FlexATX fan possible mod?

[knuck]

While searching for fully modular Flex,it seems that most mods are just replacing the 40mm fan and adding a small modular PCB
I later came across the review about the 700W Flex that Revo reviewed here
It seems that they manufacture their own PCB and extend it past the end of the casing.
That makes me wonder how feasible would a design like this be
connector on the side makes it easier to cable to MOBO, and given that Flex measure ~=80mm in width (81.5 iirc), it should be possible to attach 80mm fan

At this point this is basically TFX but from what I have found, it seems that TFX are mostly ~=300W

 

[REVOCCASES]

While searching for fully modular Flex,it seems that most mods are just replacing the 40mm fan and adding a small modular PCB
I later came across the review about the 700W Flex that Revo reviewed here
It seems that they manufacture their own PCB and extend it past the end of the casing.
That makes me wonder how feasible would a design like this be
connector on the side makes it easier to cable to MOBO, and given that Flex measure ~=80mm in width (81.5 iirc), it should be possible to attach 80mm fan

a modular, high wattage FLEX sized PSU with a silent 80mm fan would be a gamechanger for SFF but I'm pretty sure that won't happen any time soon...

as you saw in my teardown, components like caps, chokes, etc just eat up a certain amount of space and if you use smaller caps, chokes, etc the wattage will go down. There are FLEX sized PSUs using 80mm fans but only up to 200W afaik.

At this point this is basically TFX but from what I have found, it seems that TFX are mostly ~=300W

SILVERSTONE makes a 500W TFX unit, but I haven't seen any builds around here using it.

TX500 Gold

As a leading brand in small form factor (SFF) case design and power supply miniaturization, SilverStone is launching TX500 and TX700 to extend the TFX power supply series and to further widen the scope of SFF design possibilities. It has features that enthusiasts demand such as all black...

www.silverstonetek.com

 

[robbee]

While the idea of TFX is nice and some component setups could benefit from the form factor, SFX makes it kind of obsolete, being both smaller and more readily available. The true power of Flex, imo, is that it is even smaller than SFX but that does come at the cost of being (a lot) louder.

 

[scatterforce]

There are FLEX sized PSUs using 80mm fans but only up to 200W afaik.

View attachment 1465

Now that is cool. I know they have shrunk down external PSU's using GAN. I wonder if that same can be used here, to increase the wattage and keep the 80mm fan. It would be SFF perfection!

 

[knuck]

a modular, high wattage FLEX sized PSU with a silent 80mm fan would be a gamechanger for SFF but I'm pretty sure that won't happen any time soon...

as you saw in my teardown, components like caps, chokes, etc just eat up a certain amount of space and if you use smaller caps, chokes, etc the wattage will go down. There are FLEX sized PSUs using 80mm fans but only up to 200W afaik.

View attachment 1465



SILVERSTONE makes a 500W TFX unit, but I haven't seen any builds around here using it.

TX500 Gold

As a leading brand in small form factor (SFF) case design and power supply miniaturization, SilverStone is launching TX500 and TX700 to extend the TFX power supply series and to further widen the scope of SFF design possibilities. It has features that enthusiasts demand such as all black...

www.silverstonetek.com

Yeah, seeing the internal of Flex, there really isn't any space inside

The CAD shown has the fan attached on the housing, meaning it's actually 25mm thicker (160*65*81.5 in this case instead of 150*40*81.5)
The plan was to make some cutout all around the housing such that the the 2 80mm can provide adequate cooling. This should be doable with existing Flex

 

[REVOCCASES]

Now that is cool. I know they have shrunk down external PSU's using GAN. I wonder if that same can be used here, to increase the wattage and keep the 80mm fan. It would be SFF perfection!

Unfortunately GaN FETs alone won't help to reduce the size / make space for an 80mm fan. If you replace the traditional FETs with GaN FETs you might be able to increase the efficiency by a few percent and can reduce the size of heatsinks but you'll still need chokes, caps, PFC circuit, etc... all that eats up a lot of space as you can see in below picture.

What we might see in the future are more Platinum or Titanium rated PSUs that require less airflow to be kept cool = less noisy. But those will be way more expensive as complexity increases significantly with higher efficiency.

If/when ATX12VO takes off and makes it to consumer FLEX PSUs, this could also be a game changer.

expand...

Yeah, seeing the internal of Flex, there really isn't any space inside

The CAD shown has the fan attached on the housing, meaning it's actually 25mm thicker (160*65*81.5 in this case instead of 150*40*81.5)
The plan was to make some cutout all around the housing such that the the 2 80mm can provide adequate cooling. This should be doable with existing Flex

if you have enough space in your case that might be possible. But if you cut away something, make sure everything is still properly insulated / keeps sufficient creepage distance. The "plastic" sheets between components and housing are there for a reason. Maybe the existing vent slots on your PSU are already sufficient to mount a 80mm fan there for additional airflow.