PSU may not have enough power

[dacar92]

Hi,

I have an old Sony Vaio PCV RS431x computer that had a 300w psu in it. A couple years ago, I thought the PSU was going bad and bought a new one here:

http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/400-watt-Sony-MJPC-300A2-power-supply-LPM2-20-P4-M.php
I think the one I bought might be 300W or 350W.

This was a couple years ago and I was still using the original PSU and old graphics card until a couple days ago when the graphics card went south.

I had another card but when I installed it using the new PSU things work fine until I start a game. I am at work now and do not recall what the card is but can look it up at home and update a bit later. However, I think this is a general question and I hope it can be answered quickly.

When I started a game, after a minute or so the screen would go black. It makes me think that the PSU cannot get the card enough power. There is a power connector direct to the card. Do you think I am on the right track and if I get a power supply with more wattage, like 500W, then it would be able to handle the load a game puts on the card?

Thanks

 

[ricardois]

Hi,

I have an old Sony Vaio PCV RS431x computer that had a 300w psu in it. A couple years ago, I thought the PSU was going bad and bought a new one here:

http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/400-watt-Sony-MJPC-300A2-power-supply-LPM2-20-P4-M.php
I think the one I bought might be 300W or 350W.

This was a couple years ago and I was still using the original PSU and old graphics card until a couple days ago when the graphics card went south.

I had another card but when I installed it using the new PSU things work fine until I start a game. I am at work now and do not recall what the card is but can look it up at home and update a bit later. However, I think this is a general question and I hope it can be answered quickly.

When I started a game, after a minute or so the screen would go black. It makes me think that the PSU cannot get the card enough power. There is a power connector direct to the card. Do you think I am on the right track and if I get a power supply with more wattage, like 500W, then it would be able to handle the load a game puts on the card?

Thanks

yes looks like a psu problem, what is the video card?

Try not to use the new graphics card with this psu or you can burn this too;

 

[dacar92]

I will post the new video card a bit later. Got to get home from work. It is AGP though. The box said a 300W PSU was what was needed but I think it may have been misprinted.

Are you saying not to use the new card with the underpowered psu?

 

[ricardois]

I will post the new video card a bit later. It is AGP. The box said a 300W PSU was what was needed but I think it may have been misprinted. Got to get home from work.

Are you saying not to use the new card with the underpowered psu?

for my own experience i used to have a 300w psu also, and that give me problems with 2 video cards. all of them burned (all same model geforce 6600 [agp]) later i discovered it was a psu problem, changing AGAIn the video card for another 6600, and changing psu for 500w, the systems worked fine for years.

the point was, not all 300w psu really gives 300w, or they are not stable voltages, causing problems with time, so unless your psu is from a good brand and really gives you 300w or more, it is safer to take an 400w/450w/500w psu;

 

[dacar92]

Just as a matter of opinion, what do you think of the vendor in my opening post? It's the only psu I can find for a Sony Vaio. I am afraid that Sony may use proprietary voltages so buying off the shelf makes me weary. I was once in an online chat with a Sony support rep and asked him if they use proprietary voltages and he said he could not answer that for me.

If anyone knows that Sony does NOT use any odd voltages on any outputs I would gladly buy an off the shelf psu from a reputable source.

EDIT: here are the specs of the psu that was recommended to work with my Vaio.

Output Max. Load
+5Vsb 2A
-12V 0.8A
-5V1 0.3A
+12V1 17A
+5V 32A
+3.3V 25A

Is this normal voltages and loads? Besides being a mini ATX model (it's only 6.5" Wide X 3.5" Tall X 4 " Deep), if this is standard specs for psu's I will have more options.

 

[dacar92]

The new video card is a Radeon HD 3650. The box says 300W or greater. But it obviously needs more. Or the PSU was getting old anyway and couldn't supply it due to 3 hard drives and 2 optical drives.

 

[ricardois]

i really have no idea if it is the standard psus, i've read something another day about dell doing their own mini psus with different voltage values, but i really have no idea about this one.

And yes almost sure this is psu problem, they come with power enough only to the stock computer, when you change/add other hardware components the psu can't handle properly;

 

[dacar92]

I am hoping 500W is enough. I bought the model in the link above and added an upgrade to 500w. I can't imagine it isn't enough though since the system is old and it came with 300W anyway. Thanks for your help and thoughts!

 

[dacar92]

Best answer selected by dacar92.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey