Mini-Box picoPSU-160-XT High Power 24 Pin Mini-ITX Power Supply

Note: I purchased this product as part of a kit (160-XT + 192w AC DC brick) directly from Mini Box.I am amazed at how this product somehow slithered under my radar for as long as it did, and I'm very pleased to have finally discovered it. My plan was to build a fully custom wooden Mini-ITX gaming "console" with relatively low power components in a small volume chassis. I was originally going to use my existing SFX-L PSU, but it was simply too large and added unnecessary noise with its extra fan. That's where this little beast came in.Now, I'm gaming and writing this review using a small cardboard box prototype chassis holding:- an i5 6600 (cooled by a Thermaltake Engine 27)- GTX 750 ti (will upgrade to a 1050 ti without external power connectors soon)- 500GB Samsung 850 Evo- 16GB DDR4 RAM- and a single Corsair ML140 fanAll of this powered by the PicoPSU 160 XT paired with Mini Box's 192w AC DC power brick.I have stressed the entire system with MSI Kombustor using both the CPU burner and Furmark at the same time for twenty minutes with no issues, so I'm very pleased with the PicoPSU's performance and reliability. I'm confident that I will not experience any issues after upgrading to a 1050 ti in the near future. Who says that you can't game on a PicoPSU? They lied!Update: 02/05/17It has been a month since upgrading to a Zotac GTX 1050 ti OC, and I'm happy to report no issues. My system has been completely stable, though I have not overclocked the card (and don't really plan to anytime soon). My confidence in the PicoPSU has been further reinforced.Some people tend to ask for advice on forums about using a dedicated GPU with a PicoPSU, and the usual feedback is "DON'T do it." Too many people seem to underestimate the power of these little DC-DC units. They're perfectly capable of handling the unpredictable loads of respectable mid-high range GPUs, including the GTX 1060! The only source of criticism is the high price/watt ratio, which isn't too much of an issue when considering the excellent quality of these units, and small components typically have some sort of a premium attached to them.

I have experience with the 80 and 90 Watt picoPSUs and while most mini-ITX builds will not use anywhere near 80-90 watts during operation, the 160 Watt picoPSU model is necessary to deliver a sufficient amount of amperage to power a variety of simultaneously connected devices, like hard drives, networking, USB, and most importantly, graphics.One of the problems I was running into with the lower wattage picoPSUs and an i3 3225 was when I had the integrated Intel HD 4000 Graphics connected to a display, it resulted in the machine rebooting or getting stuck in a boot loop whenever placed under heavy load. In particular, I wasn't even able to get my machine to post if HDMI was connected. This was a problem with the 90 Watt picoPSU (using 12V 7A / 84 Watt AC adapter) not delivering enough amps to drive the graphics, on top of the other connected peripheral devices.Switching to the 160 Watt picoPSU which delivers more amps on the 12V rail (in conjunction with a 12v 10A / 120 Watt AC Adapter), I stopped having this problem. Although the 160 Watt model cost more, my power usage was only 14W idle 45-50W under load. When it comes to powering graphics, it's the amps that matter most, and the 160 Watt picoPSU is best suited for that job.For low TDP, low power CPUs, like Intel's Celeron line/AMD equivalent, with lower power integrated graphics like GMA, the 80 and 90 Watt picoPSU's will do just fine. Alternately, if you are running a headless system (no monitor, keyboard, etc), you can get by with a faster processor and lower wattage picoPSU.For higher TDP, higher power CPUs, like Intel's i3 and i5/AMD equivalent, with higher power integrated graphics like HD Graphics 4000, the 150 and 160 Watt picoPSU's will be a necessity.

Came missing 4pin 12v cable. Unnecessarily delayed my build, now I have to find and pay for oneupdate 1/15. Natalie at Mp3Car Store was awesome and sent the cable right away. Updated from 1 star to 2 because the picopsu is demonstrating a strange behavior. Fan spins up to the max when adapter is first plugged in. Only when power button is pressed does Windows start to load and fan returns to normal. Windows and the pc functions normally at this juncture. However when attempting to shut down, sleep or hibernate, Windows enters all those states but fan spins back up to max and stays that way until the power button is pressed and Windows reloads again. It is impossible to completely shut down the PC. This does not happen when I use a ATX psu. I have a 12v 12.5A adapter for the picopsu. I have contacted Mini-box regarding this issue.update 1/27. Received the 2nd unit I ordered and it works great. Updated from 2 to 4 stars. Now just waiting for refund from RMA of the defective unit.Gigabyte H170N-WifiCrucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4 2400Core i3-6100 and stock fanSamsung 500Gb 960 EvoM350 case