On Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:14:04 +0000, "Jacqui Caren-home"
<jacqui.caren@???> said:
> On 05/12/2010 01:07, Paul Tansom wrote:
> > Has anyone experimented with fitting a standard ATX PSU in a rack case? I know
> > there are some cases, mainly 4U ones, that specifically do this, but I have
> > some 2U cases already and it doesn't seem to make sense to buy new ones and try
> > to sell these.
>
> Did see an article some years ago where a set of mobos were installed in
> a ikea
> drawer unit. The builder installed a single high-end PSU and powered all
> the mo-bos
> from the single PSU with some jumpers on the secondary mo-bo's.
>
> perhaps you could do similar? One PSU (or two in redundant failover) must
> be more
> effective than mains to every rack element...
I think that might have been this one:
http://helmer.sfe.se/
The topology of PC power supplies has not changed appreciably in the
past 15 years or so. The major difference came with ATX with the
addition of a 3.3V rail and a low-current 5V 'standby' rail (effectively
a completely separate power supply in the same case). I would be quite
surprised if an ATX supply made recently was appreciably more efficient
than something a few years old.
I would recommend sticking with the PSU that was designed to fit the
case if you possibly can. If the connector is non-standard (e.g. Dell
servers), it can be replaced or rewired easily enough and if the 4 pin
12V auxiliary motherboard connector is missing but required, adapters
can be found which convert a spare disc drive plug to the correct
layout. Noisy fans are usually replaceable too. If you don't have the
3.3V rail however it would probably not be practical.
Neil
