Acer Predator 17 G9-793 review – powerful gaming laptop

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Specs Sheet
Design and exterior
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Noise, heat and speakers
Battery life
Price and availability
Final thoughts
Comments

By Andrei GirbeaAcer Predator 17 G9-793, last updated on August 29, 2023

Acer Predator 17 G9-793

Summary: The Acer Predator 17 G9-793 builds on the previous Predators and adds-on Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics, GSync support and a Thunderbolt 3 port, so it's going to be a good buy for those of you on a mid-budget looking to get a solid 17-inch gaming laptop. On the other hand, it's not quite on par with some of the competitors available these days in terms of features, design and even performance, so the pricing is going to be the crucial aspect that can make or break this device for you. Read on to find out more.

Our score: 3.75 / 5
Price when reviewed: $1999 - $2499

THE GOOD

well built; good display with GSync support; solid performance and excellent thermals, leaving room for overclocking; capable speakers; well priced

THE BAD

massive and heavy for this day and age; flashy LEDs and design elements; slow Wi-Fi once you get away from the router; screen bleeding; rather poor keyboard feedback; short battery life due to GSync support

Table of Contents

The specs sheet
Design and exterior
Screen
Keyboard and trackpad
Hardware, performance and upgrade options
Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers and others
Battery life
Price and availability
Wrap up

Last year I reviewed the Acer Predator 17 G9-791, which was Acer’s first attempt at a proper gaming laptop. I liked it, and buyers liked it as well, based on the high ratings and reviews posted on various online sources (an average of between 4.2 to 4.5 out of 5).

This year Acer comes back with a 2nd generation Predator, the G9-793, which shares most of its traits with the predecessor, but ads a much faster Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics chip, a Thunderbolt 3 port and a few other minor changes to the mix. I’ve spent about two weeks with the new Predator 17 and I’ll tell you all about it below.

In very few words, I expect this to be a hit, especially if Acer continues to price it lower than the competition, like with the previous generation. The laptop is still bulky, heavy and flushed with red accents and LEDs that will make professionals roll their eyes hard, but is at the same time significantly faster and somewhat cooler under load, leaving room for overclocking the graphics inside and squeezing even more from it in terms of performance. So if you’re looking for a gaming notebook and don’t give a rat’s ass about portability, the Predator 17 could be the option for you.

Keep reading to find out more.

The specs sheet

	Acer Predator 17 G9-793
Screen	17.3 inch, 3840 x 2160 px resolution, matte, IPS, non-touch
Processor	Intel Skylake Core i7-6700HQ CPU, quad-core 2.6 GHz (3.5 Ghz TBoost)
Video	Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB
Memory	32 GB DDR4 2133Mhz (4xDIMMs – up to 64 GB)
Storage	512 GB NVMe SSD + 2 TB 2.5″ HDD
Connectivity	Wireless AC Qualcomm Atheros , Gigabit LAN, Bluetooth 4.1
Ports	4x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1 with Thunderbolt 3 support, HDMI, DisplayPort, mic, earphone, SD card reader, LAN
Baterry	90 Wh
Operating system	Windows 10
Size	423 mm or 16.65” (w) x 321 mm or 12.66” (d) x 41.6 mm or 1.64” (h)
Weight	4.25 kg or 9.36 lb
Extras	two-tone backlit keyboard with macro keys, 4.2 sound system, webcam, optical drive and replacement cooling unit included

Design and exterior

We’re not really going to get in depth on the looks and design, as the Predator 17 G9-793 is mostly identical to the previous version, so I’ll refer you to what I said about that one.

To summarize it though, the Acer Predator 17 is a massive and thick notebook, with a soft plastic finishing, similar to the older Asus ROG laptops of 2013 to 2015 which you might have seen around, as they were very popular in those days and still are today. The finishing feels nice to the touch and is quite reliable over time, but at the same time shows smudges and finger-oil extremely easy, especially on the palm-rest that’s going to come in touch with your hands, so good luck keeping that part clean.

Aesthetically, the laptop gets a black theme with plenty of red accents. The back of the unit has been slightly redesigned and looks more complex, but I can’t tell if the changes are purely aesthetic or have a functional role as well.

