Which PicoPSU Should i get
#1
Wink 
Hi All

Well its built and it appears to running as it should even after a few hiccups.

Just want to say a big thanks for the assistance you guys gave in helping me sort my problems.

All i have left to change is the cheap 150W non silent PSU with something very quiet / silent

Suggestions (UK source if possible)?


Ive uploaded a few pics of my build in its current state, temps look ok i think, graph at bottom after 1hr Prime95 64bit Orange line is CPU Cores and Green CPU Package, rest self explanatory.

Are the temps OK?

The Build:
Case: CFI A8889 Mini-ITX Cube Case - Black
Rear Exhaust Fan: Xilence Red Wing 80mm Quiet Fan
Motherboard: AsRock A75M-ITX Motherboard
CPU/iGPU: AMD Llano A6-3500 Tri-Core Processor with Integrated AMD Radeon HD, 6530D Graphics and Socket FM1
CPU Cooler: SCYTHE Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B 775/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/1155
Memory: CRUCIAL Mémoire PC Ballistix Tactical 2 x 2 Go DDR3-1866 - PC3-14900
HDD: Crucial CT064M4SSD2 64GB M4 SSD
Optical Samsung SH-B083L 8x Blu-Ray Reader & Lightscribe DVDRW Writer - Retail Box


Image Image Image Image

Image

Rest of the Images, can only put 6 on here Sad
Old newbie trying his hardest to get his head around skinning lol, expect loads of questions :-)

It may be hard but the challenge of learning something new is fun :-)
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#2
Bump instead of starting a new thread.

Found some PicoPSU's on eBay:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Fullspeed-IT
Old newbie trying his hardest to get his head around skinning lol, expect loads of questions :-)

It may be hard but the challenge of learning something new is fun :-)
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#3
This looks like a good one and it'll work with the A6-3500/A75:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PicoPSU-90w-Po...0543642925

Just be sure the picoPSU 90 is the one that comes with the P4 CPU power connector already installed. That's what makes the picoPSU-90 a good deal -- that you don't have to buy an additional molex splitter and adapter for the P4 CPU power.

If you want to mount the picoPSU neatly, won't be using the expansion slot and are at all handy, drill a 5/16" hole in the PCI slot cover and you can mount the power jack there.
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#4
(2012-06-18, 17:55)Dougie Fresh Wrote: This looks like a good one and it'll work with the A6-3500/A75:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PicoPSU-90w-Po...0543642925

Just be sure the picoPSU 90 is the one that comes with the P4 CPU power connector already installed. That's what makes the picoPSU-90 a good deal -- that you don't have to buy an additional molex splitter and adapter for the P4 CPU power.

If you want to mount the picoPSU neatly, won't be using the expansion slot and are at all handy, drill a 5/16" hole in the PCI slot cover and you can mount the power jack there.

+1
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#5
(2012-06-18, 18:02)Beer40oz Wrote:
(2012-06-18, 17:55)Dougie Fresh Wrote: This looks like a good one and it'll work with the A6-3500/A75:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PicoPSU-90w-Po...0543642925

Just be sure the picoPSU 90 is the one that comes with the P4 CPU power connector already installed. That's what makes the picoPSU-90 a good deal -- that you don't have to buy an additional molex splitter and adapter for the P4 CPU power.

If you want to mount the picoPSU neatly, won't be using the expansion slot and are at all handy, drill a 5/16" hole in the PCI slot cover and you can mount the power jack there.

+1

See Beer40oz's A6-PACK: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=128009. The 90W/90W combination is the one he is using.
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#6
Hi
Thanks for the replies, was looking at the 120w version as it was only a couple of quid more, it'll have the extra power if its needed.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PicoPSU-120w-P...35b60463d3

How do these things work in relation to the mother board having a 24pin atx connector socket and the pico having 20 pins?

