Pre-built Acer desktop that doesn't suck - Predator G1 Review

**Acer Predator G1 Review: A Compact Gaming PC with Serious Power**

The Acer Predator G1 is a compact gaming PC that has been designed to deliver serious power in a surprisingly small package. With its Founder's Edition branding and distinctive green glow, this machine is clearly a flagship product from the manufacturer. But what makes it tick? Let's take a closer look at the way the GTX 1080 graphics card is installed, which is covered with a Predator-branded shroud but features an unmistakable green glow visible from the bottom.

**Cooling Solutions and Thermal Performance**

The way the GTX 1080 graphics card is installed suggests that Acer has used some clever engineering to keep temperatures under control. The card is installed upside down, which means that it's covered with a hard PCB link that extends the PCI Express 16x slot. This means that you can't admire your graphics card with the side panel off, but shorter links are less prone to signal degradation and in theory should deliver better thermal results. By pulling fresh air in from the other side panel and exhausting it out the back, Acer is keeping the GPU contained within its own cooling zone, which should result in solid thermal performance.

**Design and Build Quality**

The Predator G1 features Acer's aggressive tank tread styling on the top and front of the machine, which I personally think works better here than it did on the G6. There's a power button flanked by two headset holders for some reason, and an SD card reader, USB 3.0 Gigabit Type C port, and USB 3.5 Gigabit Type A port around the back of the machine. The rest of the I/O is pretty lackluster, with only 3D-PS HDMI and DVI provided by the graphics card, accompanied by 7.1 audio jacks but no digital output.

**Power Supplies and Upgradeability**

One of my biggest concerns about pre-built gaming PCs from the early 2000s was the limited upgradeability and high prices that came with them. However, these days are quickly fading away, thanks to manufacturers like Acer. The Predator G1 is not cheap, but you're getting a lot of firepower in a surprisingly compact little battle station if you're willing to pay for it. I did some napkin math on the dual power supplies and estimated that they were capable of delivering around 50% more power than the Silverstone PSF-850, which was featured in our most compact gaming PC V2. This is great news for anyone looking to build a similar-sized enclosure.

**Thermal Performance and Stability**

In terms of thermal performance, the Predator G1 managed to turn in better results than its bigger brother despite being smaller in size. The machine performed well even when running demanding stress tests on the CPU and RAM concurrently, which suggests that it's capable of handling heavy loads without any issues. This is a big win for anyone looking for a compact gaming PC that can handle high-end games.

**Conclusion**

Overall, I'm impressed with the Acer Predator G1. It's clear that the manufacturer has learned a lot over the last few years and has made some significant improvements to its products. The machine may not be perfect - the inside should be black to match the black PCB motherboard, for example - but it's definitely a step forward in terms of design and build quality.

However, I do think that there are still some areas where Acer can improve. For example, the NVMe M.2 SSD could have been included as a standard feature on a flagship product like this, and the cable should be sleeved for a more premium look. Additionally, while the main complaints about pre-built gaming PCs from the early 2000s are fading away, some still apply - particularly in terms of price.

