Acer Predator 17 X Review - Best Gaming Laptops

Acer Predator 17 X Review? The official, complete publication of virtual reality hardware has started an arms race in the equipment hardware. Everyone wants a piece of it. AMD Radeon RX 480 bragged about its credentials as a budget VR video card. NVIDIA has launched its own certification program, with a license plate and all. In fact, every major PC maker and many of the smaller ones have a system that somehow intends to build for VR. Acer Predator 17 X Review:

6th Generation Intel Core i7-6820HK Quad Core Processor 2.7GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.6GHz
Windows 10 Home
17.3-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-backlit IPS display with NVIDIA G-SYNC technology
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 with 8 GB of dedicated GDDR5 VRAM
32GB DDR4 Dual Channel Memory
512GB SSD in RAID 0 configuration
1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Predator SoundPound Premium High-Performance Sound System
Four Built-in Stereo Speakers and Subwoofer
HD Webcam (1280 x 720)
Secure Digital (SD) card reader
Killer Double Shot Pro Wireless-AC 1535 802.11ac WiFi featuring 2×2 MU-MIMO technology (Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Killer Ethernet E2400 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
Bluetooth 4.1
1 – Thunderbolt 3 (Full USB 3.1 Type C) Port
4 – USB 3.0 Ports (One with Power-off Charging)
1 – Display Port
1 – HDMI 2.0 Port with HDCP Support
8-cell Li-ion Battery (6000 mAh)
Up to 3-hours of battery life

Most of these platforms are desktop PCs. VR rugged hardware requirements disqualify more mobile systems. But there are some, like the Predator 17 X from Acer, that say what it takes. To achieve this, the Predator X 17 performs a subtle trick. Pairs of an Intel Core i7-6820HK quad-core mobile with an Nvidia GTX 980 desktop incarnation. Our review unit also fills an impressive cast of support – 32GB of RAM and two hard drives, one a solid state drive of 512GB , The other a 1TB mechanical unit.

Acer Predator 17 X Review Specs

CPU	2.9-GHz Intel Core i7-7820HK processor
Operating System	Windows 10 Home
RAM	32GB
RAM Upgradable to
Hard Drive Size	Dual 256GB
Hard Drive Speed	n/a
Hard Drive Type	SSD
Secondary Hard Drive Size	1TB
Secondary Hard Drive Speed	7200
Secondary Hard Drive Type	HDD
Display Size	17.3
Highest Available Resolution	3840 x 2160
Native Resolution	3840 x 2160
Optical Drive	None
Optical Drive Speed	n/a
Graphics Card	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU
Video Memory	8GB
Wi-Fi	802.11ac
Wi-Fi Model	Killer Wireless-AC 1535 802.11a/c WiFi featuring 2×2 MU-MIMO technology (Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.1
Mobile Broadband
Touchpad Size	4.1 x 2.4 inches
Ports (excluding USB)	HDMI 2.0
Ports (excluding USB)	Headphone
Ports (excluding USB)	Kensington Lock
Ports (excluding USB)	USB 3.0
Ports (excluding USB)	Microphone
Ports (excluding USB)	Thunderbolt 3
Ports (excluding USB)	DisplayPort
Ports (excluding USB)	Gigabit Ethernet
USB Ports	5
Card Slots	SD memory reader
Warranty/Support	Two-year limited warranty
Size	16.7 x 12.7 x 1.8 inches
Weight	9.8 pounds
Company Website	www.acer.com

Although only one letter separates the 17 Predator predator’s 17 x mark, the latest of the fastest and most powerful GPU has forced Acer to revise the chassis. It is bigger, thicker and heavier by each measure. The price is over, as well, at $ 2,800. It’s $ 300, more than a similar predator with a GTX 980M.

Related to: Make your game on the go with the best gaming notebooks

Does the faster model with VR capability have a X factor that makes it worth the price? Or do you prove that VR enthusiasts are better off tied to a desk? Acer Predator 17 X Review

Like a rock

The Predator X 17 bears the beautiful look, black on red, hard edges that Acer debuted in IFA 2015 for the new line. Unique, it is not, but the combination of matte black plastic with accents of red is a classic. It makes the game clear try without going over, and helps to obscure the fact the chassis is mostly plastic, not metal.

