Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
1–10 of 188 posts
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#2It's an interesting development. Things like -12V made sense on the 80s (sigh), while high-powered 3.3v/5v needs made sense on the 90s (it still makes some sense today, for example for USB)
Though one thing they might have considered but maybe rejected was going for a higher voltage single rail power supply (something like 24v)
Your board might still need those voltages but will have to DC-DC convert it themselves (as opposed to a multi-tap transformer as the article was implying)
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#3It's an interesting development. Things like -12V made sense on the 80s (sigh), while high-powered 3.3v/5v needs made sense on the 90s (it still makes some sense today, for example for USB) Though one thing they might have considered but maybe rejected was going for a higher voltage single rail power supply (something like 24v) Your board might still need those voltages but will have to DC-DC convert it themselves (a…
pretty much all modern boards use DC/DC power stages from 12v, even for 5v and 3.3v stuff.
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#4Why does this still have 10 pins?
2 pins would be plenty. 12v Power, Ground, and an overlaid capacitively coupled 2 way data comms running at a few hundred khz to send and receive status messages, fan speeds, model/serial numbers, firmware/ temperatures, on/off commands, etc.
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#5I wonder how easy this would make server local UPS systems. A battery with a single buck/boost converter should be enough as a power supply. Just need to add a mains fed charge circuit.
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#6Why does this still have 10 pins? 2 pins would be plenty. 12v Power, Ground, and an overlaid capacitively coupled 2 way data comms running at a few hundred khz to send and receive status messages, fan speeds, model/serial numbers, firmware/ temperatures, on/off commands, etc.
to deliver 1500 watts at 12v through one pin would be 125 amps. 5 pins each with 25A I would think you’d want at least 14 gauge per pin and even then I think they would be rather warm.
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#7Why does this still have 10 pins? 2 pins would be plenty. 12v Power, Ground, and an overlaid capacitively coupled 2 way data comms running at a few hundred khz to send and receive status messages, fan speeds, model/serial numbers, firmware/ temperatures, on/off commands, etc.
> Why does this still have 10 pins? 2 pins would be plenty.
No, modern desktop can easily use up to 30A constant load. No way to provide so much over 1mm wires at 12V
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#812V makes so much more sense to be sending around - the losses at lower voltages are rough. It would be nice to replace legacy molex connectors with a more modern standard, however.
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#9I wonder how easy this would make server local UPS systems. A battery with a single buck/boost converter should be enough as a power supply. Just need to add a mains fed charge circuit.
Probably would allow very cheap power supplies w/built-in UPSes. 12V±5% voltage is the allowed range.
Re: Intel is changing the future of power supplies with its ATX12VO spec
#10It's an interesting development. Things like -12V made sense on the 80s (sigh), while high-powered 3.3v/5v needs made sense on the 90s (it still makes some sense today, for example for USB) Though one thing they might have considered but maybe rejected was going for a higher voltage single rail power supply (something like 24v) Your board might still need those voltages but will have to DC-DC convert it themselves (a…
pretty much all modern boards use DC/DC power stages from 12v, even for 5v and 3.3v stuff.
Indeed, found that for myself when got into mobo design.
ATX 5V is really unsuitable for USB power, and can play tricks on you.
Similarly, 3.3V from PSU is useless at powering 3.3V logic.
You have to do power staging on board to guarantee that PCI and i2c stuff turns on after the bridge/soc.
Some PSUs don't follow reset timings, or don't do them at all on standby rail.
So if you do ATX power by the book, you may end up with improperly inited board, and 3.3V ICs booting up before the CPU.
So, yes, most of ATX power supply functionality is already duplicated by most mobos