The Acer Predator Orion 7000 was designed for gamers who demand the greatest visuals possible. Its high-end hardware and boatload of features mean high frame rates in the most punishing games (even in 4K), a ton of storage for those games, and a gorgeous RGB-lit case that’s easy to work with. While its suggested retail price is on the high side, its appearance and performance make it feel like a good investment, as long as you understand that you're paying a premium for the desktop's distinctiveness.
The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is designed for gamers that have a large library of 4K games.
About the Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming desktop
Processor: Intel Core i7-12700K
Graphics Card: Nvidia RTX 3080 Lite Hash Rate with 10GB VRAM
Operating System: Windows 11 Home
Memory: 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5
RAM
Storage: 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD; 2TB 3.5-inch SATA HDD
Motherboard: Custom motherboard supports up to 64GB DDR5 RAM (4 DIMM
slots); LGA1700 Intel processor socket; 2 NVMe SSD slots; 3 x PCIe 4.0
expansion slots
Ports: (Back) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C; 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A; 3 x
USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A; 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A; 1 x HDMI 2.1; 3 x
Displayport; 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet; 1 Mic in; 1 Audio in; 1 Audio out;
(Front) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C; 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A; 1 Mic in; 1 Headphone-out; (Top) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 2.5-inch storage interface
Wireless: Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6E
Power Supply: 800W power supply
Weight: About 30 pounds (weight not specified)
Dimensions: 19.9 x 19.1 x 8.6 inches
Accessories: Wired gaming keyboard and mouse
Warranty: 1-year limited
There are two versions of the Predator Orion 7000. We put the $2,999 configuration to the test, which includes an Intel Core i7-12700K processor, Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card, 32GB DDR5 memory, 1TB SSD storage, and a secondary 2TB hard drive. The $4,499 setup adds an Intel Core i9-12900K processor and an Nvidia RTX 3090 graphics card, respectively.
What we like:
There are a lot of features and a lot of storage in this case.
The Predator Orion 7000 is not like other prebuilts, which are built as showpieces or gorgeous cases to be gazed at but never opened. This behemoth of a case is lightweight, easy to disassemble and reassemble, and has enough of room for upgrading and adding components. In fact, Acer goes the extra mile by detailing how to replace every part of its PC in the Orion 7000’s user manual details exactly how to replace every part of the PC.
There's a lot going on on the outside of the case. Two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, a separate 3.5mm microphone jack, and a storage bay are all included. With this externally accessible storage bay, you can replace out 2.5-inch SATA drives (both hard drives and SSDs) as needed, and it even has a "eject" button that brings back memories of old car audio CD players. A 2TB 3.5-inch SATA hard drive (HDD) is mounted in the hard drive cage inside the chassis, and there's room for a second drive if you want to put one in. All of this is in addition to the motherboard's 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD.
The gaming performance meets or exceeds the lofty expectations.
When I ran our standard benchmarks on the Orion 7000, I got the impression that the computer was laughing at me for assigning it grade school work. It was difficult to get the desktop to sweat—when I ran Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p resolution on the ray tracing ultra preset, I couldn't even hear the fans whirring (which ran at 73.5 frames per second, by the way).
Simply put, this PC is designed for 4K gaming. We generally run our tests at 1080p, but the Orion 7000 really excels at higher resolutions. With ray tracing enabled, we tested the Orion 7000 with a 2560 x 1440p panel, and most games readily ran well over 60 frames per second. When ray tracing is turned off,Cyberpunk 2077 ran at 120fps on the ultra preset. Meanwhile, Overwatch ran at 251fps on the epic preset. When bumped down to 1080p, the Predator Orion 7000 ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 193fps on its highest graphics preset.
Gaming in 4K should be just as bright. When we put the Intel Core i5-12600K and Intel Core i9-12600K processors through their paces on our test bench—which was outfitted with hardware similar to the Orion 7000—the 12th-gen Intel CPUs and RTX 3080 scored well enough to keep most games running at 4K 60fps or higher. Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran at 74 frames per second on the maximum graphics settings at 4K, Control at 51 frames per second, and Cyberpunk 2077 at 37 frames per second with ray tracing enabled. On 4K maximum settings, Doom Eternal ran at 176fps—multiplayer games like Overwatch and Fortnite should run at least as rapidly.
By comparison, the NZXT Streaming PC Plus, a prebuilt with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor and Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card, ran Overwatch at 120fps and Cyberpunk 2077 at 49fps with ray tracing enabled at the same 1440p presets as the Orion 7000—about half of the Orion 7000’s fps count in both games.
