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idodos
Junior Member
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Hello dear xbmc community!
I have recently started ordering parts for a thin itx htpc build and am having second thoughts about my power supply of choice.
The specs are as follows:
Intel Desktop Board DQ77KB
Intel Active Thermal Solution HTS 1155LP
i3-3225 Dual core CPU
Crucial m4 128ga
4gb ram of some brand
So back to my question, should I buy a 120w psu or will a 90w do?
And if a 90w is enough, is there any form of advantage to getting a 120w psu seeing as the price is not at all much higher?
Thanks in advance!
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2013-03-27, 22:05
(This post was last modified: 2013-03-27, 22:06 by voochi.)
90W brick is fine for i3.
120W will just run cooler and allow you to use it with something more powerful in the future. But if that is not a concern then it is irrelevant.
Of course, if the price is nearly the same then you may as well get 120W just for the sake of it.
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Just make sure it's 19V with a 7.4mm * 5.0mm tip. AC adapters used for picoPSUs will not fit the DQ77KB.
Some of the Intel literature on the DQ77KB has the wrong size plug quoted as 5.5mm * 2.5mm which is wrong -- that's for the DN2800MT thin mini-ITX motherboard.
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2013-03-28, 15:34
(This post was last modified: 2013-03-28, 15:35 by Dougie Fresh.)
This rig will see 30W-40W consumption during normal usage with a maximum draw under 80W so given the 50% rule, the 90W will be more efficient than the 120W.
The thermal characteristics of a AC adapter brick have more to do with the efficiency and quality not the wattage rating. It's the inefficiency in the AC-to-DC conversion that creates heat. The more inefficient the process, the more heat. That's why I stick with the Anker brand -- I've found them to run cool and to be better quality than some of the cheaper aftermarket AC adapters.
I am not sure 90W or 120W is going to make a big enough difference here though to care.
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Did my last post get deleted? I thought I replied already but apparently it didn't work or was deleted. Since I've received no message from a moderator I shall assume it was an error on my end...
To answer the OP's last question... No! It will not generate less heat. It may feel cooler to the touch IF* it radiates from a larger surface area, but the total heat output should not go down when moving to a higher wattage. If anything it could go up.
*I say IF because I doubt the 90w and 120w outer plastic shells are even different sizes.
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Honestly if the only hard drive that you have is that single SSD then you could run this thing on a 60w adapter. That said, the difference in efficiency between these adapters is pretty small, so I would probably just go with a larger one so that you can add drives (or whatever) later.