Which power supply would you recommend for this setup ? (<20w ?)

**n2k** · 09-23-2009, 08:03 AM

Hi, I've just replaced the mac mini that I was planing on installing in my car with a fit-pc2.

according to the specs of the fit-pc2 it has a voltage tolerance of DC 8-15V.
- 6W at low CPU load
- <7W at 1080p H.264 playback
- 8W at full CPU load
- <1W at standby

then I have 7" screen with a standard power consumption of ≤8W and power input DC 12V.

I bought this for the mac mini:
Carnetix CNX-P1900 140W Dual Output Power Regulator
Carnetix CNX-P5V 15W +5V Regulator

Is there a way to use the power supply I bought for the mac mini or is there a simpler/smaller way to go ? (the CNX-P1900 alot bigger then the fit-pc2)

.n

**kross** · 09-23-2009, 07:04 PM

I'm no expert on this, so take this for what it's worth. If it accepts a voltage range from 8-15V, couldn't you just hook it up to your vehicles power, without using a seperate DC-DC converter? You'd still want a shutdown controller, though.

**Punky** · 09-23-2009, 07:31 PM

if thats unregulated voltage rating, you can probably hook it up to your battery, though it may not survive cranking.
Another choice would be using a POL device like this one here:
http://store.mp3car.com/Automotive_P..._p/pwr-022.htm (you're close to the rated values, but it should work) (given no other usb peripheral are added) problem is you'll need to make your own startup/shutdown controller
or make your own board! i'm sure others on this website would help if you have some experience in making your own board.
finally you can use a really small psu like the m3atx and do a bit of hacking to make it work as a psu and startup shutdown for the 12V rail only.