# I was given a P4 2.6 Sony Vaio



## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

re-installed XP, put in a scond hard drive, got all working great...but...
The person that gave me the Puter beat ths ****e out of it.
The case is destroyed / all the cosmetics plastic stuff is broken & falling off!
Anybody ever "re-case" a Vaio (PCV-RZ24G)?
I have no need and removed the Sony Gigapocket board & a few other things.
Don't need the floppy.
What case could I use that the existing guts fit into and would allow me to expand beyond my current two hard drives to four?
I want to keep all three fans.
Any ideas?

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Depends on what formfactor the case is but if you arent worried about having the smallest case posssible you can buy any regular ATX case and put your hardware into it. ATX cases usually allow for 4 optical and 6HD drives.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*Sarkast, something like this?*

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-127-032&depa=1

If I post some photos of the inside of the Vaio would that help?

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Yes for example. You said you wanted to keep the 3 fans. Of course i dont know what size they are but this case offers plenty of possibilities how to install a fan. At least you can put a 120mm in the back which is very good.
Note - this case only allows for 4 HDDs (without a floppy).


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*you are faster than me....*

Would a few photos from inside the Vaio helP
I don't need/want a floppy !

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Just measure the size of the fans you have - i think this case allows for 2 front 80mm and 1 back 80mm or 120mm.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*my current Vaio set-up only has one chasis fan*

in the back & a rough measurement is 80mm

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

In your first post it said you wanted to keep the 3 fans so i thought you had 3.

Well then if you decide to get that case i'd get another 120mm for the back. I can really recommend the coolermaster UV silent fans. You dont need the UV but they are so silent - its amazing. That way you dont have to mess with a fan controller if you dont like the noise. But there are plenty of other medium speed fans with low noise levels.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*well...I bought the case*

I wonder how many quewstions I will have for you when I move everything over?

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

We'll see wont we ? :wink: 
Just dont be afraid to ask....

Now i hope you wont kill me - but i probably should've mentioned that if your VAIO is a mATX formfactor case it more than likely uses a mATX power supply - which wont mount correctly in an ATX case cause its smaller.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*How can I check it out?*

Does this tell you?
http://www.computercomputer.it/partni_646111.ihtml

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Not really. Could you take measurements ?


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*OK, I put the Ne Egg order on hold*

Here are the measurements....

3&7/8 inches deep
3 inches high
6&3/4 inches wide

You MUST have better things to do?

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Use this and scroll down to point 4.2 and use the distances provided and compare them to the distances between the screws on the back of your power supply - then you'll know for sure if it'll fit in your new case.

http://www.formfactors.org/developer\specs\ATX12V PSDG2.01.pdf

I have better things to do but can do this on the side. :wink:


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*I'm not sure if I reading the guide right...but..*

On the Vaio the screws are about 155mm wide apart & a little less than 80mm height apart?
sorry about all of this.
fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Heres the picture with the screw locations circled and distances in inch (red). If they are exactly like that on the back of your PSU then it will fit the case. If not it wont.
EDIT: No need to be sorry. I'd be sorry if i made you buy a case you wont be happy with.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

I should add that the picture provided is "upside down" for most cases meaning the screws with the 5.43 distance are on the bottom.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*well, I think I'm outta luck w/ this case !*

The Vaio is the other way around (the mains input is on the left).
Keeping that in mind here are my measurements against your picture...
Your 5.3" is 6.0" on the Vaio
There is no screw at the mains input so the top is also 6.0"
The screw height distances are both 3.0"
A few photos for your viewing pleasure....
Any other case ideas?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Actually that power supply looks like a non standard PSU - so no matter what case you'll buy you wont be able to fit the PSU in it.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*Free is a great price so what ya gonna do?*

If you think of anything tha might work let me know!
Cheers & as always THANKS !
This forum is great, learn something new w/ every visit.
fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Well one thing that would work is to buy an ATX PSU to go with the case. The one i am using was only 36$ at newegg and of very good quality and aslong as you dont intend to use a high end graphics card that demands huge ammounts of power its plenty for the average PC.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*I might look at doing that as theis computer looks*

like a bit of science project & I would like to clean it up a bit?
In the end I would be running.....
4x HDD
1x DVDRW
1x CDRW
USB2 & Firewire PCI cards
I never game.
What power supply would you suggest?
Is there a case/power supply package you would suggest?
thanks,

