PICOPSU - how many SATA connectors?

frood · Post by **frood** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:09 pm

I'm considering ordering this picopsu unit: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?s ... e=Mini-Box

But the pictures leave me a little worried - I only see one SATA connection, and I need to power an optical drive, an SSD and an HDD.

My system runs about 45W idle, so I also wonder whether a 90W or even 80W PSU would be enough. I only looked at the 150W one because I thought maybe the smaller ones would only power one drive based on the pictures, but then the 150W model didn't show any more connectors.

The specs aren't much help either. There's a lot about how tiny and efficient it is, but nothing about how many connectors etc.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:52 pm

You can buy (or create yourself) all the cables you need. Usually a few is needed for using the picoPSU in a "normal" computer with a HDD, ODD etc. Any good computer store has these adapters/cables.

I would get the 150W version "just to be safe", unless the price difference is substantial.

frood · Post by **frood** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:00 pm

So the unit does only come with the one SATA cable?

The price difference is significant - $42 for the 80w, $46 for the 90W, and $72 for the 150W.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:55 pm

Yes, only one on the 150W version I believe. A 120W picoPSU with no SATA cable still powers my 8TB file server, 4 SATA HDDs.

With those prices I would go with the 90W version, if you are sure that it's enough to power the system.
What kind of system are you going to use with the pico?

frood · Post by **frood** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:36 pm

I've got:

Asus M3A78-EM mobo (AMD 780G chipset)
AMD Athlon X2 4850e (45W TDP)
Kingston 64 GB SSD (SATA)
WD Caviar Green 1 TB HD (SATA)
DVD-RW (SATA)

Antec Sonata case, HDD is suspended, 250W efficient PSU (Seasonic? I forget the details, it's pretty quiet but not silent) and there's a honking big Shuriken heatsink on the CPU. There's a 700RPM 120MM casefan blowing air IN to the case directly at the heatsink.

That casefan would be the only fan in the system with the picopsu.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:49 am

90W will be cutting it close I think, go for the 150W version. Then you will have enough power for an upgrade if you wish. You could add a discrete graphics card or another HDD.
Electrodacus 130W PSU is also worth checking out.

pete6032 · Post by **pete6032** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:11 am

This thread should be very helpful.

viewtopic.php?p=504750&highlight=#504750

I have a 780G board, Athlon 4850e, 2GB DDR, Big Shuriken, Blu Ray Drive, Ati HD 5450 PCI express card, etc. running on a Winmate 150w (150w at brick, 130w out of Electrodacus' circuit board).

I initially started with two 7200RPM HDD's. While the system started up with both drives running, the bios/windows only saw 1 of the two drives because there was such a large power draw when turning the system on that it only allowed 1 drive to spin up and be read by the bios initially. (Both drives spun up but the second one spun up too late). I ended up buying a single 5400RPM drive to replace my two-drive setup and now the system works like a charm.

Power draw when watching a Blu Ray is about 70 watts. I was able to get it up to 120w with a PSU stress test, but the highest wattage draw I have seen from the setup in real life has been around 100watts when running 3dmark.

The maximum wattage isn't necessarily as important as what your initial power draw will be in the first second or two after hitting the power button to turn the system on. I could add on several components to my system and still be well under the 130w barrier, but the problem is the initial power draw at start up.