Power Framework board using ATX power supply

[Vito_Venezia]

Hey everyone, first time posting here as I usually prefer to lurk rather than post.

In preparation for the upcoming AMD boards I’ve been looking into alternative use cases for my current 11th gen board. One of my ideas is to adapt it for use in an mATX case and turn it into a NAS. Does anyone know if there’s a solution out there for providing power to the Framework board using a standard ATX PSU? I tried looking but I couldn’t find much about the subject.

I thought about using a 165W USB-PD charger from Amazon but I’d rather use one of the spare ATX PSUs that I already have laying around.

[Nick_Rowland]

There’s no native connectors for ATX power on the board, so any solution would difficult.

[amoun]

@Vito_Venezia

I thought about using a 165W USB-PD charger

Maybe a car type charger. I use an 84W 12V to PD charger. What current can you get from an ATX PSUs.

You would ‘need’ 5A to give 60W

Car charger (60W) that's reliable and well-built?

Yes I had a 65W BaseUS and the plastic deformed so the contact got stuck. Now I have a LinkOn 84W with no problems. I use every evening for about 6 hrs The one I have Almost the same on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/LinkOn-Charger-MacBook-Lenovo-Samsung-Carb-84W/dp/B085Y8GGGS

You could even run it from -12 to +12 (24V)

[Vito_Venezia]

@amoun

Maybe a car type charger. I use an 84W 12V to PD charger. What current can you get from an ATX PSUs.

You would ‘need’ 5A to give 60W

I hadn’t thought about that, thank you!

I also stumbled upon this: https://www.amazon.com/JacobsParts-6-35V-Charge-Step-Down-Module/dp/B08P3ZZFWM/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=JacobsParts&qid=1682640474&sr=8-6

Supposedly, it also takes in DC and outputs USB-PD.

[amoun]

That link is interesting however.

I had a BaseUs 65W which burnt out.

The laptop can take 60W, hence the 60W mains converter, however given the efficiency it can draw more that that from the supply and it got too hot, hence I upgraded to an 84W option.

I couldn’t find the item you have shown but now will look for one with higher wattage so as not to run it near the top end of specs.

So thank ~ you

[Jieren_Zheng]

There was a post sometime back about someone using an ATX PSU to power the mainboard right?

[Vito_Venezia]

@amoun

That link is interesting however.

I had a BaseUs 65W which burnt out.

The laptop can take 60W, hence the 60W mains converter, however given the efficiency it can draw more that that from the supply and it got too hot, hence I upgraded to an 84W option.

I couldn’t find the item you have shown but now will look for one with higher wattage so as not to run it near the top end of specs.

So thank ~ you

Let me know if you find one that’s rated above 60W! I’ve seen posts about people using these up to 100W with heat sinks, but I’m not sure if I want to take the risk. Otherwise, maybe I’ll try out a car charger that’s rated above 60W.

@Jieren_Zheng

PSU

I did find a post where someone created some kind of breakout board for this task used in conjunction with a car charger, but no updates on it yet.

ATX PSU controller for Framework Mainboard in traditional case

Otherwise I haven’t been able to find much on the topic.

[Adrian_Joachim]

@Vito_Venezia

ATX PSU controller for Framework Mainboard in traditional case

That’s just a usb-c power supply with extra steps, may as well just use a regular one and loose a lot of bulk and a second conversion step.

[Vito_Venezia]

@Adrian_Joachim

That’s just a usb-c power supply with extra steps, may as well just use a regular one and loose a lot of bulk and a second conversion step.

Yeah, except I’m not sure how else I’d be able to power 4+ HDDs as well as the board with a single PSU, which is the main goal here. The modularity and capacity of an ATX PSU would be very helpful in this case.

[Jieren_Zheng]

@Vito_Venezia

I did find a post where someone created some kind of breakout board for this task used in conjunction with a car charger, but no updates on it yet.

ATX PSU controller for Framework Mainboard in traditional case

Otherwise I haven’t been able to find much on the topic.

Yes, that’s the one. The voltage rails are not really compatible so you probably need an adapter board for it.

[amoun]

@Vito_Venezia

Let me know if you find one that’s rated above 60W!

Well I have a ‘generic’ 12V to USB A board that I removed from the a charger, so that should be possible with the LinkOn which from what I remember do a 100W version

https://linkon.biz/en/product/771-linkon-130w-usb-c-car-charger.html

[Adrian_Joachim]

@Vito_Venezia

Yeah, except I’m not sure how else I’d be able to power 4+ HDDs as well as the board with a single PSU, which is the main goal here. The modularity and capacity of an ATX PSU would be very helpful in this case.

Good point, there it probably makes sense. So either you can tear appart a car charger or use something like a usb-pd boost converter. Bulk wise it still comes around to be about the same and efficiency wise probably a bit worse but it is more integrated.

[Vito_Venezia]

After some deliberating, I’ve decided to go the other route and power the whole thing with a multi-port 200W USB-C PD power source, using one of its USB-C ports to power the board itself, and the other to power a PicoPSU (via a USB-PD to DC converter) for the accessories (HDD, fans) that would normally receive power from an ATX PSU. Thank you all for your input!