# ASUS VC62B mini PC



## JakeG37 (Jul 27, 2015)

Does anyone have any experience with the ASUS VC62B mini PC? I am planning to add an SSD 500GB and 8GB ram and use this in my car. Is there a way to use a M3-ATX dc-dc power supply internal with the ASUS or do I need to find an external solution? Not sure if I can open the ASUS and plug it into the motherboard or not. I will also be looking to use a SpaceNavigator to interface with it.


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

The specs say it uses a 65w power adapter. It looks like it uses some type of keyed barrel plug. More like a notebook adapter. Doubtful you could open it up and use an ATX psu. You would need to figure out the output on the barrel adapter and find a suitable dc-dc adapter that matches the specs of the AC adapter.



BTW, The M3-ATX, M4-ATX, and generally all the minibox products are garbage. Most are very susceptible to EMI interference. Not only that, they seem to radiate a ton of their own EMI. Many people have issues with FM interference, HD radio problems, and even GPS drop outs when using those products. Do a search on them, and you will see what I am talking about. I had a M4-ATX, and it picked up on 4g transmissions and even optical mouse use.


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## JakeG37 (Jul 27, 2015)

If the M3-ATX is not recommended, what other dc-dc would be good to try? It seems most of what I have seen in videos and read revolved around those options. As far as the power supply, I could just clip the barrel and wire that into whatever dc-dc I find.


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

JakeG37 said:


> If the M3-ATX is not recommended, what other dc-dc would be good to try? It seems most of what I have seen in videos and read revolved around those options. As far as the power supply, I could just clip the barrel and wire that into whatever dc-dc I find.


Hard to know really. You need to spec the adapter, and see if you can match a regulated DC/DC supply to it.

I am using a Sure Electronics board boost converter to get regulated 24v into a HDPLEX HI-FI dc atx psu. 

Many people that are into PC hi-fi use the HDPLEX with a Dell Laptop AC adapter for quite, filtered, low ripple power into ATX motherboard, but I have adapted it for in car use with the regulated boost converter (designed for automotive bare board amp builds).

The Dell supplies run at 19.5v, if that is any indication of what the Asus mini pc might need. So, in this case, you would want a well regulated 12v to 19.5 boost converter. You might be able to find an off the shelf laptop car charger supply that will work, but I have no idea how clean that supply will be.


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## JakeG37 (Jul 27, 2015)

I just looked it up and the Asus uses 19V and is either 65W or 90W (depending on model). I think the one Im looking at would be 65W. I am a little confused as to how to link/use the components you suggested. Do you just grab a switched 12V (when ignition is on) for the Sure Electronics dc-dc booster, feed that output into the HDPLEX Hi-Fi dc atx psu, then out to another 12v dc - 19v boost converter and into the miniPC? I would either have to find the dc plug to go into the pc or cut it off from the factory cable to use in this setup. Any hints on where I can find a 12vdc - 19vdc booster?


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

A p1900 sounds right up your alley.

carnetix


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## JakeG37 (Jul 27, 2015)

Amazon.com: DC-DC Boost Buck module 12V to 19V 8A 152Wmax power supply converter: Electronics Would something like this work? So to make the Sure component work only when the ignition is on, I would have to put a 12vdc relay in line with the Sure 12VDC input? Now that means I would have relay, then the Sure, then the HDPlex, then the 12vdc-19vdc booster, then to the mini-PC? 

Sorry I am asking so many questions but I want to make sure I do this right the first time


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

JakeG37 said:


> I just looked it up and the Asus uses 19V and is either 65W or 90W (depending on model). I think the one Im looking at would be 65W. I am a little confused as to how to link/use the components you suggested. Do you just grab a switched 12V (when ignition is on) for the Sure Electronics dc-dc booster, feed that output into the HDPLEX Hi-Fi dc atx psu, then out to another 12v dc - 19v boost converter and into the miniPC? I would either have to find the dc plug to go into the pc or cut it off from the factory cable to use in this setup. Any hints on where I can find a 12vdc - 19vdc booster?


No. Didn't mean to confuse you. I am using an Asus ROG Impact VII Mini-ITX motherboard. Completely different arrangement. I was just using it as an example. No load idle draw is pretty low. Just using a power button to turn the PC, but working on proximity sensing blue tooth.


