Mini-Box picoPSU-160-XT High Power 24 Pin Mini-ITX Power Supply

I used this to do a mini ITX build with a case so small that there was no room for a power supply. This was the perfect device to enable an external power supply and it worked great.

It arrived, it works, my lil server is basically free to run. If you are looking for an extremely efficient PSU for low power applications, you can go ahead and click buy, this one will work.

Wow! This is an amazing little item. It's a power supply that fits entirely into your ATX connector. I've paired it with a 192 Watt ac-dc adapter, also by mini-box. This setup is powering an ASUS ITX motherboard, 16 GB RAM, an i7-4790K overclocked to 4.6 GHz, and an overclocked GTX 750 Ti GPU. The intended purpose of this pc is as a mobile gaming box. A sort of inexpensive gaming laptop if you will. I will admit that I have pushed this PSU as far as I possibly can with my current components, and it keeps coming back for more! You would be surprised how many FPS you can get for 160 watts. I know I could do even better if I replaced the i7 with an i3, and replaced the 750 Ti with a GTX 1060, so that's the next step. This will make my main gamebox happy as she's suffering with a pentium g3258 in the interim. I would highly recommend this item with one caveat: if you buy this you will need to purchase a quality ac-dc adapter. This is because this unit simply passes the 12 volts to your cpu, with no controls. Consequently, a smooth, steady 12 volts is required. Fortunately, mini-box has just such an item. I cannot recommend this tiny (ok, pico sized) psu highly enough!

Came missing 4pin 12v cable. Unnecessarily delayed my build, now I have to find and pay for one update 1/15. Natalie at Mp3Car Store was awesome and sent the cable right away. Updated from 1 star to 2 because the picopsu is demonstrating a strange behavior. Fan spins up to the max when adapter is first plugged in. Only when power button is pressed does Windows start to load and fan returns to normal. Windows and the pc functions normally at this juncture. However when attempting to shut down, sleep or hibernate, Windows enters all those states but fan spins back up to max and stays that way until the power button is pressed and Windows reloads again. It is impossible to completely shut down the PC. This does not happen when I use a ATX psu. I have a 12v 12.5A adapter for the picopsu. I have contacted Mini-box regarding this issue. update 1/27. Received the 2nd unit I ordered and it works great. Updated from 2 to 4 stars. Now just waiting for refund from RMA of the defective unit. Gigabyte H170N-Wifi Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4 2400 Core i3-6100 and stock fan Samsung 500Gb 960 Evo M350 case

I used this to build several mini-itx computers. Also requires an external 120V/12V transformer (you can buy them together from or use a laptop one if you have an extra). There are different models with 20 pin power connectors depending on your motherboard. For my 20 pin MB, I needed an additional molex to P4 cable for the additional 4 pin power connector. I've had the PSU fans fail on two Shuttle computers, killing the motherboards in the process. With this configuration there is no PSU fan, so no noise or moving parts to fail. Also keeps the computer cooler since the 120V/12V transformer is external. If you want a completely silent system, you can get Atom Motherboards that don't require a CPU fan either. System 1 i3 55W CPU 4GB RAM SSD HD System 2 Zotac Atom MB 4GB RAM SSD HD

To put it simply the picoPSU series almost always introduce more total losses and wasted power to power your motherboard/device. CPU's and RAM run on less than 2 volts. So the most efficient option is to directly convert your wall/mains power to 12 volts which the mother board then converts to the voltages needed by the CPU, memory, etc. The PicoPSU just adds another layer of losses. Even the best of power supplies are around 80% to 95% efficient depending on the load and quality of the supply. A good average best case number Is 85% at light loads. So with these Pico PSUs even if you have a high quality expensive 12 volt power brick with Power Factor correction that's optimistically (especially at light load) 85% efficient. Your Pico PSU is also, at bestat light loads, around 85% efficient. So If your PC/system/device needs say 20 watts that's really 20/.85 = 24 watts from the power brick and then 24/.85 or 28 watts from the wall. So, roughly, using a picoPSU wastes an extra 4 watts in this example. You're generally better off to either use a motherboard/device that can accept 12 volt power directly rather than one with an ATX connector. Or if you're stuck with an ATX connector just use an 80+ Gold or better power supply. You eliminate a layer of conversion loss that way and will generally end up using LESS power than a 12 volt power brick supplying a picoPSU. The picoPSUs also really struggle to support multiple hard drives and especially mechanical hard drives that have high start up current. They also lack the required connectors for many applications.

It needs that to work.

Three weeks after installation in a new ITX-mini build with an AMD A6-6400 processor, any initial hesitation I harbored have disappeared. The tiny internal (part of the) unit combined with the impressive transformer/adapter (external) has been been working very well. The unit was much smaller than the (60 watt) one I was replacing. However, because it projected slightly over its footprint, it was running afoul of one of the two case fans. I replaced them both with lower profile fans. All of this was done in a tiny Norco ITX-7 case for which the unit was an eminently good fit and more than adequate performer. All the peripheral components and wiring were impressively built and the unit has left much needed space in the tiny computer.

Una pico PSU que funciona adecuadamente. No me ha dado ningún problema. No obstante, con 160W, es importante elegir bien el transformador (sobre todo en calidad, no solo potencia). Puedo mantener horas y horas un equipo ITX con un transformador de 60W de buena calidad, y en cambio, uno de 120W que compré en amazon duró horas.

Excellent product

Poprzednik padł wczoraj, po siedmiu latach raczej ciężkiej pracy (Ryzen 5 2400G). Na tak mały moduł, bardzo dobry wynik. Nie piszczy, nie sprawia problemów. Tylko kable mogłyby być trochę dłuższe, wystarczają "na styk" w obudowie Streacom FC10. Mała niespodzianka: ten picoPSU jest "made in USA".

This is a premium product and significantly superior the alternatives. In particular compared to the current (more expensive) Streacom branded product the PCB is thicker, the wires are thicker, there are 4 wires all the way to the P4 port instead of 2, the chokes are bigger and it manages to regulate voltages within 1% of specification whereas instead of 5% for Streacom. In my case the PC wouldn't start from warm with the Streacom regulator, but works perfectly with this.

Je m'en suis servi pour alimenter un NAS fait maison, et elle fonctionne parfaitement. Le gain de place est son principal atout avec une tension plutôt élevée qui supporte une carte mère, les 3 disques durs et les 2 SSD. J'ai même pu ajouter une carte graphique légère pour faire l'installation. Je l'ai enlevée depuis mais le NAS démarrait sans problème. Un bon produit.