two rigs, one PSU

[Factorxfiles]

I've asked for a little via system for christmas, and I want to mount it inside the case with main rig (been itching to do a mod lately) and use it as a firewall/all that. The thing is, I don't want to fool around with a second psu for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the PSU I have now is more than enough for what i've got in this rig (PSU/current rig in sig). I know these via systems don't use much juice at all, which makes me wonder if it'd be ok to run them both off the same PSU. The problem is, obviously one PSU only has one set of motherboard connectors. Is there an adapter to turn some spare molex connectors into the neccessary motherboard connectors?

 

[mavalpha]

PicoPSU- costs about $50, and turns one 12V line (off a Molex, for example) into all the connectors you need for a full-blown miniPC.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article601-page1.html

 

[Factorxfiles]

Power bricks? Nasty!

But, food for thought anyways... It takes 12v DC input somewhere between 80 and 200 watts. Shouldn't a single molex connector be able to cover that with ease? Wattage = amps * volts, right? So, a 12v molex with decent amps behind it should be plenty....

Would it be possible to run the picoPSU off a molex with a little wire soldering?

 

[Kil4Thril]

Power bricks? Nasty!

But, food for thought anyways... It takes 12v DC input somewhere between 80 and 200 watts. Shouldn't a single molex connector be able to cover that with ease? Wattage = amps * volts, right? So, a 12v molex with decent amps behind it should be plenty....

Would it be possible to run the picoPSU off a molex with a little wire soldering?

That's what it is! I didn't
see a power brick at all.

 

[Ockie]

That's what it is! I didn't
see a power brick at all.

You might want to adjust the prescriptions


Image from SPCR:

 

[Factorxfiles]

That's what it is! I didn't
see a power brick at all.

They're at the bottom of the page you linked to. I guess the reason the picoPSU is so small is that it does AC/DC conversion outside the case in the power brick. Can I get some feedback on the possibility of running it off a molex instead of the power brick? That would be sick.

 

[mavalpha]

I guess you missed the part I put in parenthesis...

Edit:
You don't want to run 7-10A over a single Molex connector, but you'd be fine splitting/splicing two or three of them together and running it off one chain of your main PSU.

Edit2:
If you're up for soldering/modding your main PSU, then you can solder the picoPSU directly to one the leads off your main one, and then you only need one attachment point. Running 7-10A over a Molex is a bad idea because of the connector itself, but getting rid of the connector should make it a lot more manageable.

 

[Factorxfiles]

Yeah, I missed the part in parenthesis. My bad.

You say the actual connectors are the only reason it would be a bad idea to run that many amps from one line though, so, if I just solder wire to wire, it'd be ok? Sounds like a plan. Can't wait to get that via system on the 25th to try this out!

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[mavalpha]

Yep, soldering wire-to-wire won't be a problem as long as you use one thick enough- basically, at least as thick as the stuff they use.

 

[Kil4Thril]

You might want to adjust the prescriptions


Image from SPCR:

Doh

I thought that first pic was the whole thing and it DID run off a Molex. I don't think I'd want a brick, either. What could be done is convert a PCI-e lane to multiple voltages using DC-DC power supplies like used in car audio equipment. I doubt it would be cheap or efficient, though. I know I can get you multiple voltages from the 12v input, but how much amperage will you need at 5 and 3.3?