When it comes to the looks though, my nits are still with the massive logo on the hood and the light bars that normally can’t be switched off. Well, there’s a way to do it, as they are tied to the keyboard’s backlightning, so if you opt to switch that off it will also kill the LEDs on the lid, but that’s clearly not the right way to do it. There’s also the lightning of the power button and the macro keys, which are pretty much always lit. These prove to be extremely annoying when trying to watch a movie in a dark room, while the lights on the cover pretty much kill the Predator for anyone trying to pass it into a professional environment, which drastically limits the pool of potential buyers.

That aside though, the laptop is well built and fairly comfortable to use everyday, although the rather tall profile causes the front-edges leave their marks on my wrists, something I’ve been complaining about on the previous generation as well.

The IO is solid, with all the needed ports and a Thunderbolt 3 connector as well, as an add-on for this newer model, that will make the laptop more future proof and a smart pick for those planning to keep it for a few years and use an external graphics option later on, when the graphics inside will have aged.

Screen

Acer offers two screen options for the Predator G9-793, both 17.3-inchers with matte IPS panels, but one with a normal gamut and FHD resolution, and another with a wide-gamut panel and UHD resolution. We have the former here and it is a great display. As a novelty for the G9-793, the screen supports GSync, with a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

The FHD variant should support GSync as well and I believe it’s also a 60 Hz panel, so those of you looking for a higher refresh rate screen would have to look elsewhere.

You’ll find more details about the panel below, the numbers speak for themselves.

Panel HardwareID: AU Optronics B173ZAN01.0 (AUO109B);
Coverage: 100% sRGB, 98% NTSC, 100% AdobeRGB;
Measured gamma: 2.3;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 324 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 670:1;
White point: 6800 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.48 cd/m2;
Average DeltaE: 2.19 uncalibrated, 1.06 calibrated.

The panel is bright and rich enough, with deep blacks and good contrast, the color coverage is excellent and the colors are quite accurate out of the box (yet can be improved, here’s our calibrated ICC profile), plus the viewing angles are solid. The gamma is a little skewed be default, which is another reason to use the calibrated profile.

However, my test unit came with significant light bleeding in the lower corners, which is caused by a poorly crafted bezel that touches the panel in several points. I can’t tell for sure whether that’s going to be an issue on the final retail products, but it’s something to keep in mind, especially since I’ve seen it mentioned in other reviews as well.

Keyboard and trackpad

On a first look, the keyboard on the G9-793 is similar to the one on the previous generation, yet somehow my typing experience with the G9-793 sample wasn’t as good as documented on the G9-791. The keys still feel nice and travel deep inside the frame (2 mm), yet I wasn’t satisfied with their resistance. They were just too easy to press and actuate on this test sample, so I ended up hitting the wrong ones quite often, which lead to a significant amount of errors.

On the other hand, the low resistance allowed me to type fast on this device and I enjoyed their overall rattling, yet keep in mind you might not, as this is not a quiet typist. The layout is pretty good too, with a NumPad section and the arrow keys slightly separated from the others, both physically and aesthetically, by their red framing.

Still, at the end of the day, after typing several thousands words on this keyboard, the experience felt somewhat lacking.

The keys are backlit with RGB lights and the layout is split in four different parts that can be backlit independently. There’s still only one level of brightness intensity though, and the overall brightness level is rather low.

The trackpad is large and performs well with everyday swipes, taps or gestures. It gets mechanical click buttons, and as a novelty, a red backlit LED framing. It can be switched off by turning the keyboard’s illumination off or by deactivating the trackpad completely, but there’s no way to just simply kill it independently. That’s rather stupid if you ask me, but given this is a gaming laptop and most of you will probably have a mouse connected anyway, let’s just say it is not a deal-breaker.

Hardware, performance and upgrade options

We got to test a high-end configuration of the the Predator 17 here, with a Core i7-6700HQ processor, 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, the Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics chip with 8 GB of video memory and dual storage, consisting of an NVMe drive for the OS and a 2.5″ hard-drive for multimedia content and other large files.

Since the laptop supports GSync, the Intel HD 530 chip within the CPU is deactivated, and as a result the Nvidia chip is always on, which takes a toll on battery life, as you’ll see further down.

