I love how everyone's hammering on Intel so hard right now. I get it, AMD's got a better chip, and even being a long time Intel fan I will likely jump to AMD this fall. But Intel's chips still keep up with AMD in most consumer level tasks. Hell, most people probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an Intel or AMD system just by using it :P
Totally agree. I’ve gone AMD for the first time in ages and it’s great but Intel’s chips aren’t bad they’re just boring refreshes of chips that were always pretty good. And they do still have the edge in gaming and less threaded apps to an extent. Dare I say it, I’ve had much more stable Intel systems over the years than AMD and maybe that’s part of the reason?
Uhm, what have you been smoking? Zen 2 improved IPC by ~15% over Zen+, overtaking Skylake IPC along the way. That's certainly a change, and neither related to manufacturing nor packaging.
This is why I go with Intel. I've built several systems over the years and my one AMD system had more problems than my other Intel systems combined. Stability is more important to me than performance differences that I likely will not even be able to notice in practical scenarios.
Of course they'll be able to tell the difference, AMD system will be crashing left and right. Who gives a shit about core counts or cinebench scores, if you compare core for core performance, Intel completely buries AMD and provides a stable platform.
As it is a compact case - how noisy does it get at full load. When you get a unit to test please measure the noise level at full load. One other question - can the lighting be turned off as bright lights near the monitor are distracting.
I would guess the panel behind the motherboard is fixed - none of the cables are routed behind the motherboard tray, by the looks of things. Can't hook up the drive the other way round if that panel is fixed.
Looks like an OEM Intel cooler on the CPU. Probably won't end up in the final design though. I'm not sure how much value there is in discussing it now since we are not looking at a production unit so a lot can change before this lands in retail. Hopefully they will reconsider the network adapter and maybe drop in non-Killer hardware. Maybe Intel will rescue that brand identity, but it at this point the acquisition is too recent for any hope of improvement to have trickled into the retail channels yet.
Also, is this really compact? Thats full height, full length... when I picture "compact" I think of a crammed Silveratone SG10, or a case with a horizontal GPU mount, or one of those Zotac mini boxes.
Compared to a full ATX case it's probably about 4-6" shorter (no additional expansion slots, and no room up top for a radiator, with the latter partially countered by the top mounted plastic up front); and even with the massive bling/intake thing on the front a few smaller front to back than a conventional ATX case with front mounted drive bays.
Ignoring the bulging top/front piece it's in the same ballpark size wise as a conventional layout ITX case with a 3.5" cage in the front. You can build smaller, by giving up 3.5" drive support, full length GPU support, and larger CPU cooler support; but it's still smaller than most mATX/ATX setups.
I'm limiting my facepalm to having enough room for a decent tower cooler but appearing to use a crappy intel retail box model; or other low profile model that will limit turbo levels.
'Compact', with a full ATX PSU, a 3.5" HDD, and a huge plastic carbuncle attached to the front and top. Ditch the plastic, the rust-spinners, and move the PSU to the top over the empty space next to the DIMM slots, and you could half the size.
Acer usually focuses on the budget end of any particular market segment so even a computer made to appeal to a hobbyist gamer will cut corners to hit a price point which is why you will see things like mechanical hard drives and inexpensive plastic coverings.
In some ways, they do a pretty good job giving buyers performance for price, but one has to be willing to accept some of their choices as a compromise. At least it's better than pre-2010s Acer computers. There was some spectacularly bad hardware wearing the company logo back when Vista was Microsoft's current OS.
"As this is a pre-production unit, the cable management will likely be adjusted somewhat in the next couple of months, but even so it did not impede airflow at all."
No, no and no. What were the marketing people thinking? Make it look as sexy as it can be, or don't bother trying.
Seriously, though, that is a lot of plastic. Oh and the ports are behind a door, aargh! I hate that. And the motherboard seems to be a non-standard size. It looks like mATX height, and E-ATX width. You would think with all that real estate there would be room for an M-2 slot or two, but I don't see any. Maybe it's blocked by the video card.
So no Onion for me! Which is okay, because I just build me a 3700X system a couple of months ago. Very happy with it.
P.S. The dimensions given appear to be wrong. There's no way it's 15.4 in X 10.5 in. The metal skeleton of the case appears to be very nearly a square, nothing like 3:2 proportions. And the plastic seems to add width and height equally. Hm.
