Looking for a 12V 7A 80W supply..

**Giuliano** · 01-19-2005, 10:18 PM

I'm looking for a 12V automotive-friendly power supply / regulator that can deliver 12V steady, up to 7 Amps, and up to 80 Watts to match the output of this AC-DC supply:

http://www.bwi.com/scripts/show_document.php/id/1378

I've looked at the Carnetix and Opus supplies, and it doesn't appear that they can deliver 6-7 Amps on the 12V line.

Any ideas?

**Arathranar** · 01-20-2005, 01:02 AM

You only want 12V? What are you powering?

**sithscripter** · 01-20-2005, 01:03 AM

This DC/DC regulator might be suitable:

Powerstream 12VDC buck-boost regulator

I have no personal experience with it but the specs look promising and the price isn't entirely unreasonable.

**Giuliano** · 01-20-2005, 05:00 AM

Originally Posted by Arathranar

You only want 12V? What are you powering?

This:

http://www.commell-sys.com/Product/SBC/LV-671.HTM

It's got its own 12V power supply / regulator on board, which can provide 12V/5V power to peripherals (drives, etc) through an on-board connector.

It also supplies power to the LCD panel inverter via 12V.

So while a smart power supply would be OK, I really need one that can deliver large amounts of power on the 12V line..

I'm sure I could use its other lines (5V, etc), but they're probably not necessary.

**MikeH** · 01-20-2005, 06:27 AM

Giuliano,

When your board arrives why don't you measure the ACTUAL current consumption. My guess is that it is significantly below the maximum output of the brick. Once you know this number, and the current consumption of your peripheral devices, you can better judge which regulator will work for you. The P1280 may be a good choice because it will be able to provide 5.5 amps (minimum) at +12V and 3 amps for any externally powered USB devices you add (ie you can run them on a powered USB hub instead of from the mobo). This will help you distribute your power consumption a little better.

**Giuliano** · 01-20-2005, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by MikeH

Giuliano,

When your board arrives why don't you measure the ACTUAL current consumption. My guess is that it is significantly below the maximum output of the brick. Once you know this number, and the current consumption of your peripheral devices, you can better judge which regulator will work for you. The P1280 may be a good choice because it will be able to provide 5.5 amps (minimum) at +12V and 3 amps for any externally powered USB devices you add (ie you can run them on a powered USB hub instead of from the mobo). This will help you distribute your power consumption a little better.

Mike,

Thanks for the reply about the Carnetix power supplies.

I actually have a decent idea of how much power this board will require, as Commell did a test report and provided power consumption for various configurations:

http://www.bwi.com/scripts/show_document.php/id/2347 (PDF, Page 47)

The base configuration with a 1.3 Ghz CPU and a single hard disk consumed 5.1A and 61W, according to the report.

Since I will be using a LCD panel that is powered by the motherboard, my configuration would probably be more like scenario #4, or about 6A and 70W.

Your thoughts?

**rando** · 01-20-2005, 11:32 AM

If you go with a laptop HD and CDROM perhaps your power consumption requirements can be reduced a bit. 60W seems high for a baseline system.

**Giuliano** · 01-20-2005, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by rando

If you go with a laptop HD and CDROM perhaps your power consumption requirements can be reduced a bit. 60W seems high for a baseline system.

Actually, yes, I am going to be going with a laptop HD and slim CD/DVD, so that will reduce the power requirements some..

But since the HD and DVD would be close to the board, I'd rather they be powered directly by the board's regulators rather than the off-board power supply.

Hence, part of the reason for the high power requirement on 12V.

The 12V regulator mentioned by sithscripter in an earlier post in this thread might be good.. though not exactly highly efficient.

Fry's has a whole line of 12V regulator/power supplies, perhaps one of those would do.

**rando** · 01-20-2005, 12:14 PM

So what did the other guy (with the same board) here use?

**Giuliano** · 01-20-2005, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by rando

So what did the other guy (with the same board) here use?

I'm not sure, he's apparently getting his in the mail today, but in a prefabricated case like this one shown here:

http://www.bwi.com/scripts/site/site...php3/id/12585/

The power supply for that case is the AC/DC 80W power supply I linked to in the first post.