That being said, I think that Acer has made some significant strides forward and the Predator G1 is definitely worth considering if you're looking for a compact gaming PC with serious power. With its impressive performance, aggressive styling, and solid build quality, this machine is sure to impress even the most discerning gamers.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni think acer has finally figured it out for the first time ever as far as i know acer has done a pre-built gaming rig that ships with nvidia's top of the line graphics card installed and the predator g1 borrows a lot more from enthusiasts and boutique system builders than just the idea of packing a proper gpu inside let's take a closer look intel skull canyon nook features a sixth generation core i7 processor and thunderbolt 3. you can learn more at the link in the video description inside the box you'll get the following a predator g1 gaming pc some extra screws and cables a surprisingly competent set of peripherals the mouse's clicks are pleasantly tactile and it includes extra buttons for back forward and toggling between three preset dpi settings and the keyboard is dual color led backlit with a toggleable gaming mode and kaiwa mechanical key switches mounted to what seems to be a steel backplate then if you get the special edition launch bundle there's also a copy of the division and this is a new one an acer predator themed luggage with cutouts to carry your gaming rig for when you travel leaving last but not least two standard pc power cables and two laptop power bricks and a neat looking holder that wait a minute two power bricks yes my friends the idea that i pitched to cooler masters product manager almost three years ago of moving the power supply or two as it were outside an otherwise standard desktop chassis for improvements to both thermals and size because i'm a genius has officially come to life courtesy of acer of all people well whatever let's see if it worked but first i need to know if they impose limits on the hardware that can be used in the predator g1 so let's pop her open which reveals a very interesting layout the centerpiece is a core i7 6700 non-k quad-core hyper-threaded cpu so no overclocking there's 32 gigs of ddr4 ram and a cleverly positioned blower case fan that should draw air across the front where a 512 gig m.2 sata ssd a slim dvd writer and a two terabyte hard drive reside across the memory sticks and cpu area and finally over the motherboard heatsinks that cool both the cpu power delivery modules and the dc to dc converters that take 19 volt external power and turn it into the 12 5 and 3.3 volt juice needed by your computer guts not something that you often see on a pre-built motherboard mind you there's not much about this motherboard that's normal contrary to the statement made by this unfortunate acer spokesperson who's totally getting called out right now like a mini itx board it has only a single pcie 16x expansion slot but it's closer in total size to an matx board so what is the extra space being used for a number of things led headers for the three zone led illumination that can be configurated regrettably not to all operate on the same cycle for some reason using acer's predator sense software one of only a couple bloaty pre-installed applications by the way there's more room for memory 6 so thanks to its four dimm slots the predator g1 can be upgraded to 64 gigs of ram there's power distribution for the converted input power the inclusion of an extra pcie power port and cable is a really nice touch by the way for someone who might want to upgrade the graphics card in the future and the very open cpu socket area which should help the performance of the fairly oem looking cooling solution that acer has pre-installed we'll talk about how well this works later for now there are a couple more items to highlight in here acer has included an extra two and a half inch drive cage with pre-run cables and screws in case you want to add another two and a half inch ssd or hard drive which is much appreciated and i want to take a closer look at the way the gtx 1080 graphics card is installed so it's covered with a predator branded shroud but the unmistakable green glow visible from the bottom tells us two things it's a founder's edition and it's installed upside down so acer used a hard pcb link to extend the pci express 16x slot meaning that you can't admire your graphics card with the side panel off but shorter links are less prone to signal degradation and in theory the way that they're pulling fresh air in from the other side panel keeping it contained then within its own cooling zone and exhausting it out the back should deliver really solid thermal results which we'll get to but first a look at the outside so the top and front of the predator g1 features acer's aggressive tank tread styling that i personally think works better here than it did on the g6 due to the machine's smaller size there's a power button flanked by two headset holders for some reason the optical drive we saw on the inside and front i o so an sd card reader a usb 310 gigabit type c port a usb 3.5 gigabit type a port and a couple of audio jacks around the back the rest of the i o is actually pretty lackluster the 3dps hdmi and dvi provided by the graphics card are accompanied only by 7.1 audio jacks with no digital output 4 usb 3 5 gigabit ports and the dc input jacks that may be at least partially responsible for the limited number of usb ports on this machine remember that external usb devices can draw up to seven and a half watts each through the usb charging specification and while the dual power supplies