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The World's Tiniest Power Supply Unit

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the case-modders-rejoice dept.

An anonymous reader writes "This year at CES members of the press got to grab a glimpse of the world's tiniest power supply. Well actually it is the world's tiniest 12V snap-in ATX DC-to-DC power supply, but you get the idea. This unit produces 120W of power and is about the size of two AA batteries. It is specifically designed for use with Mini-ITX motherboards, but can be used in many other applications."

8 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. What input range does it take? by nweaver · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What input range does it take? Is it suitable for automotive use?

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  2. External power brick not shown.... by Kenja · · Score: 4, Insightful

    " it will have to be used with an external AC-to-DC power converter"So this is just like all the other mini itx adaptors in that it requires an external brick to provide the juice. Who cares how small the internal part is?

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    1. Re:External power brick not shown.... by un1xl0ser · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Lots of the people using this would be putting this in their car, or running it off of batteries.

      They probably don't ship with a transformer.

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  3. Re:DC-DC, so don't get excited by bluelip · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >>Very nice, very small, but only converts DC to DC.....

    That's the point for many ITX boxes. Devices running on 12 Vdc are wonderful for vehicles. This is a much cleaner solution for the PC in my vehicle.

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  4. I wouldn't call it a supply exactly by Weaselmancer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It takes dc and supplies dc. Doesn't that make it more of a converter?

    And if so, it's no big deal. You can buy decent switched cap converters at Digi-key for a couple of bucks. I bought one not too long ago to step 14v down to 5 and supply 4 or so amps, and it was about the same size. The small footprint at 120w is fairly nifty, but otherwise I don't see the big deal.

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    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  5. I would wait by RickPartin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Every time a new device comes out, especially consumer electronics like the PSP and iPod I give people the same advice: wait. The early adopters are beta testers. Wait a year or so for people's computers to blow up from this new power supply and then buy your bug-free version for cheaper.

    Please note I have never used this power supply before and have no idea how well it's made. I'm just making a general statement on electronics.

  6. Why bother? by futurekill · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Isn't this just a passthrough at this point? If you have to have an external AC->DC converter, then why not just stick the how PSU outside the box...

    --
    The gates in my computer are AND, OR and NOT; they are not Bill.
  7. Re:Why would you need 1? by choprboy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No, you weren't wrong, just slightly narrow in scope on your definition of a power supply. The purpose of a power supply is take an input power and provide clean output power in the form of AC or DC at one or more voltage levels to an end device. In the case of standard computer supplies that means transforming the 120V AC power coming in (AC being a far more efficient means a long distance power transmission) to a stable 12v/5V/3.3V/-5V DC output for use by the local electronic components.

    A typical switching power supply accomplishes this by: a) Run the 120VAC thru a transformer, down to ~24VAC
    b) Rectifying the output with diodes, filter with bulk capacitors to ~24VDC.
    c) "Chop" the DC voltage into several subvoltages by turning a transistor feeding a buck coil on/off at high frequency (~10kHz).
    d) Filter the resulting subvoltages with bulk and fine capacitors, resulting in a smooth clean output.

    Skips step "a" (and "b"), making it convient to run off an available 12V source (say your car outlet). Telco DC power supplies have long done the same thing off ~48V DC power.

    That being said... Despite the apparent enthusiasm, I have a very hard time believing the claim that this is possibly a 120W power supply for 3 distinct reasons:

    1) If you take the specifications at face value, at full power this would being drawing 10.4 amps (claimed 96% eff.) in the 12V input. Given that the input wires appear to be 18AWG (standard ATX wire gauge), the wires would be cooking at that amperage. Typical transmission current ratings for 18AWG stranded copper is 2.3 amps.

    2) The power connection appears to be a standard phono jack, again not suitable for 10 amps.

    3) I only see 2 coils, 2 capacitors, a handful of diodes, possibly an inductor, and the chopper ciruits are most likely ICs sandwiched between the boards, in the pictures. That means there are only 2 buck transformer circuits, one taking 12V to 5V and one taking 12V to 3.3V, leaving 12V output unfiltered (highly noisy do to switching) and the 5/3.3V very rough under any significant power draw.

    Therefore, given the above... I can;t see this power supply realistically providing more than ~30W at best, being very noisy while doing it....