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Thread: Question - Pico PSUs okay?

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    stormrazer razer121's Avatar
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    Question - Pico PSUs okay?

    I've read about them alot, never have i bought one but im building a mini dedicated server/nas box thats going to be only switch on for when its needed (dedicated game we play or a back up for instance)

    The psu i have atm is a ssf atx psu and it is so loud its actually just to much to deal with, i thought about getting another but my god the price of them is unreal! i dont really need anything to special as im just running a 1155 core i5 (non K) on a msi board, 8gb ram 2x HDD along with an SSD drive, thats it! so not needing to much power, but are these psus any good? reliable?

    Thoughts and helpful hints much obliged
    Quote Originally Posted by TAKTAK View Post
    It was so small that mine wouldn't fit into it

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    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
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    Re: Question - Pico PSUs okay?

    I've used them successfully on a mini-itx build. However they do recommend using some form of heatsink/cooling if you are operating them at maximum power output, although I didn't and it seemed to be OK. You might want to ensure that there is some airflow over it if possible.
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    stormrazer razer121's Avatar
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    Re: Question - Pico PSUs okay?

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    I've used them succes -snip-.
    I already did think about that and a 120mm fan along with a heatsink would be added! i just need to know if they are reliable as trying to source a cheap sff psu seems to be pretty hard!
    Quote Originally Posted by TAKTAK View Post
    It was so small that mine wouldn't fit into it

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    Senior Member watercooled's Avatar
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    Re: Question - Pico PSUs okay?

    Which i5 do you have exactly?

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    stormrazer razer121's Avatar
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    Re: Question - Pico PSUs okay?

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    Which i5 do you have exactly?
    i have the core i5 3470
    Quote Originally Posted by TAKTAK View Post
    It was so small that mine wouldn't fit into it

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    Senior Member watercooled's Avatar
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    Re: Question - Pico PSUs okay?

    Ah, I was going to say I might have a 60W rated one somewhere but it wouldn't really be suitable for that CPU. I've used a few of them myself, mainly for SFF builds, and they've given me no real trouble.

    There are two types I've used, the more standard type where it just passes the 12V from the power brick straight through to the PC, and does the 3.3V/5V conversion on the PCB - these ones tend to stay relatively cool as modern systems tend not to load these rails too heavily.

    Another type I've used (an FSP one) supplied 19V input then did all of the conversion on the PCB, and it got rather toasty if you didn't have some airflow directed over it.

    If you get one, just be sure to get a decent quality 12V power brick e.g. something made by the likes of FSP, CWT, Delta, etc. Stay away from the no-name rubbish littering Amazon and ebay when you search for '12v power brick 120W' or whatever. Aside from having dubious output quality and safety, they also tend to be horribly electrically noisy with no real input filtering.

    Have you ever checked power consumption of your system with a power meter? It might give you some idea what power range to look for.

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