PO3-640, looking for some guidance on fan upgrades.

bugglefan
bugglefan Member Posts: 2 New User

Hello. Since the holidays are approaching and I'm a bit unsatisfied with the stock configuration of the PO3-640's cooling ability, I was looking into some fan upgrades. I did find a guide on this website that suggested Noctua fans for the rear case fan and the CPU fan and included installation instructions. That all seems fine to me (though the guide was for a 620 so in the off chance that's a problem, I thought that was worth mentioning), however the guide mentions that the front fan was a different matter. My understanding is the front fan is held in place with a specific bracket and does not take the full 4 screws that the other fans do, but I was unable to find all the info I'd like with a brief search.

Which leads to my questions:

  1. What is the specific configuration of the front case fan?
  2. Which Noctua fan model and size do you recommend as a replacement for this fan?
  3. How would I go about installing this new fan? Are there any parts I need that would need to be purchased separately? Detailed installation instructions would be extra appreciated. I'm not a complete novice to working on computers but it would set my mind at ease.

Thank you for your time

Answers

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,098 Trailblazer

    The Noctua range of case fans are an excellent choice to improve case cross flow ventilation, for the cpu cooler for the PO3-640 use the smaller Noctua NS-U9S chromemax_black cpu cooler as this cooler will fit perfectly in your desktops cpu space and it also has an option to add an additional fan for a dual fan cou cooler which will improve cpu cooling considerably.

    Noctua NS-U9S cpu cooler that can have an additional fan at the end

    The PO3-640 has one case fan down the bottom of the fornt part of the case and its a 92*92*26mm Acer part #: DC.10911.00N fan, it is secured with 4 screws, Good luck and hope this helps you out.

    Predator PO3-640 Exploded Diagram

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

  • bugglefan
    bugglefan Member Posts: 2 New User

    Thank you for the advice so far! The other posts I saw did also recommend NH-U9S so I'm glad to see it brought up again. I do have some followup questions:

    1. You mention that it can fit a second fan on top. That's really interesting to me, and it looks like the kit comes with a second mounting clip for that purpose. How easy is that process? It seems to me like it would just be snap on, but if it's a little more complicated than that I'd like to know ahead of time.
    2. How does one get access to the front fan? Unfortunately there seems to be some differences between the various Orions and I'm having trouble finding documentation for the 640 specifically. I've seen that for the 630, you need to pry the front bezel off. Is that the same case here? What would be your advice for that process if that's what I need to do?

    Thank you again!

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,098 Trailblazer
    edited 7:39AM

    I cant advise you 100% that the 2nd fan can be clipped on but I presume that is how its secured, maybe email Noctua and ask about the NSU9S fans as I'm sure that they will give you advice. Or maybe a community member can answer this for you.

    With the front bezel as far as the service guide is concerned is clipped on and needs to be unclipped like in the diagram below, as that is the only details that there is in the SG, so do that.

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