PH18-72-924C Acer Predator Helios 18 SSD fitment question. how thick can I go on the heat-spreader?

Hello, I purchased an (Acer refurbished) Acer Predator Helios 18 (Model PH18-72-924C) that will hopefully arrive tomorrow. Because it comes with a small 1TB SSD, I purchased a 4TB Samsung 990 Pro w/heatsink

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Workstations-Compatible-Playstation-MZ-V9P4T0CW/dp/B0CHHFR1LG/ref%3Dsr_1_1?crid=28EENPEZ27YIZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Idq320tdEPYhxmfzJe4cWAbA_5e_rAsyRaoeOO189rxeFs8vQlKScaE6cqmrZD8Q9wOtI6JjPING6fTSdyRZ_7YJz0aYe_avkmJ9jtd4IjVxajd_2hebbVeWhr8cqLomHcnpKXzC8f78fy7yuiW_ImYfettElKQu33Ga6YMEWbl3O4saK4OO9MuQphQDeN4P2c3oPD6LFl47kCxvfyUDZ6V2r9v_h2WXWXEUnZwIkyc.AdCz_KWFEl4SQlOe_6-tBvhZuOFMZ3dvw3-Fz8Ev1e4&dib_tag=se&keywords=samsung%2B990%2Bpro%2Bwith%2Bheatsink%2B4tb&qid=1735578966&sprefix=samsung%2B990%2Bpro%2Bwith%2B%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-1&th=1

to put install in the second slot. I'm guessing that it will not fit and I'll have to remove the stock heatsink and apply an aftermarket heatspreader. My question is: how thick can I go on the heat-spreader?

I'm disappointment that Acer does not have a list of compatible/tested memory & SSDs - and a quide to install them. I realize it's not rocket science but it would be nice to understand what tools will be needed to have on-hand. I also see that things like cleaning are not covered in the user manual.

Any things that I should check once I receive the machine to rule out the possibility of a lemon?

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

Accepted answers

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/718454/ph18-72-924c-acer-predator-helios-18-ssd-fitment-question-how-thick-can-i-go-on-the-heat-spreader

Your Acer PH18-72 laptop will run 64GB @ 2x 32GB DDR5-5600MT/s type ram perfectly. you will also be able to fit the 4Tb Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with its oem Heatsink into both M.2 slots as they will fit perfectly into your SSD1 boot slot and this M.2 drive will also fit into the SSD2 slave slot, so be aware of all this.

I’ve just updated/cloned my PHN16-71 from its 512GB Gen 4 x4 HK Hynix M.2 SSD drive (that is a similar design laptops to your PH18-72) which your laptop is also a bigger sized and has a bigger case than my PHN16-71, so the 4TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with its oem Heatsink will fit 100%. So don’t worry, the only thing that I found problematic with fitting this M.2 SSD into my laptop was that in the SSD1 boot slot the Samsung 990 Pro’s end screw cut-out needed to be filed down a bit so that I could screw the M.2 drive down properly for some strange reason, but this was no problem and was very easy to do, as strangely, this same drive fitted perfectly and I was able to screw it down in the SSD 2 slave slot when I did the cloning of the OS. Good luck and hope all this helps you out,

This is your PH18-72 laptop opened up showing its SSD 1 boot drive slot and its SSD 2 slave drive slot.

This is my PHN16-71 with the 1TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with oem heatsink fitted into SSD1 boot slot, they are the same laptops and your PH18-72 is bigger so there should be more room.

This is showing the end of the M.2 SSD cut-out slot that might need to be filed down if the screw doesn't fit and it cant be screwed down into the SSD1 boot slot properly.

