ACER Predator Orion 3000

VERDICT

Flashy looks aside, the Orion 3000’s core components leave it open to being outperformed

- James Archer

WEALTHY PC GAMERS may already be familiar with the Acer Predator Orion 9000: a titanic £4,000 dual-GPU desktop that’s so proudly and intentionally oversized, it comes with its own set of wheels so that you can drag it around like a suitcase instead of carrying it.

It sort of works as the computer equivalent of a concept car, but we’d never suggest actually buying one. There are, however, a couple of options for those who want the Orion 9000’s sci-fi styling in a more manageable (physically and financially) package: the Orion 5000 and the Orion 3000.

The Orion 3000 that we have on review is the cheapest in the entire range, comprising an Intel Core i5-8400 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card and a 1TB hard disk with Intel Optane Memory. There are plenty of other specs, swapping in high-performance parts such as SSDs and GTX 1060 and even GTX 1070 graphics cards, but if you want the lowest entry point into the Orion range, you’re looking at it.

A GRAPHIC NATURE

Yet £800 is still quite a lot for a GTX 1050 Ti system, and it’s possible to get similar performance from an even cheaper rig. In Metro: Last Light Redux, for example, the Orion 3000 put out 30fps at 1,920x1,080 with Very High settings. That’s just 2fps higher than the £650Mesh Ryzen Gaming PC – CS (