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Originally posted by MadDogMe
How difficult would it be to make your own 500~600watt PSU?, I'd imagine the auto shutoff, load monitoring gizmos would be the hardest?.
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Since you've already got the soldering skills... not so hard, provided you have the appropriate testing/tuning hardware (oscilloscope, good multimeter, probes etc)
*Building* it (and getting components) is easy enough, the PCB can be kept simple and components are big.
*Tuning* it so it actually works with a good efficiency is another story...
There are EE that are *specialized* in power supplies, they're even called PSE. I know a bit because i've already built a few ones, but i'm nowhere near the skill level necessary to build a "bells & whistles" 550W ATX PSU. Even a full-time EE (which i'm not.. i'm a programmer now) wouldnt. This is really a specialty. I used to know one PS Engineer who i worked with. His work consisted mainly in designing power supplies of our products. He was also the PCB designer and EMI specialist (one excellent dude !). Knowing him, he would say "buy it, don't even bother trying building one."
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]JR[ over at CoolHardWare.co.uk made a basic one for a TEC. that was 12(or24)Volt only, how much harder to make one with all the bells and whistles?. could you make one with a dedicated ampage to each V~line(non switching?) for around the same cost as buying a good switching PSU (550w @ ?100?), or am I daydreaming/wishful thinking?  ...
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Yes. For $150 you won't get a multi-stage, non-switched, 550W PSU. Even buying spare components will land you in the $400 zone, or more. If you want dedicated lines etc, you'll have quite a bulky unit - think of a 2U 19" rack just for your PSU.
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You could use an old PSU case and maybe the PCB?, and reverse engineer it from there with GOOD componants?(non~non~switching of course!  ) ...
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Not easy, see my first remark. Building it is not the problem. Tuning the switcher, the active PFC and other timing sensitive / impedance sensitive components requires time and skill. (and money, or easy access to a HW lab..) And yes you'll HAVE to re-tune it after swapping components.
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PS, you could make the 12v separate no?, cause it does'nt have to be as 'clean' as the +5v, +3.5v and 1.5v does it?...
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From what i've deduced, 12V doesnt have to be as clean as 5V. But given the heavy load it usually takes, it'll require at least a PFC stage.
I don't want to discourage you. Building a power supply is a very good experience indeed. I've learned a lot when i did it. But try to build a dedicated 1-line PS first, and see how it turns out. A 12V (or 24V) @ 150W sounds good. Give it overtemp and overcurrent protection. Then and only then move to a multi-line w/ active PFC and overtemp / overcurrent protection...
Good schematics are available just anywhere on the Net. But that's a lot of work...
If you don't have the time (or hardware) to build one yourself... check the catalogs of good PSU mfgers. I'm getting RSG because they're in Europe, but i'm sure you can find some good ones in the USA.
Just remember, you usually get what you pay for...