Power Supply HDPLEX 400W DC-ATX

[Craxas]

If I had to pick, I think this is my favorite idea so far. Seems a fairly simple matter to make a new enclosure (3D Printed?) for it with the plug and a 40mm fan. Has anyone done a teardown of the unit and have some pics they might share? Might design a mockup of the idea

I suggested this once but had no idea how it would be wired to work with a 7.4mmX5.0mm end. A 3d printed enclosure with a mounting point for the c3 (wall plug) and the other side with some custom wire that utilizes the default 6 pin plug converted to 7.4mm laptop connector.

Maybe you can figure out how to make one?
Heres a pic that includes the female end of the connector plus the wiring diagram for it

 

[royalba94]

I suggested this once but had no idea how it would be wired to work with a 7.4mmX5.0mm end. A 3d printed enclosure with a mounting point for the c3 (wall plug) and the other side with some custom wire that utilizes the default 6 pin plug converted to 7.4mm laptop connector.

Maybe you can figure out how to make one?
Heres a pic that includes the female end of the connector plus the wiring diagram for it
-snip-

Thanks! I'll definitely look into it

Hoping to post the mockup/design sometime tomorrow if someone doesn't beat me to it

 

[msystems]

I would agree with this if it was in a steel enclosure which was not conducting any of the waste heat, like a traditional PSU.

But this device is in an aluminum enclosure which gets hot already -- so I suspect it must be directly connected to some of the mosfets. It's already transferring the heat, so it might be easier just to apply airflow along the side.

My concern is, if you took it off, you could actually be removing necessary heatsink surface area.

 

[msystems]

So I took off the lid to find out...

Everything that generates heat is thermally connected to the aluminum shell.
What I might try here is taking off only the side cover on the left, next to those small caps, and attaching a 40mm fan there.

 

[AleksandarK]

By adding a fan it may increase its max wattage. Maybe you could go 380W, which is max watts unit can provide at is peak load. Can you somehow test what benefits did you get by adding a fan, besides cooler operation?

 

[Josh | NFC]

\
The guys at HD PLEX told me that if you push "Active air flow" to the 300W AC-DC brick they have, it will support 400w. The webpage says 19v 20A (380W).
Maybe this could work better.

I didn't hear this from HDPLEX, but in my testing I think this could be true. I haven't had a need for that much, but I have found with active airflow it ran everything I threw at it whereas it could shut off after an hour or so at a constant 300.

I didn't even do anything fancy, like put two small fans on it or mod the lid. I just propped up a 120 next to it.

 

[Julio Espinosa]

I didn't hear this from HDPLEX, but in my testing I think this could be true. I haven't had a need for that much, but I have found with active airflow it ran everything I threw at it whereas it could shut off after an hour or so at a constant 300.

I didn't even do anything fancy, like put two small fans on it or mod the lid. I just propped up a 120 next to it.

@Josh | NFC , you were going to make a video about the HDPLEX 400w DC ATX, right?

 

[Josh | NFC]

@Josh | NFC , you were going to make a video about the HDPLEX 400w DC ATX, right?

Trying to find time in all the cracks. The TLDR is that it is really good. Runs cool, can't overload it, coil whine with heavy cards as quiet as my SFX psus, perfect cable kit, great fit in the S4 MINI.

The AC DC 300 though while I really love it is going to be hard to support, as users are going to want to run 1080s off it, which it definitely can do, but heat will become an issue. It is really designed to handle peaks with the 1060 and be a passive internal brick. I have run a 1080 system off it with torture tests and it can last between 1-3 hours before shutting off without cooling. With cooling it keeps going and going...

 

[Reldey]

So I am thinking about using a GX12-6 pin connector between the 300W ACDC and the HDPlex 400, while adding a couple components...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LW50R03/?tag=theminutiae-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NEMGCIA/?tag=theminutiae-20

And then maybe 3D print a new lid that will hold the fan. Should be simple right?

EDIT: or better yet, use a 10 pin GX16 connector and route the PWM fan cables through it, into a plug for the mother board as well as the power for the HDPlex.

 

[Reldey]

Trying to find time in all the cracks. The TLDR is that it is really good. Runs cool, can't overload it, coil whine with heavy cards as quiet as my SFX psus, perfect cable kit, great fit in the S4 MINI.

The AC DC 300 though while I really love it is going to be hard to support, as users are going to want to run 1080s off it, which it definitely can do, but heat will become an issue. It is really designed to handle peaks with the 1060 and be a passive internal brick. I have run a 1080 system off it with torture tests and it can last between 1-3 hours before shutting off without cooling. With cooling it keeps going and going...

Is the ACDC 300 better in your experience than the Dell 330 watt?