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

JakeG37 said:


> Amazon.com: DC-DC Boost Buck module 12V to 19V 8A 152Wmax power supply converter: Electronics Would something like this work? So to make the Sure component work only when the ignition is on, I would have to put a 12vdc relay in line with the Sure 12VDC input? Now that means I would have relay, then the Sure, then the HDPlex, then the 12vdc-19vdc booster, then to the mini-PC?
> 
> Sorry I am asking so many questions but I want to make sure I do this right the first time


That might work, I don't know. If you look around, there are many clones of that supply sold under different brand names with the same box and same specs. I have no idea of their performance or reliability. Really, you want something similar to this as far as specs. You need something that will allow for cranks/engine starts and have very good protection circuitry. I can't recommend the mini-box stuff though, because I, and many others, had such terrible issues with the ATX supplies. It may be that their newer supplies designed for single rail applications like the VC62B are much better. But for those running car-pc with boards that need ATX supplies...stay away. At least with the supply I linked to, you can place it far way from interference sources with relative ease. You couldn't do that with the M4-ATX, ect without moving the entire PC. So maybe that Mini-box one would work fine.


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

No one going to pay attention to my link which is to a power supply that is literally created for carpc's?


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## JakeG37 (Jul 27, 2015)

hurrication said:


> A p1900 sounds right up your alley.
> 
> carnetix


Sorry Hurrication.. must have skipped past your post. That actually looks like a simpler solution  I am going to read the install guide to see how I need to get everything setup. Thanks again for the suggestions, both of you.


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

I did a little more digging around, since it peaked my curiosity a bit, and has me reconsidering my regulator. Your decision really comes down to what you want to do.

The Carnetix PSU will most likely do the job. But for me, I don't need all the added "features" as they may end up being problematic. This was the case for the m4-atx in in the very least that the on pulse never worked. I have read of issues with the Carnetix too, and someone who had an issue running their software on anything other than Windows XP. 

Since I had my m4-atx board in front of me, I started to look closely at the components. The first thing to realize is that all SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) chips introduce EMI by the nature in which they operate. The regulation on the M4-ATX board is achieved via a LTC3780 chip. My theory is that the chip is not to blame for the terrible EMI issues with that board. I think that they tried to make a feature rich board, with high power output, and a compact design and that created issues. The components look solid, but I think it was poorly designed and does not make any attempt to mitigate EMI.

Did a little search with the LTC3780 and found some things. 

1) ebay board 

2) Amazon Smakn board 

3)Amazon Geree board

Notice they all use the same reference design. The first board is a different brand pcb board. Both Amazon boards are the same brand pcb. The ebay board has heat sinks on top of the FETs. The Amazon boards have a large, flat aluminum block on the backside of the board. The Amazon boards use slightly different capacitors, resistors and FETs, from one another, but all three spec the same. The Mini-Box M4-ATX SMPS use the FE package (chip is rectangular) and the other boards I listed use the UF package (square), but functionally they are the same chip.

Here is a great Youtube video of a review of the buck/boost boards I posted above with the LTC3780 chip. That guy is awesome, he buys all sorts of inexpensive boost, buck, boost/buck converters and tries them out. The board he has seems to be the last one I listed. The neat thing about those boards is that you can adjust for voltage and also limit the amps so you can match the stock adapter. 

Out of those three boards which would a pick? I don't know, but to my eye the most expensive board out of the bunch (board #2) seem to have sloppy windings on the toroid.

I am just operating off the assumption that simpler is better, and that adding "features" creates more problems. In the case of the m4-atx, more stuff that can lead to EMI issues in a poor design. The Carnetix...I have no idea if the same holds true or what components it utilizes.

Moving on to the Mini-Box DCDC-USB-200 that I linked to in a previous post, it is a more recent product and you can see a difference in the design from the M4-ATX and even the plain boards I listed above. This board uses dual synchronous buck/boost chips that are out of phase. I don't know what chips are used, but the fact that there are essentially two channels operating out of phase suggests that they designed EMI reduction into the product. You can see the dual channels by looking at the board. I can't make any comment the performance of this product, but at least there is an attempt to mitigate EMI in the basic layout. 

Finally, I really would like to find a board that uses the LTC7812 chip. It has both boost (increase voltage) and buck (decrease voltage) in the same chip. The advantage with this chip is that you can *cascade* the boost and buck within the same chip which reduces the EMI inherent to all SMPS. But it seems the chip is too new to be found in any DYI style board.


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## Fizzy_Brown (Sep 20, 2016)

I used an Asus before but It was with a different model.


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