Hi folks,
My present situation finds me with a honking big Lian Lee tower case that holds an ATX MoBo and three internal drives. I'm using it essentially as a file server. It uses 95 watts as measured using a kill-a-watt meter. My plan is to combine with with another PC such that I wind up with an existing ATX motherboard and a second mini-ITX motherboard running off the same power supply. The case has plenty of room for the extra motherboard and sufficient drive space for the drives I'll want. My question revolves around splitting the power supply cables between two motherboards.
The primary mobo is an Abit AV8 which uses a 20 pin ATX PSU connector and a separate 4 pin PSU connector.
The secondary mobo will be an Intel D510 mini-ITX board that uses a single 24 pin ATX PSU connector
The PSU is an OCZ-420ADJ. It has a 20 pin ATX connector with a 4 pin connector that can attach to it. It also has two extra 4 pin (12V) connectors. It also has lots of connectors for powering the hard drives.
I intend to get a 20 pin ATX PSU splitter and run that to both boards. The 4 pin connector paired with the 20 pin connector will go to the Abit AV8. To power the mini-ITX board I'll extend the splitter with a 20 to 24 pin converter.
The one down side to this is that only one motherboard can control the PSU as far as I know. And I'll be constrained to operating the board that controls the PSU all of the time. And I don't really know how that is done. I wonder if I have to disconnect some of the pins on one of the motherboards to allow one to control the PSU.
So... That's what I have in mind and I would appreciate feedback on how I can expect this to work or factors that I've overlooked. If someone has already done this, please let me know how it worked!
Thanks!
hank
My present situation finds me with a honking big Lian Lee tower case that holds an ATX MoBo and three internal drives. I'm using it essentially as a file server. It uses 95 watts as measured using a kill-a-watt meter. My plan is to combine with with another PC such that I wind up with an existing ATX motherboard and a second mini-ITX motherboard running off the same power supply. The case has plenty of room for the extra motherboard and sufficient drive space for the drives I'll want. My question revolves around splitting the power supply cables between two motherboards.
The primary mobo is an Abit AV8 which uses a 20 pin ATX PSU connector and a separate 4 pin PSU connector.
The secondary mobo will be an Intel D510 mini-ITX board that uses a single 24 pin ATX PSU connector
The PSU is an OCZ-420ADJ. It has a 20 pin ATX connector with a 4 pin connector that can attach to it. It also has two extra 4 pin (12V) connectors. It also has lots of connectors for powering the hard drives.
I intend to get a 20 pin ATX PSU splitter and run that to both boards. The 4 pin connector paired with the 20 pin connector will go to the Abit AV8. To power the mini-ITX board I'll extend the splitter with a 20 to 24 pin converter.
The one down side to this is that only one motherboard can control the PSU as far as I know. And I'll be constrained to operating the board that controls the PSU all of the time. And I don't really know how that is done. I wonder if I have to disconnect some of the pins on one of the motherboards to allow one to control the PSU.
So... That's what I have in mind and I would appreciate feedback on how I can expect this to work or factors that I've overlooked. If someone has already done this, please let me know how it worked!
Thanks!
hank
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