One-fan Turion64 (v2.0)

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 9:33 pm

Made a few changes since my last gallery posting, and have a few more to do, so I figured I'd post my computer again (in case anyone's actually interested).

Antec SLK3000-B (w/SLK3700-BQE left panel)
Lex 110w fanless power kit
AMD Turion64 MT-34
Scythe NCU-2005
DFI Lanparty UT nF3 250Gb
2x512MB TwinMOS PC3200
Vertex Radeon 9600 mobility 64MB
Western Digital WD400VE

http://s93291899.onlinehome.us/comp00.jpg
http://s93291899.onlinehome.us/comp01.jpg
http://s93291899.onlinehome.us/comp02.jpg
http://s93291899.onlinehome.us/comp03.jpg

I don't have it hooked up to a fan sensor, but the Yate Loon is running at 5V (not sure how this relates to RPM, maybe ~600RPM?). I could probably get by with the fan at ~300RPM, but the motherboard PWM doesn't play well with this fan.

If anybody has questions please ask.

What's coming soon (I hope):
Via K8T800-based motherboard
Suspended hard drive
Home-made PWM fan controller?

Techno Pride · Post by **Techno Pride** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:40 pm

uh...if the thing right at the top is the PSU, it looks really dangerous

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:54 pm

It's only 1/2 the PSU. The rectangular black box in the bottom-left of the first picture converts 120VAC to 19VDC. This then goes into the DC-DC board inside the computer, which converts 19VDC to the ATX voltages (+3.3V, +5V, etc.). So yeah, it's safe. Everything inside the computer itself is low-voltage DC.

cotdt · Post by **cotdt** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 11:29 pm

that's a really nice PSU!

winguy · Post by **winguy** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 12:52 am

How about turning the Scythe NCU-2005 90 degrees? Would that improve temps?

I'm also interested to know whether a Scythe Ninja SCNJ-1000 would perform better in 1-fan (or exhaust fans-only) systems like this.

wim · Post by **wim** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 12:57 am

nice! you must have one of the quietest machines on here. going to enclose the HD too?

is there another thread somewhere detailing your psu brick + DC-DC thing?

ps: i couldn't get bla01.jpg to load (but the others were fine)

mrochester · Post by **mrochester** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 2:56 am

That's a cool looking system.... but I have an X2 3800+, Radeon X800XL and Asus A8N-SLI Premium cooled by the same 1 fan too. You could pack in hardware that is vastly more powerful and still have the same level of noise.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:35 am

Out of curiosity, could you basically use a laptop power brick to provide the DC voltage? They typically output 19V and I'd think as a more common product they'd be cheaper.

If using a laptop power brick, how much did the DC-DC converter cost you?

Is that temperature screenshot at full load?

mrochester, doesn't your power supply have a fan as well? Also note that his fan runs at 5V.

mrochester · Post by **mrochester** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:12 am

mrochester, doesn't your power supply have a fan as well? Also note that his fan runs at 5V.

No, it's a fanless Silverstone. And my Nexus runs at 5volts only until the processor hits 60º, which it hardly ever does.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:32 am

winguy wrote:How about turning the Scythe NCU-2005 90 degrees? Would that improve temps?

I'm also interested to know whether a Scythe Ninja SCNJ-1000 would perform better in 1-fan (or exhaust fans-only) systems like this.

I've been meaning to try this.

wim wrote:nice! you must have one of the quietest machines on here. going to enclose the HD too?

is there another thread somewhere detailing your psu brick + DC-DC thing?

ps: i couldn't get bla01.jpg to load (but the others were fine)

Probably not the quietest, but I can assure you it's darn quiet. I don't have a thread about the brick and DC-DC board, but if you have any specific questions about it please ask in this thread. I knew I was going to post in the gallery soon so I didn't bother making a thread about the PSU itself. I figured people could just ask what they want to know here.

And thanks for the heads up on that pic. I'll get it fixed.

mrochester wrote:That's a cool looking system.... but I have an X2 3800+, Radeon X800XL and Asus A8N-SLI Premium cooled by the same 1 fan too. You could pack in hardware that is vastly more powerful and still have the same level of noise.

True, I could probably run more powerful hardware. TBH, though, this is powerful enough for me.

Also, I'd eventually like to experiment with this as a 1/2 fan computer. Ideally the computer would run completely fanless at idle/low load. During heavy load, the fan would be engaged, but even then only ramp up to a few hundred RPM.

qviri wrote:Out of curiosity, could you basically use a laptop power brick to provide the DC voltage? They typically output 19V and I'd think as a more common product they'd be cheaper.

If using a laptop power brick, how much did the DC-DC converter cost you?

Is that temperature screenshot at full load?

mrochester, doesn't your power supply have a fan as well? Also note that his fan runs at 5V.

You could absolutely purchase the parts separately and mix-and-match. I just purchased this as a kit so I wouldn't have to part hunt. But there are many different ATX DC-DC boards out there that you can buy and couple with any AC-DC brick of your choice (just make sure the output and input voltage match up, and both the brick and DC-DC board can handle the current you plan to run through it).

