Acer Predator Orion 7000
MSRP $3,000.00
“The Acer Predator Orion 7000 could be among the many higher gaming desktops, if only it were a bit cheaper.”
Pros
- Runs cool and quiet
- Brilliant, vibrant RGB lighting
- Excellent 4K gaming performance
- Great connectivity options
- Hot-swappable SSD bay
Cons
- Expensive
- Upgrades could possibly be frustrating
- A great deal of bloatware
Acer’s Predator Orion 7000 was one in all the primary Intel Alder Lake desktops announced last yr, but it surely arrives at a time when most gaming desktops have already updated to Intel’s latest generation. We’ve got the lay of the land, however the Predator Orion 7000 still manages to face out amongst major PC vendors — despite its obscenely high price tag.
Most Twelfth-gen desktops I’ve checked out struggle with thermals and noise, as Intel’s latest chips push power requirements even higher. The Predator Orion 7000 doesn’t struggle with those issues, but its price puts it in a category of premium boutique PCs where the Orion 7000 struggles to maintain pace.
Design
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Acer makes a giant deal about its FrostBlade fans and the cooling design of the Predator Orion 7000, and for good reason — it really works. In a market where form rarely meets function (read our Asus ProArt PD5 review for an example of form over function), the Predator Orion 7000 shockingly manages each.
For looks, the Predator Orion 7000 takes no prisoners. Two brilliant ARGB fans occupy the prolonged front panel, the GPU is mounted vertically to point out off the cooler design, and the case is adorned with transparent panels on the front and side so you may see every element of your PC. That is an in-your-face PC.
Noise isn’t a difficulty on the Predator Orion 7000.
Thankfully, it stays cool, too. Even the toasty Core i7-12700K stayed around 70 degrees Celsius in a Cinebench run under a 120mm all-in-one liquid cooler. And in a 4K run of Cyberpunk 2077, the GPU never went above 80 degrees. The front panel is doing a number of work here, offering a considerable amount of airflow into the front of the case to maintain things cool. There’s a vent right by the GPU, too, so the vertical mount doesn’t choke off airflow because it does within the Asus GA35DX.
Noise isn’t a difficulty, either. I don’t suspect the airflow channels Acer has carved out for the intake fans and GPU are doing much, but whatever is occurring, it keeps the Predator Orion 7000 quiet. At most, it has a low, barely audible hum. That was true even in my most intense gaming tests, which speaks to the design of the Predator Orion 7000.
The machine looks great, and it stays cool and quiet. You rarely find each of those together. There’s loads of gamer flair, too, with customizable RGBs on the CPU cooler, intake fans, and exhaust fan through Acer’s included software.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Beyond the looks, the Predator Orion 7000 features a hot-swappable 2.5-inch hard disk drive bay that you may populate with any SSD. It’s infuriating getting the microscopic screws out to really install an SSD — it doesn’t include one included — but I still love the choice to swap a drive in without worrying about hooking up more cables.
Specs and pricing
| CPU | Intel Core i7-12700K |
| GPU | RTX 3080 |
| Motherboard | Acer-branded Z690 motherboard |
| Case | Predator Orion 7000 tower |
| Memory | 32GB DDR5-4000 |
| Storage | 2TB mechanical hard disk drive, 1TB PCIe SSD |
| Power supply | 800W unbranded power supply |
| USB ports | 2x USB 2,0, 6x USB 3.2, 2x USB-C |
| Networking | 2.5G Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E |
Acer offers two models of the Predator Orion 7000, which makes the spec and pricing discussion much easier. The model I reviewed clocks in at $3,000 for a Core i7-12700K processor, 10GB RTX 3080 graphics card, 32GB of DDR5 memory, and 3TB of storage split across an SSD and HDD (1TB and 2TB, respectively).
There’s no easy method to slice this; the Predator Orion 7000 is simply too expensive.
The Predator Orion 7000 isn’t aligned with where GPU prices are straight away. The MSI Aegis RS 12, for instance, is around $200 cheaper when paired with the more powerful RTX 3080 Ti and similar specs. Acer doesn’t include the 12GB RTX 3080, either, which might go a good distance in justifying the worth of the Predator Orion 7000.
Above that configuration, you will have a $4,500 model that jumps as much as a Core i9-12900K and RTX 3090 (with similar specs otherwise). That’s $300 dearer than the Origin Neuron with similar specs, and Origin means that you can customize your construct nonetheless you wish.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
The inclusion of DDR5, which competing machines just like the HP Omen 45L lack, helps Acer justify the worth of the Predator Orion 7000 a bit. But there’s no other method to slice this; the Predator Orion 7000 is simply too expensive, especially considering machines from boutique builders can cost less with similar specs.
Where the Predator Orion 7000 mainly justifies its price is the case. It’s cool and quiet, as I covered in the primary section, and comes with excellent connectivity. 2.5G Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6E lead with the newest networking options, and the case includes two USB-C ports — one on the highest and one on the back.
Internals and upgradability
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
There’s nothing holding you back from upgrading the Predator Orion 7000, technically. It uses all standard-sized components, and it includes empty hard disk drive slots when you need them. There are a number of other aspects making upgrades difficult, nonetheless.