At 10 pounds, the Predator X 17 is a beast. Laptops of their size sometimes feel weak as their weight exceeds the internal strength of the chassis. Fortunately this is not a problem here. In fact, this laptop – like the predator 17 – feels incredible. Never mineralize or creak, even when held in a corner. Acer Predator 17 X Review

The strong design is partially due to the lack of an optical drive, an optical add-in can weaken a laptop because they are fundamentally a large open space that can not be reinforced. Although there may be rare situations where the omission of optical media is annoying, we believe it is the best overall choice.

Although it does not have a removable battery, the Predator X 17 is remarkably easy to upgrade. A single panel, secured with two screws, provides access to hard drives (mechanical and solid state) and free RAM bays. In our review unit, the RAM bays were completely empty. The common memory was everywhere and not so easy to access. There was also a second, free M.2 solid state drive slot, in addition to the occupied by the solid state drive of 512 GB.

Do not short on ports

Given its size, you would expect the Acer Predator 17 X to have plenty of room for ports. That is true.

The Predator X 17 not at a price beyond what its performance can offer.

On the left side you will find two USB 3.0 ports, microphone and headphone jacks and an SD card reader. To the right, there are two additional USB 3.0 ports, full-size HDMI and DisplayPort, Ethernet and even a Thunderbolt 3 port. This is an excellent variety of physical connectivity spanning the distance between old school connections and the latest technology.

Wireless connectivity is equally at the point. 802.11ac Wi-Fi, combined with Bluetooth 4.0, provides the usual support for the latest wireless network connection and peripherals.

Great keyboard, with a peculiarity

Using the 17x predator keyboard is a joy, at work and play. It is huge, which means that there is plenty of room for a full size key layout as well as room for space between each key. While this Acer does not have mechanical wrenches, they provide plenty of travel and a thick, satisfying clack with every press.

Acer offers several additional unique keys in the system. This includes a battery of five macro keys on the left side of the keyboard that can be linked to specific actions. Users can switch between three sets of macros using a button above the column. It is also a touchpad lock key, which is useful if you want to disable it while playing a game with a wired or wireless mouse.

RGB backlight is included as a standard feature. While attractive, the feature set is not up to par with some alternatives. There is a brightness level and there is no choice of pulse, flash or otherwise vary the brightness of the LEDs, as a group or independently. Players can only control color in four zones, which span the keyboard. Another type of illuminated, like the power button, is not adjustable for color or brightness.

Related to: Here is a complete list of what will look like in the great August 10 Windows update

The touchpad itself is adequate. It is not as large as you might expect, given this is a 17-inch system, but fine for everyday use. A couple of left and right physical mouse buttons are included and provide good tactile feedback. Our favorite feature is the backlit border. It helps define the touchpad space in a dark environment, and is not a feature that most competitors offer.

A perfectly average screen

Acer offers the Predator X 17 with two options, one of 1080p, the other 4K. We reviewed the 1080p model, which we believe is the best pair for the hardware. The latest games are too much for even GTX in 980 to handle when played in 4K resolution. We are pleased to report that the Acer compatible with Nvidia G-Sync as well, to ensure smooth, tear-free playability when function is activated.

The 1080p screen proved a strong, but not amazing performer. It came in a contrast ratio of 500: 1, which is a bit behind most competitors. The Asus ROG G752VT hit a ratio of 680: 1, and the origin EON17-SLX achieved 640: 1. All our proven systems deliver gracefully, an identical AdobeRGB color range of 71 percent. The average color error was 1.9, while the Asus ROG G752VT hit 1.87, and the origin EON17-SLX hit 1.68. In that test, smaller is better, which represents how much color reproduction differs from the ideal, standardized range. All three results are solid and close enough to each other that most users will find it difficult to notice the difference outside a side-by-side comparison.

