Help me find a decent PS for a Sony VAIO - challenge

MixManSC

MixManSC

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Ok - heres the deal. My wifes box is a Sony VAIO PCV-RS530G. I've upgraded her box to dual 7200 RPM drives, gig 'o ram, etc. I am now trying to give her my old ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AGP card. When installed about 75% of the time the computer will not fully post - gives random beeps and screen goes nutty. I hooked a 450W power supply hanging out of the side of the case to it and it boots every time - no problem. So I have concluded that the OEM power supply cannot provide enough juice to run all ot this.

My problem is this. The VAIO has a (as far as height and width) standard size ATX power supply but the depth is NON-STANDARD. It is only 4" deep into the case which leaves roughly 2.6" between the supply and the optical drives. Every off the shelf ATX supply I have found is considerably deeper than that. I drew a pic in illustrator to give you all a better idea of my quandry. http://www.sl-digital.com/Vaio-Power.jpg

I have measured and without the optical drives a standard ATX supply does mount just fine but leaves me less than enough room to actually connect cables to or actually install the optical drives. So I have 2 options - find a shorter (depth) power supply or install any ATX supply and additionally find, buy, and install 2 shorter depth optical drives (dual 16X DVDRW drives). I would prefer to find just a power supply as the optical drives are in great condition. I have determined that the max depth of the power supply could be 5.25" which would leave me under an inch to connect cables to the optical drives.

I'd like to get at least 400W into the case. It currently has an NMB 290W supply. Any ideas? Thanks all.

Rich
 
Anyone ? Geez only 12 reads and dropped off the first page in under a day without a single reply. Help a guy out - please....

Rich
 
What are the ratings on the current PSU?

Shorter ATX PSUs aren't easy to find, much less ones that can handle that system.

After doing some googling, shorter ATX PSUs are referred to as "PS3/PSIII" form factor.

But 16A on the +12v rail makes me worry about its ability to stably run that system. 3.2GHz P4 right? As you can see, it's an SFX PSU with a PS3 adapter bracket on it. It's a little longer (12.5cm/4.92 in) but that's the highest rated one I can find. You'll be hard pressed to find a highly rated PS3 compatible PSU outside of the OEM market.

The best suitable power supplies I've found so far:

http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=T23SFXLP
16A @ +12v
A little longer since it's an SFX psu with an adapter bracket, 4.92"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=17-103-494&depa=0
17A @ +12v
Normal PS3 size

Chieftec has a higher rated supply:
12v1 @ 10A, 12v2 @ 15A

But I was unable to find it available online at any websites in English and I don't know about the quality of Chieftec units, assumably poor.
 
I've seen some people mount the power supply on the outside of the computer before. Looks a little wierd but it does work. If you are ok with modding the cae you could always figure something out that way. Personally I would get like a Lian-Li Power Supply Bracket and cust out the powersupply section in the back and use the bracket with some kinda extension to let the power supply hang a little out the back. That way it wouldn't look too weird and prob work really well. Just a thought.
 
I should add that you may be able to adjust the pots on that power supply to help the system run stable but if you manage to kill it sony wants 103 bucks for a replacement.
 
Thanks - I'll check nto the options here. Yeah - sony will kick you in the nads pretty hard for the cost of a replacement. I actually have a spare at my shop and I did not even consider trying to tweak it's output or modding the case. I think I'll try tweaking one first. If that will not do I'll have to look at an alternate solution or potentially modding the case a bit. It sits to close to the wall to mount one totally outside the case but if it was only a couple of inches...

Thanks again for the help and ideas. Just needed a fresh perspective and a couple of options.

Mix
 
The power supply bracket I said can be found for like 15 bucks at frozen cpu. I'm thinking you could cut out a hole the size of the power supply in the back of the case and maybe get some long screws and nuts to mount the power supply a few inchs out of the case. Get some plastic spacers and it would look pretty good for a quick mod and prob hold up well. I've done something like this in the past and it worked well. Another option may be like a 1 u power supply mounted in the bottem of the case or something with a power cable put on the back. Not sure if that would fit but it is something elce worth looking into.
 
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