Need a New & Small, 200W or Less PSU - Suggestions?

MtnHermit · Post by **MtnHermit** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:23 pm

My new microATX case had a 200W PSU made by Sparkle, whoever they are. It uses 9W just to power itself, I shorted the green and black with nothing connected. By comparison, my Antec 380W 80+ only needed 5W at no load. I believe the Sparkle is a SFX form factor, three screws.

I've got a Core i3 530, on a Gigabyte MB, notebook HDD, ODD and card reader. No video card, using the IGP. No reason to need more than 100W peak.

What would you suggest?

Namheul · Post by **Namheul** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:36 pm

PicoPSU?

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:47 pm

120W PICO...little headroom so the brick doesn't have problems.

who knows about how much power the brick would suck while the computer's not on, some people report high draw, others report next to none.

MtnHermit · Post by **MtnHermit** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:56 pm

bonestonne wrote:120W PICO...little headroom so the brick doesn't have problems.

What do you mean by "little headroom"?

Thanks

Namheul · Post by **Namheul** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:18 pm

He means that it will have 20W "spare" just in case it needs them.

Just be careful with the 120W pico, as it doesnt have a P4 connector, only has a 20pin connector, and still has a floppy connector on it.

The 150W pico has a P4, 24pin, and 1 molex and 1 sata.

MtnHermit · Post by **MtnHermit** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:07 pm

Namheul wrote:Just be careful with the 120W pico, as it doesnt have a P4 connector, only has a 20pin connector, and still has a floppy connector on it.

That's very useful. I hooked up an old 90W PSU I had, it also had no P4 connector. The PC wouldn't even boot. It tried but shut down within a few seconds. From what I've read, the CPU doesn't get power w/o that connector.

The 150W pico has a P4, 24pin, and 1 molex and 1 sata.

I've found the mini-box website to be very confusing and now they're often out-of-stock on the kits. Unless the power bricks are available elsewhere, what's the point?

Today I purchased a used Seasonic SS-180SFD on eBay for $14, I'm sure it'll have enough power, just hope it's more efficient than the case PSU.

Thanks

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:03 pm

I've found the mini-box website to be very confusing and now they're often out-of-stock on the kits. Unless the power bricks are available elsewhere, what's the point?

next time try http://www.short-circuit.com

electrodacus · Post by **electrodacus** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:17 pm

You can check the PSU I have for sale you can also read the review here on SPCR.