Other figures were equally solid. The gamma curve came in at 2.1, right next to a target of 2.2 – it means images look a touch brighter than they should. The maximum luminance was 313 lux, which is very bright and just in line with the competition.

The screen looked like the numbers portray it. Content is reasonably strong, vibrant and offers a reasonable sense of depth. However, modest contrast to the screen means that scenes do not look as vivid and realistic as they could. Color is reasonably on the target, but the image often appears very cold, which can throw a clinical, impersonal look at a scene.

These are common problems with gaming notebooks. While the Predator X 17 does not excel, it is also not behind the curve. Our criticisms of its image quality can be repeated to describe any of the competitors on the laptop.

To disturb the listener

The speakers, however, were disappointed. A large system like the Predator X 17 should be able to offer a decent sound quality, and certainly treats the system. It produces heavy bass and its maximum volume is superior shape to most people will need, but we notice a distract, confusing quality to the sound. Certain frequencies had a tendency to cause vibrations inside the laptop. The overall quality was muddy as we expected, and even a simple podcast may seem like grid at maximum system volume.

A faster fraction

Our predecessor 17 X comes with an Intel Core i7-6820HK processor. This is a slight improvement over the more typical Core i7-6700HQ. It topped the base clock speed from 2.6 GHz to 2.7 GHz and the maximum speed of Turbo Boost from 3.5 GHz to 3.6 GHz. The system also came loaded with 32GB of memory.

A 100MHz increase in both base and maximum Turbo Boost clock not much, and we saw modest improvements as expected in our benchmarks. In most cases the jump was only a small percentage – too little notice daily use. That being said, the Predator X 17 performed very well in our hand brake test, which posted the second-fasting score we have seen of a laptop.

It tells you that, in Geekbench and 7-Zip, the origin EON17-SLX significantly outperforms the predator 17 X. Origin competitor currently equips not only a desktop-grade GPU but desktop-grade CPU. It gives rise to some great victories in the tests, but the origin is also the heaviest and most expensive system on this list by a wide margin (the price as tested was $ 3,600).

The Predator X 17 is also not a great performance value. The Asus G752VT and predator 17 are very close to it and hundreds less expensive. But we do not think 17 X be beaten too much for that. It is clearly more focused on the GPU than the CPU.

Lots of quick storage

Our review unit came with a 512GB solid-state drive along with a 1TB mechanical drive. We only tried the performance of the previous one, and found it to be quite quick.

CrystalDiskMark’s solid state drive Lee score exceeds one gigabyte per second, and its write score exceeded 600 megabytes per second. In both cases, the Predator X 17 is slower than the source EON17-SLX and 17 predator but faster, much faster – the Asus ROG G752VT or Razer Blade. The Predator X 17 also scored just over a gigabyte per second in HDTune.

Related: Acer Predator 17 (2015) review

Although not the fastest, 17x predator storage is excellent in all areas. It is also worth remembering that Acer has provided both quantity and quality. The solid state drive of 512GB, backed by a 1TB mechanical unit, is generous with space. It fits even within adding another M.2. Drive if you need more storage space in the future.

The desktop grade GTX 980 is fast, but could be faster

The most important 17x predator feature – arguably its entire reason for existence – is its Nvidia GTX 980 graphics chips. It is essentially the desktop component embedded in a portable form factor, and is the fastest single- GPU for gaming laptop provided.

Our benchmarks made that clear. Comparing the Predator X 17 to the predator 17, which we revise with a standard GTX 980M chip, is particularly informative considering otherwise the systems are very similar. In Fallout 4, the Acer Predator 17 X earns an average of 20 frames per second over its little brother, for an average of 99 FPS.

A thinner advantage of 10 FPS is visible on the battlefield 4 where, once again, the Predator X 17 averaged 99 FPS. In Crysis 3, our most demanding benchmark, the Predator X 17 has a thin advantage of three frames per second on average. That does not sound like much, but the improvement in performance is similar to that found on battlefield 4, in relative terms.

