[kwlug-disc] The sweet(?) smell of power supplies

Mon Apr 7 11:34:09 EDT 2014

Yeah, that's certainly not the use-case for a low-power machine.
Actually, If I was doing that, I would go the complete opposite. Build
the biggest machine possible for the coin, ugly and loud, stick it in a
closet somewhere with very long USB and HDMI cables to my office for A/V
and peripherals.

-Jason

On 14-04-07 11:09 AM, Darcy Casselman wrote:
> I'd agree, but she wants to do video and audio rendering.  She needs
> multiple spinning platter harddrives and some specialist video capture and
> sound hardware.
> 
> I was able to talk her down from needing a 750W+ power supply (she doesn't
> need 3D graphics at all), but yeah, something in the 500W neighbourhood is
> more reasonable.
> 
> Darcy.
> 
> 
> On Mon, Apr 7, 2014 at 10:56 AM, L.D. Paniak
> <ldpaniak at fourpisolutions.com>wrote:
> 
>> I agree.  I have been using pico-PSU/AC brick solutions on systems up to
>> 100W with great success.  For 95%+ of computing that more than enough to
>> get the job done.
>>
>> There are many "mini-systems" of this type available:
>>
>> http://www.canadacomputers.com/search_result.php?checkVal0=0&subcat04=5&checkVal1=1&checkVal2=1&checkVal3=1&checkVal4=1&checkVal5=1&checkVal6=1&checkVal7=1&checkVal8=1&checkVal9=1&pagePos=0&keywords=&manu=0&search=1&ccid=1203&cPath=7_1203
>>
>> Especially good are the Intel NUC series (if a little more expensive).
>>
>> I recently bought a 430W Corsair ATX PSU and the smell of the fancy
>> paint finish nearly knocked me off my feet.  It took several days to
>> dissipate. I am not sure what the motivation is here.
>>
>>
>> On 04/07/2014 10:44 AM, Jason Locklin wrote:
>>> Just for fun, this would be approximately the best you can do while
>>> staying safely under 150Watts and staying reasonably priced:
>>>
>>>> PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3nyKO
>>>> Price breakdown by merchant:
>> http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3nyKO/by_merchant/
>>>> Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3nyKO/benchmarks/
>>>>
>>>> CPU: Intel Core i3-2120T 2.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($160.80 @ Amazon
>> Canada)
>>>> Motherboard: MSI H67MA-E35 (B3) Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard  ($88.02
>> @ Amazon Canada)
>>>> Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($79.99 @ Canada
>> Computers)
>>>> Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
>>  ($129.99 @ NCIX)
>>>>
>>>> Total: $458.80
>>>> Estimated Wattage: 109W
>>>>
>>>> Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
>>>> (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-07 10:33 EDT-0400)
>>> That would scream running Linux, but would be lacking for gaming. No
>>> idea what Windows needs nowadays though. That website is too much fun.
>>> Now, back to work... right...
>>>
>>> -Jason
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon 07 Apr 2014 10:02:49 AM EDT, Darcy Casselman wrote:
>>>> She has rather formidable power requirements, but we were talking about
>>>> whether something like this was available. I'll pass it along. Thanks.
>>>>
>>>> Darcy.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Apr 7, 2014 at 9:51 AM, Jason Locklin <locklin.jason at gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Have you thought of building a low-power system with something like one
>>>>> of these:
>> http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104186
>>>>>
>>>>> Transformer is sealed in plastic, so no dust/smell from it. Thinking
>>>>> about building a system like this with one of the low-power Haswell
>>>>> chips and an SSD, myself (not for the smell, I just like
>>>>> power-efficient, quiet machines).
>>>>>
>>>>> -Jason
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 14-04-05 03:56 PM, Darcy Casselman wrote:
>>>>>> PC hardware question, not specific to Linux, but some of you folks may
>>>>> have
>>>>>> ideas.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My partner has some rather significant allergies and sensitivities.
>>  She
>>>>>> also needs to replace her 12-year-old desktop computer.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In general electronics tend to be okay for her, but the power supply
>>>>> seems
>>>>>> to be a stumbling block.  New power supplies smell really bad,
>> triggering
>>>>>> her sensitivities.  And they're blowing that bad air into her living
>>>>> space.
>>>>>> Does anyone know of a retailer that sells power supplies that she'd be
>>>>> able
>>>>>> to crack open a bunch and give them a sniff-test?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Is there somewhere we can look at used power supplies, preferably from
>>>>>> hopefully neutral office environments (rather than, say, the homes of
>>>>>> smokers or pet owners)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We're not entirely sure what it is in the power supplies that is
>>>>> triggering
>>>>>> her.  We know that the PVC wiring is bad (I'm not holding out much
>> hope,
>>>>>> but if someone knows of a manufacturer that coats their wires in
>>>>> something
>>>>>> other than PVC, that would be very useful to know).  But we've tried a
>>>>>> bunch and haven't come up with much luck.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Any suggestions would be helpful.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>> Darcy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> -
>>>>> Jason Locklin
>>>>> http://artsweb.uwaterloo.ca/~jalockli
>>>>> PGP: 9551 BD8F BCCC 5763 9FD9 9C5E 99F2 DE4E 2972 C74D
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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-- 
-
Jason Locklin
http://artsweb.uwaterloo.ca/~jalockli
PGP: 9551 BD8F BCCC 5763 9FD9 9C5E 99F2 DE4E 2972 C74D