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Sorry i got busy so couldnt reply right away.
Well you could get a brand name case with power supply (might be a little pricey though - usually you have to spend 100$+ on such a combo) - i strongly advice against a 40$ case that has a PSU in it as they are of horrible quality.
My Thermaltake PSU is of very good quality, has plenty of power to run your setup (and more) and like i said was only 36$. I think its 38 on newegg right now. Voltages are rock solid 3.34, 5.043 and 11.92V - no matter how much i stress it.

One question - does your motherboard have SATA connectors or more than 2 IDE channels ? (because if not you'll be limited to 4 drives max)


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*Well, I had to go away for the night...*

I think I am OK re: four HDDs?

*This is the set-up as per the Sony site.*
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=PCVRZ24G
EIDE - Supports up to four EIDE drives (supports PIO Mode 4 EIDE drives and ultra DMA/100 mode drives)
* Bus-mastering EIDE driver installed.

*This from Belarc*
Standard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
SiS PCI IDE Controller

The funny thing about Belarc is that it keep telling me that Slot 'DIMM 3' is Empty
I'm sure there are only two slots?

Also, w/o a floppy drive installed what else can that hook-up be used for?

Thanks for all the advice....

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Yes usually boards had 2 IDE channels - with 2 devices each. BUT CD/DVD drives are IDE devices too so you need to be able to hook up 6. (4HDD +2CD/DVD)

Now this "SiS PCI IDE Controller" looks like you have a controller card installed in a PCI slot that allows for additional drives - which is of course a possibility.

I wouldnt worry about the "3rd slot". Sometimes the chipset is capable of supporting another slot but the mobo manufacturer didnt install it so it might be reportet as empty even though its not even there.

The floppy controller can only be used for a floppy - at least i have never heard of another use for it. (incase you thought about using it for a HDD - not possible)

Just to avoid any other "surprises" - if you want post a few pics of the inside of the VAIO so i can see if something else appears odd.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*A few snaps of the little beauty....*

Hope you can see what you need to see?
Cheers, fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Everything else looks "fine". From the pics i have to assume the card in the PCI slot is a USB or Firewire card ? Hard to tell.
But there is no IDE card so with that setup you are limited to 4 IDE devices - so you are 2 "short".

But you can always use something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=16-126-001&DEPA=1

If your future HDDs will be SATA.

Or this:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=16-102-002&DEPA=1

If you want to stay with IDE.

Those are just examples - these cards come in all kinds of types and arent expensive.

And just on a sidenote - you mentioned the "empty" 3rd memory slot. Look at the board next to the 2 mem slots - all the little solder dots - that could be a 3rd slot but the mono manufacturer didnt install it (as i suspected).

If you have any other Qs please ask. Hope i was able to provide some useful information.


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## pdxireland (Nov 11, 2004)

*So, in the end do you think using the case*

I linked to above is good enough?
Covers everything I need & my motherboard, etc. will fit...
Using the products you linked to I can still expand the number of HDDs?
Now some more basic questions that will show how little I really know...
What is the difference between SATA & IDE?
thanks,

fmg


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Yes i'd say that case should suit your needs. Of course i cannot say anything about the quality as i never actually touched that particular one with my own hands.

The case is supposed to be able to house mATX and ATX boards - yours is mATX. When you look at the motherboard tray you see some of the standoffs are already manufactuered into the tray - but you'll still need to install 2 (or 3) for the bottom screws on your board. I just thought i mention that ahead of time. I assume the case will come with additional standoffs.

SATA is just a new interface for HDDs. Instead of the bulky parallel (IDE aka Parallel ATA) you can have a very thin serial cable (Serial ATA). And you only plug one device in each port so there is no more "master/slave" and all this anymore. The latest SATA interfaces also allow for higher speeds - but SATA150 is basically as fast as IDE100/133 so for most drives you dont see much diffrence.


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## fstops (Jan 15, 2008)

Do you still have the gigapocket board? I'm lookinf for one to buy.

fstops


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