This is my CrystalDiskMark test on the 1TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with Heatsink

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

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1318491#Comment_1318491

That is great I hope that I've helped you out somehow, also and since then, I've updated the ram to 64GB total @ 2x 32GB DDR5-4800MT/s with Crucial type 32GB #: CT2K32G48C40S5 ram, so if you want to upgrade your laptop to 32Gb or 64GB get the ram from Crucial as their suggested PHN16-71-xxxx ram is 100% correct and fully compatible with this laptop, 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👍

All comments

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/718454/ph18-72-924c-acer-predator-helios-18-ssd-fitment-question-how-thick-can-i-go-on-the-heat-spreader

Your Acer PH18-72 laptop will run 64GB @ 2x 32GB DDR5-5600MT/s type ram perfectly. you will also be able to fit the 4Tb Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with its oem Heatsink into both M.2 slots as they will fit perfectly into your SSD1 boot slot and this M.2 drive will also fit into the SSD2 slave slot, so be aware of all this.

I’ve just updated/cloned my PHN16-71 from its 512GB Gen 4 x4 HK Hynix M.2 SSD drive (that is a similar design laptops to your PH18-72) which your laptop is also a bigger sized and has a bigger case than my PHN16-71, so the 4TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with its oem Heatsink will fit 100%. So don’t worry, the only thing that I found problematic with fitting this M.2 SSD into my laptop was that in the SSD1 boot slot the Samsung 990 Pro’s end screw cut-out needed to be filed down a bit so that I could screw the M.2 drive down properly for some strange reason, but this was no problem and was very easy to do, as strangely, this same drive fitted perfectly and I was able to screw it down in the SSD 2 slave slot when I did the cloning of the OS. Good luck and hope all this helps you out,

This is your PH18-72 laptop opened up showing its SSD 1 boot drive slot and its SSD 2 slave drive slot.

This is my PHN16-71 with the 1TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with oem heatsink fitted into SSD1 boot slot, they are the same laptops and your PH18-72 is bigger so there should be more room.

This is showing the end of the M.2 SSD cut-out slot that might need to be filed down if the screw doesn't fit and it cant be screwed down into the SSD1 boot slot properly.

This is my CrystalDiskMark test on the 1TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe with Heatsink

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

Waynoski

Thank you for the very thorough answer! I'm relieved that I will not have to fiddle with the SSD and potentially void its warranty by removing the stock heatspreader.

Waynoski

I just added the drive… it fit fine just like you said in the second location. I did have to make a couple of small (2.5mm or so) snips in the vinyl sticker over the RAM due to interference with the SSD heatsink, but otherwise it was easy-peasy.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1318491#Comment_1318491

That is great I hope that I've helped you out somehow, also and since then, I've updated the ram to 64GB total @ 2x 32GB DDR5-4800MT/s with Crucial type 32GB #: CT2K32G48C40S5 ram, so if you want to upgrade your laptop to 32Gb or 64GB get the ram from Crucial as their suggested PHN16-71-xxxx ram is 100% correct and fully compatible with this laptop, 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👍

Waynoski

You helped me out for sure, thank you! I just got the laptop the other day so I'm still trying to figure things out and unfortunately a lot of other things are getting in the way (mainly work). The fans are unbearably lout in Turbo mode and the CPU runs very hot under load… Acer really needs to tune the Turbo mode to make it useful or allow us to tune it ourselves.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1318502#Comment_1318502

What I've found is that the combination of the 64Gb ram and the Samsung 990 Pro and heatsink the laptop runs 10C cooler as its got allot more memory to processes things allot quicker as it has more ram, I'm also using the Balanced mode in PS and not the Turbo mode, so try that . Also and on your PH18-72 make sure that you have bios version 1.10 installed as that has a microcode update which could improve the cpu voltage for the Intel 13th 14th Gen microcode problems that they have had.

Note: and when you update the bios in these laptops be patient and allow the bios software to finish completely and until the laptop automatically turns off with these laptops, as they will not reboot when the bios finishes like the other Insyde bios software, its very important to not disturb the bios flash mid way through the flash process and try and reboot the laptops before the bios flash finishes, so be careful with a bios flash.

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

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