Case: M350 Universal Mini-ITX PC enclosure PicoPSU compatible Power: Mini-ITX DC-DC picoPSU-120 mini power supply Motherboard: Zotac Z68ITX-B-E LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Motherboard CPU: Intel i7-2600S Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 65W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I72600S RAM: Corsair 8GB (2x 4GB) 1333mhz PC3-10666 204-pin DDR3 SODIMM Storage: MyDigitalSSD 64GB 50mm Bulletproof mSATA (Mini SATA PCI-e) SSD CPU Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 11 LP Heatsink with Ultra-Quiet 92 mm PWM Fan and 2 Copper Heatpipes Case Fans: 3 x SilenX Ixtrema Pro 40mm x 10mm 14dBA 5 cfm Fan The CPU runs at 65W, not sure about the mobo, but it seems like 120W PSU ought to be enough. Not sure if I really need the quad core, but I do plan on using this as a general purpose PC (Office apps, music, video, light gaming). I am still looking for a suitable internal bluetooth adapter, and I think wireless display and sound would be pretty cool, but don't have much idea about those yet. Feedback, suggestions?
thats dangerously close to max wattage, should go for a 180-200 watt PSU instead especially when you add HDDs to it.
I'm not planning on adding any storage beyond the mSATA disk. Payload data will be on the network. Still, I see what you mean - I'm not sure how much power the mobo itself will want, but it's got that NVidia chip, wifi, and sound integrated. I've looked at the specs on the Zotac site but didn't find out what the wattage of the board itself was. Or maybe I'm missing something. There's a 160W (200W peak) picoPSU that I could swap in for the 120W. Maybe that's a safer bet. Other than the extra $10, I don't see a downside.
if you can test it with a standard PSU and a power meter that would be best of course. I always go overboard on wattage as a PSU is most effieceint at around 50% load.
Any suggestions for a portable HD monitor? Something easy to put in a laptop bag but still good quality HD.
You are going to be at 90-110 watts at peak just for the basic system. The mobo will pull between 15-30 watts, memory is another 5-10, then you have wifi, which always pulls a bit, probably another 5-10. You still have to attach peripherals, which will also use some power, and this doesn't even consider the 5v/12v split by the rails. Even if you make it, you won't have any room to attach a spare hard disk or dvd drive if needed. That's cutting it way too close in my opinion.
For a potrable screen you could go the broken Laptop on ebay route. as long as the screen is ok and you know that you can get the correct adaptors and a mounting system. Get out the duckttape!!!
