Acer Orion PO3-640 PSU makes noise, and other questions related to my problem.

IIHII
IIHII Member Posts: 4 New User
edited June 2023 in Predator Desktops

Hi folks, new here. Im since a couple of days the owner of the Acer Orion 3000 PO3-640.

Little problem shooting here, when the pc is turned off, i hear the psu, the sound is comparible if energy goes trough to something (trrrrr sound), so i have plugged it in a socket with a switch, so when i turn off the switch there is no power to the psu and the sound goes away, but when i flip the switch and the electricity goes to the psu again, the psu is making a sissing sound (sounds like ssshhhhh) so very different sound as when i worked on the pc and turn it off, also when i flip the switch of the socket to on and the pc is still off, my rgb keyboard is lighting up and my external harddrive is running while the pc is still off, add the sissing sound of the psu with it, and it feels not like normal.

I must say other then that i did not found any weird noises and the computer runs fine.

From what i have already read, other psu's are impossible, or you need to be some electronic wizard that can make it work.

-Questions-

1. How do i contact Acer and get a possible new psu? There is no part shop i can find, where i can easily buy parts for my computer.

2. If i would decide to change the motherboard, and with that change to a very common psu, can i just take all the parts that are inside of my computer, and put that on the new motherboard or are these components all modded and fit only on the current motherboard?

3. How long is hardware support for my computer, let say in 5 years or let it be 10, the motherboard gets an error or the psu, can acer still deliver parts in such a timeframe?

4. 1. I have seen alot of driver updates on the acer website, but when i download it, these drivers are in zip maps and are just files, do i need to place them in a certain folder?
2. I have been going to application management and selected all the components, and search for updates but it said, everything is up to date.
3. What is the difference between a driver and a utility?
4. I also see on the webpage bios updates, im kind of scared to do these updates, are they need to be updated in a certain order? from old to new?
5. If i would do all the updates, including the bios updates, is there a chance that the sound of the psu goes to normal in off modus and when i flip the switch of the socket to on but my computer is still off my rgb keyboard does not light up and my external hdd is not running when the pc is off?

Maybe stupid questions, but a little new in this space.
Thank you, bye.

[Edited the thread to add model name]


Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 7,524 Pathfinder

    Try to reverse the AC polarity of the wall socket that helps with inverters but also with PSUs. If your power plug is 3-pin use a 2-pin electrical plug adapter that you can plug in reversed.


  • IIHII
    IIHII Member Posts: 4 New User

    Thank you for your answer.

    I will try this, and update if it worked.

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 9,687 Trailblazer

    Just some useful and additional information for you. All the questions you are asking in regards to updating this desktop you should know how to do, if you don’t If you don't know how to update basic drivers then definitely DO NOT update the BIOS as you will brick your desktop and you will need the BIOS chip to be reprogramed. I suggest that you take your desktop to a knowledgeable computer savvy person or preferably to a technician if you want this desktop to perform at its peak.

    If you want to change the motherboard (as you can see below) the PO3-640 is an Acer inhouse size board, if you want to change the board, then you will need to measure the size of what the PO3-640 case can accomodate or you will need to change the case and board of the PO3-640. The components of this desktop will work within other and similar motherboard that are an Intel Socket 1700 CPUs type board, (so that you can fit the OEM i7-12700) but the PO3-640 board is restricted to DDR4 type ram. The boards you can upgrade to are all the Intel Chipset 600 series (B660, H670, Z690) type boards that have DDR4 ram. For DDR5 socket 1700 CPU type boards you need to upgrade to the newer Intel 700 series chipsets like its top gaming chipset the Z790.

    The Acer supplied 500W PSUs for the PO3-640 is an 8 pin type so to use this PSU on a new board with a 24 pin type board connector you will need to use an 8pin to 24pin cable which are available but if you upgrade the board then you should also upgrade the PSU to one of the module 24pin PSUs types

    This is the PO3-640 board details

  • IIHII
    IIHII Member Posts: 4 New User

    I would update, on reversing the ac polarity of the wall socket.

    Unfortunately did not solve any of the noise problems.

  • IIHII
    IIHII Member Posts: 4 New User

    Thank you for the help and suggested options.

    Yes you are right, it would not be wise for me to update any of the bios upgrades, or i need to find a technician that has extensive knowledge about this subject.

    Maybe a good suggestion for acer to make an installtoolkit software that would search for the latest drivers and bios upgrades, for people like me, that would install the neccesary for the customer.

    Thank you for the scheme of the motherboard, but the motherboard has at number 5 of the scheme 1 x 6 pin for power and 2 x 4 pin at number 21 of the scheme, atx to atx12vo from what i read will not work, corsair has an adapter cable but that is a 24pin to 10 pin.

    If i cant get a psu from acer itself the most obvious way is to get eventually a different motherboard, case and psu to solve the problem in the long run.

    What i cannot understand is why acer will not make any adapter cables, even if it is priced spicy, i could consider such options. Because from what i have read, im not the only person that is confronted with this subject.

    Anyways…

    I think i need to contact acer support, because i cannot fix this problem by myself at this point….

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 7,524 Pathfinder

    Bring the PC to Acer Services in your country to check it.


  • chugzilla
    chugzilla Member Posts: 672 Seasoned Specialist WiFi Icon
    edited June 2023

    i dont know why everyone freaks out about updating the BIOS, its on the windows update page called advanced options-option updates and it installs no problems at all !!@!! and as far as the pc goes, return it if you can and get a 5000 series, they are much much much better than the 3000, and in some cases cheaper.