The origin EON17-SLX again beats the Predator X 17 – often, by a wide margin. That’s unexpected, because the EON17-SLX was also tested with a GTX 980. These results suggest two possibilities. One is that GTX 980 in the Predator X 17 is limited by power or cooling and can not replicate EON17 SLX results. The other is that the faster Intel processor origin raises a bottleneck that prevents the Predator X 17 from reaching its potential. Or possibly a bit of both. In any case, it is clear that the GTX 980 can perform better than it did on this Acer.

It’s a shame to see the hardware held back. But again, the Predator X 17 is much less expensive than the origin. And they reached 60 FPS at 1080p and maximum detail in all games except Crysis 3, where at least managed to exceed 30fps (even the origin was limited to 43 FPS). The predator is more than enough.

Virtual reality that realized

Although the Acer website does not say much about virtual reality, company press contacts heavily launched the Acer Predator 17 X to us as a virtual reality solution. Some laptops are able to handle VR, so it is a point of sale that is noteworthy.

We put the system to the test using TechPOP, a quarterly technology showcase held by digital trends in our home city of Portland, Oregon. In previous events we had to drag a huge VR-capable desk to the event space. Not this time. It was much easier to transport over the Acer, and set it up with the Live HTC took less than ten minutes.

During the event, which lasted three hours, we tested a variety of titles including fruit Ninja VR, fantastic gadget and trials on Tatooine. The Predator X 17 handles this constant use without complaint. All titles worked well. In fact, the Acer Predator 17 X did not seem to break sweat, it did not feel too hot and remained stable.

In short, Acer Laptop VR claim holds the scrutiny. The predator 17 X is fast enough to play VR, and is designed to do so for hours without any problem.

More portable than you would expect

The Predator X 17 comes with an 88 Watt 8 cell battery. It’s a thick, though not large, gaming laptop. Contributes to 10 pounds of influence system. At 1.8 inches thick, 16.7 inches wide and 12.7 inches deep, the laptop was on par with other 17-inch head systems. Predator 17 is a couple tenths of an inch thinner and less than a lighter pound. The Asus ROG G752VT is 1.5 inches thick and weighs 8.8 lbs. EON17-SLX origin is even larger at 10.5 pounds and equally thick.

Acer is conservative with its battery life estimate. The company says the Predator X 17 will last only three hours on a full charge. If true, that would be somewhat short, but we have seen better results. Our battery life test peacekeeping, which placed the peacekeeping web navigation reference, occurred three hours and 49 minutes of life. It is much smaller than the predator 17, which reached nearly six hours, but is also much better than the origin EON17-SLX, which achieved 2 hours and 33 minutes, or the Asus ROG G752VT, which lasted just under two hours.

Quieter than you might think

You could expect the predator to be a strong, hot beast. Struggle with physics is difficult. Better performance often means greater energy consumption and greater power draws often means more heat. Maybe more than a laptop can handle easily.

This laptop feels awesome. Never mineralize or creak, even when held in a corner.

This laptop, however, takes care of your desktop-grade GTX 980 as it’s nothing. It emits only 36.7 dB at idle and a maximum of 42.1 decibels at full load. The origin EON17-SLX was five decibels stronger, at 47.1dB. Even the Asus ROG G752VT was stronger under load, although we tested with an Intel Core i7-6700HQ and GTX 980M.

Temperatures remain low, despite the ruckus. There was a maximum outside temperature of 84.5 degrees Fahrenheit at idle. The reference 7-Zip processor had hardly raised that figure to an even comfortable 90.4 degrees. At full load hit 103.5 degrees, which is definitely hot – and actually warmer than the origin EON17-SLX or the Asus ROG G752VT. But it is tolerable and still a little less than average.

