Can a water cooler fit in a aspire m3201

Natedec

Hi I'm trying to rebuild my aspire m3201 and I'm wondering if there is a proper spot for a water cooler or if it would work in the case fan spot. Thx

​//Edited the content to add model name.   ​

ttttt

@Natedec

Are having overheating problems with your aspire m3201? 
Generally speaking, there is no need to use liquid cooler on such an old machine with AMD Phenom CPU.

Natedec

I mean I'm going to rebuild like buy all new parts

ttttt

@Natedec

With all new parts, the machine will no longer be M3201 then. Using the chassis of the M3201 will post many restrictions to your new build, particularly the motherboard size and selections available. Most Acer PC cases are custom sized to be paired with the motherboard being used.

If I were you, I'll get a ATX PC case and get a motherboard with liquid cooler header. Though bigger than Acer PCs, standard ATX PC cases are more flexible and can use ATX motherboard, which normally give more room for more M.2 slots and even more x16 and x1 PCIe slots comparing with Acer PCs. There are more advantages than the size disadvantage. At least I did that with my new build last year.

Natedec

ttttt said:

@Natedec

With all new parts, the machine will no longer be M3201 then. Using the chassis of the M3201 will post many restrictions to your new build, particularly the motherboard size and selections available. Most Acer PC cases are custom sized to be paired with the motherboard being used.

If I were you, I'll get a ATX PC case and get a motherboard with liquid cooler header. Though bigger than Acer PCs, standard ATX PC cases are more flexible and can use ATX motherboard, which normally give more room for more M.2 slots and even more x16 and x1 PCIe slots comparing with Acer PCs. There are more advantages than the size disadvantage. At least I did that with my new build last year.

Thx for the info but I'm on a very tight budget and I'm already looking at a micro ATX motherboard but thx

ttttt

@Natedec

Since your PC is old, redo the the thermal paste will help the temperature.

Also, if you are still using traditional spinning HDD, replace the boot drive with a 2.5" SATA3 SSD will help too.

Good Luck !

StevenGen

Natedec said:

Hi I'm trying to rebuild my aspire m3201 and I'm wondering if there is a proper spot for a water cooler or if it would work in the case fan spot. Thx

​//Edited the content to add model name.   ​

First what parts do you want to upgrade on this 12 years old desktop? Yes I know that you said "I'm on a very tight budget and I'm already looking at a micro ATX motherboard" but which one and what model? As and if you change the mobo then you also have to change the CPU and RAM for the M3200 to be better, you will have to upgrade to a more efficient CPU and you will have to have to upgrade to at least a DDR3-1600MHz type memory which is not real flash also these days, then and If you want to add an old dedicated GPU then you might run into PSU problems etc etc 

Give us more information on what you want to know as upgrading an old 12 years old desktop on a limited budget can only be done with very limited modern components like a 2.5” SSD SATA3 6GB/sec that will increase your boot speed with a mobo that has SATA3 and with higher RAM DDR3 for this new mobo with those specs as there are many alternatives and specs that you can upgrade to for a limited budget with these older PC's.

Natedec

StevenGen said:

Natedec said:

Hi I'm trying to rebuild my aspire m3201 and I'm wondering if there is a proper spot for a water cooler or if it would work in the case fan spot. Thx

​//Edited the content to add model name.   ​

First what parts do you want to upgrade on this 12 years old desktop? Yes I know that you said "I'm on a very tight budget and I'm already looking at a micro ATX motherboard" but which one and what model? As and if you change the mobo then you also have to change the CPU and RAM for the M3200 to be better, you will have to upgrade to a more efficient CPU and you will have to have to upgrade to at least a DDR3-1600MHz type memory which is not real flash also these days, then and If you want to add an old dedicated GPU then you might run into PSU problems etc etc 

Give us more information on what you want to know as upgrading an old 12 years old desktop on a limited budget can only be done with very limited modern components like a 2.5” SSD SATA3 6GB/sec that will increase your boot speed with a mobo that has SATA3 and with higher RAM DDR3 for this new mobo with those specs as there are many alternatives and specs that you can upgrade to for a limited budget with these older PC's.

ok so motherboard is a asus prime H410M-A/CM and im planing on using a deepcool castle 120R and using a intel i3 10100F and using 4GB ddr4 ram and using a HDD 

ttttt

@Natedec

Since you have not mentioned you will get another new PC case for the new build, I'll bring it to your attention that the front panel ports probably will not fit the asus prime H410M-A/CM motherbord (do you mean asus prime H410M-A/CSM ? I could not find the /CM version, also, this /CSM board maybe out of stock for most sellers).

If you have limited budget, the deepcool castle 120R can be skipped if using the intel i3 10100F, while the graphics card can be costly and must be added together with a reasonable high wattage PSU. 

Natedec

ttttt said:

@Natedec

Since you have not mentioned you will get another new PC case for the new build, I'll bring it to your attention that the front panel ports probably will not fit the asus prime H410M-A/CM motherbord (do you mean asus prime H410M-A/CSM ? I could not find the /CM version, also, this /CSM board maybe out of stock for most sellers).

If you have limited budget, the deepcool castle 120R can be skipped if using the intel i3 10100F, while the graphics card can be costly and must be added together with a reasonable high wattage PSU. 

Yes I mean a /csm I made a typo XD I already have a graphics card it's a Asus directcu ii gtx760 OC and I do have a 750W thermaltake smart and ngl I might skip the water cooler for a fan (I've been modding the case to fit 4 fans)

Natedec

Pics of fans

Natedec

When I said 750W I ment 700W

ttttt

@Natedec

I believe your current plan will work out for you, as long as you do not use liquid cooler, because I could not see an AIO header on the motherboard.