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PUPS Problems with Uninterruptible Power Supply
- Thread starter Mittle
- Start date
How powerful is the desktop PC - what is its maximum power consumption when running the most processor-intensive software expected to be used? Will it be required to power the display too?
I didn't know that computer power supply units had that capability. I also need a PSU that is extremely thin and efficient so if you know of any that also use DC power I would appreciate it if you shared.
I'm planning on using a touchscreen that is powered, recieves touch signals through and gets video from an HDMI cable connected to an efficient low power PCI GPU since the HDMI standard had support for those features as far as I know. I also plan on having a seperate audio card from Soundblaster. The PC will perform gaming, video and image editing, and light programming and scientific work.
Most PC power supplies directly rectify the mains. This makes it possible to feed them with an appropriate DC voltage.
If there is a range of input voltages that this power supply is rated for, then 1.4 times the rated AC would be there range of DC voltages.
HOWEVER:
If there is a range of input voltages that this power supply is rated for, then 1.4 times the rated AC would be there range of DC voltages.
HOWEVER:
- Some power supplies (especially in places with low AC voltages -- I'm looking at you USA) have voltage doublers rather than simple rectifiers.
- High voltage DC is really dangerous, and switches designed for a similar AC voltage will likely not be rated for it.
It's a laptop. (Yeah, and it might operate from something like 19V)
We still need the power ratings - the actual figures, not generalities - as the battery to operate the PC (or UPS) will determine the final size of the unit.
A typical powerful desktop PC may consume 300-500W at peak power, the monitor 25-75W giving a total of up to 600W and, when taking inefficiencies into account you may be talking nearly 1000W of energy to run the system for an hour - probably less than 1000W but let's look at this on a worst-case basis.
This is 1000W for one hour (1000 watt-hours). Given a typical laptop battery is rated at 70-100 watt-hours you're looking at TEN such batteries - and that's before you design/build the inverter to work with it.
You might get the batteries smaller using the most modern chemistries but you'd be lugging around a potential bomb no matter what!!!
It would be far cheaper and easier to get a laptop with the equivalent processing power of your desktop and use its built-in battery/charging facility for backup.
A typical powerful desktop PC may consume 300-500W at peak power, the monitor 25-75W giving a total of up to 600W and, when taking inefficiencies into account you may be talking nearly 1000W of energy to run the system for an hour - probably less than 1000W but let's look at this on a worst-case basis.
This is 1000W for one hour (1000 watt-hours). Given a typical laptop battery is rated at 70-100 watt-hours you're looking at TEN such batteries - and that's before you design/build the inverter to work with it.
You might get the batteries smaller using the most modern chemistries but you'd be lugging around a potential bomb no matter what!!!
It would be far cheaper and easier to get a laptop with the equivalent processing power of your desktop and use its built-in battery/charging facility for backup.
I'm really trying to build my own portable computer so I can have more component interchangibility. I really wanted a portable computer from ACME but their machines are overpowered for my needs and don't have all the features I want to build in as well as being monstrously expensive. If I could figure out how they power their beefy machines on batteries alone that would be great but they don't offer schematics datasheets on their website. The computer I'm building will hopefully use power efficient components and a lightweight operating system. If anyone has any idea how ACME offers desktops with batteries that last more than an hour I would be exceedingly grateful.
How any PC draws power is down to the designer and the facilities they feel are necessary to 'do the job'.
What are your OWN requirements for a portable computer? Have you looked up the power consumption figures for the relevant modules that make up a typical PC? They are easily broken down into sections.
You will necessarily end up with a compromise situation whereby your portability running time will vary according to the modules you fit - high end graphics (for example) will mean a shorter running time.
As per my earlier post, knowing the individual requirements will give you the ball park starting point for this exercise. Without the actual figures you're going to be designing a system based on guesswork.
The actual power generation side of it is simple - relatively speaking.
What are your OWN requirements for a portable computer? Have you looked up the power consumption figures for the relevant modules that make up a typical PC? They are easily broken down into sections.
You will necessarily end up with a compromise situation whereby your portability running time will vary according to the modules you fit - high end graphics (for example) will mean a shorter running time.
As per my earlier post, knowing the individual requirements will give you the ball park starting point for this exercise. Without the actual figures you're going to be designing a system based on guesswork.
The actual power generation side of it is simple - relatively speaking.
