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I need a compact power supply unit, but I don't know which picoPSU to buy to feed a Gigabyte GA-GC230D mini-IT motherboard + a 3.5" hard-disk, and a DVD burner used occasionally.

For the DC unit, would 90W be enough, or should I go for 120W or 150W?

What about the external AC adapter (60, 80, 102W)?

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    And I read "how much power to feed TheTXI"... I'm tired.
    – Gnoupi
    Aug 31, 2009 at 11:58

3 Answers 3

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  • Atom 230 = 25W
  • DVD < 25W
  • HDD < 30W

80W total. Lets say the PicoPSU is 80% efficient. No 90W will not be enough. 120 W will give you some headroom. You might want to consider Flash memory instead of a HDD; it will you a lot less power.

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  • Thanks for the infos. Do regular Linux distros work fine with Flash memory today, or do they still require some kung-fu like putting /tmp in RAM to reduce write accesses to a minimum? Sep 1, 2009 at 11:34
  • Check out unetbootin.sourceforge.net. Easy way to craete a USB-bootable installation of several different distros.
    – hometoast
    Sep 1, 2009 at 19:24
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I'd certainly go for a larger one than you think you need. You could end up blowing an underrated PSU if everything is in use (HDD & DVD when installing or burning for example).

Another thing to bear in mind is that the various components might draw slightly more power than their rated values.

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Regardless of rated draw, also keep in mind that if everything is idle, the PSU isn't pumping it's max output, either.

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