Friday, May 24th 2019

DC-ATX Direct Plug from HDPlex Lets You Use External Power-bricks to Power ITX Motheroards Without 2-pin DC-in

by
btarunr
 Discuss (11 Comments)
The DC-ATX Direct Plug from HDPlex is an interesting new accessory that lets you power mini-ITX motherboards with conventional ATX/EPS inputs inside SFF cases that come with 2-pin external power bricks. The accessory plugs directly into the 24-pin ATX input of your motherboard, and takes input from a 2-pin DC. It also puts out 8-pin EPS for the CPU (over a 4-pin connector), one 6+2 pin PCIe power connector, and two SATA power connectors.

The accessory uses DC-to-DC switching to convert 12V to the various other voltage domains, such as +5V, 3.3V, and 5vsb. The accessory supports a power output only up to 200 Watts, which is still impressive for something its size. Available now, the DC-ATX Direct Plug from HDPlex is priced at USD $62.50. You can also buy a bundle that includes a 200-Watt power brick that's nano-ATX capable.
Source: FanlessTech

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11 Comments on DC-ATX Direct Plug from HDPlex Lets You Use External Power-bricks to Power ITX Motheroards Without 2-pin DC-in

#1
Valantar
New accessory? This has been on the market for years. Literally. They might have released a new/updated version (looks like their old 160W continuous/ 200W peak unit has gotten an output boost), but there is nothing new about this. Over on the sff.network forums there are a bajillion builds using these (including a lot with dGPUs and the more powerful separate 12V distro boards from HDPlex, and other options).
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#2
Ripper3
*cough* picoPSU *cough*
Nothing new about these titchy power supplies.

Now, if you find a company that makes one of these powerful enough for a small NAS running multiple SATA SSDs, and selling a cage that adapts space usually reserved for a PSU into a HDD caddy and a fan, so you can stuff an entire NAS into a much smaller case that normally doesn't have many drive caddies, that would be interesting. Though I'm thinking of something particularly niche.
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#3
Valantar
Ripper3*cough* picoPSU *cough*
Nothing new about these titchy power supplies.

Now, if you find a company that makes one of these powerful enough for a small NAS running multiple SATA SSDs, and selling a cage that adapts space usually reserved for a PSU into a HDD caddy and a fan, so you can stuff an entire NAS into a much smaller case that normally doesn't have many drive caddies, that would be interesting. Though I'm thinking of something particularly niche.
If you need a very powerful PicoPSU, there's a user over at sff.net called guryhwa who makes 12V DC-DC units (called G-Unique - google it and you'll likely find the relevant thread) up to ~500W. They're fully custom, and he makes modified external power bricks to go with them (based off Dell units, but AFAIK with upgraded components to support higher output). Quite a few people have used them in builds with power-hungry GPUs with great success. I don't know how many HDDs you want, but I doubt they'll need more power than a 1080Ti :)

Can't help you with the PSU-to-HDD bracket, though.
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#4
Ripper3
ValantarIf you need a very powerful PicoPSU, there's a user over at sff.net called guryhwa who makes 12V DC-DC units (called G-Unique - google it and you'll likely find the relevant thread) up to ~500W. They're fully custom, and he makes modified external power bricks to go with them (based off Dell units, but AFAIK with upgraded components to support higher output). Quite a few people have used them in builds with power-hungry GPUs with great success. I don't know how many HDDs you want, but I doubt they'll need more power than a 1080Ti :)

Can't help you with the PSU-to-HDD bracket, though.
That piques my interest suitably! Will give it a look into if I ever realise my plan of a tiny NAS. I probably don't need a 500W beast if using SSDs, and my plans only include a low power CPU and minimal ECC RAM, which shouldn't be overly taxing. Not like those SSDs will need additional power for spin-up.
I imagine some 3D printing for a custom piece would be necessary for my envisioned PSU-to-HDD cage. Ho hum.
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#5
Valantar
Ripper3That piques my interest suitably! Will give it a look into if I ever realise my plan of a tiny NAS. I probably don't need a 500W beast if using SSDs, and my plans only include a low power CPU and minimal ECC RAM, which shouldn't be overly taxing. Not like those SSDs will need additional power for spin-up.
I imagine some 3D printing for a custom piece would be necessary for my envisioned PSU-to-HDD cage. Ho hum.
They make multiple variants from 120W to 500W, and they're all built to order, so if you contact them I'm sure you'll get a suitable unit for your needs :) One big advantage of the BTO approach is that each unit comes with soldered-on wiring, circumventing the issue of putting a lot of amps through plugs and sockets small enough to fit on a board like this.
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#6
gasolina
the size it should be bigger than a flex psu , i would rather use a flex psu instead of this and carrying the adapter around or pay 4 times money for this...really depends on the case though,
Posted on Reply
#7
Valantar
gasolinathe size it should be bigger than a flex psu , i would rather use a flex psu instead of this and carrying the adapter around or pay 4 times money for this...really depends on the case though,
That AC-DC adapter is far smaller than a FlexATX PSU. About half the size.
FlexATX is 150x81.5x40mm. The HDPlex AC-DC 200W is 149.5x52x40mm. 63% of the volume, and a decent portion of that is empty space above the protruding mounting hardware.

Also, this fits into cases like the Skyreach S4M and other ultra-compact dGPU cases, which a FlexATX PSU definitely won't.
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#8
gasolina
ValantarThat AC-DC adapter is far smaller than a FlexATX PSU. About half the size.
FlexATX is 150x81.5x40mm. The HDPlex AC-DC 200W is 149.5x52x40mm. 63% of the volume, and a decent portion of that is empty space above the protruding mounting hardware.

Also, this fits into cases like the Skyreach S4M and other ultra-compact dGPU cases, which a FlexATX PSU definitely won't.
this really depends on the case though, i'm not quite a big fan of itx but i still use quite a lot normally for lite usage not heavy due to the heat . It's hit & miss situation .....
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#9
R-T-B
I mean, I see limited benefit in DC-DC beyond the ususl low wattage applications, but ok.

EDIT: Oh wait, space saving! Duh.
Posted on Reply
#10
Valantar
R-T-BI mean, I see limited benefit in DC-DC beyond the ususl low wattage applications, but ok.

EDIT: Oh wait, space saving! Duh.
Take a look in the build logs section of the SFF.net forums and you'll see those space savings put to some very impressive uses. People over there do some crazy stuff.
Posted on Reply
#11
Assimilator
What's a motheroard?

Is it something you put in a comuter?
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