Epiacenter lists quite a few DC-DC boards and kits here:
http://www.epiacenter.com/modules.php?n ... age&pid=40

AFAIK, the Lex DC-DC converters are not sold by themselves (although the Casetronic 120w at the bottom of Epiacenter's list does look very similar to the Lex; maybe they're the same board, just rebranded?). The kit itself ended up costing me about $100. This included the AC-DC brick, DC-DC power board, and connectors. There are cheaper kits out there, but the Lex was the only one I could find that was completely fanless (quite a few of the more powerful kits I found had a small fan in the AC-DC inverter -- this one does not appear to have any fan).

Yes, the Smartguardian screenshot is full load (folding).

roo · Post by **roo** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 12:58 pm

really nice frostedflakes!!!

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 1:51 pm

Lots of passive brick type power supplies exist for mini-itx systems. Here are a few including a 200W version.

http://www.logicsupply.com/default.php/cPath/40_65

Mariner · Post by **Mariner** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 7:01 am

Very nice.

frostedflakes wrote:I don't have a thread about the brick and DC-DC board, but if you have any specific questions about it please ask in this thread. I knew I was going to post in the gallery soon so I didn't bother making a thread about the PSU itself. I figured people could just ask what they want to know here.

I'm thinking of building a (moderately) low-powered HTPC soon in a smallish case and a fanless DC-DC PSU seems ideal to me. My question is, how difficult was it to mount the DC-DC board in your case? From the pic I'd guess that you built your own small mount to attach it to your case. What does this consist of?

A problem for me is that I don't have access to any kind of workshop so it would have to be pretty simple for me to make one up myself.

(Not to mention that I'm also not very handy with these kind of things - the last time I did any metalwork was back at school some 20 years ago!

)

chirs · Post by **chirs** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 8:03 am

Mariner wrote: A problem for me is that I don't have access to any kind of workshop so it would have to be pretty simple for me to make one up myself.

Why not just use a block of wood? May not look as pretty, but you can shape it easily and just screw into it. It's also an insulator so you don't need to worry about shorting anything out...

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 9:10 am

It really wasn't too complicated. I used a piece of 1/8" flat aluminum to mount the DC-DC board, a 1/16" piece of 90* angle aluminum to mount it to the back plate, and a sheet of 22 gauge steel for the back plate (the local hardware store didn't have any aluminum that was thick enough).

Cut everything out, and use rivets to attach all the pieces together. Tapped the back plate for 6-32 screws, and tapped the mounting plate for 4-40 screws. Bought some nylon spacers and 4-40 screws to mount the DC-DC board.

I'm actually working on another one, because there are some things I screwed up on the first. For one, I'm going to mount it upside down, so I don't have any more problems with cables reaching. I'm also using thicker steel for the back plate (notice the current one hangs down because I don't think the back plate is thick enough). I'm also adding holes in the back plate so air can be pulled through by the exahust fan and over the DC-DC board. Some of the coils and capacitors do get kind of hot during load.

elec999 · Post by **elec999** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 9:53 am

This is simply Amazing. I wish I could afford a turion. I got the dfi 250gb board right now.
Thanks

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 10:32 pm

Yeah, the Turions are kind of pricey. Not as bad as they were, though. I got mine almost immediately after AMD started shipping from an online pal who has distributor connections. Even at cost, it was still close to $300. Last I checked they were down to ~$225 at the few stores that actually carry them.

The lower-end Turions aren't too bad, you may want to check them out. You could also probably save a few bucks by getting a 35w Turion. I don't see why it wouldn't undervolt about as well as a 25w Turion.

Or there's always the Sempron64s. Awesome performance for the price.

Steve Teixera · Post by **Steve Teixera** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:42 am

Hi frostedflakes, very nice setup!

im planning something similar like you did.
ATM I’m searching for the LEX 110w in Germany, I was able to find the Casetronic 120w (but it contains a fan) and a Morex 120w Kit (100€). (Look at the link for ampere ratings).

Are these ratings similar to your LEX? (I could find the ratings with a 200w brick attached but not with 110w one) .

It should run at least a Sempron64 3000+ / MSI K8N or K8T / Matrox G440 AGP / 1GB RAM and a 3,5 SATA HD. More the cheap silent one

Looking at a 3700+ System or at this total consumption of a Sempron64 system of 77w, it should be possible.

I also found a 150w kit by Morex but it has a weak 12v line.

So why do you want to change the MB to a K8T800-based one? Les Power consumption?

Where did you get the Mobility Radeon for a Desktop?

Questions ‘n’ Questions

Thanks for sharing this system with us.

Steve

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:20 pm

On the Lex/Bona Computech website (http://www.lex.com.tw/), click on "Where To Buy" at the top of their homepage and then select your country in the drop-down box on the following page.

I actually steered away from the Casetronic because of the fan in the AC-DC brick. I don't think it runs all the time, though; just under heavy loads. The Morex kit doesn't look bad. Only potential problem I can see is that it doesn't appear to include an ATX12V connector for CPU power. The output ratings look good, though. I think the Lex's +12V rating of 10A is peak. The maximum average output is probably close to the 6A rating for the Morex kit.

I came by the 9600 on eBay. The brand is Vertex. As far as I know, these are not available in the U.S.