 

[msystems]

One thing i've noticed that might be of interest-

Since switching from an SFX psu to the HDplex 400w DC and 300 AC, I note that the rig draws 7-8 watts on standby. I plugged in the 300 AC only, and it draws 6.5 watts on standby, so I'm thinking it must not have whatever low power standby circuitry the SFX psu had. I believe its called "ERP Lot 6", aka EuP/ErP. The spec requires a PSU to draw .5 watts or less on standby. Apparently it's some kind of energy efficient mandate in the EU. Not sure what it involves from an engineering perspective but it would be cool if that could be designed into the next version.

Edit:
Found the actual text, it's on page 6.

ANNEX II
Ecodesign requirements
1. One year after this Regulation has come into force:

(a) Power consumption in off mode:
Power consumption of equipment in any off-mode condition shall not exceed 1,00 W.

2. Four years after this Regulation has come into force:

(a) Power consumption in off mode
Power consumption of equipment in any off-mode condition shall not exceed 0,50 W.

So thats where it comes from

 

[cleveland]

Quick question:

Is it possible to switch the 24p cable for a 24p extender?

Also, is it possible to do the same with 8p CPU cable for an 8p extender?

 

[Craxas]

Quick question:

Is it possible to switch the 24p cable for a 24p extender?

Also, is it possible to do the same with 8p CPU cable for an 8p extender?

No, the wiring isnt the same on the PSU side. You need either originals or customs (such as the ones made by @royalba94)
If you mean using extenders WITH the original cables, sure, but not without them.

 

[cleveland]

No, the wiring isnt the same on the PSU side. You need either originals or customs (such as the ones made by @royalba94)
If you mean using extenders WITH the original cables, sure, but not without them.

When did it change? I heard it was wired 1:1, a few months ago...

 

[Reldey]

Good news!

The HDPlex 300w ACDC works great, way better than the Dell 330 watt. Only problem is that it does get very hot, but it can handle the power spikes that would otherwise kill the dell. I was able to attach a 40mm fan to the ACDC adapter (in a rather ghetto fashion...) but it is working great! I might even get little rubber feat that could go through the mounting holes to give it some air underneath it as well. @royalba94 and I have been talking about making a custom cable set that could support a fan as well, neatly from the S4 mini. I am honestly thinking I might go with two 40mm fans, on both of the venting holes present on the top lid. Will work on designing a 3D model of a replacement lid that could support two 40mm fans. Pic of fan solution below.

I am going to do some more testing, but everything so far is looking great!

 

[royalba94]

When did it change? I heard it was wired 1:1, a few months ago...

It is 1:1 in the fact that the cable goes from pin 1 on the PSU side to pin 1 on the Mobo side. The problem comes because of the orientation of both connectors. Here is a pic of one I'm working on that I think will help show what I mean:


As you can see, the wires go in the same position on both connectors but because the connectors have the clips pointed in the same direction (instead of facing directly towards or away from each other) the wires have to cross over each other.

Also, I always make a non-conductive wire for Pin 20 since I want to keep the looks as good as I can although technically those spots should remain empty.

Hopefully, that made sense. Let me know if you need a different explanation, Cheers!

Edit: Grammaratizations...

 

[royalba94]

Good news!

The HDPlex 300w ACDC works great, way better than the Dell 330 watt.

-snip-

I am going to do some more testing, but everything so far is looking great!

This is great news! I'm very excited that this is working out so far!

Thank you for doing all the testing!

I am unreasonably excited about this for some reason, I apologize for shouting...

 

[MarcParis]

I'm happy that you have found this solution.

Do you have coil whine anywhere on psu system?

 

[Reldey]

I'm happy that you have found this solution.

Do you have coil whine anywhere on psu system?

No, even at 280 Watts I am getting no coil whine from the PSU. My graphics card however still whines like crazy, unless the wattage is below 200 Watts.

One thing I have done to help with my GPU coil whine is go into Riva tuner and set a hard global FPS limit at 90 fps.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Is the ACDC 300 better in your experience than the Dell 330 watt?

I think sample size is what is important here. I have tested boxes of Dell 330s, but I only have two HDPLEX 300s.

I have had Dell 330w PSUs that cap out at 330w, and ones that can handle much greater spikes or operate at 320-330 for long periods.

The HDPLEX 300 AC/DC is something I want very much to recommend but I need to take it slow and be careful.

I would say if your Dell 330 is "crapping out" with the Zotac 1080 and 7700K then you need to get another Dell 330, because yours is not good. That brick in my experience can power that combo constantly with anything you can throw at it. What will be interesting to see is how the two bricks compete when moving to the 1080ti or overclocking (though overclocking in a MINI is stupid. Buy an Ncase or something.)

Coil whine with the HDPLEX 300 AC/DC and HDPLEX 400 is almost non-existent. It is the best 19v-24v DC solution I have seen and on par with many 12v solutions. This doesn't mean your GPU will not whine (but it might help...trying to get some more 1080s to test simultaneously).