Will 90w be enough as doesn't seem like a lot.
Old newbie trying his hardest to get his head around skinning lol, expect loads of questions :-)

It may be hard but the challenge of learning something new is fun :-)
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#7
(2012-06-19, 01:07)Icerat Wrote: Hi
Thanks for the replies, was looking at the 120w version as it was only a couple of quid more, it'll have the extra power if its needed.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PicoPSU-120w-P...35b60463d3

How do these things work in relation to the mother board having a 24pin atx connector socket and the pico having 20 pins?

Will 90w be enough as doesn't seem like a lot.

The 120W will be enough but you'll be limited to a 8.5A adapter using the barrel-style plug unless you go with the 120-WI-25 in which case you can safely pair that with a 18.5V 6.5A adapter. If you look at the picoPSU 120W manual you'll see the barrel-style connector is has a maximum 8 or 8.5A (I forget which) rating. A 12V 120W AC adapter would be 10A if you were able to draw that much power.

The 120W also does not come with a P4 CPU connector so you'll need at least a molex-to-P4 adapter and then you'll also need a SATA-to-2-SATA power splitter to feed your SSD and ODD.

In my testing of the A6-3500/A75 the maximum power draw was around 77W using Prime95 as measured at the wall with a Kill-A-Watt meter. This system had an SSD, ODD and used a 120W DC-DC internal/84W AC external power supply.

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#8
Hi

So you would recommend that go for the 90W one instead of the 120W version,

Was trying to give myself a little bit of breathing room in case i upgraded the htpc in the future for some reason and more power was required.

I need the following connections: 2x SATA 1x P4 connector and 1x 24 pin ATX connector, i notice that the mentioned PicoPSU's only have a 20pin ATX connector, is this a problem.
Old newbie trying his hardest to get his head around skinning lol, expect loads of questions :-)

It may be hard but the challenge of learning something new is fun :-)
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#9
Update on above:

Spoke to the supplier of the PicoPSU about wich one to get and he responded with the following:

Quote:"Your bluray is the unknown quantity - if it wasn't for that i'd suggest the 90w as being fine. Unless you can get it on a power meter to get an accurate reading that shows the 90w as being ok....

No easy way to get the connectors you require. With the 90w you'd just need a Molex to SATA adaptor. With the 120w you'd need a Molex to P4 and then a SATA power splitter."


Now I'm unsure Sad

I did find however the 120w version else where and you can get a 150w Brick shipped with it.:
http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=10916

Old newbie trying his hardest to get his head around skinning lol, expect loads of questions :-)

It may be hard but the challenge of learning something new is fun :-)
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#10
In the end, it's up to you to decide.

Like I said, there's an maximum amperage rating on the barrel-style connector that comes with the 120W version of either 8A or 8.5A (look in the manual) so even though you can buy a 12V 120W adapter to go with it, it's beyond the rating at 10A. If you pull more than the maximum rating for an extended period of time I don't know what it will do. Likely the guage of the wires used is not enough for 10A and that's why it's rated so. I don't screw around when it comes to amperage ratings but that's up to you.

I also don't think adding a 150W brick to a 120W picoPSU is going to do you any good since it exceeds the power output of the picoPSU. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I would ask them why a 150W AC-DC brick with a 120W DC-DC picoPSU if the picoPSU's maximum rated output is 120W.

If you must have 120W, the best choice is the 120-WI-25 with a 18.5V/6.5A or 19V/6.3A adapter. It's more expensive though. You also still need to get all the adapters -- molex-to-P4 and SATA splitter.

Quote:"Your bluray is the unknown quantity - if it wasn't for that i'd suggest the 90w as being fine. Unless you can get it on a power meter to get an accurate reading that shows the 90w as being ok....

No easy way to get the connectors you require. With the 90w you'd just need a Molex to SATA adaptor. With the 120w you'd need a Molex to P4 and then a SATA power splitter."