Now, there are faster gaming laptops out there, with overclock-able Core HK processors and even desktop grade Core K CPUs. Acer went with a mid-ground configuration that’s going to offer solid performance in everyday tasks, demanding activities (photo/video editing, programming, etc) and games, while keeping temperatures and especially prices at bay, so I believe this configuration is going to suffice for most potential buyers.

If you end up getting a lower-end version, keep in mind the RAM and storage are upgradable. There’s a service bay on the laptop’s bottom, that gives access to the two M.2 slots, the 2.5″ bay and two of the memory DIMMs. The other two are behind the motherboard and fairly difficult to access, as they would require a complete disassembly, which is also the case if you’ll ever have to replace the battery.

Now, back to performances, I’ve ran a couple of benchmarks and you can see the results below.

3DMark 11: P14543;
3DMark 13: Cloud Gate –22722, Sky Driver – 25582, Fire Strike – 11894, Time Spy – 4744;
PCMark 08: Home Conventional – 3292;
Cinebench 3 32-bit: Single-Core: 3390, Multi-core: 12614;
CineBench 11.5: OpenGL 64.2 fps, CPU 7.20 pts, CPU Single Core 1.31 pts;
CineBench R15: OpenGL 101.8 fps, CPU 650 cb, CPU Single Core 137 cb.

*keep in mind we’ve tested a test sample of the Predator G9-793 here, final retail units will probably perform better

Compared to last year’s Predator with the Nvidia 980M chip, the G9-793 shows a 30 to 70% boost in graphics related scores, which is also visible in games. I haven’t tried many of the latest titles, but some of the test games are fairly demanding and you can see that the 1070 chip is going to offer an excellent 1080p experience and will handle 4K gaming quite well too, but you will have to lower details to some extent to get to 60 fps results.

	FHD Ultra	UHD Medium	UHD Ultra
Shadow of Mordor	122 fps	65 fps	47 fps
FarCry 4	67 fps	51 fps	43 fps
Grid Autosport	122 fps	112 fps	72 fps
Tomb Raider	130 fps	102 fps	42 fps
Bioshock Infinite	86 fps	–	–
Total War: Attila	37 fps	41 fps	26 fps

I haven’t noticed any GPU throttling while playing games or performing any other activities on my test unit, as you can see in the pictures below. The CPU on the other hand ran below its nominal speeds in most games, but I don’t think that’s having an impact on performance.

I also measured performance o battery and set a 45 fps limit in the Nvidia GeForce Experience app, and games like Tomb Raider, Bioshock or Shadow of Mordor were able to match the limit perfectly fine in 1080p with maximum graphics details. However, if you plan to run the games at UHD resolution on battery don’t expect to get the same results as above, as both the CPU and GPU run at reduced speeds on battery, as you can see in some of the pictures above.

As a side note, I don’t have another 1070 laptop to compare the results above with, but notebookcheck.com have a comparison of the Asus G752VS and the Predator 17 and they report 5 to 15% improved results in games and benchmarks for the Asus. That’s not unexpected, especially since the G752VS they tested comes with a Core HK processor and a higher clocked Nvidia chip.

The Nvidia 1070 chip can be overclocked on this Acer Predator as well.

The Predator 17 G9-793 faired well in my stress tests as well, as documented in the following two pictures. Still, I’ve read other reviews mentioning GPU throttling under heavy load, but mostly in stress tests, so that’s something to further look into if you’re truly interested in this laptop.

Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers and others

There are two fans inside this Predator and both of them are always active. However, most of the time they are barely audible even in very quiet environments, but they will ramp up from time to time and signal their presence. Still, what you’ll probably find the most annoying in everyday use is the DustBuster system, which occasionally stops the fans and spin them the other way around for a few seconds in order to push dust out, and causes a distinctive rattling.

Daily use case temperatures are very solid as well, as you can see in the pictures below.

The fans can ramp up significantly under load. I measured a maximum noise level of 52 dB at head level when pushing them to their maximum speeds, but you should only expect 48-50 dB in daily use while gaming, which is still loud and would probably determine you to use headphones. The case temperatures remained quite cool though, both when playing games or conducting stress tests, to the point where you can even find this comfortably enough to game on your lap, as the surfaces rarely went above 40 degrees Celsius in my tests.

