Acer Predator Orion 3000 Ref PO3-640-UR11 - How do you get power to the two empty 3.5' Bays?

LJC_202212

I have a new Acer Predator Orion 3000, PO3-640-UR11 with a 1TB SSD and two empty 3.5" bays. I'd like to upgrade (add) HDD in each bay. I see two unused SATA connectors on the MOBO - no issue there. However, I don't see any obvious SATA power cables/connectors originating from the 500W PSU. The PDF user manual and online research has not been helpful.

 [Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

LJC_202212

The Official Acer MOBO 12VO SATA-PWR to the SATA cable to two SATA devices only uses 4-pins/wires (P/N: 50.E2WD3.001).

Refer to Intel's "ATX12VO (12V Only) Desktop Power Supply Design Guide", rev002, May 2020, the wiring is 18 American Wire Gage (AWG) supporting 5 amps per pin/wire. The standard states that 4-pins/wires are sufficient to power two devices. However, all six pins/wires are required when powering more than two SATA devices.

Since the Acer 500W power supply is already at its limits and the case real-estate only allows for two 3.5" bays this configuration would not need to support more than two SATA devices.

A fellow tech showed me the Acer cable (P/N: 50.E2WD3.001), which uses pins 2 (12V2), 3 (GND1), 4 (GND2), and 5 (5V1). The MODDIY.com cable appears to use these same pins leading to two SATA device connectors. The difference is that the Acer cable also jumps (shorts) pin 1 (12V1) to pin 2 (12V2) and jumps (shorts) pin 5 (5V1) to pin 6 (5V2). The only advantage is redundancy of the voltage sources. The is no amperage advantage since the standard limits the 18AWG to 5 amps per pin/wire.

Conclusion: the MODDIY is a 12VO 4-pin/4-wire cable and will work for two SATA devices.

As to ordering parts:

The Acer site does not show the 50.E2WD3.001 cable as an accessory for online purchase (cannot just drop it in your cart for payment). You must call tech support at 1-866-695-2237, know the Field Replaceable Unit (FRU) part number (or hope the technician understands your description of need).

If off hours, the tech rep will submit a Request Order to the warehouse and give you the Request Order ID number, because the tech rep cannot do what they call a "Tier-2 level credit card transaction".

If business hours, a Tier-2 rep may be available to do a "one stop" order and payment transaction. In my case, I called the next day and was asked to call back several days later as a Tier-2 rep was not available. BTW: The North American Tech I reached was based in Brazil - a nice, knowledgeable fellow - I enjoyed talking with him - but the 50-min wait time before answering was stretching my patience.

As another option, CapitalDataUSA.com is an authorized Acer parts seller. Their online site is also difficult to navigate. I tried their email process - no joy. A better solution is to call 1-800-999-4409 to talk to a tech/sales rep.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/676410/ref-po3-640-ur11-how-do-you-get-power-to-the-two-empty-3-5-bays

The SATA power lead should be from the PSU and if the PSU only has 2x SATA HDD power leads then you need to buy a SATA power adaptor and attach it to the 1x extra lead so that you have 3x or 4x power leads, below are the PO3-640s mobo and all its components:

SATA Power Cable TO 2 x Molex Connector Plug Converter Adapter PSU Supply

LJC_202212

Thank you for the speedy reply. Like so many postings - now we workout the detail.

Let's focus on power from either the PSU or MOBO. Installation at the HDD, bay end is not an issue for me.

Ref your picture of the splitter - my PSU is not of this type connector. The spare PSU connector is a 6-pin 2x3 layout/format similar in style and size to the 8-pin to the graphics card. My research hasn't produced a reliable answer how to use this spare connector to power SATA devices (i.e., voltage on pins, pin diagram, recommended cable solutions to purchase, etc.).

Ref your MOBO picture, I see item #16, "SATA Power Connector", which appears as an inline 6-pin with two alignment notches on the same side. Are the SATA devices in the 3.5" bays powered from here instead of the PSU?

