If only we could move to Micro-fit or Nano-fit for low-power connections, and Ultra-Fit for the few high-amperage connectors.
Correct, the specification of the Mini-Fit Jr. would mandate it, but they are massively overkill for the PC markets outside of overclocking.Well you've got to get your 13A per circuit from somewhere, you need a lot of surface area for that.
But yeah, it's really a pain that we can't move to better alternatives that already exist.
Is that a custom GPU 8-pin adapter ? Nice !
That Nano-Fit looks good, with a 2x4 header and 4x 12V lines you can run 16A or 192W through it.
Correct, the specification of the Mini-Fit Jr. would mandate it, but they are massively overkill for the PC markets outside of overclocking.
Mini-Fit Jr. is specced at 9A per pin, with both the 6pin and 8pin PEG connector having 3 12V lines you would have 27A available, that is 324W! For a 75W and 150W standardized power draw!
the PCI-SIG needs to introduce a smaller connector with some tighter tolerances that is much smaller, at least give manufacturers an option that they can adhere to and follow if they choose, especially now with the advent of ITX GPUs and SFX powersupplies the chance is there to get into it. you can always make it so that during the transition period you have converter cables. If a GPU has a 2x Molex to 6pin cable why not a Mini-Fit to Nano-Fit converter cable?
Bleh
A thought just occurred to me- so while I was looking for a suitable thin-mini ITX board to use, I thought about using a HD-Plex 250w DC-DC board to distribute the power.
I realized that the 2-pin 19v connector has to be converted somehow to 12v. Is that what the custom power PCB is for? And if so, how did you use the HD-Plex DC-DC board with H2O Micro? Is it possible to power a mid-range GPU with just a 19v adapter instead of 12v? I'm trying to figure out how that works out with the 2-pin 19v ATX connector.
Option #1
Single 19V CC Adapter (CPU Only Builds)
Option #2
Single 12V AC Adapter (regular CPU + GPU Builds) example: Core i5-4670 + GTX970/R9 Nano
Option #3
dual 19V + 12V AC Adapter (High-end CPU + GPU Builds) example: Core i7-4790K + GTX980ti
No the circuit is there purely to block the 12V from the secondary adapter and pass it through when the motherboard is powered on.
There are 3 configurations for the external adapters as you can see in my OP
With Option #1 you connect a 19V adapter to the Thin ITX board, no GPU is used in this build, or maybe a PCIe PEG-less build. The custom board is not used.
With Option #2 you connect the 12V Adapter to the custom board or the Thin ITX board(either a Kycon connector or standard barrel connector is possible this way) and connect it to the 2-pin Mini-Fit Jr. of the Thin ITX board, this only works with Gigabyte boards! you can run a low power CPU and decent GPU of of a 250W 12V adapter this way.
With Option #3 you connect a 19V and 12V adapter and do not connect the custom board to the Thin ITX board. Now you can have a 4790K or 6700K with a GTX 980 Ti, a true beast system.
Basically the 2-Pin Mini-Fit Jr. is there to supply the 19V that these boards need from an internal power source, in most cases this makes more sense because these boards are designed to be placed into a DIY All-in-One. The Gigabyte boards have a major advantage because you can also connect a 12V DC powersupply to it or what @iFreilicht did a Flex ATX powersupply with an Arduino.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1554214/...dicated-gpu-with-an-atx12v-psu-and-an-arduino
The GPU powerdock seems like a really interesting choice, but future upgrades are not there it seems, the new Gigabyte H170TN only has M.2 ports and no more mPCIe, so be aware of that. In my country the price difference between the ASUS H81T and the Gigabyte GA-H81TN is only €10 and you get the wide input range AND the PCIe 4x slot. Performance should be fine on the power dock considering a Fury X has only minimal performance loss on PCIe 1.1 4x and you are talking about a GTX950.
Looking at your intended hardware I would definitely try to stay with the single power brick, no reason to have 2.
Going by the hardware choice I'd say go with the HD-Plex 160W the Gigabyte H81T and a single 19V power brick(Hdplex needs 16V+).
If you are willing to wait for my custom circuit you could even get rid of the HD-Plex 160W if you use a 12V power brick.
I'm really curious to see you build at least, but I've fallen in love with the Thin ITX formfactor in the last year so I'm not really objective in that regard .