*Daily Use – 1080p Youtube clip in Edge for 30 minutes
*Load – playing Far Cry 4 – UHD Ultra details for 30 minutes

The above temperatures are measured with the optical drive installed. Acer also offers a fan that can can replace the optical drive, but it doesn’t do much, as I only noticed temperature differences of around 0.4 to 1 degree Celsius when having that one installed, so I prefer not to use it, as it doesn’t make much of a difference and is an extra noise source.

When it comes to connectivity, there’s Wireless AC, Bluetooth 4.1 and Gigabit LAN on this computer. I have nothing to complain about the Wired connection, and Acer put a Killer DoubleShot Pro solution on this device, which means the wired and the wireless connections can be used simultaneously. There’s a preinstalled app that lets you configure how and when each program is allowed to access the Internet.

The Wireless connection (with a Qualcomm Killer Wireless 1535 module) on the other hand works fine as long as you’re in close proximity of the router, but the signal strength and speeds drop dramatically once you go a little further, in my case at 30 feet with 2 walls in between. That’s something I’ve complained about on the G9-791 Predator, but it’s still an issue on this new one, despite the fact that it gets a newer wireless chip, so I’d reckon the problem is caused by poor antennae design. I’ve googled this issue and there are some users complaining about the slow Wi-Fi on the previous Predators, but not as many as I was expecting, so I’d reckon for most of you this isn’t going to be a deal-breaker.

Except for the limited range though, the Wi-Fi on this laptop performed flawlessly, without any drops, disconnects or any other issues during my tests.

When it comes to the audio Acer went with a 4.2 system here with a total power of 12W, and although the two subwoofers (placed on the belly, behind that red metallic shield) don’t really push a lot of bass, the overall sound coming out of the Predator is significantly nicer than most other laptops can provide. The other four speakers are grouped in two pairs, pushing sound through the red grills on the front-edge, but also down, towards the table.

If you’re planning on using headphones or external speakers, the gold-plated 3.5 mm jack provides solid audio output with no hiss or other interference.

Last but not least there’s the Webcam, which I found quite washed up and lacking-detail on this test sample. I was remembering a better experience with the previous Predator.

Battery life

There’s a 90 Wh battery on this laptop, but due to the fact that the screen supports GSync and there’s no Intel HD 530 chip to default to in daily use, the Nvidia chip is always active and that takes a massive hit on battery life. You’ll find our readings below, and some of the pictures above show the impact of the Nvidia chip, which can ramp up to its full-capacity or can run at tamed clocked-speeds.

40 W (~2 h 15 min of use) – very light browsing and text editing in Google Drive, Balanced Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
40 W (~2 h 15 min of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Internet Explorer, Balanced Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
33 W (~2 h 50 min of use) – 1080p fullscreen .mkv video in the Movie app, Balanced Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
35 W (~2 h 45 min of use) – 4K fullscreen .mkv video in the Movie app, Balanced Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
55 W (~1 h 40 min of use) – heavy browsing in Edge, Balanced Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON.
45 to 120 W (~2 h to 40 min of use) – gaming, High Performance Mode, 45 fps limit, screen at 30%.

Gaming results are recorded with a fps limit of 45 set in GeForce Experience, and as a result some titles are more taxing than others. So you should expect less than an hour of play from the latest releases, and perhaps up to two hours from simple or very old games.

That aside, the Predator 17 G9-793 comes with a 230 Wh power brick, a bump-up from the 180 Wh of the previous generation. It weighs around 900 grams on its own, which adds up to the laptop’s total weight of 4.25 kg when traveling.

Price and availability

The Predator 17 G9-793 is not yet available in stores at the time of this article, so I’ll update this article once it is, or you can follow this link for up-to-date prices and configurations at the time you’re reading the post.

I do expect the base version with an Nvidia GTX 1070 chip, a FHD screen, 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage to start at around $2000, while the higher end configurations with more RAM, a larger SSD and the UHD screen to sell for $2300 to $2500 at launch, with discounts later on.

Acer also offers a smaller version of this laptop, the Predator 15 G9-593 with a 15.6-inch display and otherwise very similar features, with a similar starting price of around $2000 for the GTX 1070 configurations. Follow this link for more details.

