Motherboard platform recommendation for ~140W build with 70W dGPU (because MEANWELL RPS200)

[Gerold]

Hey all,

I'm trying to gather platform options, meaning MB+CPU(+RAM), for a "travel friendly" light workstation and light gaming rig.
The build should be capable of light CAD/3D/gpu rendering workloads and some occasional gaming (mainly Age Of Empires II and IV).

These are the components that I have got already and will be building in/around:

• Case: revoccases rcc-small1
• RTX A2000 (2-slot, low profile) 70W tdp
• MEANWELL RPS200-12-C + 200W PicoPSU
• NVME SSD
• SATA SSD (might drop that if needed and go with a bigger nvme)

I don't have any experience with this PSU. It is rated for 140W without active cooling and that is what I would like to hit. Maybe someone with more experience with Meanwell PSUs can shed some light on what is reasonable.
This theoretically leaves around 60W for MB+CPU+RAM (at full load).

I was looking at AM4 with the Asrock B550-M and the Ryzen 5 PRO 5650GE, but that CPU is hella expensive. Or could I power limit a 65W CPU that far?
Not sure about the undervolt / power limit capabilities of the newest intel generation. Can you power limit the 12100T (even more)? Do you need Z690 for that?
Regarding RAM I'd just go with some cheapish 32gb kit.
I don't really need the latest gen, but PCIe 4.0 would be great if it's an option.

Any thoughts or recommendations? thanks!

 

[BaK]

I can't help you for the hardware choice, but I think you can target a little more than 140W for the RPS200 thanks to the two 6025 case fans!
They won't be directly blowing on the PSU but the latter will still benefit from the air flow inside the case.
If you plan on adding these two fans that is...

 

[Gerold]

Good call thanks, I'll plan to add these. But I'm not sure if I can trust the indirect airflow to go much above the rated 140W.
Maybe I can squeeze another 40x10 fan between the PSU and MB.

 

[robbee]

Hey, I've been in a similar situation a few weeks ago, having to decide on hardware to use with the Meanwell LSP-160. Having such a limited power budget makes almost any AMD processor unusable if you don't want to resort to low end Athlons. They haven't released a new Ryzen 3 in a long time.

I decided on an Intel i3 from the 10th generation, and got lucky to find a cheap second hand i3 10100T. Their T lineup is power limited by default so you could even use an i5 or i7, as long as it's a T version.

This setup, along with a GTX 1650, barely goes over 100 watts of power draw, so you could probably get away using a non T i3. I would go for a 12th generation one now if the price of the 1700 motherboards isn't an issue.

As for the required chipset, you don't need a Z chipset to power limit a T cpu because they are power limited by default.

 

[BaK]

Maybe I can squeeze another 40x10 fan between the PSU and MB.

It will be a tight fit and will probably block some SATA or USB ports, but that's an option. Another one could be adding a right angle duct for the case fan near the pico.

 

[robbee]

You could also use a blower fan instead of a radial case fan to blow air at the psu, provided you can find one that doesn't sound like a jet engine

 

[REVOCCASES]

Although I don't have a specific platform recommendation I found that the "140W passive" is not a hard limit for the RPS200, it's more a long term rating without any airflow. In other words it would be fine to choose components drawing 140W continuously and up to 200W peak (e.g. during boost states). If going for INTEL and your motherboard/CPU does support it you could -just for example- set the PL1 to something like 65W and PL2 to 85W for a few seconds. This won't harm the PSU but you'll get a nice "boost" e.g. during loading of a app/game.