PicoPSU 150-XT spare connector: is it for HDD power?

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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silentbobbo
Posts: 108
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:45 am

PicoPSU 150-XT spare connector: is it for HDD power?

Post by silentbobbo » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:14 pm

Today I received the Pico 150-XT I'd ordered from eBay and set about removing the stock 150W PSU from my Antec 310-150 case.

This left loads of spare room in the front of the case, but is tight around the rear right hand side next to the only remaining system fan, now that the Antec fan assisted PSU is out of the equation.

I had to bend the case out slightly from inside to get the Pico to fit into the main connector block of my Gigabyte H55 mini ITX board.

It was at this point I noticed that the Pico connector that supplies 2xHDD power via a twin SATA/molex cable was going to interfere with the blades of the small system case fan.

Then I looked at the Pico and noticed that there was another, identical white connector block on the other side, facing away from my system fan. See the two photos of the Pico 150-XT as it comes:

Image

Flipside image showing 'spare' connector:

Image

Ideal! I thought and unplugged the HDD supply cable, spun it through 180 degrees and plugged it into the other side. Now, with a little chunk snipped out of the side of the fan casing with wire cutters, I would be able to use my system fan.

However, when I got my WD Scorpio Blue 2.5" SATA plugged in and tidied the wires up a bit I switched the Pico on for the first time. All I got was a buzzing from the PSU and no MB lights. Great, I've got a duff PSU I thought.

I then tried disconnecting the HDD to see if the MB would POST. It did!

Then realising the only difference I had made was HDD power I dismantled everything, plugged the PicoPSU HDD cable back in as it came (which needed further fan case snipping) and went for another power on. This time both motherboard and hard disk were happy and Windows booted without a hitch.

Now, as I'm typing this I'm monitoring my system temeratures in HWMonitor. My northbridge is reading 54 degrees celcius and is hot to the touch. In fact it's too hot to keep your finger on for more than 4 seconds. I also still have the cover removed from the case to allow extra air to circulate.

I don't want to risk putting the case completely back together until I can get my system fan working incase something cooks.

So apologies for the long post but does anyone know if this spare connector can be used for powering the HDD cable?

Dirge
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 8:55 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: PicoPSU 150-XT spare connector: is it for HDD power?

Post by Dirge » Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:45 pm

stupid question but do they not ship this thing with a manual or specification?

Edit: I found their manual online and no it doesn't seem to mention the extra header. But if you look at the specifications page Over Here, there is a picture you can enlarge labelling it as an Extra PATA/SDATA Header.

silentbobbo
Posts: 108
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:45 am

Re: PicoPSU 150-XT spare connector: is it for HDD power?

Post by silentbobbo » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:20 pm

Dirge wrote:stupid question but do they not ship this thing with a manual or specification?

Edit: I found their manual online and no it doesn't seem to mention the extra header.
Yep, I had a look in the PDF manual too, but the PDF for the actual PSU is very basic.

You'd have thought that they'd include pinouts or a schematic in the manual for something which will be bought by enthusiasts/tinkerers.

That link helps a lot though. It seems as though the socket is designed for extra HDD power, with the additional cable.

This makes me wonder if the supplementary cable's wired up opposite to that on the included SATA cable. I would have to strip my PC down and pull out the PSU again to see if the pins are labelled 1 -> 4, or 4 ->1 on the PCB. Then I could compare it to the diagram in the PDF you linked to Dirge. I might do that at the weekend.

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Anyway, I got my 80mm side fan working by forcibly bending the wires from the outward facing PicoPSU socket away from the fan blades, but would still be happier with utilising the socket on the other side.

Actually I'm thinking of changing the Northbridge cooler and getting rid of the 80mm fan altogether. I reckon that would be OK, heatwise. Just leaving me with the stock Intel CPU fan as the only moving part. (Core i3-540)

Does anyone know of a fairly compact NB heatsink to replace the standard GA-H55N-USB3 one? It's a mini-ITX board in a snug case.

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