The price is going to make or break the Predator 17 G9-793

Wrap up

Just like its predecessor, the Acer Predator 7 G9-793 is not the sleekest, fastest or the most features-packed 17-inch gaming laptop of its generation, but the aspects that could be improved are usually compensated by its solid pricing. However, while certain aspects could be let go on the G9-791, which was Acer’s first 17-inch gaming unit, I was expecting them to be addressed on this new iteration and they were not. As a result, the Wi-Fi signal is poor and I don’t think the keyboard is good enough for a gaming laptop of this day and age, that’s why our final score of the G9-793 is 3.75 out of 5.

Now, the Predator 17 G9-793 can be a solid buy, but only for the right price. This laptop is merely a hardware upgrade of the previous Predator, with GSync and a ThunderBolt 3 port, and these might not be enough for the end of 2016, where other laptops offer options for high-refresh rate panels, superior keyboards, quieter cooling solutions and more compact bodies, while matching and even outmatching the Predator in terms of prices.

The competition includes devices like the Alienware 17, the Asus ROG G752VS or the MSI GT72VR Dominator Pro, but none of these is the obvious superior pick, as each have their strong points and their lacks, as well as different price points which must also be taken into consideration.

Despite it lacks, the Predator G9-793 is a gaming laptop many of you should consider

Bottom point, if you can find the Predator G9-793 for a good price (just compare it to the other options at the time you’re reading this), don’t care much about portability or the multitude of LEDs and obtruding accents on the case, and also plan to use it mostly on a wired connection, you’ll probably be happy with the Predator 17. On the other hand, if you’re not limited by your budget, want a sleeker computer or faster performance, there are better options for you out there. Most of them are listed in this article that gathers all the Nvidia GTX 1070 and 1080 gaming notebooks available right now, but you can also check out this post on gaming ultraportables if you want to go the thin-and-light route.

With that in mind we’re going to wrap this up here. Let me know what you think about the Predator 17 G9-793 down below in the comments section and get in touch if you have any questions or anything to add about this laptop.

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Review by: Andrei Girbea
Andrei Girbea is a Writer and Editor-in-Chief here at Ultrabookreview.com. I write about mobile technology, laptops and computers in general. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now. I'm a techie with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering. I mostly write reviews and thorough guides here on the site, with some occasional columns and first-impression articles.

37 Comments

Nathan Brown

September 21, 2016 at 2:53 pm

What happens if you turn off G-Sync? Can Optimus be turned on? What about battery life with Optimus?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  September 21, 2016 at 2:57 pm
  
  That’s not how this works as far as I’m aware. The Intel chip is disabled so there’s no Optimus at all, which means that even if you switch GSync off you’re not going to get increased battery life, as the Nvidia chip would still be running.
  
  Reply
  - Nathan Brown
    
    September 21, 2016 at 4:25 pm
    
    Some G Sync laptops before had manual switches. Would be handy. I do not need a GTX 1070 for web browsing, it’s overkill.
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    September 22, 2016 at 4:05 am
    
    Well, GSync can be switched off from the Nvidia Panel if I remember correctly, but again, that’s not changing anything about the fact that the integrated chip is not available. You should look for implementations of 1070 with Optimus, but I can’t think of any. There are some for 1060 though.
- Winson
  
  October 10, 2017 at 6:19 am
  
  There is no g-sync inside it's just g-sync support which mean you can add a additional display which have g-sync
  
  Reply
Ewan

September 26, 2016 at 12:54 am

My P870DM-G has near identical specs — the HDD is only 1TB though and no internal optical drive.
The main differences are my CPU is the Intel Core i7-6700K Processor (8M Cache up to 4.0 GHz).
And my video cards are dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M SLI with 8GB GDDR5 VRAM and G-Sync.
As far as I can determine, it is very close to the newer GTX 1070, with both having superior performance to the to the GTX 980. Perhaps my 980Ms run a little cooler though?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  September 26, 2016 at 3:47 am
  
  It might not run cooler, as these newer iterations usually get tweaked cooling systems and the 980M and 1070 have the same max TDP as far as I know. Plus, with the 1070 being faster, it might not have to run at the same loads for a given task. What I mean by that is if the 980M would have to run at 80% in a given game, the 1070 will probably run at a lower load for the same experience.
  
