SPCR

availabe products, also on ebay etc.

some info from someone who has used one.
-this user had troubles with interference and voltages from his picopsu-150xt (faulty?)
-the pico-box z2-atx worked but wouldn't wake from sleep (seems to be an old model)
-the pico-box x1 works fine

i'm considering getting the z3 for the wide input, then buying a decent 19v brick, total cost should be <$50.

I'm using Z2-ATX-200 with Seasonic 5A 12V brick, no problems at all.

thanks for replying, my z3-atx came last night!

some thoughts:
it is quite a bit larger than my picopsu-80
voltages hold steady according to the mb readouts
efficiency paired with a level v brick is almost exactly the same as my picopsu-80 and non rated delta brick
it has an annoying bright blue led
hisses! not too badly though, similar to my 120mm @650rpm, can't hear from about 1m with line of sight
cables stick out the opposite side compared to the picopsu
doesn't seem to get very warm

thoughts on efficiency and cost:
you give up some efficiency for a regulated 12v line
the most common and cheap bricks are 19v, lots of good, rated 2nd hand ones on ebay
i had my pc powered by an 80plus 350w before, so i can say efficiency paired with a level v brick tops out at about 80%
keep in mind that the z3 and a good brick will only set you back <50usd

Referring to efficiency, my current rig:

Asrock H61MV-ITX
Pentium G620
2x2gb undervolted Micron ram
Toshiba 2,5" 5400rpm HDD
and one 90mm fan

draws 15,3W from the wall at idle with Z2-200-ATX and SS 12V brick(which is efficiency class level V),
while with the LITE-ON 250W 80+ Bronze PSU it draws around 21W.

i have brick envy...

mine is:
amd a6-5400k
msi fm2-a55m-e33
2x2gb kingston ddr3 1600mhz 1.35v
intel 80gb g2 ssd
one 120mm fan
pico-box z3-atx

idle with level v 65w brick(from bros laptop) was 18w, level iii 135w brick was 20-21w.
with a picopsu-80 and non rated delta brick was 18w.
with an antec 350w 80+ was 23w.

turns out that the hissing was related to fan control through the mb!
so now i'm running my fan on molex (an antec tricool at 5v), might see if i can get my hands on a scythe 500rpm and just run it full speed.

i used a marker to go over the led a few times, much better now.

edit: well this is interesting, i believe i'm hearing bearing chatter! it's rather peculiar, i may have to buy a slipstream sooner than i thought.

Would be a very interesting thing to be reviewed by SPCR or another site that takes power supply testing seriously. I would need convincing of quality and efficiency but on paper they definitely look interesting. This 400W PSU does look useful for some applications:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product ... 13627.html

what i can tell you is that efficiency is decent, i calculate it to be about 93%(pico only).
and according to the mb readouts the 12v line is much tighter, i agree its probably not much to go by but while i was using the picopsu-80 and delta 12v brick the 12v line ranged from ~11.89-11.48v. my cpu is undervolted and sometimes i would get errors while stressing, but not with the new setup.
the hissing was disappointing(an anomaly?), but only applied to voltage fan control so you can work around it, mine doesn't make a peep now.

as for the more technical stuff a proper review is definitely needed.

that 400w monster is ridiculous, multiple bricks?

porkchop wrote:
that 400w monster is ridiculous, multiple bricks?

1. Final product comes. Fanless, zero noise, high efficiency ATX standard size DC PSU.
2. Standard size to directly replace the traditional ATX PSU.
3. Use two AC-DC adapters as input. The PIN size is 7.4x5mm.
4. 24PIN standardard ATX connector on the board.
5. Use one or two AC-DC 19.5V adapters as input. X7-ATX-400 will automatically detect the number of inputs.

that thing looks really slick! love the external heatsink action!

edh wrote:Would be a very interesting thing to be reviewed by SPCR or another site that takes power supply testing seriously. I would need convincing of quality and efficiency but on paper they definitely look interesting. This 400W PSU does look useful for some applications:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product ... 13627.html

..and a 200w brick to go with it.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shi ... 70202.html

oh wow, that's pretty nice.

in all seriousness though is there a point?
a seasonic 350gtm (tfx 80+gold) should be more efficient, has less volume if you include the bricks and is most likely better electronically. the only area it would lose is noise, where the fan will start spinning at higher loads.

porkchop wrote:oh wow, that's pretty nice.

in all seriousness though is there a point?
a seasonic 350gtm (tfx 80+gold) should be more efficient, has less volume if you include the bricks and is most likely better electronically. the only area it would lose is noise, where the fan will start spinning at higher loads.

space. in my LIAN LI PC-Q07 i use a tower cooler that takes up the space of the PSU. this little guy looks like it would fit with the tower heatsink, and still leave room for my 140 mm fan.

makes sense, it was always going to be even more of a niche than a regular pico.

probably a bad choice for a q07 though as it would block one of the few holes in the case, then again you don't have to install it where the regular psu goes.

i think the top, side and remaining back vents combined should still be more than the intake, so im not worried.

i completely forgot that half of one side panel is holes, i think i was picturing the newer q11 in my head.

with the psu and it's fan gone though you will need a new source of intake/exhaust.

Guys

can you tell if someone tested psu properly?
Can it handle real 150w load? What temperature will it have during load? I heard these tend to run very hot !

Thanks