On Monday 01 October 2007, Karl Larsen wrote: > But converting 12 to 1.5 volts with economy > of power is complex and will jack up the MB cost somewhat, and will make > it hotter. Actually, this is already being done in your PC now. PC power supplies only generate 3.3V, 5V, and 12V; they don't directly generate the CPU and RAM voltages. Beginning with the Pentium 4 and Athlon 64 chips, most motherboards use a 12V input to the CPU core regulators; prior motherboards either used the 3.3V or 5V outputs of the power supply regulated down to the CPU core voltage. There are little 12VDC 'paddleboards' now that plug into an ATX motherboard plug; 200W units are very small. See the units at mini-box.com for comparisons; the PSU board is part of the ATX plug itself in most cases. -- Lamar Owen Chief Information Officer Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute 1 PARI Drive Rosman, NC 28772 (828)862-5554 www.pari.edu
