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Best Micro-ATX Power supply?

B

billabong132

Gawd
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Joined
Mar 8, 2001
Messages
874
I have a HTPC with an Athlon 2400+ in a mini case -



I leave it on 24/7 - I burned up the 175 watt Micro atx PS it came with in two weeks.



Who makes a good micro PS that can handle an athlon?
 
Ive been getting quite a few of these questions, and unfortunately I just dont know
my area of expertise (if you can call it that :rolleyes: )
lays in the opposite direction, from ATX > N+1 Redundants

several major manufacturers make mini-ATX and even bare board PSUs
but with more powerful processors being stuffed into small boxes
its really a specialized niche, the overall thermal solution becomes much more important
and from what I gather, those supplies run far closer to their capacity linits than you would see in your "typical" desktop (where it is not uncommon for a 50 to 70% utilization

running closer to 100% utilization, decreases the life expectancy of the components,
as does the higher temperature that often accompanies it
(both running at a higher capacity and the space and cooling restraints)

in addition, I have no good resources for definitive power consumption specs on typical SFF components (mini-ATX board, slim opticals, laptop HDDs ect) and even less info on "real" specs for the typical mini-ATX PSUs

this is a large hole in this forums "knowledgebase" with the possible exception of a stray SFF builder, I know of no "residents" up on this

but
we do have a SFF forum, and I think I may need to hang out there a bit more
also, try the electronics (hobbies) and case modding forums ;)
 
Ice Czar is right... But i'll still try my best to help you and look around for the best one I can find just by eyeing it.

Perhaps this one
Or this one

Looking at the rails on the 270 watters pics', it looks like the +12V rail has twice the amp output than the 250watter. The other rails are also a couple amps higher, so that outta help out an Athlon system quite a bit.
 
L0s7 4 Lyf3 said:
Ice Czar is right... But i'll still try my best to help you and look around for the best one I can find just by eyeing it.

Perhaps this one
Or this one

Looking at the rails on the 270 watters pics', it looks like the +12V rail has twice the amp output than the 250watter. The other rails are also a couple amps higher, so that outta help out an Athlon system quite a bit.
Click to expand...


Yeah that Enermax 270 is the one I've been eyeing.


Thanks for all the help - I will let you guys know if this one holds up!


EDIT: You'd think with the new trend of micro and mini cases that someone would be making some good 300-350 watt PS's for these cases since most people wanna pack in 3ghz cpu's, Radeon 9800's and DVD burners.
 
well in truth, most rigs dont really draw that much power
in an ATX12V supply what you have is backward compatibility
meaning they are capable of converting power for a mobo based on powering the CPU off the +5V or the +12V rail (+12V being the newer CPUs) so ineffect, alot of the raw capability simply goes unused, (artificially pumping up the total watts rating)
which is why its so important to figure out exactly what amps to what rails you need, and then pick a reliable PSU based on that
(and, especially in your case, the actual operating temperature)
SFF capable PSU rarely have much unused capacity,
its the same basic design philosophy as a notebook, and they always lag desktops
and its always because of heat and power, desktops can afford to be extravagant
notebooks cannot, SFF is somewhere inbetween, you can get away with a little more
but not too much, so get serious about the thermal solution,
it will go along way to extending the life of all the components,
and increase the total capacity of the PSU ;)

I actuually have my PSU isolated from the mobo
its not exhausting hot air (but than its a rackmount)
the only heatsource upstream is a HDD,
and its being force fed by one of the three 120MM fans
you typically find midcase in a 4U (between the mobo and the drives)
 
xonik said:
Fortron also makes some 270 watt units, but the best Micro ATX supply I've read about is the SilenX 320 watt supply, shown here:

http://www.silenx.com/productcart/pc/configurePrdz.asp?idcategory=19&idproduct=90

It's actually got a decent 12 volt rail, good advertised line/load regulation specs, good efficiency, and a very quiet fan.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't touch that with a

100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 foot pole

just doesn't look trustworthy to me...
 