  Reply
  - Ewan
    
    September 26, 2016 at 6:40 am
    
    Yes, that could well be the case with the more modern card. But for those looking for a poor man’s 1070 perhaps 980M SLI graphics solution might be worth a look, i.e. run out models on special?
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    September 26, 2016 at 10:28 am
    
    Yes, but on a laptop an SLI option means you’ll end up with something huge. And I don’t think a 980M SLI is going to be cheaper than a 1070 or a 1080 . Not really worth the trade-in imo, but it might depends on each particular case
  - Ewan
    
    September 26, 2016 at 12:12 pm
    
    Yes but your Acer Predator is huge too, even WITH the 1070. I’m just grateful, thanks to the MXM interface, the graphics are upgrade-able in the future. Ditto the desktop type Intel Core i7-6700K Processor, as I understand it is not soldered in — hard to imagine it needing to be upgraded though!
    No not really portable, but these big beasts should be thought of more as ‘transportable’ gaming rigs.
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    September 26, 2016 at 4:17 pm
    
    Yes, yours has a few interesting features and yes, this Acer isn’t a lot smaller or a lot lighter. But I’d reckon yours was quite pricey?
  - Ewan
    
    September 26, 2016 at 12:28 pm
    
    Haha, annoying cover lights! My P870DM-G has them too. I can’t say they made much of an impression on me thus far either way. I guess I only see them when the cover closed. Do they serve to indicate the state of charge the battery is at perhaps, or is it purely cosmetic?
    
    hidevolution.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/p/8/p870dm_4.jpg
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    September 26, 2016 at 4:18 pm
    
    My biggest nit with these is that they make the laptop a no-go for strict professional environments with strict requirements, as well as for some schools. I don’t understand why manufacturers keep ignoring this fact.
  - Ewan
    
    September 26, 2016 at 7:54 pm
    
    Full disclosure is that my P870DM-G was not quite new but still has the bulk of the 20 months extended warranty –from June 2016. But checking the local ClClevo builder, Metabox’s website, to replicate my system using 1070 graphics brings the total build to over AUD $4000.
    
    affordablelaptops.com.au/contents/en-us/p3198_metabox-p870dm2-g_clevo.html
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    September 27, 2016 at 3:37 am
    
    That’s a lot, but computers are quite expensive over there, right? I’m seeing an Asus G752VS going for around 3500 AUD.
  - Ewan
    
    September 27, 2016 at 1:12 am
    
    Plain, yet Pascal, the smaller and lighter GTX 1070 equipped notebook maybe the Gigabyte P57X v6. No 4K screen, or even G-Sync, but there is a HDMI 2.0 output allowing 4K out put to an external monitor and at the same time promising better battery life. The case design is plain and nondescript and the specs otherwise are somewhat modest.
    At the end of the day the price is less than AUD $3K in Australia, which is what I ended up paying for a few months old, fully decked out gaming laptop which happens to have a longer warranty anyway — 20 months.
  - Ewan
    
    September 27, 2016 at 4:16 am
    
    For that price I am seeing FHD display only and a 256GB SSD. Upgrade to your test unit’s specs and it drifts easly to north of AUD $4K+
  - Ewan
    
    September 27, 2016 at 4:20 am
    
    Oh Asus, not Acer, the Acer Predator 17 G9-793 with 1070 graphics has not yet arrived down under as far as far as I can see.
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    September 27, 2016 at 6:43 am
    
    True, the 4K screen is especially damn expensive. Clevos and the like are usually well priced, so I don’t expect the ROG or this Predator to go cheaper.
Ewan

September 26, 2016 at 3:47 am

The P870DM-G graphics are listed as, ‘Upgradeable MXM 3.0b; double GPU’
Whatever that means?
Anyway, in five years time — how long I am predicting the GTX 1070 and 980M SLi graphics will be good for — I’ll find out if there is an upgrade option.

Reply
Nathan Brown

October 1, 2016 at 4:47 am

What would happen if you disable/underclock cores on the CPU, does the battery life improve?

Also, does the Low TDP Setting in the Windows Power Settings (in Advanced) change the battery much. An example is this, laptopmag.com/articles/increase-battery-life-dell-xps-13

The XPS 13 got 40 Mins extra Web Browsing.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  October 1, 2016 at 2:49 pm
  
  Undervolting the CPU helps with battery life to some extent, disabling cores might as well, but I never tried it tbo.
  