It may function as an incredible workspace, too
Unsurprisingly, the Predator Orion 7000 performs admirably even while performing more demanding tasks such as 3D modeling and rendering. Blender took just two minutes and two seconds to render an automobile using its Intel Core i7-12700K processor. The NZXT pre-built took just under four minutes to complete the task, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X in the MSI Aegis ZS took two minutes and 44 seconds.
The Orion 7000 also performs well in benchmarks, scoring around 14000 points in Geekbench 5's multicore test and 21000 points in Cinebench's multicore test, compared to 8665 points in Geekbench and around 15000 points in Cinebench for the MSI Aegis ZS. It’s clear the Intel Core i7-12700K is not only leagues ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor but is so fast that it’ll be a long while before you’ll think of upgrading the central processor.
What we don’t Like
The construction has a few flaws.
While the Orion 7000 has a lot of features, it lacks a few features that are prevalent among the top prebuilts. While the provided 120mm radiator kept the CPU and GPU from overheating during our benchmarks, a 240mm radiator instead of the existing 120mm radiator for the all-in-one (AIO) CPU water cooler would have been excellent. When playing games, the current radiator keeps the CPU at around 70 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Fahrenheit), but if you upgrade to an Intel Core i9-12900K or similar, you'll need to invest in a better cooler to maintain the same temperatures.
Meanwhile, the 800W power supply, the motherboard, the RAM, and the storage drives are all custom-made for this PC. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to include custom parts in a pre-built, but in this case it seems like those custom parts were chosen to save money. The RAM modules are plain green printed circuit boards (PCBs), and the motherboard only supports up to 64GB of RAM instead of the more common 128GB limit on 12th gen Intel compatible motherboards.
With such a fast CPU and GPU, having the option to install 128GB of RAM for the intensive workloads prevalent in professional creative and scientific environments would have been fantastic.
When it comes to 3D modeling, high-resolution cinematography, physics simulation, and software development, RAM is one of the most prevalent bottlenecks.
Acer, why do you install so much bloatware?
I'm sure someone out there enjoys Norton Security Ultra's prolonged trials, Acer Care Center's continuous pop-up reminders, and Planet9's esports-focused social network, but I don't. They use valuable storage space on the main storage drive. I felt like I was always having to dismiss pop-ups from Acer Care Center and Norton until I uninstalled them from the PC since Norton Security adds extra hurdles to installing 3rd-party software beyond its firewall.
However, there is one preinstalled program that is quite useful: Acer's Predator Sense control center.
It displays important temperature readings throughout the PC's components, as well as fan speeds and other performance metrics that aid in PC monitoring. You can also control overclocking here, if you want to push your components past their preset limits. You don’t need Predator Sense to do any of these, but having the software pre-installed simplifies the process.
Should you buy it?
Yes, the Acer Predator Orion 7000 is ideal for 4K gaming, but save your money by waiting for a discount.
The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is not only pricey, but it's also more expensive than some of its competitors, who provide the same or similar specs for hundreds less. The Orion 7000, on the other hand, has some truly unique features, such as an external storage bay for quick drive swapping, a slew of connections in the front, a sleek design, and a case that's simple to repair and upgrade.
The desktop's exceptional performance allows it to play nearly any game at 4K resolution at 60 frames per second or more on the highest graphics settings.It’s the best performance you can get unless you’re willing and able to dump four to five thousand dollars on a PC with an Nvidia RTX 3090 graphics card and Intel Core i9-12900K processor (e.g. the flagship PCs that are made for professionals working with a sizeable business budget).
The Orion 7000 has a number of unique features, however it lacks several that would be expected given its price and specifications. The 120mm AIO cooler may not be powerful enough to keep a future processor cool, and despite having four RAM module slots, the motherboard only supports up to 64GB of RAM. Despite costing less than the Orion 7000, other prebuilts (such as the MSI Aegis ZS) include heatsinks for SSDs and power switches for PSUs. If the Orion 7000 isn't available for less than its suggested retail price, the MSI Aegis RS (the Aegis ZS's big brother) has the same processor and graphics card for $2,599—the negative is that it only has 16GB of memory. Meanwhile, the iBuyPower TraceMR desktop offers a great value at just $2,099.
The Orion 7000 is a superb prebuilt gaming desktop if you have the cash, even if it isn't the best value for its specs. For years to come, the Intel Core i7-12700K processor and Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card will seem new and quick for 4K gaming, and it's a simple PC to customize. This is the PC for gamers who demand the best without having to fumble and play with their hardware.
