--- title: Running A PC Off AA Cells With Buck Converters Really... description: A follow-up experiment powering a desktop PC from AA batteries was improved by adding a buck converter to step down ~25V from 64 cells (carbon, alkaline, and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/running-a-pc-off-aa-cells-with-buck-converters-really-boosts-performance-voq7ieyzc twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Running A PC Off AA Cells With Buck Converters Really Boosts Performance | daily.dev og:description: A follow-up experiment powering a desktop PC from AA batteries was improved by adding a buck converter to step down ~25V from 64 cells (carbon, alkaline, and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/running-a-pc-off-aa-cells-with-buck-converters-really-boosts-performance-voq7ieyzc og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/vOQ7IeyzC.png og:image:alt: Running A PC Off AA Cells With Buck Converters Really Boosts Performance og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Running A PC Off AA Cells With Buck Converters Really Boosts Performance **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A follow-up experiment powering a desktop PC from AA batteries was improved by adding a buck converter to step down ~25V from 64 cells (carbon, alkaline, and NiMH strings) to 12V for the ATX connector. The higher voltage reduced current draw through thin wiring, making the setup safer. The system ran a Core i3 530 PC for over 33 minutes including gaming and a Cinebench benchmark at 64W peak. NiMH cells retained the most charge while carbon cells drained fastest, suggesting a full NiMH pack could run significantly longer. The experiment highlights NiMH's continued relevance as a battery chemistry despite newer Li-ion AA alternatives. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Running A Desktop PC Off AA Alkaline Cells](https://daily.dev/posts/running-a-desktop-pc-off-aa-alkaline-cells-txabsrws5) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Ode to the AA Battery](https://daily.dev/posts/ode-to-the-aa-battery-4zax76lil) · Jeff Geerling · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Using Brand New NiMH Cells After Sitting 12 Years Unused](https://daily.dev/posts/using-brand-new-nimh-cells-after-sitting-12-years-unused-kqecf7bxh) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Flint Paper Battery Could Power Gadgets With Cellulose](https://daily.dev/posts/flint-paper-battery-could-power-gadgets-with-cellulose-zuh0mtp29) · IEEE Spectrum · 16 upvotes · 1 comments - [Research roundup: Six cool science stories we almost missed](https://daily.dev/posts/research-roundup-six-cool-science-stories-we-almost-missed-uxqjpn2fi) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#hardware](https://daily.dev/tags/hardware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/running-a-pc-off-aa-cells-with-buck-converters-really-boosts-performance-voq7ieyzc) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Running A PC Off AA Cells With Buck Converters Really Boosts Performance","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/running-a-pc-off-aa-cells-with-buck-converters-really-boosts-performance-voq7ieyzc","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/running-a-pc-off-aa-cells-with-buck-converters-really-boosts-performance-voq7ieyzc"},"datePublished":"2026-03-13T15:49:26.737Z","dateModified":"2026-03-13T15:49:52.458Z","description":"A follow-up experiment powering a desktop PC from AA batteries was improved by adding a buck converter to step down ~25V from 64 cells (carbon, alkaline, and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/dac6174f3e19f2d47b59a9605208146a?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/dac6174f3e19f2d47b59a9605208146a?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/running-a-pc-off-aa-cells-with-buck-converters-really-boosts-performance-voq7ieyzc","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"hardware","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Running A PC Off AA Cells With Buck Converters Really Boosts Performance"}]} ```