Hi. New here and seeking advice. I'm working on a project build....putting a mild gaming rig into an Apple eMac case. My problem is that I need to find a small power supply that can run my build with an 8800GT. I plan on going with the following:

mATX board
Athlon 4200+ AM2 (most likely)
2GB of RAM (1x2GB chip)
120GB HDD (SATA)
DVD-RW (SATA)
8800GT 512MB (PCIe)
802.11 card (PCI)
and two fans (not sure on the size yet)

I've been trying to find PSUs with at least 24A between the 12v rails but their either too large or way overpriced. I'm trying to go cheap as possible since I don't really *need* to build this. Its more of a desire to just build 'something'. My main computer is a 20" iMac (2.4GHz C2D, 4GB RAM, Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256mb...blah blah blah) and I want computer for gaming but don't want wires everywhere. If anyone knows of a small PSU or if I can disassemble a PSU (take it out of the housing) without issue, please let me know.

Ooh yeah, also...*shakes head* ...can a single power cable (PSU/LCD monitor type) be spliced into two to power both a PSU and LCD monitor? Trying to figure out how to keep everything internal and these two are the last 'obstacles'.

So just to be clear, you are modding a mATX PC into one of these:


This might get tricky.
I'll see if I can track down any suitable small PSUs, though it may be necessary (and cheaper) to go down the 'take a full size ATX PSU out of its housing' route.

Yes, thats the one. 17" screen. From my measurements so far, I shouldn't have a problem fitting everything (other than the PSU) in there. I've gutted the casing already (have two incase). My idea, depending on the PSU, is to either mount it on the inside top of the case to use the built-in fan as an exhaust fan (along with the original fan in the rear) or see if I can fit it in the rear and eliminate the original fan. Space back there is very limited without some major aluminum removal and hard drive relocating, but possible. The motherboard should fit flat on top of the drives without issue, but the 8800 might stand a little too tall for the PSU on the top.

If I can't find a small enough PSU then I might have to make it external. Maybe going with a modular and fabricating some custom 'case' for it. Is there any danger to removing the casing from a PSU? If not, I might be able to do something with that.

Both of these would likely power what you have listed (I know they don't have 24A between the 12v rails):

Seasonic ECO 300W
FSP300-60GLS-MJR

You might want to see if you can track down anyone who might be running a 8800GT on either of those, but I doubt you'll find them around here.
(You would probably have more success tracking down someone over here)

As for going down the other route, the main problem with removing a PSU from its case is voiding the warranty.
It could be potentially dangerous if you don't know what you are doing, but as you are undertaking this I would assume a reasonable amount of knowledge / skill.
The other problem with taking a PSU out of its case is making sure it gets adequate cooling. If it doesn't then you could find it dies far more quickly than it otherwise would have.

Awesome! Thank you. I've been scouring Newegg the last few days but haven't been looking at anything below 350W. One of those should work for my setup. Cooling won't be an issue. I've been going over various cooling ideas to make sure there is plenty of ventilation and circulation. Far as the warranty, I'm not too worried about it. I've been in and around PCs for about 10 years now. Thank you again! *runs off to make more measurements*

Here are some more detailed specs plus some measurements for those two PSUs (if you hadn't tracked them down already):

FSP - Here

Seasonic - Here
Interestingly they appear to sell a more powerful version that is also a little shallower because of the fan arrangement, but I don't know where you would find one in retail channels.
Both are still bigger than the FSP.

Oh and because I'm interested and a little bored I tracked down a couple more options:

Silverstone - doesn't have a PCI-e power connector it seems
Seasonic TFX - it's a German supplier (and the dimensions they list are wrong.. accurate ones here), so you'd have to really want it. Also no idea what connectors it has on it either.

Thank you jammin. You've made my week. That information will make things MUCH easier.

Can i ask why your not using bootcamp to run windows?

hmm maybe a local shop would have a PSU from a htpc or something ... although it may not be what your looking for.

I am running Bootcamp on my iMac with XP, but the Radeon HD 2600 Pro (256MB) isn't quite cutting it for some games (Crysis) and I don't want to boot back and forth for a quick fix every so often. It does run Oblivion at full 1680x1050 res without a problem though. The big reason for this project is that I don't have a REAL use for Windows on my Mac other than gaming and I wanted to build something clean for gaming. I was going to do an older G3 era iMac (the smaller colorful ones) but I hadn't seen anyone do an eMac and I already had a spare 17" LCD so I figured I'd attempt this eMac monstrousity.

sounds cool ...

yeah as an idea you could prob mount the PSU on the top of the case and have everything else on the bottom

That's what I'm going for as of now. Once I get all the parts together I'll test fit and see how it goes. It'll be an interesting setup when complete.

Happened to stumble over this post and thought I'd give my 2 cents. Never would I want to discourage anyone from achieving their fantasy, but..wouldn't it just be cheaper and a whole lot easier to just purchase a new case "with a power supply" for your project? I believe you could find an inexpensive case with a 400 watt power supply for about the same price of a PSU alone. Maybe maybe not. My other concern here is the fact that taking a PSU out of its case could prove to be very detrimental to your body.. not to mention accidently frying your system. I guess your trying to preserve your monitor. That might be a lot easier to gut your mATX case and just use the monitor. Would be safer too. Have you checked to see if your CRT monitor will even work with the video card you have in mind? Anyway..I'm just say'n..

No worries. With the PSUs found by jammin I shouldn't have to worry about disassembling them. I don't want to introduce any hazards like excessive EMI, electrocution or chemical leaks. Far as cost, the only specialty items this build has is the eMac case(s) and the smaller PSU. I wanted to go mATX for my build regardless if it was a custom case or not. Cost was a concern and the 'extras' are only going to run me about $80 total so no biggie there. I've got a new (well, till the update yesterday) iMac, 360 and PS3 so I'm not going into it wanting to spend much. And well, its fun. Something unique and uncharted. If things don't fit (which they should) then I'll just throw them in a small mATX case and mod the side panel to include the LCD. No biggie there. My goal is to build something clean, all in one and fairly simple. I have an Antec NSK2400 I could use if all else fails, as long as the video card fits. If not there's always the trusty Dremel.