DC Powered Car/RV PC

[TheAtomicSoul]

I want to convert my pc to run directly off DC Power to use in a solar powered RV.

(I want to avoid the redundant DC-AC-DC conversion loss from a normal PSU if possible.)

I'm planning to upgrade my PC with a new graphics card, likely AMD if their new cards have good results in Blender compared to Nvidia. 

 

So far, outside of some sketchy low power Chinese DC PSU bucks, the only option I'm finding is HDPlex.com 500w or 850w. The DC Input on these aren't clear how to connect to 12/24v power though, as it suggests using a AC-DC power brick.

 

Is there a better option? Or any good option? 

 

[RedWulf]

The HDPlex options seems like the best bet from just a brief search. You don't need an AC-DC brick for it tho, the barrel connector it supports can be bought cheap and used to adapt your existing 12v output. 

[TheAtomicSoul]

On 3/21/2025 at 11:10 PM, RedWulf said:

The HDPlex options seems like the best bet from just a brief search. You don't need an AC-DC brick for it tho, the barrel connector it supports can be bought cheap and used to adapt your existing 12v output. 

I was in hope there's a better option: the 800w is $365.

 

And with new graphics cards (especially if I end up with an NVidia) that may not be enough power.

 

[RedWulf]

4 minutes ago, TheAtomicSoul said:

I was in hope there's a better option: the 800w is $365.

 

And with new graphics cards (especially if I end up with an NVidia) that may not be enough power.

 

There's a reddit post I can't seem to find of a guy wanting to do this same thing who apparently modded a normal PSU to take 12v bypassing the initial phase change circuits and some other voodoo, I'm not sure how much I can recommend this unless you have means to test it before hooking it up to a computer. The 500w HDplex is significantly cheaper, if you're willing to take power efficiency over performance. I'm also not normally an advocate of gaming laptops, but you'd probably have a safer time skipping the brick on one of those and it'd give you the option to easily switch to AC power if you ever need.