Battery > Computer > Motherboard

oscaryu1

VIP Member
Is there an small but strong enough battery (rechargeable) than I can use an inverter and get it to 120V and power an PC offa it?

Or is there such thing as an "Battery PSU"?
 

PC eye

banned
APC is the big name in backup power supplies. Businesses use these often in the event of blackouts to prevent losses of data. Generally they won't give you more then about 2hrs. of time in order to save your work. Their main product page is found at http://www.apcc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13&subid=5

Just at one shopping site where prices between vendors are compared the APC name always comes up the most as the leading brand while there are various types available. http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buy...backup&OVKWID=110965608011&OVADID=14411433511
 

oscaryu1

VIP Member
No no I need like an portable battery for my desktop... It's about an project... (shh!)

How many mAh do you reckon I'll need to power an Celeron 1.2Ghz, generic mobo, 512MB, FX5200, mic + headphones, 24x CD rom drive, 300W PSU, floppy USB mouse + keyboard...
 

PC eye

banned
A 12v battery for an auto would see all the amps you would ever need. But it mainly depends on the type of battery used. That decides how many are needed. Then you have to work out the means of connecting the power more directly bypassing the ac supply. That won't take a 12v dc input. The board will however once a standard connector is wired correctly.
 

oscaryu1

VIP Member
I suck at electronics (at this stage of life).. Is there an good and small (like ones that will fit in an 2" binder?) Maybe Li-Po's?
 

PC eye

banned
You might a lower price for one somewhere else if you shop around some. Usually by searching for a specific make and model or type you'll come across a shopping site with a few links comparing prices seen at different vendors. But that product line seen there is a start for what you are looking for.
 

oscaryu1

VIP Member
You might a lower price for one somewhere else if you shop around some. Usually by searching for a specific make and model or type you'll come across a shopping site with a few links comparing prices seen at different vendors. But that product line seen there is a start for what you are looking for.

So your sure that you definitly need an huge battery to power an computer? Computer as in an Celeron 1.2/1.3GHz, Stock generic motherboard, FX5200...
 

brian

VIP Member
well my laptop. duel core turion 64 at 1.8 w/ a 17 inch monitor for 3 hr on a 14.4 V 63 Wh battery. so i mean you could get a good 12 cell battery and may run it for 3 hr. maybe.
 

oscaryu1

VIP Member
Yesss.. thanks! really helped. I'll be using an tiny CPU fan, laptop HDD, onboard sound, and that stuff anyways :D anyone know how to hook those up?
 

PC eye

banned
It depends on how long you will need the system to run. The supplies in that product line seen there are for application of other types of power sources other then an sc outlet. Is this some type of school project or for travel? For some demonstration you would need an adequate power cell for the quick temp application.

Those supplies are intended for recreational vehicles like camper trailer types, large boats like yachts, and even mobile trailers used by businesses even contruction sites. A car battery or special battery pack would be the thing that would supply enough amps to meet the draw a desktop even an older one would place on it.
 

PC eye

banned
saw one thing about a 60w dc type supply you apparently mounted in a pci slot for powering a desktop from an external source. But only 60w? I would be skeptical with something like that working out well.

Spmething like a car or tractor battery would be obviously oiut since you can't carry the rest of an auto along with you for the alternator in order to recharge the car battery! :p

There are some ac to dc adapters that see an auto type 12v plug for using something like a car stereo on ac. But those would also serious lack the needed amperage for a desktop. Something like the APC product line for batter backups is still the best idea to look into there. Those are designed for pc application when ac power is out. Those are simply recharged later after the short term use they offer.
 

oscaryu1

VIP Member
saw one thing about a 60w dc type supply you apparently mounted in a pci slot for powering a desktop from an external source. But only 60w? I would be skeptical with something like that working out well.

Spmething like a car or tractor battery would be obviously oiut since you can't carry the rest of an auto along with you for the alternator in order to recharge the car battery! :p

There are some ac to dc adapters that see an auto type 12v plug for using something like a car stereo on ac. But those would also serious lack the needed amperage for a desktop. Something like the APC product line for batter backups is still the best idea to look into there. Those are designed for pc application when ac power is out. Those are simply recharged later after the short term use they offer.

Why do you always seem offline?

I was told going from DC to AC back to DC is unefficient...

I'm going toward more efficient CPU now. an mobile cpu.. would that help?
 

PC eye

banned
You still have to recharge any battery power after so long. For a mobile cpu then you are looking at a mini desktop with a laptop type board installed into it. Those are intended for running off of the standard lithium batteries you would see in a laptop or notebook portable unit. Those would be limited to the amount of drives/devices you could add in however.
 

oscaryu1

VIP Member
You still have to recharge any battery power after so long. For a mobile cpu then you are looking at a mini desktop with a laptop type board installed into it. Those are intended for running off of the standard lithium batteries you would see in a laptop or notebook portable unit. Those would be limited to the amount of drives/devices you could add in however.

Snap! With The_Other_One's help, he figured:

Celeron 566 - 11.9W
Sempron 2600+ - Over 60W..

Kinda obvious which one im choosing lol :D

Going to upgade the Celeron anyways... Thank god for that beautiful Gigabyte moterhboard...
 

PC eye

banned
A Celeron won't see the power demand a Sempron or P4 would see. But those are more powerful cpus overall. I don't think you are planning a portable gaming until otherwise you would asking about high powered battery setups.
 

ceewi1

VIP Member
Have you given much thought as to what sort of monitor you'd use?

Going from DC to AC back to DC is really going to hurt the efficiency. What sort of PSU have you planned on using? I'd be inclined to look at a DC to DC PSU. There are a few available here: http://store.mp3car.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=22

I've never used this product before, but it looks like it might suit your needs provided you could adapt the connectors (or that they fit as they are): http://www.sarrio.com/sarrio/12voltlaptop.html

If you're using a battery to power the system, you'll really need a 'PSU' which regulates 12V (something like the picoPSU won't, it relies on the 12V being constant). Batteries aren't always good at maintaining constant voltage, which could be quite dangerous to a computer (although there are ways around that as well, it involves adding more circuitry). Make sure that the DC-DC PSU can deal with a reasonably wide range of input voltages.

As you've probably gathered, this will end up being quite expensive. Additionally, you can expect a typical 17" LCD monitor to draw around 35W, which will push up your power consumption quite a bit. A 90Wh battery (if you're given capacity in Ah, just multiply that by the output voltage to get Wh) might only power it for ~1.5 hours.

If you're not so fussed about a battery, something like a 120W picoPSU might be a good idea for you: http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-120-power-kit?sc=8&category=13. It's small, very efficient, relatively cheap, and should provide ample power for the sort of system you have planned.

Hope this is some help to you.
 
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oscaryu1

VIP Member
Been to minibox. I choose their wide voltage one. There would be an chance that my battery might go down in voltages an bit, so an wider variance could prevent that.
 
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