Power Supply Pico 160W PCI-E power cable is called...

[fjbruening]

Hi,

I'm trying to either find, or figure out how to make a cable for my Pico 160W.

It's the peripheral cable that is often used to power a graphics card. I don't know what the name of the connector to the PSU is called, which is making it hard to search for.

Here's a picture of it - It's the cable that comes with the Pico. Not sure who wants a Molex connector, but a love to figure a way to buy/make a version of this that goes from the PSU to a 6pin connector for my GPU.

Everyone using a Pico must have encountered this issue - I'm sure I'm missing something...

Thanks in advance.

 

[ImperialAlex]

The PicoPsu side sure looks like a JST connector but the picture is a bit too low resolution to tell exactly what it is.

If you want to make your custom cable from scratch you'll need the right PCIe power connector housings, terminals, a crimping tool, etc - it's a bit of a pain but if you want to, I can post part numbers for stuff that you can then order from digikey/farnell/etc

I'd instead recommend that you find an existing 6pin or 6+2pin PCIe power cable that fits your application (e.g. maybe you've got an old PSU cable somewhere. Alteratively I'm sure somebody in the forum could put one in an envelope and send it your way in exchange for some beer money. Then you'd cut off the side that goes to the PSU and replace it with a JST connector (first we'd need to find out which connector it actually is)

This would still be best-done by getting a JST housing, terminals and a crimping tool (for JST) which would be better than having to get stuff for both ends of the cable. You could also potentially just cut off the existing cable and splice it with your 6+2 cable...but....that's just really dodgy and probably won't look great.

EDIT: Unless somebody knows what the Pico PSU connectors are (my guess is JST XH), you'll need to unplug it (or just measure the spare connector on the other side) and measure the distance between the centers of the pins. It should be either 2mm or 2.54mm (i.e. 0.1")

 

[fjbruening]

OK,
Still trying to bottom out on this a bit. I'm going to make a few 'Pico peripheral to 6pin' connectors as soon as I figure how to get more of the connectors that plug into the Pico (that flat, 4 pin connector)

A better picture of the connector I'm talking about
Also, does anyone know what gauge wire this is? Is it 18awg or 16awg?

Who knew there were so many damn connectors? I think I want a B13, but am not sure.

 

[zovc]

Comparing to your diagram, my best guess is that it's a B5 connector. The four "teeth" on the connector is the main similarity I see, but also the plug on the PCB has slots on the sides that don't seem to be present on many of the connectors. Maybe also B7, I can't see the other side.

 

[robbee]

I'm quite sure it's not B13. There's an indicator how to plug it in on the side and not on the top or bottom. B5 seems the correct one, but i'll double check tonight at home.

 

[Kmpkt]

I would think 18AWG at least, if not 20AWG given the fitting. 16 would likely be too bulky for that header.

 

[fjbruening]

Thanks for the input!

I decided to contact Mini-box, and they graciously sent me this link

http://resources.mini-box.com/online/PWR-PICOPSU-150-XT/output-cable-harness-for-picoPSU-150-XT.zip

This shows the connector is a EH series, 1x4, 2.5mm, JST Mfg.

The wire is 22 gauge, and the pin mapping is shown. Cool things these diagrams :-)

Thanks everyone, now I need to order several connectors, and build a few of these. My S4 will be much more svelte, cool better, and look even sexier...

Regards,
Francis

 

[Thehack]

Thanks for the input!

I decided to contact Mini-box, and they graciously sent me this link

http://resources.mini-box.com/online/PWR-PICOPSU-150-XT/output-cable-harness-for-picoPSU-150-XT.zip

This shows the connector is a EH series, 1x4, 2.5mm, JST Mfg.

The wire is 22 gauge, and the pin mapping is shown. Cool things these diagrams :-)

Thanks everyone, now I need to order several connectors, and build a few of these. My S4 will be much more svelte, cool better, and look even sexier...

Regards,
Francis

I do not recommend you go this route unless you are only powering a 1050ti or lower.

The GPU will require much higher power than the little picoPSU can handle. According to minibox specs it has a max sustain load of 8A 12V, that is total 96W for CPU and GPU since that is what they use.

Secondly if you are powering a proper GPU then it will exceed the ability of the connectors and wires. You should be using 18AWG for the wires. The tiny little connector itself wouldn't be able to supply power to the GPU 6 pin and the CPU 4pin.

 

[fjbruening]

Hi @Thehack,
Appreciate the input. I have found (so far) my S4 with i5/6600, EVGA Mini 1060 and M.2 SSD works fine so far with FallOut 4 & Witcher 3.

I'm not very experienced putting together systems, and I agree that it seems underpowered for the Pico 160/192, but Josh Sniffen (the designer of the S4 and a guy who builds a ton of SFF systems) stated the Pico 160 should do fine with the system I've built.

I need a better monitor (I'm running a 2001 1600x1200 Dell) and once i have a 1080p monitor I may see TDP issues, but so far the box doesn't even get the GPU above 55 degrees when I'm playing Wicher...

 

[Thehack]

Hi @Thehack,
Appreciate the input. I have found (so far) my S4 with i5/6600, EVGA Mini 1060 and M.2 SSD works fine so far with FallOut 4 & Witcher 3.

I'm not very experienced putting together systems, and I agree that it seems underpowered for the Pico 160/192, but Josh Sniffen (the designer of the S4 and a guy who builds a ton of SFF systems) stated the Pico 160 should do fine with the system I've built.

I need a better monitor (I'm running a 2001 1600x1200 Dell) and once i have a 1080p monitor I may see TDP issues, but so far the box doesn't even get the GPU above 55 degrees when I'm playing Wicher...

They may say it is okay but you are playing way too close to the electrical limit. Give it the right load and it'll easily melt the connectors and cause a fire.

 

[jeshikat]

Give it the right load and it'll easily melt the connectors and cause a fire.

I'm a big proponent of keeping with the rated specs, but these things have safety margins. It's not like if you go a few watts over the rated max load for brief periods it'll melt into a puddle of slag.

The picoPSU-160-XT has been proven to be able to handle a fair bit of wattage over it's rated spec with adequate cooling.

 

[Thehack]

I'm a big proponent of keeping with the rated specs, but these things have safety margins. It's not like if you go a few watts over the rated max load for brief periods it'll melt into a puddle of slag.

The picoPSU-160-XT has been proven to be able to handle a fair bit of wattage over it's rated spec with adequate cooling.

I'm not so much concerned of the device itself but rather the connectors and the 22awg wires...

 

[jeshikat]

Ah. Though with the 12V line from the hardwired SATA strand and the 12V from the optional header, that should allow at least 6A, which is safe on a GTX 1060.

And 3A is the rating for the JST EH header, the soldered wire should have a bit more current capacity.

 

[iaomw]

Hi, did you find out the cable your are looking for or made it? I am looking fir the same thing.
If I am going to make it, there are too many little things to buy, but I will not use them very often.