I definitely wouldn't say I hate power bricks, but I do strongly dislike them for a number of reasons. The main one is clutter: no matter how much you say you can hide it, it will always be more difficult to hide than a simple power cord. An AC cord can even be made to length relatively easily if necessary/desired, while doing the same for a power brick would likely require not just modifying the AC cord but also the DC cord and thus voiding its warranty. Coiling up and hiding excess cable length is enough of a hassle; coiling up two cables with a brick between them, or making a coil of two wires and a brick, is more of a hassle no matter what.
I never had issues with my AD-DC bricks, could it be cable length or hiding them. I guess it's a matter of what kind of furniture you use. If you really need a custom length cable, you could only shorten the one on the AC side, which is
most of the time removable. Bricks come with a velcro strap too, which helps to keep things tidy, or as I do, tie them to the steal leg of yout desk, providing extra cooling in the same time.
But I perfectly understand that it could be annoying or frustrating. I am, myself, maniac when it come to tidying things.
And in most cases it will inevitably leave the brick visible in some way, either on the floor or dangling off a desk, etc. In the latter case it also adds unnecessary stress to the power connector, potentially leading to premature failures.
Again, had no issue with that, and I've been running from AC-DC bricks for years now. If you do not have ridiculously short cable on the DC side, there shoudln't be any problem.
To me, that goes directly against the reason I am attracted to SFF in the first place.
To me, it is the very opposite. It allows for smaller "main" enclosure and help saving space on your desk. I still count the external brick in the overall size, but I don't have huge wattage requirement, so AC-DC bricks are still fairly small.
Cooling of the external brick is also an issue, of course, especially at higher power outputs.
I need 150W at most, shouldn't be an issue. Been running from a 90W 'til now and it ran warm at worse. On the opposite side, removing the AC-DC from the chassis also remove an heating component from it ... which is very desirable in constraint space.
There's also the issue of unnecessary complexity; the vast majority of power bricks are 19V(-ish), requiring further conversion to form the necessary main 12V rail inside of the PC. The reasoning behind this is sound in cases where you need a brick (such as laptops) - 19V requires significantly thinner wiring and smaller connectors than 12V. But in the case of a desktop PC, that is just adding inefficiency for no reason IMO. When you can get a ~92% efficient AC-DC unit that converts directly to 12V, I see using a two-stage conversion from AC to 19V to 12V where each step is at best equally efficient to the direct 12V conversion as adding unnecessary complexity, heat, and power waste to the system.
We agree on that, that's why I'm looking at 12V DC solutions. Reminds me that I must contact Gury on that matter. On a side note, 12V means higher amaperage for a given wattage, so it might not be suited for higher power draw. Asrock has a limit of 180W or so for their thin ITX board if you power them from 12V source.
but for those willing to go the more DIY route, there are definitely better options.
That's what I'd like to do in close future. I'm trying to find a way to have a 12V AC-DC with built-in UPS. If you have any hints, it would be very much appreciated.