confused the bananas out of my power meter some napkin math tells us that we're not that far off of their rated output so then let's answer the big question was this approach worthwhile when silverstone just released a power supply that we featured in our most compact gaming pc v2 over there that's cheaper smaller delivers 50 percent more power and with some creativity should be possible to integrate into a similar size chassis especially if you're willing to give up the optical drive well actually it's looking pretty good for the g1 while being no louder than the graphics card would be on its own in another enclosure or even on an open air test bench the predator g1 managed to turn in better thermal performance than its bigger brother in spite of its much smaller size not to mention that it's summer now versus march when we were checking out the g6 and it did all this while being rock solid stable throughout my testing avoiding any and all thermal throttling on the cpu and letting the gtx 1080 boost its clocks albeit not fully even with a synthetic stress test running on the cpu and the ram concurrently that means that whether we're talking about light workstation use or gaming on a conventional screen a g-sync monitor or in vr the predator g1 will perform all of which leads us then to a pretty interesting conclusion acer has learned a lot over the last few years going from poorly balanced gaming pcs with lackluster graphics cards and overpowered cpus with too much ram to correctly configured gaming pcs that unfortunately suffered from oem grade thermal management all the way to this compact no compromises mini gaming rig that stood up to everything i could throw at it as long as i didn't want to overclock or run the drives in raid or anything like that okay custom still has some advantages they still have some things to learn about making a product really feel premium the inside should be black to go with the black pcb motherboard which is a step forward in itself by the way the cable should be sleeved an nvme m.2 ssd should have been included for a flagship product and i'd like to see the next predator aesthetic reimagining move to more premium materials but with that said the main complaints about pre-builts from the 2000s crappy motherboards and power supplies limited to no upgradeability and high prices are quickly fading away which isn't to say that the predator g1 is cheap okay the price is still high but you're getting a lot of firepower in a surprisingly compact little battle station if you're willing to pay for it so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or even check out the link to where to buy the predator g1 in the video description also linked in the description is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one in our community forum which you should definitely join now that you're done doing all that stuff you're probably wondering what to watch next so click that little button in the top right corner to check out our latest video over on channel super funi think acer has finally figured it out for the first time ever as far as i know acer has done a pre-built gaming rig that ships with nvidia's top of the line graphics card installed and the predator g1 borrows a lot more from enthusiasts and boutique system builders than just the idea of packing a proper gpu inside let's take a closer look intel skull canyon nook features a sixth generation core i7 processor and thunderbolt 3. you can learn more at the link in the video description inside the box you'll get the following a predator g1 gaming pc some extra screws and cables a surprisingly competent set of peripherals the mouse's clicks are pleasantly tactile and it includes extra buttons for back forward and toggling between three preset dpi settings and the keyboard is dual color led backlit with a toggleable gaming mode and kaiwa mechanical key switches mounted to what seems to be a steel backplate then if you get the special edition launch bundle there's also a copy of the division and this is a new one an acer predator themed luggage with cutouts to carry your gaming rig for when you travel leaving last but not least two standard pc power cables and two laptop power bricks and a neat looking holder that wait a minute two power bricks yes my friends the idea that i pitched to cooler masters product manager almost three years ago of moving the power supply or two as it were outside an otherwise standard desktop chassis for improvements to both thermals and size because i'm a genius has officially come to life courtesy of acer of all people well whatever let's see if it worked but first i need to know if they impose limits on the hardware that can be used in the predator g1 so let's pop her open which reveals a very interesting layout the centerpiece is a core i7 6700 non-k quad-core hyper-threaded cpu so no overclocking there's 32 gigs of ddr4 ram and a cleverly positioned blower case fan that should draw air across the front where a 512 gig m.2 sata ssd a slim dvd writer and a two terabyte hard drive reside across the memory sticks and cpu area and finally over the motherboard heatsinks that cool both the cpu power delivery modules and the dc to dc converters that take 19 volt external power and turn it into the 12 5 and 3.3 volt juice needed by your computer guts not something that you often see on a pre-built motherboard mind you there's not much about this motherboard that's normal contrary to the statement made by this unfortunate acer spokesperson who's totally getting called out right now like a mini itx board it has only a single pcie 16x expansion slot but it's closer in total size to an matx board so what