Note that PSUs vary in their susceptibility to power transients. A PSU that dies after living on a circuit prone to power disruptions isn't necessarily unreliable ... just picky about the conditions in which it's run. My Picos run off a UPS with AVR and pure sine wave output, which might be related ...

I contacted electrodacus as suggested. He asked about my setup, and expressed concern that I might not be allowing enough headroom for peak usage. Reposted below with his permission is my reply and his advice. Thanks for the reply, you bring up good points. I'm running some very low power N270 Linux...

There's a simpler option than the various power supply scenarios you're considering: Modify a standard ATX12V PSU for what you need. A typical good quality 500W PSU, for example, will give you a net 400W+ on the 12V line, sometimes in 2 or more current limited lines (if you believe the mfg specs wh...

@ces: I know that the AC-DC adapter with DC-DC converter board paradigm is used a lot, but I'm kind of wondering what I should pay attention to if I'm powering multiple devices off a single power supply. Do you have a link to the specific system you're talking about? If it's a beefy desktop, then su...

I'm in the process of upgrading/replacing some small form factor/lower power systems at home for random geekery. I'm planning on using internal DC-DC converter boards with external power bricks, but I think it would be a neat idea and a win for efficiency to power everything off a single external PS...

Eunos, was that a typo? The 80W unit are newer, and don't have the 2x2 12V auxiliary ATX mobo connector. I wonder if there are design differences between the 80W and 90W units that lead to a difference in longevity.

I've been planning to rebuild my router/firewall machine as a low power Mini-ITX guy. Here are some numbers for anyone else interested: turns out all the desktop chips are hungry (but cheap). 1st Gen ATOM 330 8W 230 4W N270 2.5W 2nd Gen ATOM+MCH D510 1.66GHz, 2core, 4GB DDR2-800, 13W D410 1.66GHz, 1...

The problem here isn't just the lack of ventilation, but also the difficulty of putting more ventilation in. Even if you drill your own holes for fans on the outer shell, you'll likely be forced to use tiny fans due to the lack of room around and over the mobo. If you're willing to mod, start with a...

Whoops, you do still need power, but I think I'll be routing 5V power to mine from a USB port (they're low enough on current draw that it should be fine). 2 thin wires that can hug the surface of the mobo should be able to help air flow a bit. Sorry to have forgotten that part. Also, pin 20 in a 40-...

You might also consider DOMs that plug directly into the port on your mobo. Two fewer cables for a cooler system (and they use all of 0.7W). The only problem is that regardless of manufacturer, they'll always make true SSDs that are higher-performance than comparable DOMs. However, Emphase's 40MB/s ...

Yeah, sounds similar to what Bluefront did, but on a slightly smaller scale. Bluefront, how do you hook up the solar panel and charger to the battery? Has anyone else done something like this? Thanks!

Since UPS use 12V sealed lead acid batteries, and PicoPSUs and similar PSUs take a 12V input, shouldn't there be a pretty easy way to rig up a DIY UPS system for a PicoPSU powered machine? Has anyone done this or even considered it? A low powered system could probably run for hours on a small batter...

Thanks for all the replies. As it stands now, it seems like the Fuzzy GM2 is the best bet for this type of application. It gives 3 onboard Intel Gig-E interfaces, with the possibility of up to 2 more, all on a PCIe bus. However, I'm in no need of upgrading quickly, so I'll keep an eye out for other ...

I evaluated this board for a file server project of mine a little while ago. You can get an ultra-low voltage Core Duo processor for it. Where are they actually available for purchase? The wiki page lists them as BGA, or directly-soldered components. The Fuzzy mobo has a socket for the CPU. Are the...

Hi, I'm looking for what's in the topic: a cheap, low power Socket M CPU. I've found a few for around $50-60, but their TDPs are around 30W. My planned system is a small form factor network router that will hopefully run with minimal active cooling. The small physical space, low processing requireme...

I am at the airport in Taipei as I type this and there were quite a few options on display at the Computex show. I grabbed a couple of brochures from some of the booths, as I have an interest in this area. If you want the details drop me a message and I can reply when I unpack the brochures. Ooh, t...

One other option that pops into my mind is some "true" (wireless) router hardware running GNU/Linux (preferably some open source derivate like OpenWRT or FreeWRT ), although in quick search I fail to find suitable model which would include gigabit switch... Yeah, that is an option, but I'd actually...

Hi, I'm hoping to replace my router machine on my home network, and at the same time start to upgrade everything from 100Base-T to Gigabit ethernet. My connection to the outside world will still be "slow," so all I really need are two Gigabit and one 100Mbit interfaces. I'm trying to make this a sma...

Yeah there is software RAID but my mobo has a built-in SATA RAID controller, so I figured I might as well use it.

Incidentally, something else I learned is the power of a good 300W PSU. You guys aren't kidding... 27k rpms of hard drive, 3 gigs of cpu, and it's perfectly stable. I'm actually using every output of my power supply (5 of the big ones and 2 floppy outputs) so if I add a burner to this system, I'll h...

Despite the Geforce fan how about taking off the geforce fan and heatsink and replacing them with a zalman heatpipe? you have a fan blowing air in that general direction, so you should be able to get a decent airflow over the heatpipe. or go for zalman's new, snazzy black heatpipe HS that accomodat...

Goals, in order: Stable Dust-free, orderly interior Quiet (yeah it's third :oops: ) Outards: Case: Antec SLK3700AMB Power Supply: 120mm Fortron FSP300-60PN Exhaust: 120mm Panaflo @7V, the discontinued 5-blade type Exhaust: power supply exhaust Intake: 92mm Panaflo @7V to cool hard drives Intake: 12...

I'm trying to fold cables out of the way, but my SATA cables data are really stiff, and I'm afraid that a serious crease will break their inner traces. Does anyone have any experience with bending these things? Google didn't give me any useful data about minimum bend radius, but if someone has more ...

I decided to mount the feet with holes in my new case. I'll save the stickies for the old computer. I got some 10/32 bolts, nuts, various washers and bolted the feet onto the case. The feet have a small protrusion at the top that I cut off so that each would mount flush with the case bottom. Now the...

Oops, I didn't mean to start a new thread. Admins, delete this thread if you want, or move it to the testing section or something.

Original thread is:

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=6718

And in this segment, I answer my own questions. :) So what's the concensus on closing the front vents so that air enters at the bottom and goes out only at the back? I wouldn't want warm air continually recirculating because of the open front vents... Hmm it turns out there are only a few slits on t...

I hope you mean the 3700AMB, not the new black version. I just got my 3700AMB, but I dont have pics yet (you can see pics on newegg and directron). Also, which door? The front door? Just pull it open. The side door? Unscrew the two captive thumbscrews first. Then press the dimpled buttons in front o...

The order just arrived. The hemispheres (8215k11) do seem better for this purpose. They are a bit squishier. The blue molded things seem stiffer, and the nub that sticks out the top needs modding before it will fit in a computer case foot mounting hole. Nonetheless, I do prefer something that mounts...

So what's the concensus on closing the front vents so that air enters at the bottom and goes out only at the back? I wouldn't want warm air continually recirculating because of the open front vents... Existing owners: can you shed some light on this? It was only discussed for a few posts earlier in ...

Ok I bought 4 of the 60525K13 and 4 of the 8215K11. I don't like adhesives, but the hemispheres do seem like better solutions for this. We'll see. See http://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/109/html/3420.html and the link in the first post for specs. In hindsight, using the 2-inch hemispheres would give en...