Thread: M3-ATX 125 watt Smart Automotive Power Supply

I got the M3 to test it out, as it intrigued me. Also my M2's SDC burned out. Other than that, my M2 worked great for 2 years, and the power regulation part still does.

First impressions of the M3 are mixed. It is tiny... It does what it is supposed to. Amp turn on works perfectly.

Some bad things, are that the jumpers are not standard 0.1" jumpers. They are teeny tiny and standard jumpers dont fit. They are loose when you put them on.

Also they took away the 30second/2hour setting for the SDC, which renders the SDC useless for me as everything is way too short a time for pulling the plug, or way too long for pushing the power button. So pretty much completely useless timer options.

I will need to get the serial connection, or just buy another M2.

Anyone want an M3?

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Also they took away the 30second/2hour setting for the SDC, which renders the SDC useless for me as everything is way too short a time for pulling the plug, or way too long for pushing the power button. So pretty much completely useless timer options.

Have you tried the "custom" timer setting ?
It defaults to 30sec/30sec but the manual says you can program the settings to whatever you want with the serial connection.

BTW I cannot find how to do this in the manual, but it looks like this is what you want to do.

Its sad that the M(1)(2)(3)-ATX get such a bad rap from people who don't know how to use them correctly. Its always the same story, have now heard it with all 3 versions. Personally I own 2 m2-atx's and I've never had one problem with either. But, then again, I did the math to make sure each rail was within spec for my system, and hooked up the secondary and primary wiring correct every time.

One of these days I'm going to order the M3 since it is also within spec for my embedded via

I dont think its because people didnt do their math. The M-series just doesnt seem to be that high quality. There's so many horror stories about people's M2/M1s just randomly frying their motherboards (some low power Via systems too) after working fine for a period of time. My M2 is running fine for now, and I hope it stays that way. Maybe the M3 is of higher quality?

But I do wonder why 2k1toaster's SDC would just "burn out."

Have you tried the "custom" timer setting ?
It defaults to 30sec/30sec but the manual says you can program the settings to whatever you want with the serial connection.

BTW I cannot find how to do this in the manual, but it looks like this is what you want to do.

Yeah you have to buy some serial cable (as I said in my post). But the options there are pretty stupid. Why would you want the button to signal the PC off, and then hardoff the PC at once. It makes standby unuseable. So right now I am doing it manually when I get in and out of the car.

Its sad that the M(1)(2)(3)-ATX get such a bad rap from people who don't know how to use them correctly. Its always the same story, have now heard it with all 3 versions. Personally I own 2 m2-atx's and I've never had one problem with either. But, then again, I did the math to make sure each rail was within spec for my system, and hooked up the secondary and primary wiring correct every time.

One of these days I'm going to order the M3 since it is also within spec for my embedded via

I love my M2. If it didnt die, I would still be using it. Since my M2 did so well, I thought I would try the M3. Since it is not really what I want, I am thinking I'll just get another M2.
Wanna trade?

Originally Posted by nobb

I dont think its because people didnt do their math. The M-series just doesnt seem to be that high quality. There's so many horror stories about people's M2/M1s just randomly frying their motherboards (some low power Via systems too) after working fine for a period of time. My M2 is running fine for now, and I hope it stays that way. Maybe the M3 is of higher quality?

But I do wonder why 2k1toaster's SDC would just "burn out."

M3 is just the picoPSU that has been around for a while. Even the parts say "picoPSU"

And most of the horror stories are because of user error.

I bought an VoomPC2 case as well, and it had a molex cable to connect power and amp lines. Well I just assumed the molex to be good as it was brand new, but apparently there was a strand of wire from the amp+ to amp- wires, so that plugged into my M2. Gave it power, and immediately smoke. The amp+ and amp- lines fused together and melted the entire wire, blackening the molex. The only damage was to the M2's SDC and amp turn on. The power regulation still works fine.

So for being shorted with who knows how many amps, and not completely dieing or taking my new mobo/ram/cpu/hd is good.

Just dont overload the M1/M2/M3 and it will work as it should. Like I said, that M2 was 2 years old and still kicking, and died due to a new case with a bad connector.

Originally Posted by RevheadKev

Have you tried the "custom" timer setting ?
It defaults to 30sec/30sec but the manual says you can program the settings to whatever you want with the serial connection.

BTW I cannot find how to do this in the manual, but it looks like this is what you want to do.

Ditto..anyone?

You need this for CUSTOM settings..
ok i found out on my own...
you need this "serial" cable and software you can find here.

cable - http://www.mini-box.com/Serial-Cable-Harness-M3-ATX

software - http://www.mini-box.com/site/resourc...ATX-serial.zip

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

I bought an VoomPC2 case as well, and it had a molex cable to connect power and amp lines. Well I just assumed the molex to be good as it was brand new, but apparently there was a strand of wire from the amp+ to amp- wires, so that plugged into my M2. Gave it power, and immediately smoke. The amp+ and amp- lines fused together and melted the entire wire, blackening the molex. The only damage was to the M2's SDC and amp turn on. The power regulation still works fine.

So for being shorted with who knows how many amps, and not completely dieing or taking my new mobo/ram/cpu/hd is good.

Just dont overload the M1/M2/M3 and it will work as it should. Like I said, that M2 was 2 years old and still kicking, and died due to a new case with a bad connector.

Does the M3 fit inside of the VoomPC2 case with no problems? I am looking into that set up.

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

lose the AC-DC PSU and the "M3-ATX". The M3 is a piece of crap.

That was from last year about May '07. But that was a different M3-ATX (one that retained use of the A/C power supplies.) It's interesting to note that the other one isn't really around, and that was good advice.

THIS M3 though looks like a good solution for someone with an all in dash computer or someone needing a compact install.

Originally Posted by blk02si

Couple Q's

1. Does the entire PSU plug right into the ATX socket?

2. How many Molex connectors does it have?

3. What is the wattage available on the 12v rail?

1. Yes.

2. HDD, SATA HDD, and Floppy disk.

3. It looks like @12V it's drawing 6A, so it seems it would be 72 watts, with a peak of 8, so 96 watts peak.

Originally Posted by nemoid

Does the M3 fit inside of the VoomPC2 case with no problems? I am looking into that set up.

You might have to get a short extension to get it to mount horizontally rather than sticking right off the mother board.

I hope I've added some good stuff for this FAQ thread.