Upgrade CPU Cooler on Predator Orion 3000 PO3-620

Hi,

I've been scratching my head on this one, I recently purchased a Orion 3000 p03-520 (drunken credit purchase but hey ho) And realized upon opening its just a stock fan for the CPU (why acer would install a stock CPU cooler on a £1k plus rig baffles me). So wanting to increase the longevity of the cooler I wanted to swap out for a better cooler.

Prepared to take out the mobo i opened up the rig and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the mobo without damaging it, my question is can anyone recommend/confirm any CPU coolers that I can replace the stock one with without the need to remove the mobo - Or have any instructions on how to remove the mobo as I can't seem to find this anywhere online. I like the product but if im investing so much money on it I want the peace of mind the CPU isn't gonna melt on me!

Cheers.

Accepted answers

Termy2

CyanideClide said:

Hi,

I've been scratching my head on this one, I recently purchased a Orion 3000 p03-520 (drunken credit purchase but hey ho) And realized upon opening its just a stock fan for the CPU (why acer would install a stock CPU cooler on a £1k plus rig baffles me). So wanting to increase the longevity of the cooler I wanted to swap out for a better cooler.

Prepared to take out the mobo i opened up the rig and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the mobo without damaging it, my question is can anyone recommend/confirm any CPU coolers that I can replace the stock one with without the need to remove the mobo - Or have any instructions on how to remove the mobo as I can't seem to find this anywhere online. I like the product but if im investing so much money on it I want the peace of mind the CPU isn't gonna melt on me!

Cheers.

Pretty much every CPU cooler you get will have you install the bracket that comes with it, requiring the removal of the motherboard.

Removing the motherboard is very simple stuff, I was a complete beginner and did it easily, after being worried. I had the po3-600 though. All you need to do is remove all cables plugged into the motherboard, the gpu, and then the screws that are easily visible, mine had 3 on top and 3 on the bottom. I also had to remove the front frame, just start removing screws and everything in the way and it’s easy

All comments

Termy2

CyanideClide said:

Hi,

I've been scratching my head on this one, I recently purchased a Orion 3000 p03-520 (drunken credit purchase but hey ho) And realized upon opening its just a stock fan for the CPU (why acer would install a stock CPU cooler on a £1k plus rig baffles me). So wanting to increase the longevity of the cooler I wanted to swap out for a better cooler.

Prepared to take out the mobo i opened up the rig and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the mobo without damaging it, my question is can anyone recommend/confirm any CPU coolers that I can replace the stock one with without the need to remove the mobo - Or have any instructions on how to remove the mobo as I can't seem to find this anywhere online. I like the product but if im investing so much money on it I want the peace of mind the CPU isn't gonna melt on me!

Cheers.

Pretty much every CPU cooler you get will have you install the bracket that comes with it, requiring the removal of the motherboard.

Removing the motherboard is very simple stuff, I was a complete beginner and did it easily, after being worried. I had the po3-600 though. All you need to do is remove all cables plugged into the motherboard, the gpu, and then the screws that are easily visible, mine had 3 on top and 3 on the bottom. I also had to remove the front frame, just start removing screws and everything in the way and it’s easy

CyanideClide

Termy2 said:

CyanideClide said:

Hi,

I've been scratching my head on this one, I recently purchased a Orion 3000 p03-520 (drunken credit purchase but hey ho) And realized upon opening its just a stock fan for the CPU (why acer would install a stock CPU cooler on a £1k plus rig baffles me). So wanting to increase the longevity of the cooler I wanted to swap out for a better cooler.

Prepared to take out the mobo i opened up the rig and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the mobo without damaging it, my question is can anyone recommend/confirm any CPU coolers that I can replace the stock one with without the need to remove the mobo - Or have any instructions on how to remove the mobo as I can't seem to find this anywhere online. I like the product but if im investing so much money on it I want the peace of mind the CPU isn't gonna melt on me!

Cheers.

Pretty much every CPU cooler you get will have you install the bracket that comes with it, requiring the removal of the motherboard.

Removing the motherboard is very simple stuff, I was a complete beginner and did it easily, after being worried. I had the po3-600 though. All you need to do is remove all cables plugged into the motherboard, the gpu, and then the screws that are easily visible, mine had 3 on top and 3 on the bottom. I also had to remove the front frame, just start removing screws and everything in the way and it’s easy

Yeah I've removed the mobo from my old computers to upgrade the cpu, what was making it tricky was the audio port were really stuck into the board, but after some slight persuasion I managed to get it off, Removing the back panel for the cpu was a pain (the cpu mount back plate was connected to the cpu cooler back plate so i had to swap parts out of my old rig!/was also glued onto the back so my fingernails are busted now haha) But all sorted and new cpu cooler successfully installed! props for your comment though man, much appreciated!

f7ost

Hey, i too am thinking of replacing the cooler on my PO3 620, but the issue is the removal of the MoBo is difficult. Did you have any luck with removing it? Also would it be possible to use a cooler that fits in without having to remove the Mobo? thanks

CyanideClide

f7ost said:

Hey, i too am thinking of replacing the cooler on my PO3 620, but the issue is the removal of the MoBo is difficult. Did you have any luck with removing it? Also would it be possible to use a cooler that fits in without having to remove the Mobo? thanks

Hi, sorry for the late response, just in case you have still not been able to I can confirm that I was able to remove the mobo. At first i thought there was an extra screw or something where the mobo extends to the front IO ports but its not, what actually is making it such a tight fit is the back IO shield, it has this cushion on it that holds onto the usb ports etc in to place.

