Following in the footsteps of the Predator 21X curved display laptop—unveiled at IFA 2016 and now sold out—Acer has unveiled the Orion 9000, a carbon fibre clad, RBG-laden behemoth of a gaming desktop with masses of upgradability. It's due for release before the end of 2017 at a starting price between "two to three thousands dollars."

That kind of money won't buy the configuration Acer has on show at IFA, which features an 18-core Intel Core i9-7980XE processor (the 7980XE retails for $2,000 on its own), four AMD Radeon Vega graphics cards, and 128GB of memory. Other configurations with more reasonable components—including comparatively cheaper CPUs like the i9-7900X, as well as GTX 1080 Ti SLI graphics from Nvidia—will also be available.

"Designed to intimidate enemies," according to Acer, the Orion 9000 has one of the most extreme l33t gamer designs I've seen in some time, with aggressive angles, vents, and enough RBG lighting to blind even the most the hardened of PC gamers. There are faux carbon fibre highlights throughout, too, along with a hinged side panel window that quickly comes loose with a click. Notably, the window has a metal mesh applied to it that distracts from the look somewhat but is required to make the machine EMI certified (something most enthusiast PC cases are not).

There are built-in handles and wheels, although it's doubtful the Orion 9000 is something you'd want to wheel about often. Inside, Acer is using a motherboard of its own design that features eight dimm slots, support for up to 128GB of DDR4 memory, and up to 42 TB of storage via tool-free mounts. There are five 120mm fan mounts, one of which is taken up by an all-in-one liquid cooling unit manufactured by Coolermaster. A PSU shroud helps keep cables tidy while also directing airflow.







Mark Walton







Connectivity comprises two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports (one Type-C and one Type-A), eight USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (one Type-C and seven Type-A), and two USB 2.0 ports (Type-A). The Predator Orion 9000 also features three M.2 slots and four PCIe x16 slots.

Alongside the Orion 9000, Acer unveiled the Predator X35 monitor. It includes pretty much every feature you could ask for, including a curved 35-inch, 21:9 ratio VA panel with a 4ms response time, 200Hz refresh rate, and 3440x1440 resolution. Naturally, it supports Nvidia G-Sync variable refresh rate technology, too, as well as HDR, thanks to a 1,000 nits' peak brightness. Connectivity is handled by a single DisplayPort 1.4 port and HDMI 2.0 port, and power is handled by an external adaptor. There's also a VESA mount for those who want the ultimate surround gaming setup, thanks to the X35's slim bezels. A price is yet to be announced, but we'd expect it to be very expensive.

For those more interested in productivity than gaming, Acer also announced the Aspire S 24, an all-in-one desktop with a 24-inch 1080p IPS screen that measures a uniform 5.97mm thick. Unlike Apple's iMac, which places components behind the display, Acer has shoved 8th generation quad-core U-series Intel i5 and i7 processors (otherwise known as Kaby Lake Refresh) into a chunky base, along with handy QI wireless charging.

Up to 32GB of RAM is supported, along with 2.5-inch hard drives and M.2 SSDs. A price is yet to be announced, but the Aspire S 24 should be released before the year is out.

As if that wasn't enough Acer for IFA (seriously guys, maybe slow it down next year!), the company also unveiled a new 360-degree camera for the car called Xtro360, a Pawbo WagTag fitness tracker for dogs, and a new range of gaming peripherals called Predator Gadgets. If thin's your thing, there's a new Acer Swift 5 laptop with a 14-inch 1080p IPS display and 8th U-series Intel processors that measures a mere 0.9cm thick when closed.