Acer’s gaming lineup has been one of the most complete offerings on the market. From formidable gaming laptops like the Predator and Nitro to the Orion Desktops, the company has thought of nearly every use case and budget. This year, they are refreshing their offerings with the latest and greatest from Intel for better performance.
Predator Orion Desktops
Acer’s Predator Orion desktops have consistently been performers both in design and specifications. The ready-built options bring some of the sleekest, most functional designs that are available on the market. This year, the Predator Orion 5000 and Predator Orion 3000 are getting a much-needed upgrade to the 12th Generation Intel Core processors. The new architecture in Intel’s new processors not only bring nearly 28% more performance power but also allow the machines to run smoother and cooler.
In addition to the new processors, the Predator Orion 5000 and Predator Orion 3000 are getting a design update. The new versions of the desktops do away with the unique, angular designs of yesteryear in favour for a more trippy, vanilla design. The new design adopts a more conventional rectangular shape. This could be a boon seeing as the size of desktop graphics cards are increasing. It also comes with even more RGB goodness with options for glass panels to show off your build.
The Orion 5000 desktop will be shipping with an Intel H670 chipset which will ship with up to an Intel Core i7 processor. The Orion 3000 desktop will have an Intel B660 chipset. The former will have specifications supporting up to an NVIDIA RTX3080 graphics card while the latter tops out at an NVIDIA RTX3070. Both have configurations supporting up to 64GB of 4,000MHz DDR5 RAM. They support for up to 2TB of internal SSD storage with up to an additional 6TB of total SATA HDD storage.
When it comes to connectivity, both have support for WiFi 6E. The Orion 5000 comes with a higher specc’d WiFi Killer E3100G module while the Orion 3000 comes with a WiFi Killer E2600 module. Both support 2×2 MU MIMO for WiFi 6E. They also come with the latest Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fans for cooling. Both are also coming with Windows 11 pre-installed.
Predator Gaming Monitors
Together with their new Predator Orion desktops, Acer is also bringing a refreshed lineup of gaming monitors to complete the Predator Gaming experience. The Predator X32 has already been recognised for it innovative design and features with the CES Innovation Award. Together with the Predator X32 FP gaming monitor, the X32 series is coming with an increased 160Hz refresh rate which can be overclocked to 165Hz. They are both UHD displays with a resolution of 3,840×2,160 pixels in a 32-inch form factor. The monitors come with VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification and feature a miniLED IPS panels with a ∆E of less than 2 and 99% coverage of the AdobeRGB gamut.
In addition to that, the Predator X32 supports high performance, ultra low latency thanks to its NVIDIA G-SYNC ULTIMATE support. The X32 FP comes with an HDMI 2.1 port which allows users to use the monitor for console gaming. It will allow consoles to take advantage of the 165Hz refresh rate and UHD resolution. It also has an additional USB Type-C port with support for 90W power delivery and supports AMD FreeSync Premium.
Predator CG48 Gaming Monitor
Together with the Award winning X32, Acer is introducing the Predator CG48 gaming monitor – a monitor large enough to be your TV replacement. The 48-inch monitor comes with 4K resolution and 138Hz refresh rate. It supports HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4. The CG48 also has four USB 3.2 ports and an additional USB Type-C port. The OLED display of the CG48 comes with AMD’s FreeSync Premium Pro technology with a response time of 0.1ms gray to gray (GtG). With AMD’s FreeSync Premium Pro, it also supports variable refresh rates for a smoother gaming experience. It comes with a 135,000:1 contrast ratio, HDR10 support and covers 98% of the DCI-P3 gamut.
Pricing & Availability
The Predator Orion desktops will be available in North America starting in February; in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia) region starting in March and in China starting in January 2022. The Orion 5000 will have the recommended retail prices starting at USD$2,599 in North America, EUR1,999 in EMEA and RMB14,999 in China. The Orion 3000 retail prices start at USD$1,999 in North America, EUR1,299 in EMEA and RMB11,999 in China.
The Predator X32 monitor will be available starting in Q2 in China and Q3 elsewhere. It will be retailing at USD$1,999 in North America, EUR1,899 in EMEA and RMB12,999 in China.
The X32 FP will be available starting in March 2022 in China. EMEA and North America will see it sometime in Q2 2022. Prices will be starting at USD$1,799 in North America, EUR1,599 in EMEA and RMB10,999 in China.
The Predator CG48 will be available starting in Q2 2022 in China. It will be available in other regions starting in Q3 2022. It will be retailing for USD$2,499 in North America, EUR2199 in EMEA and RMB14,999 in China.