The GPU is a great example. The airflow channel limits the dimensions of the GPU you need to use (though, you may mount the GPU horizontally by flipping the back plate). Similarly, there are empty SSD slots within the back, but Acer doesn’t included extra SATA cables. Thankfully, the HDD bay includes connections so you may easily swap in a mechanical hard disk drive.
Performing upgrades isn’t great either as a consequence of the haphazard cable management. It’s an analogous level of cable management because the Dell XPS Desktop 8950 — a PC that has a totally opaque side panel. Combined with the exposed chips on the RAM sticks and Wi-Fi module, the Predator Orion 7000 doesn’t look great when you stare at it for too long.
Performance
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
For non-gaming performance, there’s nothing too surprising for the Predator Orion 7000. The Core i7-12700K holds up in CPU tests like Cinebench and GeekBench, reaffirming that Intel’s Twelfth-gen CPUs are amongst the most effective processors you may buy. The Ryzen 9 5900X still competes in multi-core performance, though it’s falling behind in single-core performance while we wait for Ryzen 7000.
| Acer Predator Orion 7000 (Core i7-12700K) | MSI Aegis RS 12 (Core i7-12700KF) | Maingear Vybe (Ryzen 9 5900X) | |
| Cinebench R23 multi-core | 20,110 | 20,445 | 20,802 |
| Cinebench R23 single-core | 1,934 | 1,890 | 1,597 |
| Geekbench 5 multi-core | 14,382 | 15,362 | 12,724 |
| Geekbench 5 single-core | 1,677 | 1,886 | 1,718 |
| PugetBench for Premiere Pro | 929 | 920 | 956 |
| Blender Monster | 2,382 | N/A | 2,630 |
| Blender Junkshop | 1,355 | N/A | 1,283 |
| Blender Classroom | 1,194 | N/A | 1,476 |
Processor performance is great, however the inclusion of DDR5 memory doesn’t do much for the Predator Orion 7000 in practice. There isn’t a gain in PugetBench for Premiere Pro where I’d expect it most, for instance. Even with DDR4 within the Maingear Vybe, it managed to outperform the MSI Aegis RS 12 and Predator Orion 7000 (each equipped with DDR5).
Gaming performance
You possibly can see an summary of 4K gaming performance on the Predator Orion 7000 above (click the image to see a big version). Although the RTX 3080 may struggle in probably the most demanding games at 4K, it still reaches above 60 fps in most titles. And when you want much more performance, you may go for the RTX 3090 configuration that can push your 4K frame rates even further.
The graphics card is one a part of the equation, however the Core i7-12700K is doing a number of work, too. As you may read in our Core i9-12900K review, Intel’s Twelfth-gen architecture is superb for gaming. These processors run hot, but I never had any issues with thermal throttling or fan noise with the i7 while I used to be playing games.
I might’ve liked to see an option with AMD’s latest Ryzen 7 5800X3D, though. As you may read our Ryzen 7 5800X3D review, it’s the most effective processor for gaming straight away. The Falcon Northwest Tiki includes this processor, so although the RTX 3080 Ti on that machine is offering some additional performance, AMD’s gaming-focused processor is, as well.
That advantage is even clearer in synthetic benchmarks, where the Ryzen 7 5800X3D and more powerful GPU push ahead by 4% and 26% in 3DMark Time Spy and Fire Strike, respectively. You possibly can configure the Falcon Northwest Tiki with a Ryzen 7 5800X3D for around the identical price, too, and Falcon Northwest is some of the expensive PC vendors around.
Although the Predator Orion 7000 is a monster of a gaming PC, it’s necessary to maintain the worth in mind. You should buy similar machines for less, and also you only must spend a bit of more to get something as premium as a machine from Falcon Northwest.
Software
Bloatware reigns supreme on the Acer Predator Orion 7000. Norton is by the far probably the most annoying, popping up with pleas to run a scan or renew the subscription several times while I used to be testing the machine. Acer bundles in several other pieces of adware, too, including Dropbox and ExpressVPN.
Outside of the bloat, Acer includes PredatorSense and PredatorArc, each of that are utilities focused on the gaming side of the PC. PredatorArc is specifically for Acer peripherals, though, so its inclusion is a bit strange. PredatorSense opens up lighting and basic CPU overclocking options, but it surely’s removed from an in-depth utility.
Our take
The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is a improbable gaming PC that’s only soured by its high price. It costs about as much as custom builds from Maingear and Origin without offering the identical level of customization. It’s a greater option than a lot of the gaming desktops you’ll find in your local Best Buy as a consequence of its low noise and excellent thermals. But you’ll find a greater value with a custom-built PC when you take the time to configure one.
Are there any alternatives?
Yes, several:
- HP Omen 45L: Cheaper than the Predator Orion 7000 and equipped with Intel Twelfth-gen processors, but it surely doesn’t support DDR5.
- MSI Aegis RS 12: Less expensive than the Predator Orion 7000, however the case isn’t great, and the machine is susceptible to noise and warmth issues.
How long will it last?
The Predator Orion 7000 is powerful enough to last you many years, so that you won’t must worry about upgrading for quite a while. In the long run, you may upgrade the components since the Predator Orion 7000 uses all standard-sized parts.
Do you have to buy it?
Yes, but only when you can’t be bothered to configure a PC with a system integrator. You’ll get a a lot better desktop with Maingear, Falcon Northwest, or Origin, and you may even avoid wasting money depending in your configuration.
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