Predator Orion 3000 PO3-655 Case Replacement: Preparation, Implementation, Issues

Options
Narkoff
Narkoff Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter

Introduction

My gaming PC, Predator Orion 3000 PO3-655, had several issues right out of the box: a noisy cooling system and high idle temperatures. I decided to replace the case with a more spacious and well-ventilated option. With the extra space, I also planned to upgrade the CPU cooler.

Preparation

First, I took two photos: one of my motherboard and another of a standard ATX motherboard with the same LGA 1700 chipset. By overlaying the images with different levels of transparency, I aligned the sockets to the same size and checked the mounting hole positions. They were almost identical. Given potential scaling differences and camera angles, I considered the slight mismatch a minor margin of error.

After confirming compatibility, I started choosing a case. It was crucial that there was enough room for my motherboard beyond the standard ATX boundary, avoiding interference from protrusions or fans. Since my CPU ran hot even at idle, I opted for a case with three 140mm front intake fans to ensure good airflow.

I chose the Phanteks XT Pro Ultra, which offered a reasonable price and came with four 140mm fans included.

For the CPU, I ordered the Noctua NH-D15 G2 cooler.

Additionally, I prepared for the transition from RGB to ARGB with:

  • DeepCool SC790 2-in-1 PWM & RGB
  • DeepCool RGB Converter 5V ADD-RGB to 12V RGB Transfer Hub

Replacement Process

  1. Disconnected power and carefully dismantled the old case, labeling all connected wires. 20250220_183424.jpg
  2. On the first day, I removed the GPU, cooling system, and front and top panels. I also examined the amount of thermal paste from the manufacturer and the weak heatsink that was installed. 20250220_203049.jpg
  3. The next day, I received the new case and immediately tested the motherboard fitment in terms of mounting holes and dimensions. Everything was fine! 20250221_204141.jpg 20250221_204856.jpg
  4. Confident in the move, I prepared the new mounting system for the CPU cooler. The stock mounting was plastic, and I didn’t trust it to hold a heavy cooler. 20250221_213820.jpg
  5. Installed the prepared motherboard into the new case, placed the 750W power supply, mounted the Noctua NH-D15 G2, slightly raising one fan to provide more clearance for the RAM, and connected the GPU. I was slightly worried about the front panel F_PANEL connector, which was a single block, but everything worked fine during the test boot. 20250222_000720.jpg
  6. The only remaining task was cable management and dealing with the lighting, which took another day. I used DeepCool GH-01 to support the GPU, which also helped neatly hide the power cables for the graphics card. 20250223_100706.jpg 20250223_100336.jpg

Issues and Solutions

  • When removing the top panel, I discovered that the WiFi antennas were glued to the case. I either had to detach them or buy separate ones in advance. 61BSknE--BL._AC_SL1500_.jpg 20250220_185112.jpg
  • The CPU cooler’s backplate was plastic and strongly adhered to the motherboard. I decided to disassemble the CPU retention mechanism—both to safely remove the adhesive without damaging the motherboard and to check if I needed the included 1mm LGA1700 spacers. It turned out the board already had its own spacers.
  • The motherboard’s RGB system is a nightmare for those who want to use aRGB. I tried different setups, but my lighting still doesn’t work correctly. The colors flicker slightly, and I might need a dedicated controller. For now, I just turned off the lighting.
  • Fan control is also not ideal, seemingly optimized for small 92mm fans. I manually set the intake and exhaust fans to minimum speed.
  • The GPU with blower-style cooling is still loud, but that was expected. No way around that.

Results

After replacing the case, CPU and GPU temperatures dropped significantly, and overall noise levels decreased. Airflow improved, which positively impacted system stability. The new cooler keeps the CPU cool even under load.

20250223_101518.jpg 20250223_101547.jpg

Conclusions and Recommendations

  • Replacing the case is not pointless—better airflow can prolong component lifespan.
  • If you want customizable lighting, choose components with 4-pin 12V RGB, not 5V 3-pin aRGB or d-RGB, or wait for my experiments with a dedicated controller.
  • If you want to keep the original case, you can install a CPU cooler up to 135mm, or possibly even 145mm. If my case swap hadn’t worked, I would have used the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 MINI BLACK (135mm tall with a 120mm fan). Also, note that under the top panel, over half the ventilation holes are covered with film.
  • In the new case, you lose all front-panel ports—the motherboard’s onboard ports remain inside the case. For example, the Type-C port is now inaccessible. I plan to solve this by routing a hub externally.

I hope this material and my experiment will be useful and at least informative for you. I’d appreciate any feedback!

Answers

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 14,904 Trailblazer

    Great work and a very detailed upgrade that will be very handy for community members. Thanks for the input and sharing your upgrade, well done👍

    If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

  • Joesnb
    Joesnb Member Posts: 3 New User

    Hello,

    I was wondering how u installed the 750W PSU because I couldn't find any PSU that was compatible, or did you use a certain adapter?

  • Narkoff
    Narkoff Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter

    Hi! I didn't add the 750W power supply – it's the original one that came with the PC, even though the store listing said it had a 500W unit. I think I saw a table somewhere showing the models they use, but I'm not sure if those are available at retail. I haven't looked deeply into the PSU side of things. I just figured that if any problems come up, I'll either contact Acer for warranty support or just replace it with a proper motherboard and a decent PSU.

