Question Questions about psus in a very old computer

[Helpmeplease345]

Hi guys, I received an old Acer aspire from a friend and I am trying to upgrade the power supply. Here are the specs https://www.cnet.com/products/acer-aspire-m3970-eb12p-micro-tower-core-i7-2600-3-4-ghz-8-gb-1-5-tb/ and the motherboard is a IPISB-VR motherboard.
I have a couple of questions about the power supply.

• Are there any limits on the power supply that I should watch out for? (since it is an old computer from 2011)
• I don't understand these pin connector and different # of things, sizes, etc. when looking at power supplies. Should I be worried about them?

My case is very small and can't hold a PSU a single millimeter bigger than the standard size 14cm x 15cm x 8.6cm. If anyone can suggest me a power supply I would really appreciate it.
Thank you for any replies

 

[Mac029]

I've found a Acer Aspire M3970 has a 300 W (Non-PFC), 300 W (active PFC, 80 PLUS®-certified, more than 82% efficiency) apparently. But so far no other ID.

This may be helpful: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/acer-aspire-ax5400-psu-upgrade.2845242/

Found this on eBay from MI. Search on 'New PC Power Supply Upgrade for Acer Aspire M3970 Desktop Computer' and it's $35. Not sure if it'll fit. (If you've upgrading to run a better GPU another thread says you can run a GTX 750.)

Hope that gets you there.

 

[Helpmeplease345]

I've found a Acer Aspire M3970 has a 300 W (Non-PFC), 300 W (active PFC, 80 PLUS®-certified, more than 82% efficiency) apparently. But so far no other ID.

This may be helpful: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/acer-aspire-ax5400-psu-upgrade.2845242/

Found this on eBay from MI. Search on 'New PC Power Supply Upgrade for Acer Aspire M3970 Desktop Computer' and it's $35. Not sure if it'll fit. (If you've upgrading to run a better GPU another thread says you can run a GTX 750.)

Hope that gets you there.

Thanks for the reply. If I get a 750 ti do you think an upgrade on the 300w power supply is even necessary?

 

[jonnyguru]

Hi guys, I received an old Acer aspire from a friend and I am trying to upgrade the power supply. Here are the specs https://www.cnet.com/products/acer-aspire-m3970-eb12p-micro-tower-core-i7-2600-3-4-ghz-8-gb-1-5-tb/ and the motherboard is a IPISB-VR motherboard.
I have a couple of questions about the power supply.

• Are there any limits on the power supply that I should watch out for? (since it is an old computer from 2011)
• I don't understand these pin connector and different # of things, sizes, etc. when looking at power supplies. Should I be worried about them?

My case is very small and can't hold a PSU a single millimeter bigger than the standard size 14cm x 15cm x 8.6cm. If anyone can suggest me a power supply I would really appreciate it.
Thank you for any replies

It's a standard ATX power supply. Any ATX power supply will fit in it's place.

Do you not already have the PC? There's a label right on the side of the PSU that tells you exactly what it is.

 

[ConanLock]

The motherboard has standard 4 pin CPU/24 pin MoBo connectors, and the case fits standard ATX PSUs. This means any standard PSU will fit.

 

[Helpmeplease345]

It's a standard ATX power supply. Any ATX power supply will fit in it's place.

Do you not already have the PC? There's a label right on the side of the PSU that tells you exactly what it is.

Sorry, maybe I didn't explain my issue well. I was confused whether there are compatibility issues if I were to get a new power supply, and if there are problems with the pins I should be worried about. I was not talking about my current one.

 

[Helpmeplease345]

Sorry, maybe I didn't explain my issue well. I was confused whether there are compatibility issues if I were to get a new power supply, and if there are problems with the pins I should be worried about. I was not talking about my current one.

An issue that I had with finding a new atx power supply, is that when finding a good quality power supply, many of them were a tiny bit off, like for example many of them were 15x16x8.6. And it wouldn't fit in my micro case

 

[jonnyguru]

An issue that I had with finding a new atx power supply, is that when finding a good quality power supply, many of them were a tiny bit off, like for example many of them were 15x16x8.6. And it wouldn't fit in my micro case

Ok. Apparently there are different versions of this PC.


It's not so old that a modern PSU wouldn't work in it. There are people on the forums recommending PSUs older than your PC for brand new builds. ;-) So you're good there.

If you want to see what standard "fits" (like if it's mATX instead of ATX) then give us the make and model of the PSU off the side label of the PSU and/or measure it and give us the measurements.

But unlike Dell, HP, etc., Acer tends to us standard, off the shelf parts.

 

[Helpmeplease345]

Ok. Apparently there are different versions of this PC.


It's not so old that a modern PSU wouldn't work in it. There are people on the forums recommending PSUs older than your PC for brand new builds. ;-) So you're good there.

If you want to see what standard "fits" (like if it's mATX instead of ATX) then give us the make and model of the PSU off the side label of the PSU and/or measure it and give us the measurements.

But unlike Dell, HP, etc., Acer tends to us standard, off the shelf parts.

I appreciate this simple answer! I actually just tried out the power supply I was going to go for, and it works fine.
I know this is not the right place to ask, but I'm trying to get a new graphics card too, how do you check if it's compatible, right now I want to know if a 1050 ti is compatible.

 

[jonnyguru]

I appreciate this simple answer! I actually just tried out the power supply I was going to go for, and it works fine.
I know this is not the right place to ask, but I'm trying to get a new graphics card too, how do you check if it's compatible, right now I want to know if a 1050 ti is compatible.

It's compatible.

Again: The PC is not that old and it uses standard ATX parts.