How can the actual power generation be simple when I don't know anything about the power electronics of portable pcs? I don't really have any electrical knowledge so I'm looking for help here. I'll compile my list of components and post the figures.
It is 'simple' in the sense that there will inevitably be off-the-shelf power supply circuits to cover your needs - and I'd be very surprised indeed if your requirements weren't met by something we can just give a straight link to!
You basically need +12V, +5V and +3.3V - a very common selection.
You basically need +12V, +5V and +3.3V - a very common selection.
Can I have a few links? I need some options that I can base my design on
somewhat pointless at this stage but.... the very first Google result (using 'UPS with 12, 5 and 3.3V outputs' as the search term...
)http://connecttech.com/product/xtremepsu-ups-power-supply/
Connect a battery, connect a load. But Google came up with 1.54 MILLION results that matched.....
whats a rectifier?
Don't all PSU's have those outputs? What about their inputs? I've never seen a PSU with a DC socket instead of an AC onesomewhat pointless at this stage but.... the very first Google result (using 'UPS with 12, 5 and 3.3V outputs' as the search term...
http://connecttech.com/product/xtremepsu-ups-power-supply/
Connect a battery, connect a load. But Google came up with 1.54 MILLION results that matched.....
Your requirement is for a power supply that operates from batteries (UPS) therefore the input will likely be DC as storing AC in batteries isn't possible!
The batteries themselves will charge from an AC input via a charge/controller. This could be an entirely separate module, not necessarily part of the PSU.
PSU outputs are designed according to need. Stating that 'all PSU's have those outputs' is misleading unless your referring to a particular system - ok, in this case you're talking PC's but you could get individual PSU's for each of those voltages or simply a 12V PSU and use converters to derive the 5V and 3.3V outputs. What you do (or NEED to do) depends very much on your system configuration and the load requirement on the PSU's themselves.
This is why specifying a PSU without the details of the components they are going to power is pretty much pointless. What I 'could' do is link to a PSU that has 12V, 5V and 3.3V at 100A each - which would be pretty ludicrous - but it could power 'anything' your modular PC might end up using.
It would also be very bulky, inefficient and extremely expensive.
So, we're back to post #2 where a request for system details was made - you're asking 'the impossible' (rather the 'irrelevant') at this early stage.
The batteries themselves will charge from an AC input via a charge/controller. This could be an entirely separate module, not necessarily part of the PSU.
PSU outputs are designed according to need. Stating that 'all PSU's have those outputs' is misleading unless your referring to a particular system - ok, in this case you're talking PC's but you could get individual PSU's for each of those voltages or simply a 12V PSU and use converters to derive the 5V and 3.3V outputs. What you do (or NEED to do) depends very much on your system configuration and the load requirement on the PSU's themselves.
This is why specifying a PSU without the details of the components they are going to power is pretty much pointless. What I 'could' do is link to a PSU that has 12V, 5V and 3.3V at 100A each - which would be pretty ludicrous - but it could power 'anything' your modular PC might end up using.
It would also be very bulky, inefficient and extremely expensive.
So, we're back to post #2 where a request for system details was made - you're asking 'the impossible' (rather the 'irrelevant') at this early stage.
I'm using components from a Vostro 400 system although a PSU that can power all of them can likely power any ATX motherboard created since the invention of the ATX standard by Bell Labs which actually gives me a lot of choices in hardware as opposed to using laptop boards which aren't standardized and can only be bought in replacement parts kits sold to repair businesses. I really only need all the outputs that would be present on the Vostro's PSU. You can look at the power ratings of each component of the system under the technical specifications tab on this website as I don't have them on hand.
https://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/vostrodt_400mt
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Your link shows no details for the PSU output - however a typical ATX PSU can range from 300W to 800W - some graphics cards increase individual output requirements considerably.
If you design your system to allow for every eventuality you will - as already mentioned - require the 'largest possible PSU' with the probability of requiring the appropriate battery pack size to enable the 1-hour running requirement you need.
A 500 watt battery pack (never mind 800W) would be larger than a normal laptop in its own right. Where would you put the actual PC components?
If you design your system to allow for every eventuality you will - as already mentioned - require the 'largest possible PSU' with the probability of requiring the appropriate battery pack size to enable the 1-hour running requirement you need.
A 500 watt battery pack (never mind 800W) would be larger than a normal laptop in its own right. Where would you put the actual PC components?
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