is the extra space being used for a number of things led headers for the three zone led illumination that can be configurated regrettably not to all operate on the same cycle for some reason using acer's predator sense software one of only a couple bloaty pre-installed applications by the way there's more room for memory 6 so thanks to its four dimm slots the predator g1 can be upgraded to 64 gigs of ram there's power distribution for the converted input power the inclusion of an extra pcie power port and cable is a really nice touch by the way for someone who might want to upgrade the graphics card in the future and the very open cpu socket area which should help the performance of the fairly oem looking cooling solution that acer has pre-installed we'll talk about how well this works later for now there are a couple more items to highlight in here acer has included an extra two and a half inch drive cage with pre-run cables and screws in case you want to add another two and a half inch ssd or hard drive which is much appreciated and i want to take a closer look at the way the gtx 1080 graphics card is installed so it's covered with a predator branded shroud but the unmistakable green glow visible from the bottom tells us two things it's a founder's edition and it's installed upside down so acer used a hard pcb link to extend the pci express 16x slot meaning that you can't admire your graphics card with the side panel off but shorter links are less prone to signal degradation and in theory the way that they're pulling fresh air in from the other side panel keeping it contained then within its own cooling zone and exhausting it out the back should deliver really solid thermal results which we'll get to but first a look at the outside so the top and front of the predator g1 features acer's aggressive tank tread styling that i personally think works better here than it did on the g6 due to the machine's smaller size there's a power button flanked by two headset holders for some reason the optical drive we saw on the inside and front i o so an sd card reader a usb 310 gigabit type c port a usb 3.5 gigabit type a port and a couple of audio jacks around the back the rest of the i o is actually pretty lackluster the 3dps hdmi and dvi provided by the graphics card are accompanied only by 7.1 audio jacks with no digital output 4 usb 3 5 gigabit ports and the dc input jacks that may be at least partially responsible for the limited number of usb ports on this machine remember that external usb devices can draw up to seven and a half watts each through the usb charging specification and while the dual power supplies confused the bananas out of my power meter some napkin math tells us that we're not that far off of their rated output so then let's answer the big question was this approach worthwhile when silverstone just released a power supply that we featured in our most compact gaming pc v2 over there that's cheaper smaller delivers 50 percent more power and with some creativity should be possible to integrate into a similar size chassis especially if you're willing to give up the optical drive well actually it's looking pretty good for the g1 while being no louder than the graphics card would be on its own in another enclosure or even on an open air test bench the predator g1 managed to turn in better thermal performance than its bigger brother in spite of its much smaller size not to mention that it's summer now versus march when we were checking out the g6 and it did all this while being rock solid stable throughout my testing avoiding any and all thermal throttling on the cpu and letting the gtx 1080 boost its clocks albeit not fully even with a synthetic stress test running on the cpu and the ram concurrently that means that whether we're talking about light workstation use or gaming on a conventional screen a g-sync monitor or in vr the predator g1 will perform all of which leads us then to a pretty interesting conclusion acer has learned a lot over the last few years going from poorly balanced gaming pcs with lackluster graphics cards and overpowered cpus with too much ram to correctly configured gaming pcs that unfortunately suffered from oem grade thermal management all the way to this compact no compromises mini gaming rig that stood up to everything i could throw at it as long as i didn't want to overclock or run the drives in raid or anything like that okay custom still has some advantages they still have some things to learn about making a product really feel premium the inside should be black to go with the black pcb motherboard which is a step forward in itself by the way the cable should be sleeved an nvme m.2 ssd should have been included for a flagship product and i'd like to see the next predator aesthetic reimagining move to more premium materials but with that said the main complaints about pre-builts from the 2000s crappy motherboards and power supplies limited to no upgradeability and high prices are quickly fading away which isn't to say that the predator g1 is cheap okay the price is still high but you're getting a lot of firepower in a surprisingly compact little battle station if you're willing to pay for it so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or even check out the link to where to buy the predator g1 in the video description also linked in the description is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one in our community forum which you should definitely join now that you're done doing all that stuff you're probably wondering what to watch next so click that little button in the top right corner to check out our latest video over on channel super fun\n"