Special service

Acer, in an attempt to set itself apart from other major brands in the gaming space, offers a two-year warranty on its predator devices. This is more generous than the typical year warranty. The company also has a phone “special” line support for predator clients, although we can not comment on how support differs from normal.

conclusion

The Acer Predator 17, when reviewed last year, won the Editor’s Choice Award. It’s still our favorite gaming laptop. The Acer Predator 17 X takes advantage of many of the same advantages. It is attractive, well built, pleasant to use in day to day, and more portable than you expect, considering the hardware. However, despite these traits, not enough height to the standard set by its slimmer, more affordable twin.

Our problem is with the performance of the Acer Predator 17 X. It expects the GTX 980 desktop class to easily outrun the 980 GTX in the standard predator line. The Predator X 17 is faster but, as evidenced by the results we saw from origin EON17-SLX-also test with a GTX 980 interior – something is holding the Acer to reach its full potential.

The DT accessory package

Logitech G930 wireless gaming headset

$ 80

Razer Orochi mobile PC gaming mouse

$ 59

Corsair Gaming K70 mechanical keyboard

$ 127.63

Fortunately, the Predator X 17 does not have a price beyond what its performance can offer. Our retail sales review unit for $ 2,800. An almost identical predator, equipped with a Core i7-6700HQ and GTX 980M, goes from $ 2,500. It is a price increase of 10 percent, and the advantage of predatory 17 x performance is greater than 10 percent in most tests.

Home competitor, as mentioned, is much more expensive. ASUS does not offer a similar G752 precision, buy the G752VY, with an Intel Core i7-6700HQ, GTX 980M, 32GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1TB mechanical unit, and 1080p G-Sync, it’s $ 2,300. Other similar systems, such as the Alienware R17 and MSI GT72S, are priced at $ 2,400 to $ 2,700, usually with a GTX 980M more than desktop-grade hardware. The Predator X 17 is not a bargain, but it is definitely competitive in price.

In balance, we believe that the Predator X 17 is not quite as attractive as its little brother, the predatory 17. It is not available in more uncluttered configurations (its 32GB RAM, for example, is overdone), so it makes it harder to recommend the X. $ 2,800 is a lot of value after all – or not – and you do not need to spend a lot to enjoy 1080p Gaming on a laptop. The predator 17 also lasts longer on a full battery charge.

But if you make some money to spend and you want a laptop that goes beyond the performance normally available on-the-go, Acer Predator 17 X is a good choice. It is extremely fast, reliable and affordable – they can appreciate all players of traits.

Although they were made to pray, Acer’s new gaming equipment within its Predator range has seen the light in the form of a new gaming laptop Predator 17X and a surprising gaming desktop computer Predator G1 , which by its characteristics and reduced dimensions has managed to surprise To everyone present.

Both models, in addition to integrating the latest in processors and graphics hardware with Nvidia certification and are prepared for virtual reality devices (VR) such as Oculus, HTC Vive, OSVR and StarVR.

” Virtual reality offers an unlimited number of new possibilities, not only for gaming, but also for a wide variety of industries and applications in professional environments. As we saw today in our demonstrations, Acer wants to give users the tools they need both to play and to work in this new digital world. “ Commented Jerry Kao, president of Acer IT Products during the presentation, making clear The great power, present and future, of virtual reality.

Predator 17 X, the gaming laptop

The new Predator 17 X maintains the aesthetic line of its predecessors, improving substantially its performance. It integrates 6-generation Intel Core i7-6820HK quad-core processors, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 graphics card and an innovative three-fan cooling system that optimizes the flow of cool air from the front.

Thanks to Acer’s overclocking, it achieves speeds up to 4.0 GHz for the CPU , up to 1,310 MHz on the GPU and 3.7GHz for VRAM, making it the ideal “VR-to-go” platform.

It also has a 17.3-inch G-SYNC display, available in two resolutions: FHD IPS (1920 x 1080) and UHD IPS 4K (3840 x 2160) , both with NVIDIA G-SYNC technology that eliminates annoying effects like ‘Screen tearing’ or ‘stuttering’, thanks to a high refresh rate and the power of your GPU.