  • Cookiemonster2001
    Cookiemonster2001 Member Posts: 19

    Tinkerer

    yeah I've just transferred 3000 650 to Antec Flux Pro with thermelright phantom evo

  • Narkoff
    Narkoff Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    20250523_161744.jpg 20250523_163912.jpg 20250523_163936.jpg

    For the lighting, I ended up using the Fractal Design Adjust R1 RGB. It works independently without needing a motherboard connection and remembers the lighting mode when the PC powers on. There aren’t many modes, but the static amber is enough for me.

    I also used the front motherboard ports: a 50 cm USB Type-C extension cable, which makes it accessible without opening the case. For regular USB, I used a 2-meter hub placed under the monitor, where I plugged in the mouse and keyboard.

    The only plans left are to install a heatsink on the SSD and probably add a second SSD. Maybe one day I'll change the GPU cooler—or even the whole PC. =)

  • Jammie
    Jammie Member Posts: 3 New User

    You reckon the screw positioning is practically the same as a normal ATX? I have had mine 2 days and need to cool it down 😂🤦🏼‍♂️

  • Cookiemonster2001
    Cookiemonster2001 Member Posts: 19

    Tinkerer

    I transferred a 3000 P3-650 to a Antec Flux Pro, no problem. Standard spacing for standoffs

  • Jammie
    Jammie Member Posts: 3 New User
    edited July 21

    Thanks for the info! Im going to get a new case today, and probably an AIOC. This i7 runs way to hot haha

  • Narkoff
    Narkoff Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter

    Hi! I couldn't find the info back when I was doing it, so I compared the motherboards using photos =)
    I made them semi-transparent and scaled them by the socket, then compared the mounting holes.
    It's been about half a year, so I don't remember exactly, but I think ITX support is needed (though I'm not 100% sure).

    Right now, you have at least two cases that have been tested and confirmed to work 🙂

    I strongly do not recommend using a water cooling system.
    There’s no dedicated pump header and the BIOS is really bad.
    Fan control is pretty poor too. Air cooling is much more practical and safer on this motherboard.

    Also, just a heads up — our lighting here is 12V, so any newer ARGB stuff won’t work properly without an additional controller.

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 14,904 Trailblazer

    Just remember that using a none Acer case you will lose all the front USB ports that the proprietary Acer PO3-650 case is specially designed for the PO3-650 mobo and the front ports.

    Front PO3-650 (655) ports that you will lose.

    image.png

    If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

  • Narkoff
    Narkoff Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter

    I also used the front motherboard ports: a 50 cm USB Type-C extension cable, which makes it accessible without opening the case. For regular USB, I used a 2-meter hub placed under the monitor, where I plugged in the mouse and keyboard.

  • Jammie
    Jammie Member Posts: 3 New User

    wow… i had a look at the BIOS… they couldn't have made it less useful if they tried! Im half considering getting a different motherboard and transferring my parts over now 😅

  • Cookiemonster2001
    Cookiemonster2001 Member Posts: 19

    Tinkerer

    Good luck with that, as the motherboard and PSU are tied together. Also probably find memory is pretty slow, compared to optimised board/memory combo ie 6000mhz AM5 rig

  • alexjames49
    alexjames49 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Am i on the right place!

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 14,904 Trailblazer
    edited July 22

    Jammie, you would be much better off buying a new standard sized square mATX board from a renowned manufacturer as its allot cheaper and a better choice to upgrade your whatever model PO3-6xx desktop you have, as the PO3-650 and the 655 Acer models both have an Intel B760 chipset board, so go on the web and search for a better gaming chipset mobo like the MSI Z760 board with the Intel Z790 gaming chipset:

    As the MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI board will cost you about USD $135.00 and will accept the 13th or 14th Gen cpu's with the newest DDR5 max speed 7000MT/s type ram (which I would upgrade to the DDR5 RAM as its quicker for gaming) and all the the PO3-650 or the PO3-655 model Acer CPU can still be used, as I would upgrade the RAM toDDR5 and PSU to a modular 24pin type and GPU to either an RTX 40 or the newest 50 series GPUs, for better performance for gaming than what either the PO3-650 or the 655 had and does, that will make your desktop a true high end platform.

    This is just a suggestion, as if you decide to upgrade, you might as well do it so that its worth while and you go up a few upgrade steps so that your new desktop is close to the modern DDR5 desktops on the market today, and not waste your money on obsolete technology. Good luck.

    If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

  • Cookiemonster2001
    Cookiemonster2001 Member Posts: 19

    Tinkerer

    Personally I'd just do the following with Acer system

    New case

    New heatsink fan

    Add NVME/SATA hard drives

    New GPU when it's going slow, but keeping within the spec of the existing PSU. If getting a new GPU find out maximum power usage of existing card, get a newer gen model that uses the same or less power, but is faster because it's more efficient/small die process etc.

    I'd leave motherboard/memory/PSU until the system is slow to the point of needing a base system upgrade.