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benedict - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Not much of a juggernaut with those potato Intel cpus inside.Drkrieger01 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
I love how everyone's hammering on Intel so hard right now. I get it, AMD's got a better chip, and even being a long time Intel fan I will likely jump to AMD this fall. But Intel's chips still keep up with AMD in most consumer level tasks. Hell, most people probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an Intel or AMD system just by using it :Pplewis00 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Totally agree. I’ve gone AMD for the first time in ages and it’s great but Intel’s chips aren’t bad they’re just boring refreshes of chips that were always pretty good. And they do still have the edge in gaming and less threaded apps to an extent. Dare I say it, I’ve had much more stable Intel systems over the years than AMD and maybe that’s part of the reason?Deicidium369 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Nothing much different in Ryzen Land since the Ryzen 1- mostly manufacturing and packaging...Valantar - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Uhm, what have you been smoking? Zen 2 improved IPC by ~15% over Zen+, overtaking Skylake IPC along the way. That's certainly a change, and neither related to manufacturing nor packaging.arashi - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Don't expect critical thinking skills from the long line of Intel trolls like Deicidium369, Gondaft, HStewart, Jorgp2 etc.sonny73n - Friday, June 26, 2020 - link
You forgot timecop1818. He’s the leader of Intel trolls.nwrigley - Saturday, July 4, 2020 - link
This is why I go with Intel. I've built several systems over the years and my one AMD system had more problems than my other Intel systems combined. Stability is more important to me than performance differences that I likely will not even be able to notice in practical scenarios.RSAUser - Monday, July 6, 2020 - link
Not had any stability issues on Intel or AMD, though I only have 3rd gen AMD and 9th gen Intel, so not this years stuff (else 3x4th gen Intel).timecop1818 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Of course they'll be able to tell the difference, AMD system will be crashing left and right. Who gives a shit about core counts or cinebench scores, if you compare core for core performance, Intel completely buries AMD and provides a stable platform.hanselltc - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Even for Intel chips, these are i5's and i7's, and latter without intel's raised 2933 rated memory clocks. Not much of a juggernaut indeed.Valantar - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
At least it's a hot potato ;)YB1064 - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Totally agree! Back to the P4 days.Duncan Macdonald - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
As it is a compact case - how noisy does it get at full load. When you get a unit to test please measure the noise level at full load. One other question - can the lighting be turned off as bright lights near the monitor are distracting.just6979 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
The 3.5" inch drive is in backwards. The ports should be on the other end so the cables don't have to cross the case and airflow.Can't really call it a "juggernaut" without a top 3 or even top 4 GPU in it: should really have at least a 2080 Super to earn that name.
Mentawl - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
I would guess the panel behind the motherboard is fixed - none of the cables are routed behind the motherboard tray, by the looks of things. Can't hook up the drive the other way round if that panel is fixed.Deicidium369 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Is there a teen titan version of juggernaut? surely can't mean the full size juggernautPeachNCream - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Looks like an OEM Intel cooler on the CPU. Probably won't end up in the final design though. I'm not sure how much value there is in discussing it now since we are not looking at a production unit so a lot can change before this lands in retail. Hopefully they will reconsider the network adapter and maybe drop in non-Killer hardware. Maybe Intel will rescue that brand identity, but it at this point the acquisition is too recent for any hope of improvement to have trickled into the retail channels yet.brucethemoose - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
2466 max? Reeeeeeeeeeee!Also, is this really compact? Thats full height, full length... when I picture "compact" I think of a crammed Silveratone SG10, or a case with a horizontal GPU mount, or one of those Zotac mini boxes.
DanNeely - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Compared to a full ATX case it's probably about 4-6" shorter (no additional expansion slots, and no room up top for a radiator, with the latter partially countered by the top mounted plastic up front); and even with the massive bling/intake thing on the front a few smaller front to back than a conventional ATX case with front mounted drive bays.Ignoring the bulging top/front piece it's in the same ballpark size wise as a conventional layout ITX case with a 3.5" cage in the front. You can build smaller, by giving up 3.5" drive support, full length GPU support, and larger CPU cooler support; but it's still smaller than most mATX/ATX setups.
I'm limiting my facepalm to having enough room for a decent tower cooler but appearing to use a crappy intel retail box model; or other low profile model that will limit turbo levels.
edzieba - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
'Compact', with a full ATX PSU, a 3.5" HDD, and a huge plastic carbuncle attached to the front and top. Ditch the plastic, the rust-spinners, and move the PSU to the top over the empty space next to the DIMM slots, and you could half the size.PeachNCream - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Acer usually focuses on the budget end of any particular market segment so even a computer made to appeal to a hobbyist gamer will cut corners to hit a price point which is why you will see things like mechanical hard drives and inexpensive plastic coverings.In some ways, they do a pretty good job giving buyers performance for price, but one has to be willing to accept some of their choices as a compromise. At least it's better than pre-2010s Acer computers. There was some spectacularly bad hardware wearing the company logo back when Vista was Microsoft's current OS.
shabby - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Jugger... not!DanNeely - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
The mobo looks like a stretched ITX board, is that a standard form factor or something proprietary?damianrobertjones - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
"As this is a pre-production unit, the cable management will likely be adjusted somewhat in the next couple of months, but even so it did not impede airflow at all."No, no and no. What were the marketing people thinking? Make it look as sexy as it can be, or don't bother trying.
mark625 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
The Onion 3000? Does it have layers?Seriously, though, that is a lot of plastic. Oh and the ports are behind a door, aargh! I hate that. And the motherboard seems to be a non-standard size. It looks like mATX height, and E-ATX width. You would think with all that real estate there would be room for an M-2 slot or two, but I don't see any. Maybe it's blocked by the video card.
So no Onion for me! Which is okay, because I just build me a 3700X system a couple of months ago. Very happy with it.
Cheers!
mark625 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
P.S. The dimensions given appear to be wrong. There's no way it's 15.4 in X 10.5 in. The metal skeleton of the case appears to be very nearly a square, nothing like 3:2 proportions. And the plastic seems to add width and height equally. Hm.DanNeely - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
13.4" x13.8" x 6.4" on the product website for the previous generation.https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/predator-mod...
Brett Howse - Thursday, June 25, 2020 - link
Sorry there was a typo in the spec sheet Acer sent me. I contacted them and got the correct values. Table is updated. Good catch!r3loaded - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
> Killer E2600 Gigabit EthernetJUST. NO.
timecop1818 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Yep stopped reading there and went straight to the comments to see AMD shills and rivet rage.UltraWide - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
It could really use some cable management first...zodiacfml - Friday, June 26, 2020 - link
$1k for a GTX 1650?!MamiyaOtaru - Thursday, July 2, 2020 - link
so sick of cases that are a box with some plastic stuff (worse if it's angular) bolted on