Newbie questions (I need an education please): If powering from the MOBO, item #16, what cable and connector combination am I looking for? What is the connector's technical term/description (type/male/female?) at the MOBO end? Then splits to two SATA devices. What is the connector's technical term/description (type/male/female?) at the SATA device? Where do I purchase such a cable? If there is a PSU solution, I need the same detail to order that cable.

This discussion leads to a side question, where can I find a manual(s) on the various PO3-640-UR11 components? Manual for MOBO? Manual for the power supply? Manual for upgrade options? The user manual isn't very detailed/helpful.

Thank you for your time - it's much appreciated.

billsey

Yeah, that splitter isn't correct for a SATA drive, the two white Molex connectors need to be SATA power instead. Your system uses an ATX12VO PSU, so doesn't have the 5V that SATA requires, that's instead generated on the motherboard. Here's an easier to see picture of the MB:

#19 is the SATA power and your system should have come with a cable that connects to that and provides two SATA power connectors. If you lost the cable or it didn't come with there are sources for them. The cheapest ones seem to be on eBay or Amazon... All the 12VO designs from Acer use the same cables, except for length...

LJC_202212

Thank you for your response. Correct, no SATA power cable (from MOBO to device) came with the new system. After tedious research, I found this cable at MODDIY.com which appears to solve the issue. Too bad Acer support cannot provide official answers - either in a detailed User Manual or online support.

billsey

That one isn't one of the 12VO cables. If you look it's only using four of the six pins... The six pins for the correct cable have two each 5V, 12V and GND.

LJC_202212

The Official Acer MOBO 12VO SATA-PWR to the SATA cable to two SATA devices only uses 4-pins/wires (P/N: 50.E2WD3.001).

Refer to Intel's "ATX12VO (12V Only) Desktop Power Supply Design Guide", rev002, May 2020, the wiring is 18 American Wire Gage (AWG) supporting 5 amps per pin/wire. The standard states that 4-pins/wires are sufficient to power two devices. However, all six pins/wires are required when powering more than two SATA devices.

Since the Acer 500W power supply is already at its limits and the case real-estate only allows for two 3.5" bays this configuration would not need to support more than two SATA devices.

A fellow tech showed me the Acer cable (P/N: 50.E2WD3.001), which uses pins 2 (12V2), 3 (GND1), 4 (GND2), and 5 (5V1). The MODDIY.com cable appears to use these same pins leading to two SATA device connectors. The difference is that the Acer cable also jumps (shorts) pin 1 (12V1) to pin 2 (12V2) and jumps (shorts) pin 5 (5V1) to pin 6 (5V2). The only advantage is redundancy of the voltage sources. The is no amperage advantage since the standard limits the 18AWG to 5 amps per pin/wire.

Conclusion: the MODDIY is a 12VO 4-pin/4-wire cable and will work for two SATA devices.

As to ordering parts:

The Acer site does not show the 50.E2WD3.001 cable as an accessory for online purchase (cannot just drop it in your cart for payment). You must call tech support at 1-866-695-2237, know the Field Replaceable Unit (FRU) part number (or hope the technician understands your description of need).

If off hours, the tech rep will submit a Request Order to the warehouse and give you the Request Order ID number, because the tech rep cannot do what they call a "Tier-2 level credit card transaction".

If business hours, a Tier-2 rep may be available to do a "one stop" order and payment transaction. In my case, I called the next day and was asked to call back several days later as a Tier-2 rep was not available. BTW: The North American Tech I reached was based in Brazil - a nice, knowledgeable fellow - I enjoyed talking with him - but the 50-min wait time before answering was stretching my patience.

As another option, CapitalDataUSA.com is an authorized Acer parts seller. Their online site is also difficult to navigate. I tried their email process - no joy. A better solution is to call 1-800-999-4409 to talk to a tech/sales rep.

Czapo

I know i am late but there should be one in the box that it came with in a ziplock bag.
I have a po3-630 and it was there.

billsey

The ship different stuff in different locales and for different models… So we always have to suggest they look through the packaging closely, then give replacement info if they can't find it.