S4M brickless build for my semi truck. Power connection options?

[DarkXoa]

Hello everyone. I'm excited to say that I've just preordered my S4M, HDPLEX 400 DC-ATX and HDPLEX 400 AC/DC. I'm planning to migrate my current build into this amazing case in order to reclaim some of the space in my sleeper berth.

After emailing Josh to verify that my build can definitely go into the case, and be brickless, I've been doing some looking around at options for connecting power. I have a good Hakko solder station, and I'm not afraid to use it, but I'd rather not modify the case, if possible.

I want to use a connector that has a ground, and I would like to have an EIF as well since the pc is ruining off of my truck's inverter. Not sure if the EIF is even a valid concern. Maybe someone who knows about such things could elucidate.

Here are the options I've come up with:

GX12-3:

74271151 Wurth Elektronik | Mouser

74271151 Wurth Elektronik Ferrite Clamp On Cores STAR-TEC Snap Grey 100MHz 417Ohms datasheet, inventory, & pricing.

www.mouser.com

Monoprice Power Cord - NEMA 5-15P to IEC-320-C5, 18AWG, 7A/125V, 3-Prong, Black, 3ft - Monoprice.com

This is a 3‑conductor, grounded AC power cord designed for use with switched‑mode power supplies with the IEC 60320 C6 connector. It features a standard 3‑prong NEMA® 5‑15P

www.monoprice.com

Plan would be to chop off the C6 connector and solder the wires to the GX12 plug. Then chop the wires off of the C14 connector that comes with the brick and solder them to the GX12 socket. Not exactly sure how the EIF should be placed, but I'm guessing I would need to put it over the cable shielding?

C6:

6160.0001 Schurter Inc. | Connectors, Interconnects | DigiKey

Order today, ships today. 6160.0001 – Power Entry Connector Receptacle, Male Pins IEC 320-C6 Panel Mount, Flange from Schurter Inc.. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

www.digikey.com

74271151 Wurth Elektronik | Mouser

74271151 Wurth Elektronik Ferrite Clamp On Cores STAR-TEC Snap Grey 100MHz 417Ohms datasheet, inventory, & pricing.

www.mouser.com

Monoprice Power Cord - NEMA 5-15P to IEC-320-C5, 18AWG, 7A/125V, 3-Prong, Black, 3ft - Monoprice.com

This is a 3‑conductor, grounded AC power cord designed for use with switched‑mode power supplies with the IEC 60320 C6 connector. It features a standard 3‑prong NEMA® 5‑15P

www.monoprice.com

Plan for this would essentially the same as above except that I wouldn't have to mod the power cable except for adding the EIF. As far as I can tell, this socket should fit on the case, but it's only rated for 2.5A, so I'm not sure that it would be the best solution.

This is my first time building with anything other than an ATX PSU, so I figured I'd ask for input before pulling the trigger. Any advice is welcome! I'm leaning towards the GX12-3, but I can't seem to find any better source for the connectorsso of anyone has a reputable source for those, or would be much appreciated!

 

[DarkXoa]

Almost forgot, in case anyone is interested, this is the build, itself.

Truck PC

pcpartpicker.com

EDIT: updated part list

 

[AMv8-1day]

At first glance, I'd say awesome!
tucking away something tiny like this into a tight sleeper cab is a great way to pass the time and unwind.
One quick question, what are you using for a monitor?
I picked up a great Dell 23.8" G Sync monitor (S2417DG) usually on sale around $310-325, for semi mobility gaming awhile back and it's great, although still a bit big for your needs probably. Just barely squeezes into a carry-on though.
Regarding your power options,
Although I'm no electrician, I would agree. Especially in a close quarters space with variable temps and a high probability of static buildup, I'd feel more comfortable with a grounded C5/C6 connection.

That also brings in the question of heat in the cab. 400W is not a ton, but enclosed spaces get warm quick. Considering you're limiting your gaming to Celeron 2-core/2-threads, GTX 1050. You could probably pretty easily even get that level of performance down to 200W levels and consider the HDPLEX 200W AC-DC/DC-ATX solution.
I assume, based on your post that you were already running this setup in a larger case within the cab, so you'd know better than I, and if it hasn't been a problem, have a ball!

If it is, or you're running into CPU bottlenecks with the 2Core/2Thread setup, there are always lower watt, higher threaded CPUs for a potential upgrade path down the road.
Personally I like the idea of a 9300T/1660ti combo under 200W. With a slight undervolt, you could even fit the RTX 2060 into that 200W envelope.
I'm humming along on a pascal card myself because RTX is pointless and exorbitantly overpriced. Holding out hope that the next gen die shrink, and slightly better competition from AMD brings the price-perf and power-perf down enough to warrant the move.

Hope you like your new solution though, good luck with the power woes!

 

[DarkXoa]

Temps haven't been an issue, so I don't foresee it being a problem. I don't run anything remotely intensive, though. I use this pc to speedrun Super Metroid and record my runs, so the most I ever have running at one time is SNES9X, LiveSplit, OBS, and sometimes Discord. I use my tablet or phone for a hotspot with usually not much issue.

The monitor I use is actually this one, chosen with this website, for excellent input lag(important for speedrunning). The company I drive for had a cheap 24"TV in there on a swiveling VESA mount for the Direct TV box they put in there, so I just swapped it for mine. My intention is to get rid of the Direct TV box next so that my new S4M can go in its place, and I'll be reclaiming some of the space in the cubby that's indented for a microwave. I don't care for TV or microwaved for, so it's worked out fine, thusfar, but I'm a trainer now, so I have to share my space with a student for 6-12 weeks at a time, so I want to open up a bit more for them.

As far as wattage goes, I've always been one to prefer headroom in my PCs. Wether to allow for upgrade ability or capacitor aging I just feel more comfortable having more than enough. As a result, I usually go for 80+ silver or better PSUs, but that doesn't seem do be an option in this case(pun intended).

EDIT: I idle the truck for AC in my downtime, so temps really aren't an issue as my truck is a 2020 Kenworth and gets too cold for comfort if I really crank it up. Dust, however, is definitely an issue.

 

[G3U5T]

You have about 17mm inside the case from power supply to case to fit in the socket & terminals. The wires coming out of the power brick may be in the way too. Pending orientation of the power supply fan maybe much less.

Can you cut the existing power mounts & venting holes to fit in a C14 at angle? Maybe side wire mounts would help. https://www.mpe-connector.de/index....duct_group[]=13&action=Search&id_product=6201

I considered doing the above & adding a spacer between the flange on c14 socket mount face & case to make a little more room for terminals. Since I’m only using a single slot GPU with minimal case mod I fit the c14 connector in the empty GPU slot.

Would a Single slot Quadro Card work for you?

Looking forward to your solution!

 

[DarkXoa]

Again, I'd rather not cut the case is I can avoid it. It's to pretty do have to suffer the hack job I'd give it, although, it's good to know what kind of clearance I'm working with, as I don't have the case or PSU to dry fit with, yet.

As for the PC components themselves, they're finalized already, as this is an existing build that's just moving into a new case. Quadro probably would've worked fine, though, as I'm not actually doing anything with the GPU except using NVENC to record runs and occasionally do some minor edits to video.

 

[DarkXoa]

I believe I've found my perfect GX12 solution!
Socket
Cable
NEMA 5-15P
Will wait until I get the cable and put it together to order the EIF just to make sure I get one with the correct inside diameter. I'll post some pics of putting it together too, and more of the build itself when I get my case in July. Pretty excited!