PSU Upgrade for Aspire AX3950-E4122?

[Bikebike]

So. I've looked through the old forums and have seen folks having problems finding a suitable psu that provides any more power than the one that comes installed (LiteOn PS-5221-9-A1 220 Watt). I'm new to all this but I figured it was worth asking again since maybe there are btw products on the market for slimline cases than there were a few years back when this particular beast was brought up. I'm seeing a few sites referring to it having a "small" form factor... But the psus that are coming up when I try and search for that look a lot more blocky.

I'd like to be able to give the system more than 220w since my old graphics card crapped out and the one I replaced it with (PNY GT730) specifies that the system should have at least a 300w supply. I've run it a few times and it seems to work... But I don't want to go frying it. Any suggestions?

 

[The Paladin]

the problem is not can you change the power supply, then problem as I see it, is the format of your desktop being small format and that would make your PSU an TFX format (narrow and long) also known as SFF PSU, the size vary a little so you will need to measure it fist, there are very few "upgrades" I have seen 300w and 420w, but depends on measurements.

 

[Bikebike]

Thanks for the lead on what the darn thing is called! Looking further I'm seeing only things that are in much different shapes and sizes showing up on newegg etc... I'm beginning to wonder if swapping the case may be the answer to this problem given that everything I'm finding is either too tall or too deep to fit if it provides anything above 220w.

Thoughts? Would that even work? I have no idea how these things go together.

 

[The Paladin]

well if you never built a computer by parts everything will be alien, not terribly difficult to be honest to transfer it, the biggest issue with those HP/DELL/ASPIRE/NEC ETC pre built custom boxes, is that sometimes the motherboards are designed with "special connections" for power and front control panels. nothing Real bothersome if you have an incline in electricity and ingenuity.

I have done Asus systems to custom system as well as a few dells and HPS, do I like doing it.. no.. they are a pain that often require planning and time to figure out the pin out of the power connectors and re-pin the new connectors of new PSU to match it... you know pin 1 ground to pin 1 ground etc.

difficult.. not really... you know red is power, black is ground, yellow is well depends on the pinout and count on the manufacturer's to not use standardized colors for their cabling either.

did found the service manual for it 🙁) https://www.manualslib.com/manual/445231/Acer-Aspire-X3950.html?page=15#manual
its helpful for tear down.... not for build up... but its an LGA1155 board using Intel P55 Chipset (odd config with DDR3 ram on it.)
if you could open the case and look for marking on the motherboard itself I bet I could find more details about pinouts, because none of these " manufacturers actually build components they just assemble parts they buy into a oem'ed computer case ... and stick a label on it with their name , why HO/Dell/Acer cases all pretty much look the same

 

[Bikebike]

So opened up the case and took a few photos and looked up some pictures of the current PSU just got kicks. If you'd be down to take a look I'd appreciate it. You lost me at pinout so I'm going to go do a bit more research/reading.

Here are the pics I took:
https://imgur.com/gallery/lgrA2

 

[The Paladin]

thank you for the pictures, though the motherboard number you see is a serial number did not find anything relevant to it.
I did take a closer look at your power supply and its a model PS-5521-06 I managed to track down a Liteon PS-5251-5 Upgrade PC Computer SFF 400w
same dimensions, which would permit a better video card into your system with minimum work

So I found this: http://pointtek.ecrater.com/p/9140978/400w-tfx-power-supply-for-acer?keywords=acer
only 400w power supply for acer in the TFX format for PSU that would fit your PC.

 

[Bikebike]

thank you for the pictures, though the motherboard number you see is a serial number did not find anything relevant to it.
I did take a closer look at your power supply and its a model PS-5521-06 I managed to track down a Liteon PS-5251-5 Upgrade PC Computer SFF 400w
same dimensions, which would permit a better video card into your system with minimum work

So I found this: http://pointtek.ecrater.com/p/9140978/400w-tfx-power-supply-for-acer?keywords=acer
only 400w power supply for acer in the TFX format for PSU that would fit your PC.

Dude. You kick ass (and I just figured out how to reply on this forum. Oi.)

I'm curious where you found the liteon since I'm not able to find one and can't seem to find the dimensions for the other psu you linked to.

 

[The Paladin]

TFX is a standard Size for SFF cases, did not need to look for them

 

[Bikebike]

Hey hey. Just to follow up. That manual is key.

Having looked into the power supply you suggested, it turns out the psu you linked to was still too tall and too wide to fit in the case. So I decided, since I was going to either have to mod out a case or run one outside of it I chose to go ahead with the second option. I found a Thermaltake PSU (TR2 600w) on sale at my local computer store which featured cords billed as 17% longer than average cables. Using the instructions in the manual I took the thing apart and set it up! I have to do some cable management but I think this'll work out ok!

 

[The Paladin]

awesome !