.

 

[amwbox]

A lot depends on the specific hardware you need to run. My system for example is an i5-6600/GTX 970 Sky Lake build. Under full, intensive load, the hardware draws about 350 watts, including the 26 inch monitor. Unless you are running some sort of liquid cooled beast of a gaming PC, you don't need the very high power draws.

That said...if you are running older hardware, it can be SIGNIFICANTLY less efficient. Especially the AMD stuff. Go with Intel to avoid heat and excessive power draw. Years ago I had a system that could sit there and slurp down 685 watts, and double as a space heater. I only run the serious PC for specific tasks. The other 80% of my computing is done on a Microsoft Surface 3 at 12 watts.

 

[BradKW]

How many hours on the computer and at what wattage. The last power supply I replaced was 450w, that's as much as the little A/C when it never cycles.

Yeah, but the thing is that, in theory, a PSU's rated wattage has little to do with the power actually being used...it has everything to do with your hardware and its utilization. That said, the reason to spend more on a Platinum rated PSU is because if your PC wants only 80 watts of power, your PSU will supply 80 watts and spend around 85 watts doing so. Even with Bronze or Gold rated PSU's the quality varies, but its quite possible to spend well over 100 watts to deliver just 80.

I plan to do some load testing soon, results will be interesting. I've posted on various tech forums regarding actual power usage, and it would appear that trying to operate high end PC's from a battery bank is relatively uncharted space. That's been my experience so far anyway...actual links to data would be welcome.

 

[jimindenver]

Brad

That's why my first question is how much and for how long. Giving the scale of my systems was to say that even at that size I couldn't run that type of a load day and night. Leaving the panels portable and tracking would make a huge difference as they could push 50 amps from sun up to sun down. Maybe for a younger man though, I can't wait to get them mounted and never deal with them again.

Anything is possible, there are systems out there that could handle it but they are a lot bigger than mine. The first thing would be to get the computer that uses the least amount of power while still meeting your needs. The money spent there could save a considerable amount on panel and battery by reducing the need. There's a lot of little things to work out in a custom system but once you get the right balance you will be happy with it for a long time.

 

[rvpopeye]

You say this situation is temporary until you get your biz going...
A solar/battery system to supply constant ? (how many hours a day ? 12-18, more?, this type of development can be very time consuming) power for a big Desktop (just guessing, @ 300-600 watts consumption ) don't forget to add lights etc equipment ,,,,would be very high compared to this....

I'd just get a Honda 1000 and a couple of gas cans. you can decide how long to run it and not be restricted by the limits of your batts/solar/daylight/weather conditions, maybe add a UPS to keep it all powered while you refuel. done.
If you want some extra capacity get a Honda 2000 instead.

VERY easy to change vehicles should you decide to and then can be used during power outages later.

 

[crofter]

So what was the build on this travelling desktop? We want all the details.
~crofter

 

[technerd88]

my laptop with a ryzen 3rd gen 8 core desktop cpu uses 100w at idle at 300 with the gpu(rtx 2060). Why not just get a laptop with a desktop cpu like mine? It works great and you can just use a boost converter(12v to 19v, 20a) off amazon and be good to go. It can run my two monitors and the laptop screen and all of my engineering work. I STILL need a giant battery bank to run it, as it uses around 400ah on a typical day. I use lifepo4 batteries I built myself

 

[theBest]

This mini PC uses 100 watts, has an i7 processor, comes with 16 gb of ram expandable to 32gb.
They also have models that use 28 watts, and 10 watts, depending on what features you need.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-kits/nuc/mini-pcs/nuc8i7hvkva.html

 

[Truman]

I used gaming laptops but I have big solar.

 

[technerd88]

If you want to do it on the cheaper side, you can buy lifepo4 prismatic cells and put them together. I have both types, the prismatic rectangle ones and the 26650 packs. I have 900ah, and thats enough to support my usage with solar on sunny days and generator once a day on dark snowy ones. Im typically using 300-500 watts an hour with big loads of 2000 with the microwave and the same when using my induction top at full power for cooking. I use diesel gas for heat and led's for lighting as well as a 45 w 43 inch 4k smart tv and a xbox one along with my laptop that can draw 300w while gaming or doing my work. We have other loads like usb and cpap machine...etc. We can deplete this bank in a day and a half normal usage easily down to 20%. I also run a router (core i7 6th gen quad core) and two internet modems, plus a switch for wired devices plus a unifi AC LR ap. I get the best speeds and reliability this way. I have a 300a alternator and a 1800w running inverter generator and a 80a charger. The generator runs at full load for 8 hours on one tank(EDITne gallon max capacity tank), so I can do plenty of charging. I also have 900w of solar and an 80a controller. Thats what you'd need...estimating the usage youll see with a desktop through inverter. I run a boost converter for my 300w laptop...its 310w full load