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I have a good grasp on specs and ratings of ATX power supplies, What I don't understand is why HP can provide a platinum 1200watt psu for 60dollars, while atx psu's of that spec go over 200. The form factor can't have such a big impact on the price right?

The thing is there's not as much demand for server PSUs as there is for standard computer power supplies. That's why you see those huge power platinum server psus for cheap while the same ones cost way more. If you have the knowledge you can make a connector straight off of the interface of the server psu and it will run without much issue.

More to the point is that price of the low(ish) cost server PSU's you see on Amazon/eBay/whatever are not what you pay IBM/HP/etc when buying directly from them. I've looked and factory-new direct is around 3x the prices you see on resale sites.

Reason is simple: The PSU's are either pulls or overstock/clearance units usually sold in lots to the resale marketers by the original purchasers. If pulls they are supposed to be labeled as such. Either way I've had excellent luck with dozens of the HP DSP1200 and several IBM 2kw ones.

So I would have to solder the connectors on a server psu, that could be a problem with my dad's 30y old cheap iron

Yes, and you'd have to know which points to solder on to. Some PSUs are heavily documented and you can usually find the points on RC forums as those people also heavily rely on server PSUs to power their batteries.

One guide you can use is this:
https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/how-to-modify-a-server-power-supply-for-12v.5774/

You just need to get a PCIE 6pin or 8pin on there and you should be fine.

Depending on the PSU it should look like this when done, with 6pin connectors at the end of the cables:

http://holybitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/HolyBoard04.jpg

Finally, don't use high-AWG cables. You'll end up with burned or melted connectors/cables. I typically see 16 or below.

EDIT: As Phil said below you can just use a breakout board with preinstalled cables but soldering can save you a little bit. I prefer the saving money route.

just  order this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7GT5NK5109&cm_re=hp_1200_psu-_-9SIA7GT5NK5109-_-Product

Thanks a lot, being from europe the import tax would start to smell of atx prices, and reviews seem very negative about the quality. Might be a cool project to try out myself

the cheap options to buy locally are

HP 2250W, IEC-C20
HP 500172-B21
HP 579229-001


any good info on those? The first one is an insane bargain at 60 euro

the first one you list has no model name to look at. The other two are pretty standard refurbished power supplies. I have used hundreds of them over the last few years and they are reliable. Personally I go for 94% efficiency on my PSUs but those arent bad at 90% and will work well. One thing to note is those tiny fans spin at very high RPM and can be quite loud at full tilt

this guy
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/376551/hp-2250w-iec-c20/specificaties/

excuse the foreign language

A quieter, highly documented server PSU is the DPS-800GBA. You can get a shit ton of info on it and I use one myself. Runs 1000W on 220+V and is real quiet even though the fans are tiny. Might be just me though, as I run em with S7s and those are deafeningly loud. PSU doesn't get too hot either, and they run at 90-95% efficiency.