I hate when posts start in media res. Please start from the beginning. What exactly are you trying to do, and why?

Most quality power supplies do have at least a modicum of surge protection in the form of a MOV, which is what most cheap surge protectors use. It will protect against small surges and such, but not against lightning strikes or the like. Many cheap power supplies omit a MOV for cost reduction purposes. More recently some higher-end PSUs lack a MOV because they figure you'll be plugged into a surge strip so it's duplication of functionality; I disagree with this practice.

 

I'm planning on making a mobile desktop that runs on a full form factor PSU.

Imagining, that I am planning on say moving it place it place without always having a luxury of using a power strip, and not being the man to get a thrill of not having unprotected relations with high voltage and my hardware I want to be prepared to deal with the worst case scenario.

Although I'm not aware what covering a lightning strike entails power-strip or PSU (MOV) wise and if either of those are adequate protection for such extremes. Though somewhat makes me more worried being the one in close contact with it.

I'm likely to not skip out on a higher end PSU, likely corsair since they have performed so well for me so far, but possibly not due to having a larger form factor then other retailers.

I'm looking for something that can cover for a situation of a small to large surge (not lightning) just something that you may meet in any regular event.

 

Yeah I am kind of lost here too, I'm pretty sure you mentioned putting something that can protect surges inside of your case. Really sounds like the permanent solution you need is just a simple surge protector.

If you want a mobile and compact solution try this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812107175&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Surge+Suppressors-_-Belkin-_-12107175

These are a bit more serious for home use.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001450%2040000535%20600031122&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&SpeTabStoreType=1&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

As far as I understand if a surge is too much for a good surge protector to handle it will die to protect what it is powering.

 

Ok, I guess I need to expand more on the idea of the build, I've made a number of threads asking numerous strange questions that normally wouldn't be asked or considered due to the strangeness of the build but so far everything is going well.

I'm planning to custom make a case Mini-Tower sized and everything needs to be as small and neat as possible, hence where I need a what I'm learning as a decent surge protector that won't die if hit with a decent jolt.

There isn't much room in the case for much so any large solutions are out, and I want it to be placed internally not on the end of the plug to the PSU.

 

Nothing can protect against a lightning strike. Nothing really portable, anyway.

 

How many Joules of protection would be sufficient in most cases?

Reading more into it seems to be a fair amount of play here not just the # of Joules protecting, read that houses can only deliver a maximum of 90 joules specifically, so I'm not sure at this point what number to be looking for re: clamping voltages etc, for ideal protection.

 

I think I can safely say that it does not matter. Almost every power supply I recommend has a MOV, and if you ask me for a recommendation I'll skip the ones I know don't have one. Otherwise, nothing will protect against a lightning strike, and any MOV based anti-surge solution should be more than adequate for most scenarios. If you're ultra concerned, buy another cheap surge strip and bring it with you; until you go north of $100 99% just use a MOV, or two in series, so there's little difference for your money between $20 and $100.

 

I'm comfortable with it if the MOV can handle a light -> medium surge without frying my system, and still working there after not needing to replace the PSU ignoring unless extreme circumstances of a high surge.

 

Here's some more info on them.

Quote:

When exposed to high transient voltage, the MOV clamps voltage to a safe level. A metal oxide varistor absorbs potentially destructive energy and dissipates it as heat, thus protecting vulnerable circuit components and preventing system damage. Varistors can absorb part of a surge. Read more: http://electroschematics.com/5224/me...#ixzz1FYO6jspj

Now, the problem you can run into is that not all MOVs are rated for the same peak transient load. If the surge is too big there will be too much heat for the MOV to dissipate and it will burn. Some manufacturers may include a MOV in their PSU's transient filter, or in their surge strip, but may use an extremely cheap, low-rated one to save money while still keeping up appearances. Since MOVs are generally small, and the lettering on them even smaller, it can be difficult to find what a given MOV is rated for, especially if the lettering is worn at all.

It's difficult or impossible to know ahead of time what level of surge protection a device has. The fact of the matter is that surges serious enough to damage components are rare. Discounting lightning strikes, you generally only see them when there are problems with power generation or distribution, when power is intermittent, or comes back after a black/brown-out. In these situations any small amount of surge protection should suffice to protect your components from the first surge observed, and you should have time to unplug sensitive equipment, which you should do even if you do have surge protection.

 

Ok thanks again, at this point I think I'm going to put it to the back of the to do list and see what kind of space I have for the build, there is a decent possibility I may be able to fit a UPS in the case, that would obviously be ideal, but worst case scenario sounds like MOV should beable to do what I'm looking for so long that I give a good looking towards the PSU before use.