From time to time, we get to test out new products here at Techaeris before they’re even announced. This time, we had an EXCLUSIVE opprotunity to take a first look at the Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming desktop the company just announced at this morning’s next@acer event. We’ve only had the unit for a short time, and as it is a pre-production unit, so this will differ from our usual reviews and won’t be scored.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Our exclusive Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming desktop first look takes the latest from the company for a spin and offers our thoughts on the overall design, feature set, and specs.
Table of contents
Specifications
The Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming desktop we reviewed has the following features and specifications (configurable when ordering):
| Processor | Overclockable 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processor |
| Graphics | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3090 graphics with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory |
| Memory | 64 GB DDR5-4000 SDRAM memory (4x16GB) |
| Motherboard | mATX |
| Storage | • 2x 1TB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 2280 SSD • 2TB SATA3 HDD • 3TB SATA3 HDD |
| Wireless | • Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 2×2 w/ Bluetooth 5.2 • Killer E3100G 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet |
| I/O Ports | • Front: 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C • Rear: 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, Ethernet, 3.5mm microphone, 2x 3.5mm audio out, 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort |
| Thermal solution | • ARGB-infused Predator FrostBlade™ 2.0 fans (2x 140mm, 1x 120mm) • ARGB-infused AIO CPU liquid cooler • Advanced IceTunnel airflow management |
| Operating system | Windows 11 Home (64-bit) |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 219 x 485 x 504.8 mm (8.62 x 19.09 x 19.87 in) |
| Weight | ~42.2lb |
What’s in the box
- Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming desktop
- Acer Predator gaming keyboard
- Acer Predator gaming mouse
Design
The Predator Orion 7000 gaming desktop is toned back from the Orion 9000. While still big, it’s a bit smaller as well. Standing nearly 20″ in height, it is just over 19″ deep and slightly over 8 1/2″ wide. Matte black in colour, it has a glass front panel to allow you to see the dual front 140mm fans. The top quarter or so of the front panel is gloss black and has the Acer Predator logo in the middle. Both the fans and the logo have RGB LED lights. This panel does extend about two inches from the front of the chassis. The sides have a honeycomb grill on all four sides, with curved corners, for ventilation. The power button for the system is centered on the top grill.
The right side panel is also glass, with the Predator logo printed in silver on the side. The panel does come off pretty easily, simply remove two screws from the back and pop a lever to slide it back and off. Regardless, with the panel on or off, you can easily see all the components inside in a pretty typical gaming desktop fashion. The rear fan with RGB is located near the back at the top. The Acer CPU cooler has the Predator logo in the middle and an RGB ring around the four edges. Above the cooler, on the top of the system, is a fourth fan (without RGB lights). Next to that, towards the front, are your four RAM slots, each filled with a 16GB DDR5-4000 RAM DIMM. The two NVMe M2.2280 SSDs are visible as well, one below the CPU cooler, the other at the same height but to the right of the RAM DIMMs towards the front. Below all this is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX video card towards the back with the IceTunnel component against the front. Finally, the power supply and two HDD drives are located near the bottom of the desktop. As you can see, it is pretty easy to change out any of the components or add extra RAM or storage if you haven’t maxed out the system at the time of purchase.
As is usually the case, the back of the system is where you’ll find all your ports, and there are plenty of them. In total, there are three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port, an Ethernet port, and your three audio/mic output ports. On the graphics card itself, you’re getting three DisplayPort and one HDMI 2.1 port. There is plenty of ventilation as well, with the rear fan and honeycomb grilles on both the power supply and to the right of the graphics card.
The top of the case has another rather large honeycomb grille for ventilation. It releases by way of a latch in the handle at the top of the back of the case. Doing so allows you to access the top fan. Towards the front are three more USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port. Just behind this is a slot with a release button. Press the button and a small SATA SSD enclosure pops out. I thought this was a pretty cool feature as you can use it as extra storage, but take it on the go with you and use it as a portable hard drive when needed. In our pre-production unit, this was empty, but it’s easy to slot in an SSD or HDD drive and requires removing a pair of screws from the side of the enclosure.