What I did was push the IO shield a bit from the inside of the case whilst carefully pulling out the mobo at a slight angle (left side raised first so used my left hand to push the IO and right hand to lift the mobo by grabbing the cpu cooler)

The next challenge you will have is that the backplate for the stock cooler is also part of the cpu bracket, its stuck in with adhesive (I only found this out after taking it out for the first time and many swear words were spoken) so it is a pain in the A** to get off, so you have to gradually pry it with your fingers from the edges or if its stuck in really good like mine was, carefully blow it with a hairdryer and the heat will make the glue easier to pry off. There are guides on youtube for this, just be careful not to damage your mobo!

Because of this you will then need to get a new CPU backplate, my new cooler Cooler master Hyper H412R (fits nicely into the case as its low profile-ish and has good cooling) did not come with one so I just ordered one from ebay.

Hope this helps, if you are still struggling and need more help drop me a line!

unixfreak0037

CyanideClide said:

Because of this you will then need to get a new CPU backplate, my new cooler Cooler master Hyper H412R (fits nicely into the case as its low profile-ish and has good cooling) did not come with one so I just ordered one from ebay.

Can you post a link to what you purchased? I'd like to do the same.

CyanideClide

unixfreak0037 said:

CyanideClide said:

Because of this you will then need to get a new CPU backplate, my new cooler Cooler master Hyper H412R (fits nicely into the case as its low profile-ish and has good cooling) did not come with one so I just ordered one from ebay.

Can you post a link to what you purchased? I'd like to do the same.

Sure https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B076MQBZ2L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

orange23

CyanideClide said:

f7ost said:

Hey, i too am thinking of replacing the cooler on my PO3 620, but the issue is the removal of the MoBo is difficult. Did you have any luck with removing it? Also would it be possible to use a cooler that fits in without having to remove the Mobo? thanks

Hi, sorry for the late response, just in case you have still not been able to I can confirm that I was able to remove the mobo. At first i thought there was an extra screw or something where the mobo extends to the front IO ports but its not, what actually is making it such a tight fit is the back IO shield, it has this cushion on it that holds onto the usb ports etc in to place.

What I did was push the IO shield a bit from the inside of the case whilst carefully pulling out the mobo at a slight angle (left side raised first so used my left hand to push the IO and right hand to lift the mobo by grabbing the cpu cooler)

The next challenge you will have is that the backplate for the stock cooler is also part of the cpu bracket, its stuck in with adhesive (I only found this out after taking it out for the first time and many swear words were spoken) so it is a pain in the A** to get off, so you have to gradually pry it with your fingers from the edges or if its stuck in really good like mine was, carefully blow it with a hairdryer and the heat will make the glue easier to pry off. There are guides on youtube for this, just be careful not to damage your mobo!

Because of this you will then need to get a new CPU backplate, my new cooler Cooler master Hyper H412R (fits nicely into the case as its low profile-ish and has good cooling) did not come with one so I just ordered one from ebay.

Hope this helps, if you are still struggling and need more help drop me a line!

hi,
i have been trying to get the backplate off. the glue is really strong and i have only been able to buldge 2 of 4 corners of the back plate. i was wondering if the three pins on the blackplate are holding it to the mobo. the only corners that i have been able to buldge are tho top ones in the picture. which is why i think those pins are holding it to the motherboard. when u took off the backplate did u do something about the pins? or did it just come right off?

GotBanned

What cooler are you planning on using? If it is made by Noctua, you do NOT need to remove that original backplate. Pöease search the forum as there are many posts about this.

But if the cooler is not Noctua and the backplate has to be removed (make sure that it has to be removed before doing anything), it can be done. Remove three screws and the latch on the other side of the board as shown below.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/k8/fxp8v9kvav8p.jpg

Below is the tool I used to loosen the backplate after removing the latch.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ia/z6v3v9pl7z86.jpg

And here's a pic of the modified backplate. I did this before anyone knew that when using a Noctua cooler with their SecuFirm 2 backplate (comes with the cooler) there is no need to remove anything.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/rg/vyxqb7uho5wc.jpg

In the last pic the SecuFirm 2 is installed on top of the original modified backplate.

Anyway, modifying backplate may be unnecessary. What cooler are you planning on using?

orange23

Hi,
@GotBanned thanks. I have figured it out i was trying to mount a noctuna cooler, it had some screws that were too small to go all the way through the motherboard to the cooler and i thought i got the wrong cooler or that I have to rip the backplate but instead there were some longer screws that I could have used. these screws were laying at the back of the box and i didnt see them ( felt extremly stupid when i found them). thankfully i read your reply and checked the box to see if i missed any parts

(sry for bad english)

GotBanned

No problem. Good that you did not do any damage and got it installed!

If someone else finds this thread in the future, you can install Noctua HSF by using the included plastic standoffs and four aftermarket M3x12 screws, which you can buy from almost any hardware store.