See the picture above. I didn't try to run the ODD at the same time as the blu-ray but that seems a ridiculous test. I'd look at the 30W while watching 1080p as the base measurement the blu-ray will add to. I find it hard to believe a blu-ray running will exceed another 60W. As far as when the blu-ray is actually running, my office PC is a i3-2100/8GB/128GB SSD/Blu-ray and it uses only a 84W power supply without issue.
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#11
Hey guys also building a streacom FC08 build A8-3820 cpu, but looking at adding a Sapphire Radeon HD 6570 but think i need a 200w pico and brick for it just for some headroom.

Has anyone come across a good 200w pico and power brick or is it best i go with a 150w combination be enough.

Theres a guy on ebay selling refurbished power supply's, theres a HP POWER SUPPLY 19.5V 10.3A 200W for £50
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#12
The Streacom cases have a single hole for the picoPSU jack limiting you to the ones with the barrel-jack connector. It is not compatible with the 150/160W picoPSU.

See here:
Image

The largest picoPSU with that connector is the 120-WI-25 which can take a 120W adapter higher than 12V (like 16 or 18.5/19 which are popular laptop bricks). What's the power draw of the HD6570? Under maximum load, the system should draw around 80W without the card. You won't be running it at maximum load -- more like 40W watching movies, etc.

That HP adapter is just the AC-DC adapter. You still need the DC-DC picoPSU power supply and there is none that would take 200W input.
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#13
(2012-06-19, 02:24)Dougie Fresh Wrote: The 120W will be enough but you'll be limited to a 8.5A adapter using the barrel-style plug unless you go with the 120-WI-25 in which case you can safely pair that with a 18.5V 6.5A adapter. If you look at the picoPSU 120W manual you'll see the barrel-style connector is has a maximum 8 or 8.5A (I forget which) rating. A 12V 120W AC adapter would be 10A if you were able to draw that much power.

The 120W also does not come with a P4 CPU connector so you'll need at least a molex-to-P4 adapter and then you'll also need a SATA-to-2-SATA power splitter to feed your SSD and ODD.

In my testing of the A6-3500/A75 the maximum power draw was around 77W using Prime95 as measured at the wall with a Kill-A-Watt meter. This system had an SSD, ODD and used a 120W DC-DC internal/84W AC external power supply.

I didn't found any limitation on dc jack on manual...but there is on pico. Is it possible here in Europe to get mini fit jr ( din connector) http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2012...dapter.jpg but
A Pico90 has a max load of 5A on 12v rail. It means only 60 watt. I know that many of you are using this pico with A6...but still looks to me a little underpowered. Pico 120-WI-25 (7A on 12v rail) looks safer to me.


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#14
Ive seen these on ebay and other sites such as mini-box.com.

There is the picoPSU-160-XT which can provide 160 Watts (200 watt peak) of power.

Theres is also the PW-200-M also the PW-200V which both output 200w but obviously wasnt sure about the external power supply/bricks that would work with it,

My earlier post shows the HP power supply which is 200w but 19.5v so not sure if this would work as the PW-200M requires a 12v power supply.
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#15
The issue with using the picoPSU 150 or 160 with the Streacom FC08 is there is a different connector on the picoPSU 150/160 (called a mini-fit JR connector) that has a large central hole for the 4-pin power plug and then two small mounting holes for the screws. The back of the case only has a place to mount the single-hole barrel-syle jack.

The different connector is necessary because the maximum amperage rating on the barrel jack harness (since we're picking words here) is 8A (96W) so the higher power 12V picoPSUs require the 4-pin harness. With the 120-WI-25, this is not an issue because it can take a 19V input which is only 6.3A for 120W and therefore can use the single hole barrel-jack harness.

If you look in the pico-150 user manual the maximum rating is there -- 8A for the barrel connector harness. It applies to the barrel connector for all picoPSU -- they are all the same -- and it's because the wire gauge of the harness is only enough for 8A. I've linked to it before.


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