The chassis sits pretty low to your desk, about 3/8″ above it. There are four rubber-like feet, one in each corner. While there isn’t much clearance, there is another vent near the back for extra airflow. During the time I had with the gaming desktop, the airflow seemed perfectly fine with plenty of vents on the front, back, and top of the system.
The Predator Orion 7000 ships with an mATX motherboard. With the tool-less tower case design, users can easily upgrade the various components inside. Not only can they upgrade to PCIe Gen 5 devices going forward, add hard drives with more capacity, install a new graphics card (up to 320mm long), or customize their cooling modules, but they can also swap out the motherboard for an ATX version.
As far as the RGB lighting goes, the three fans, CPU cooler, front Predator logo, and a few extra small LEDs on the motherboard are all that light up. At first, it seemed a tad underwhelming, however, after a few days, I actually came to like the more minimal lighting. It still looks good but isn’t overwhelming when you’ve got the lights down low later in the day.
The system also comes with a Predator gaming keyboard and gaming mouse. While not their top-of-the-line models, they are pretty decent for included accessories.
Overall, the Acer Predator Orion 7000 is a sleek-looking matching, not too bold or aggressive, but still recognizable as a gaming rig at first glance.
Software
The pre-production unit shipped to us was running Windows 11 Home, the latest release of Microsoft’s operating system. Unfortunately, being a pre-production unit, the operating system wasn’t 100% functional but worked well enough. I have used Windows 11 on another system and it works great for gaming. There are reports that the new OS slows down gaming performance, but I haven’t personally experienced that issue and the tasks I ran on the Predator Orion 7000 ran just fine.
As for extra software, the gaming rig shipped with Norton Security Ultra, a Dropbox promotion, 30 days of ExpressVPN, Killer Control Centre, PhotoDirector for Acer, PowerDirector for Acer, and PredatorSense. PredatorSense is the primary app you’d likely use, alongside the Killer Control Centre, to control and view different aspects of the system. With PredatorSense, you can view stats like CPU and GPU temperature and load, toggle CPU overclocking, adjust the RGB lighting between 12 presets, and monitor and control your fans. The Killer Control Center, on the other hand, lets you monitor your network and bandwidth. You can even prioritize apps and games, and the new Intelligence Engine will detect and prioritize video, gaming, and download traffic.
Performance
Unfortunately, I can’t speak too much about the performance as this pre-production system shipped with an unreleased 12th Gen Intel Core processor. While I did run some benchmarks for curiosity, I can’t disclose the results at this point in time.
That being said, with its 12th Gen Intel Core processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 graphics with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory, 64GB of RAM, 2TB of NVMe SSD storage, and 5TB of HDD storage, you won’t be disappointed with the performance of this gaming rig. The system itself was pretty zippy, with applications opening quickly and simple tasks like web browsing or document editing performed well. More intensive apps like Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and even Premiere rendered and exported files quickly.
As far as cooling is concerned, Acer has the system covered with an AIO CPU liquid cooler and Advanced IceTunnel airflow management. As the company explains:
“ARGB AIO CPU liquid cooler – Built from industry-leading components, the all-in-one CPU liquid cooler from Predator Orion 7000 features a dual chamber pump with thinner skived fins to dissipate heat effectively, and one 120mm fan with outer-ring to reduce fan distortion and improve fan rotation stability in aluminum radiator. ARGB lighting on the pump allow users to match lighting colors and effects through PredatorSense™.”
Acer
It is relatively quiet for the most part but can still get a bit noisy during gaming or other CPU-intensive tasks. Even though it is a pre-production system, it performed as I would expect given the internal components.
Price/Value
As this is an advanced early look at an upcoming 2022 product, Acer doesn’t have specific pricing yet. The Acer Predator Orion 7000 will likely set you back a pretty penny, at least not as configured in our pre-production unit. Then again, the target market is the hardcore game enthusiast who should find decent value in this gaming rig.
Photo Gallery
Wrap-up
While the Acer Predator Orion 9000 is a bit aggressive in the looks department, the Predator Orion 7000 will be a great choice for gamers that want something a bit more subdued. It looks sleek with its RBG lighting, has plenty of cooling, and given the options that will be available component-wise, should be able to easily handle anything gamers can throw at it.
Last Updated on May 16, 2022.
