PSU form factor

VARDY · 11 Apr 2009 at 11:56

im at a lan atm and theres an Antec stand showing off a new type of power supply form factor. any ideas on what its called? the guy there said he didnt know so im now curious.

looks a lot bigger than the standard ATX PSU's. this one had a 90/92mm fan on it, blowing through from the back. he did say it is still in prototype stage but there have already been reviews.

oh, and ive seen the mini-skeleton which fits ITX form factor.

95thrifles · 11 Apr 2009 at 13:47

Its CPX, its meant to be really good, but will only fit the following cases atm, antec 1200, P183 and P193, theres a review here

Duke · 11 Apr 2009 at 14:07

Not seen those before. Looks a lot better, much deeper/taller. Wonder if it will catch on.

pastymuncher · 11 Apr 2009 at 14:51

Maybe it will catch on or maybe it will go the way of BTX and so many other "innovations". In my opinion it has far too many hardwired cables for a modular psu. Seem's pointless to me as it will only fit in three cases and all of those are made by Antec.

95thrifles · 11 Apr 2009 at 15:05

Yeah its limited but I think the point is theres been no innovation as such in the PSU market for 20years, were still using basically the same thing now as then, have to wait n see, but I do agree re the semi modular, bit strange, either modular or not, halfway seems a bit pointless

VARDY · 11 Apr 2009 at 19:09

well, i suppose by having most of the most commonly used cables hardwired is a good thing in itself. then you can add extra cables if needed.

even on modular PSU's there are cables hardwired which i dont use (CPU 4pin f.e.)

Kennysevenfold · 11 Apr 2009 at 19:17

Duke said:
Not seen those before. Looks a lot better, much deeper/taller. Wonder if it will catch on.

thinking this myself, will it catch on.?

PhillyDee · 11 Apr 2009 at 19:19

I fail to see the point in this at all.
Since we can fit the 1KW and 1.6KW PSU in the ATX formfactor, why would we need to have a bigger one. Especially since PC's rarely exceed 600W anyway . . . . .

Werewolf · 11 Apr 2009 at 19:19

95thrifles said:
Yeah its limited but I think the point is theres been no innovation as such in the PSU market for 20years, were still using basically the same thing now as then, have to wait n see, but I do agree re the semi modular, bit strange, either modular or not, halfway seems a bit pointless

I wouldn't say it's not changed much, there have been a large number of improvements (in efficiency, outputs, protection, cabling etc), about the only thing that has stayed the same is the casing for the PSU.

The option to use a large case for the PSU in itself isn't a major innovation (IIRC there have been larger and smaller PSU casings used in other parts of the computer/pc market), however it does make sense when you consider how much more complicated/higher output the PSU's have got since the original AT spec for the PSU enclosure was decided upon.
Some ATX spec PSU cases are already getting longer to accommodate the extra features/power outputs needed in modern PSU's.

Hopefully if the new size catches on, and that will be very dependant on other manufacturers signing up for it, and possibly cases coming with the ability to use either type*, is that hopefully they can make higher power, quiet PSU's without sacrificing other things (such as cooling).

*IIRC some antec/cheiftec cases already come with a backing plate that allows you to use normal AT/ATX supplies, or the slightly different mounting used by some server PSU's.