Acer Announces Predator Orion 3000/5000 Series Gaming Desktops

As part of their pre-Computex Global Press Conference, Acer today has unveiled a pair of new SKUs for their Orion Series of Gaming Desktops, filling out the series with the new 3000 and 5000 series machines. The 5000 series Acer says is designed for gamers who require superior performance and an adaptable chassis for future expansion. Meanwhile the mid-range 3000 series sports the same design and slightly different hardware inside. Acer’s goal was to provide a “…full lineup of gaming desktops able to cater to a wide range of needs.”

The new Predator Orion 5000 series gaming desktops will use up to an 8^th Gen Intel Core i7+ 8700K processor riding on an Intel Z370 chipset based board as well as supporting up to 2-way SLI and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti video cards. In these maxed-out configurations Acer is going after 4K gaming as well as VR gaming, both of which can easily put such a high-end video card to use

The Orion 5000 series allows up to 64GB of dual-channel DDR4-2666 MHz memory and supports Intel Optane Memory. On the storage front, users are able to select up to a 3TB 3.5-inch HDD or up to a 512 GB PCIe NVMe based M.2 SSD for plenty of mass and fast storage options. For networking, both the 5000 and 3000 series will use Killer brand components with the Killer Ethernet 2400 for wired Gigabit Ethernet and a Killer 802.11ac wireless adapter running 2Tx2R and supporting Bluetooth 4.2LE (ed: Acer hasn't specified the exact model adapter they're using). Audio duties are handled by the Creative Sound BlasterX 720° audio engine.

The Predator 5000 series chassis looks similar to the flagship 9000 series, with several features carrying over. The case includes a transparent side panel to show off the internals as well as being what Acer is calling "EMI-compliant", presumably  alluding to the use of a metal mesh along the window. The side panels are easy-open helping users to swap out components and cables quickly when upgrading. Keeping the hardware cool is Acer’s IceTunnel 2.0 airflow management which segments the system into different thermal zones Acer says will provide each sector with its own airflow tunnel to expel heat.  The case intakes air through a front mesh/dust filter and moved into the case with dual 120mm LED fans. The chassis also includes predator lighting bars for internal case illumination as well as headset cradles to hold on to your cans when not in use.

Predator Orion 5000

Meanwhile the Predator Orion 3000 series intends to be a mid-range gaming desktop with pricing to come under the 5000 and 9000 series. With this market placement comes a few differences in the hardware options as well as the chassis. The 3000 series includes an 8^th Gen Intel Core processor, however, the only options are both overclocking-locked CPUs with the i7+ 8700 and i5+ 8400 processors. Another difference between the two is on the networking side where the 3000 series drops the Killer suite and uses a Realtek GbE. It also supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi running 2Tx2R and Bluetooth 5.0. RAM capacity, storage options, and audio will remain the same. On the GPU side of things, the 3000 series will offer up to a single NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1080. The chassis on the 3000 series forgoes the windowed side panel and uses a single LED intake fan up front.

Predator Orion 3000

The Predator Orion 5000 gaming desktops will be available in North America in July with pricing starting at $1499; in EMEA in June (€1699); China in July (¥15999). The Orion 3000 series will be available in North America starting in October with prices from $999; in EMEA in July (€1299); and China in July as well (¥6999). The addition of the 3000 and 5000 series gaming desktops appears to fill out the Predator desktop gaming stack nicely with options under $1000 which compliment the Orion 9000 series released last year. 

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