Acer’s new Predator Orion 7000 series desktop is not just one of the first releases to feature the new 12the generation Intel Core processors, it’s also an upgradeable beast with a striking-looking chassis.
OK, I lied. It’s mostly all about the chassis. What’s one desktop to another anyways? Well, in the case of the new Orion 7000, it’s a minimalist look that won’t look out of place anywhere. The EMI-certified tempered glass side panels sell a cool, monolithic look, which is punctuated by two 140mm FrostBlade front fans and a 120mm FrostBlade rear fan with ARGB lighting effects. You can also replace the rear fan with a larger 240mm one if you want to tweak the airflow or show off more light. The eye-catching ensemble is then topped off by an illuminated teal blue Predator logo at the front and a teal prism-refraction power button on top.
Aside from the new 12th generation overclockable CPUs, the chassis supports up to the RTX 3090 series GPUs and up to 64GB DDR5-4000 RAM. It also sports Intel Killer 2.5G LAN for faster and smoother connectivity and Intel Wi-Fi 6E with 2×2 MU-MIMO antennae if you want to go wireless. There’s also ample storage in the form of a 2.5-inch USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C hot-swap drive bay, 2x M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVIMe SSDs (up to 1 TB each) and two 3.5-inch SATA3 HDD (up to 3 TB each).
Predator GD711 and Predator GM712 Gaming Projectors
Why not consider a gaming projector to complete the ensemble? Acer certainly thinks there might be something here by offering a choice of two gaming projectors. The GD711 is LED-based, while the GD712 is a variant that uses a traditional lamp (3,600 lumens).
The GD711 is a convenient, one-stop solution, designed for both PC, console systems, and has entertainment features built-in as well: it has its own app store that offers a variety of streaming services.
But it’s all about performance, isn’t it? On paper at least, the GD711 looks to have it all covered: a wide colour gamut covering 125% of the Rec. 709 standards, 4,000 lumens of brightness, high dynamic contrast and HDR10 support.
It also offers a few projection modes that are catered for the activities chosen. There’s a standard mode in 4K resolution for video content, two gaming modes for bright and dark with user-defined frame settings to cater to the games being played. The GD711 can support up to 240 Hz for PCs (at 1080p) but unfortunately, it only supports HDMI 2.0 so it can’t do 120Hz for consoles.
But after all, projectors are all about size, and in this case, all you need is about 2.7 metres to project a 100-inch screen in your room.
Predator Gaming Desk
Acer’s also offering a 55″ gaming desk in two surface styles – easy-to-clean carbon fibre or easy-to-slide mouse pad with a slick design. The desk holds up to 120 kg and has a variety of accessories to manage your desktop paraphernalia. It also comes with a rack for storing gamepads, cartridges (shoutout to the OGs), a headphone hook, a cup holder, and a tray for AC adapters at the rear. It also features a cable management cutout on each side of the desk to keep cables nice and tidy.
