# Asus P4SD-VL and upgrading the PSU



## iCiCLEz (May 19, 2006)

i've been google'ing around looking for upgrading the psu on my p4sd-vl mobo. i've read several topics about how people have succesfully upgraded the psu and some others frying their mobo. can i upgrade my psu or not ? and if so, could i exceed 400w ?

thx in adv.


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

That looks like an ASUS OEM motherboard which comes in Sony VAIOs. ASUS doesn't provide information on OEM motherboards but ASUS uses standard ATX power connectors on OEM motherboards so that shouldn't give you any problems. If you have a Sony VAIO then the case may be what's going to give you trouble. I recall someone else trying to upgrade his VAIO power supply and it wouldn't fit a standard power supply so he needed a new case. Sometimes it's just the backplate of the case is that gives people problems and you can fix that problem by cutting a larger hole in the back of the case. I'd need more information about your computer to know what situation you're in. This thread was the best I found of someone doing what you would have to do (assuming you have a VAIO with a non-standard power supply). It sounds like it will take some mechanical talent to get everything out of the case.

The other issue you have to contend with is the fact that the motherboard uses only the old 20 pin ATX power connector and doesn't have the extra 4 pin 12 volt connector. At least that's what it said in some threads. You should look inside the case to be sure. This page shows what the ATX connectors look like. That means that you only have one wire to provide all the 12 volt power to the motherboard so you can't load it down very much. It also means that if you install a dual 12 volt rail power supply that only one of the two 12 volt rails will be used. You need to have the extra 4 pin 12 volt connector to make use of the second 12 volt rail. You can certainly still get single 12 volt rail power supplies but you may have long term problems if you try to draw too much current from your 12 volt rail. You can probably still put a high-end video card into the computer as long as it has its own power connector on the video card so it will draw its 12 volt power through a separate connector. But you would probably have long-term problems if you try to install a video card which draws very much power without using its own power connector. Your one and only 12 volt line connected to the motherboard just can't power very much. So you could probably exceed 400 watts as long as you don't draw the power through the 20 pin motherboard connector. You could do it if you intend to add a video card with its own power connector or if you just want to have lots of hard disks. But I wouldn't try to actually draw 400 watts just through your 20 pin motherboard connector. It would probably work for a while but you could end up damaging the connector.

So basically (assuming you have a non-standard VAIO case and only the 20 pin motherboard connector), if you're just looking to add a video card which has its own power connector then you should be able to upgrade the power supply but only if you modify or replace the case. If you're looking for more serious upgrades then you probably would have to get a new motherboard which supports the rest of your existing components and then you'd be replacing the motherboard, case, and power supply (not exactly a new computer but not your old one either).


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## iCiCLEz (May 19, 2006)

would anyone know if the computer comes stock with an empty pci slot ? and if its express.

thanks again.


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

The p4sd-vl uses the Intel 865PE chipset. It's an AGP chipset so you don't have any PCI-Express slots. I can't find specs for that motherboard so I'm not 100% sure but I believe it has one AGP slot and three PCI slots. Stock Sonys (if that's what you've got) usually come with at least one open PCI slot but I'd open the case and take a look to be sure. In case you're not experienced with hardware, this is what the various kinds of slots look like:



By the way, if you're looking to upgrade your video card then you should remove your existing card from the AGP slot and put in a new one rather than using the PCI slot. PCI video cards are very slow.


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