DDR4-2133 RAM, NVMe PCIe disks on a set of three SATA-SSDs, Killer DoubleShot Pro (allowing Ethernet and WiFi connections to work together) and three Thunderbolt ports with support for two 4K 60FPS displays, round off a laptop Gaming that will not go unnoticed.

Finally, the backlit keyboard of the Acer Predator 17 X includes customizable RGB lighting, allowing players to choose colors for specific games or profiles.

The price of the gaming laptop Predator 17 X is 1,799 euros and will be available in Spain as of August.

Predator G1, the gaming desktop to wear

It was the great surprise of the presentation, the desktop computer Predator G1 (G1-710) , a team of high performance inside a compact frame that can be easily transported, something almost unheard of in the gaming sector that makes the Predator G1 On the machine for any ‘LAN Party’.

The balanced balance between compact size and great power. Acer Predator G1 features a 16-liter chassis that supports an NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics card (up to Titan X), a 6th generation Intel Core processor and up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM.

Acer’s new Predator desktop gaming computer features Killer DoubleShot Pro, which selects the fastest network connection, G-SYNC support and 4K2K high resolutions, and includes Creative Soundblaster X-Fi MB5 with 7.1-channel audio Immersive.

As for storage, it integrates a hard drive up to 4TB (7200 RPM) or 512GB SSD , plus two USB-C ports and two headset sliders on each side of the tower, which will allow players to place their G1 against the Wall and even have a hook available for use.

The Acer Predator 17X is an upgraded version of Acer Predator 17, a powerful notebook computer that nevertheless does not meet the standard for high-end virtual reality systems. The Acer Predator 17X enhances its predecessor by offering the Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 graphics card found on many gaming desktop computers, rather than a less powerful card like the one usually brought by laptops. It has the same screen of 17.3 inches, with a new option to update it to a 4K screen instead of the standard screen of 1080p.

Gaming laptops are rarely stylish or with long battery life, but they are much more autonomous than desktop computers. But the Acer Predator 17X is even bigger than a normal laptop, as its weight is about 10 pounds, which is 2 pounds more than its predecessor, the Acer Predator 17. Its extra power also has no impact on the Battery, which lasted about 5 hours and a half step to last an average of only 3 hours.

Now if you have a headset from Oculus Rift or a HTC Vive, the Acer Predator 17X, is one of the few laptops that are guaranteed to play games in virtual reality, so is certified by the VR Ready program from Nvidia. Acer also boasts that the 17X can support OSVR and StarVR, but this is less relevant to most people: the former is a relatively low power system that has no gaming applications, and the latter is not currently a product of consumption.

PROBABLY THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE FIRST PURCHASE OPTION FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT A COMPUTER TO PLAY IN VIRTUAL REALITY.

For most people, a laptop is probably not an ideal choice. There are some advantages: in addition to the obvious ability to carry it more easily, the laptop screen eliminates the process of connecting a monitor. But the Acer Predator 17X also costs more than double what it could pay for a desktop system to play games with virtual reality, the expected price will be around US $ 2,799 when it goes on sale in the month of June in North America. (It is coming to China for the first time in May and would then go on sale in Europe, also in June.)

So what is the point of buying a laptop that is worth thousands of dollars, well this laptop is particularly good for developers, graphic designers, video editing, 3D modeling and in general all types of program or application that requires a Great computing power. In that aspect is undoubtedly very good, remember that if you do not have the money, always try to invest in a desktop or laptop that fits your multiple needs, not just one thing. Now for VR games, however much this notebook is “certified” for such games, that does not mean that you will be able to play them to their maximum level of detail and I even dare to say that in a medium level of detail already You’re going to demand too much of that hardware. For normal games, great, Most of the games will run you without dramas. So, if cost is not a problem, it is useful for anyone who wants to take their PC and play games other than VR. After all, if you are spending thousands of dollars on a super-powerful computer, you probably want it to be as versatile as possible.

Contents

1 Acer Predator 17 X Review Specs
2 Predator 17 X, the gaming laptop
3 Predator G1, the gaming desktop to wear

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