A sneak peek at the JCAT OPTIMO_ATX – truly linear ATX power supply. Marcin Ostapowicz writes: “In JCAT we work to develop and bring to you new exciting products. Here is a short sneak peak of what we work on right now: OPTIMO ATX linear power supply. We are in advanced stage of R&D and hope to launch production by the end of the year.”
TRULY LINEAR ATX POWER SUPPLY
OPTIMO_ATX will be truly linear ATX power supply capable of 23A on all main lines (12, 5 and 3.3V) fully compatible with ATX2.0 specification. It is designed to be able to power computer platforms with 95W TDP processors. Unlike other similar products on the market, it will use only low noise linear regulators for all voltages including control circuits. Cutting edge linear regulators for noise performance <25uV RMS will be used. For best stability, regulator circuit will have analog cable voltage drop compensation.
SUPERB TRANSFORMERS
Three bespoke massive low induction transformers with magnetic and electrical shielding sealed in stainless steel cup with epoxy resin that guarantees noiseless operation will be used. Transformers are designed to deliver all its power in linear part of core magnetic characteristic, with minimal stray field and impedance for best performance. One 400VA for 12V line we found to be most important for sound quality, second for 5V and 3.3V lines and third for all other less important voltages.
ACTIVE RECTIFIER
For OPTIMO_ATX massive current we designed unique active rectifier. It’s using MOS FET transistors instead of diodes that are switched at zero points of AC waveform by special circuit. This ensures best noise performance, low impedance and very low heat dispatch.
MICROPROCESSOR CONTROL
OPTIMO_ATX will use industry standard low noise DSP for power management, soft start and ATX control functions. This will ensure best compatibility with ATX standard of complex linear design and trouble free user experience. Control circuit will be separated from the rest of sensitive circuitry and will have its own galvanically isolated linear power supply.
CONVENIENT CONNECTIONS
OPTIMO_ATX will feature set of ATX connectors (including CPU, PCI-E and drives connectors) as well as two AUX connectors for 5V and 12V aux power (active after power up cycle of a computer).
CHASSIS
OPTIMO_ATX chassis will be bended from a single thick sheet of laser cut stainless steel for high structural rigidity and low mechanical resonance. Stainless steel is not only much stronger than aluminum typically used in such enclosures, but also is a non magnetic material. This is very important for best performance as magnetic materials can introduce additional noise. For this reason also, all bolts, nuts and other small mechanical parts in our power supply will ne made of non magnetic stainless steel.
AUDIO GRADE COMPONENTS
High grade audio components will be used. OptimoATX will be made in EU to very high standard for best audible results.
DISCLAIMER
All above information and specifications are preliminary/prototype and final product may vary.