Hello fellow miners.
I wanted to update the community on my work to optimize the 2880W breakout efficiency and overall thermal performance. We have put together a design and are currently adding this breakout board to my manufacturing list. It is a pain in the behind, but we figured it out.
This board has 22 PCI-e 6-Pin output for 12V power. There are four, 3 pin fan connectors and a power switch with a secondary jumper for network switching.
Behold the 2880W Breakout:
Main Breakout Board
Power Input Board
This is what it looks like on the supply. I have also added holes for zip-ties so that you may secure the boards together in an efficient manner.
On Supply Top:
On Supply Bottom:
I am currently running extended thermal tests, but here are my preliminary results. My initial testing was done with limited airflow and an ambient of 20.7C.
Ambient:
The testing was done at approximately 1900W (I need to move everything to the machine/tooling side of my shop for 30A breakers) with the test stand my team has put together.
Test Stand:
This test stand loads each PCI-e pin tested to ~150W. This is used for initial thermal testing as well as individual unit testing to ensure functional and safe products. During this test, I measured heat using FLIR and used a 4-wire (6 digit) DMM to verify power losses (though still an approximation).
The heat measured as follows at 1900W:
Connector Side (cables coming through)
Back side (closest to 2880 PSU)
We had some air blowing, so the static temperatures may be a bit higher, though this construction matches that of the 4k design and we have never seen more than a 40C rise out of those units at 3kW loading.
To give you a reference point, this is what our load stand looked like under FLIR:
To measure and approximate power losses, I have measured the voltage drop at 1900W, on the furthest connector from the power supply output. For the first article, we measured 15.215mV and 13.000mV drop on the return and +12V pins respectively. At 1900W, we are consuming about 158.3A with a total drop on this board of 28.215mV. This puts the design at around 4.47W loss at 1900W. That is about 1/3% loss (with margin).
My largest concern with this breakout is the exposure of 220VAC. Anyone that tries these boards must exercise caution and common sense. These boards and supply should never be handled without powering down the entire system.
Anyhow, my team is currently operating out of
www.price-technology.com if anyone has any questions or would like to try this product. They cost $70 in singles and I am sure it is worth it. I am also happy to answer any questions on the forums.
Cheers,
-Optim