L0s7 4 Lyf3 said:
I wouldn't touch that with a

100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 foot pole

just doesn't look trustworthy to me...
Click to expand...


Why not? :confused:
 
1 60mm fan, does not look sufficient for a power supply.

"Device Connections: 3 molex (4-pin), 1 floppy, 2 Serial ATA" have fun hooking up a comp with that many connectors, i stand by the 270Watt enermax, i'd say that thing performs better than that one hands down.
 
L0s7 4 Lyf3 said:
1 60mm fan, does not look sufficient for a power supply.
Click to expand...
Oh, it is. A 78% power efficiency means only 22% of the total power consumed is in the form of heat. At full power--an unlikely situation--that means about 70 watts is dissipated in the form of heat. A 60 mm fan can cool that just fine. Besides, power circuitry is very tolerant of high temperatures.
 
xonik said:
Oh, it is. A 78% power efficiency means only 22% of the total power consumed is in the form of heat. At full power--an unlikely situation--that means about 70 watts is dissipated in the form of heat. A 60 mm fan can cool that just fine. Besides, power circuitry is very tolerant of high temperatures.
Click to expand...
efficiency down as heat up
 
Okay, but "heat up" first requires a power consumption to match. I think you would find that very few desktop systems--let alone Micro ATX setups--draw more than 300 watts on a regular basis.
 
xonik said:
Okay, but "heat up" first requires a power consumption to match. I think you would find that very few desktop systems--let alone Micro ATX setups--draw more than 300 watts on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
bwahahaha

read stickies often? Watts Don't Mean Jack.
 
a few points about efficiency
as mentioned, the higher the efficiency the less energy is dumped into the system in the form of heat, but then you cant just figure it based on it being a 250 or whatever watt PSU, since it isnt actually at full draw the vast majority of the time, and then there are the other two variables

the efficiency varies with the load, which is why extensive testing of a PSU is so handy, as it illustrates the "sweet spot" in the efficiency

then there is the temperature differential, a huge component in any heat transfer
roughly speaking, if you have twice the differential temperature you can transfer twice the energy(heat), the other two primary components being the size of the interface (assuming an efficient fin design) or the volume of transfer medium, read bigger heatsink or more air

with all thses variables, its easy to see why OEM manufacturers employ Fluid Dyamamics Modeling to develop thermal solutions, while we resort to trial and error, difficult enough in a full tower, all that much harder in a SFF
 
L0s7 4 Lyf3 said:
bwahahaha

read stickies often? Watts Don't Mean Jack.
Click to expand...
And your point? I could have referred to current draw of individual voltage rails instead of combined power draw. Don't patronize me.
 
L0s7 4 Lyf3 said:
Ice Czar is right... But i'll still try my best to help you and look around for the best one I can find just by eyeing it.

Perhaps this one
Or this one

Looking at the rails on the 270 watters pics', it looks like the +12V rail has twice the amp output than the 250watter. The other rails are also a couple amps higher, so that outta help out an Athlon system quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Had two of the 250 (one amd one intel), well today the Enermax in the amd box went
POW. chared pieces of capacitor casing made it past the fan to the bottom of the case.
prob just a fluke but kinda of odd since it had been up and running for a while :rolleyes:
 
_G_ said:
Had two of the 250 (one amd one intel), well today the Enermax in the amd box went
POW. chared pieces of capacitor casing made it past the fan to the bottom of the case.
prob just a fluke but kinda of odd since it had been up and running for a while :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Sounds like a much too much overtaxed PSU to me, too many amps being drawn :(
 
L0s7 4 Lyf3 said:
Sounds like a much too much overtaxed PSU to me, too many amps being drawn :(
Click to expand...

Possibly, the amd system was an xp1700@1866 , 2hd's 1gig of ram , 1 optical and a 80mm casefan. not really a power system but maybe not as thrifty as the intel system
(same config with a 2.4b and 2gigs of ram)
the amd sys is now in a slightly larger case now with a full size psu(250 dell :p )
 
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