Cosmetic Aspects of replacing PSU with a picoPSU
#1
I've put a very low power Atom motherboard (Zotac D2700-ITX-A-E) in a Thermaltake Element Q case, to use as an all-in-one always on HTPC/Media Server. Love the computer, hate the heat (wasted power), and noise of the included PSU. So I've ordered a picoPSU-90 with a 80w (12v/6.6A) AC-DC Power Adapter to replace it.

So here's my question to all of you picoPSU lovers out there: What do you do with the hole in your case where a PSU used to be? Do you just leave it in? I've searched all over and can't find a cover plate.
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#2
make one or these guys sells them http://www.ecosmartpc.com/index.html
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#3
That was quick! Nice find. Thank you.
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#4
I put 2 x 80mm fans in there, nice slow ones.
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#5
There is actually a way to mount a 120mm fan in the Thermaltake Q. Where the extra 2.5" mount is you can snap one in there. I have the Rosewill RS-MI-01 which is the same case with a different face and it fits perfectly.

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#6
I've also filled it with a low noise 120mm fan at a funny angle, held in with card and PVC tape. I figure the back doesn't need to look too pretty :p
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#7
I experimented with putting a 120mm fan in the 3.5" (not 2.5") mount on the side as well and it is a pretty snug effective fit, almost as though the case was designed for it. The Zotac D2700-ITX-A-E is an unbelievably cool running board for what it does. I'm using a MSATA SSD as a system drive, and 3.5" WD Green Drive that only spins up when the system is writing/reading completed media files The grand majority of heat is coming from the included PSU. Hopefully once the picoPSU is installed, the case vents will provide sufficient cooling and the (system) fan will only need to turn on when everything is running at full throttle.
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#8
I had a G620 mini-itx system in my RS-MI-01 with a picoPSU, a SFX mounting plate, a 120mm PWM fan and the stock heatsink -- it ran very cool. With the PSU gone there's a ton of room in there to breathe. For a while I had one of the plates with a 60mm fan but it was loud and not doing much. When I saw someone had the 120mm where it was I swapped it for the plate w/o a fan.
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#9
I have a Zotac D2700 Mainboard and I tried to use a OCZ nocti series SATAII Sandforce 2100 SSD (NOC-MSATA-60G), but the motherboard doesn't see it in the BIOS, no matter what settings I do in BIOS. Can you tell me please what kind of mSATA ssd's this motherboard supports, maybe a model some of you successfully used.

Thanks.
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#10
How tall is the heatsink on that Zotac D2700 motherboard?
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#11
It's a D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme (D2700ITXS-A-E) http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-d2700-wifi...s-a-e.html.

The heatsink has 25mm (without fan)
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Cosmetic Aspects of replacing PSU with a picoPSU0