<400W Quality Power Supply For Mini-ITX Build

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BfA

Limp Gawd
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May 21, 2007
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I'm building a mini-ITX PC for a software router / NAS / WAP combo and am having a hard time finding a quality low wattage power supply. I need something that is small and would preferably fit in a decent mini-ITX case. I would prefer to pay for quality as I hope to have this last from five to ten years if possible.

I don't plan on doing any over clocking and this unit will only ever be using the CPU as a GPU as if I want to get a second computer I'll build a proper HTPC.

According to Part Picker I'm looking at under 130W for the system: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Hd4sgs

Does anyone have any suggestions? If you could suggest a case that would go with it as well that would be a bonus, thanks! I'm would prefer one that lays horizontal.
 
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I might suggest m-ITX cases from either CoolerMaster or Antec that come with PSUs already.

CoolerMaster Elite 100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119211

Antec ISK-300 http://www.directron.com/isk300150.html

I have built about 2 dozen business PCs using these two platforms and they work surprisingly well.
The business are generally simple word and record keeping tasks, but the PCs are on almost 24/7.
I had one failure attributed to a PSU in over 2 years useage.

The PCs are generally Core i5 m-ITX platforms from Gigabyte and use on-board graphics and wireless and that's about it.

Space is limited in these boxes though and the PSUs have limited connectors.

If you want more space I also have some m-ITX servers built with the Corsair 250D, there's tons of space and you can utilize whatever PSU you like.
 
I'm using the Antec ISK-300 for my firewall/WAP. It's a great little case and the PSU works great too. For what you're doing though you're essentially looking for a unicorn unfortunately. I'm not saying the case you're looking for doesn't exist. I'm saying that if it does exist, you're going to have a very hard time finding it.

The goals you're trying to accomplish in this build tend to work against each other here. Firewall/WAP cases tend to be small and use low power PSU's since they're meant to be on all the time. NAS cases tend to be larger and have bigger PSU's because they're meant to have a large number of drives stuffed inside them.

There's one mini ITX case that comes to mind that'd fit the bill, but it doesn't lay flat like you'd want:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1163255&cm_re=nas_case-_-11-163-255-_-Product

It doesn't come with a PSU, but it can take SFX PSU's:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007657 600014003

You may be able to shoe-horn your drives into a case like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108196
but to get three 3.5" drives in there you're going to have to do some work. This one comes with a 200W PSU, but the case takes standard "TFX" PSU's:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007657 600014004
 
There's always a PicoPSU (note: those do need an external power brick as they're just DC to DC converters)
Would be a bit of a challenge getting three HDDs and a SSD hooked up to that though.
 
You do need to pick the case first so we know what form-factor you need.
 
I'd also second the recommendation for the PicoPSU 160XT, if you don't plan to add anything more powerful than a 750ti. It's a great little solid-state supply.
 
Magoo, thanks I'll look at those cases. Fifth Horsman, you're right about trying to find a unicorn so I've decided to drop the NAS requirement for this build and need just a 1x2.5 bay for my SSD and a 1x3.5 bay for a 4TB HDD.

My new build if you refresh http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Hd4sgs

I'll look into the Pico.

Since I need fewer drives I was thinking about these cases but wasn't sure what power supply they could take:

SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-LITE Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163231

COOLER MASTER Elite 130 RC-130-KKN1 Midnight Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286

Thermaltake CA-1B8-00S1WN-00 Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133260

Corsair Obsidian Series 250D (CC-9011047-WW) Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139033
 
BfA said:
Magoo, thanks I'll look at those cases. Fifth Horsman, you're right about trying to find a unicorn so I've decided to drop the NAS requirement for this build and need just a 1x2.5 bay for my SSD and a 1x3.5 bay for a 4TB HDD.

My new build if you refresh http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Hd4sgs

I'll look into the Pico.

Since I need fewer drives I was thinking about these cases but wasn't sure what power supply they could take:

SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-LITE Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163231

COOLER MASTER Elite 130 RC-130-KKN1 Midnight Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286

Thermaltake CA-1B8-00S1WN-00 Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133260

Corsair Obsidian Series 250D (CC-9011047-WW) Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139033
Click to expand...

From experience, the Corsair 250 D (which I've done 5 build, and really like) can handle any standard ATX PSU.
I have one at home with a Seasonic 650 modular.
The business models I've built have Corsair RM models in them.
At any rate a 250D can handle just about any ATX PSU.
 
Seasonic SSR-450RM modular is decent and around 80 bucks.
I've seen open box at Amazon for as low as $45.
Ncix recently had it on sale for around $62 bucks but I don't recall free shipping.

If you don't mind hardwired cables the 360 watt is a decent price.
 
Thanks for the links and letting me know about SFX ps form factor, didn't know that one! The Pico looks cool but I think I'd rather just get a regular ps for this build. Though I think my next one will definitely be something along the embedded lines once I can do more research.

I read the review on the Seasonic X Series SS-400FL2 and it looks pretty good. If I plan on having the box for over five years I don't mind spending an extra $70 on a quality power supply.

Is there any downside to having a 400W PS in a build that will max out at ~140W usage? If I have a fan-less power supply in a cabinet I'm guessing I better get a case with good airflow then.

Thanks for the link to the SILVERSTONE SFX ST30SF 300W CaptNumbNutz, it looks to be very close to what I want. The fan probably wouldn't even run while under the load I will throw at it as well.

Comparing the 400FL2 to the ST30SF, is there any benefit in going with the 400FL2 if money didn't matter? I would think that since I don't need the power and the SFX form of the ST30SF would allow me more room to maneuver in a smaller case then that would be the winner... but the 400FL2 does have the 7 year warranty and uses high quality known parts.

I'm thinking the people here would probably side with the ST30SF, am I right?

Comparison between 400FL2 & ST30SF:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=-1&IsNodeId=1&Description=400fl2&bop=And&CompareItemList=-1|17-256-097^17-256-097-TS%2C17-151-097^17-151-097-18%23&percm=17-151-097%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24
 
I don't know how into modding you are, but this case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144162

Is alright if:

1) you can find it somewhere for way cheaper. (I found mine on ebay for $39)
2) you ditch the PSU and fan. (they are complete junk)
3) can stand slightly flimsy case metal.

It can do your original requirement of 3 hard drives (2 x in internal vertical bays and 1 x in the external 3.5" bay.) You can also fit an SSD in a bracket in the lower 5.25" bay.

I have one of these as the case for my router/webserver/rsync backup and it's been real nice despite its shortcomings. The removable motherboard tray for easy access to parts more than makes up for it, as well as the roomy interior for my big hands to get around in.

I reversed the rear 120mm fan and made a special duct for it to direct down at the CPU and a little side shot for the internal drive bay:

EmP7rs6l.jpg


It might be a tad too big for your needs though:

IspkUO6l.jpg


Above it is the older router which failed because the case has terrible airflow. The only airflow it has is a very slowly moving 120mm PSU fan and a PCI slot cooler. I also hated it because it was cramped and hard to work on.
 
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