  The Battery life profile should also boost battery life, If you look at this pictures of playing a 1080p movie, the CPU runs at around 2.1 Ghz for the msot part. With the lowest power profile and Battery Saving activate its frequency should drop and the battery life increase.
  
  However, if you’re actually interested in long battery life on such hardware, I’d advise getting something with Nvidia Optimus and no GSync, which has an active integrated Intel HD graphics chip that runs with basic tasks, and the dedicated Nvidia chip would only jump in when needed. Not sure if there are any with 1070 graphics, but worth a look.
  
  Reply
Ewan

October 1, 2016 at 11:10 pm

Oh the 1070 only has 3GB of memory and yet there is 32GB of RAM?
My older W370ET — 17″ matt, full-HD, GTX660M 2GB DDR5 VRAM — has a removable battery pack.
I guess this feature has been removed in laptops because it was realised few people ever bought a second battery pack. Although now I am reading that the overall life of replaceable laptop batteries was poor, a significant decline in less than two years.
Large gaming laptops have performance first and foremost in mind and are not really designed to be unplugged for very long, but if you are desperate there are always power banks; I keep one in my locker at work.

There is new battery advancements too on the way, i.e. the anode-free li-metal battery that could achieve an energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg – about twice the capacity of the current cells found in Tesla’s vehicles for example.

Reply
Fabio

November 8, 2016 at 8:45 am

would you prefer this laptop or the msi ge62 vr with gtx 1060? need help, i heard that the acer predator heats up very fast… ill wait for your reply guys. thanks!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  November 9, 2016 at 3:53 am
  
  well, they're different, you can't really compare them. Still, what I can say is the Predator doesn't heat up fast and doesn't get that hot either, as you can see in the Temperatures section.
  
  Reply
P

November 10, 2016 at 5:05 am

Is this a hands-on review or a speculative one based on specs and last year's model?

I only ask as a number of key details seem a bit off – like the 8Gb 1070 being listed as having 3Gb VRAM.

Reply
Shahriar Farkhan

December 30, 2016 at 1:02 pm

I bought this on sale for $1499 USD 1070/16GB/512GB SSD/1TB HD – Some thoughts that may differ from what the article states:
The thermals are great the CPU does not throttle – Witcher 3 at full ULTRA and the CPU sits at 74-80ºC while the laptop sits on my laptop and my thighs are warm but NOT toasty.
The backlight bleed is an issue. I was lucky – mine has a tiny amount on one corner not annoying. I watched a guy return his because it was amazingly bad. I need to see what happens when you put it in a bag and their's pressure on the screen's back – Maybe it will get worse.
The keyboard is better than the 502VS (1070) and the MSI GS63VR I tried. The MSI has good feel but the keyboard backlighting left something to be desired on glare. I actually type quite well on it.
It's a tank weight wise and only a few backpacks will hold it because ACER decided on something so wide 12.7 inches across which makes it hard to fit in most 17.3" backpacks. That being said, I use it on my lap in front of the TV on the couch and it's fine, the ergonomics work for me.

Reply
Joyce

June 4, 2017 at 7:11 am

Help please: I just bought Acer Predator G9-793-784F – Gaming Laptop for € 2249
It has a very poor connection to my wifi. It interrupts the whole time. It seems the driver doesn't know what to do. I tried several places in the room, but it still doesnt work.Poor connection to my printer, facebook and on-line stuff. I am not a computer expert.
Can someone advise me what to do?

Reply
- Svper
  
  June 18, 2017 at 6:39 pm
  
  You are better off checking the acer forums or a tech support forum. Acer has known wifi issues perhaps there is a driver you can download on their website
  
  Reply
Vazgen

August 15, 2017 at 5:44 pm

Hi guys. Can you explain me what king of bleeding is there on the display. Is all predators come with that issue? How can I determine that current model's display is damaged or bleeding?… Is it so visible?… is Asus ROG G752vs preferred to Predator 17, or Predator is better than the ROG. If I buy with DOS(Windows 10 is sealed separately)is it easy to install win 10 on DOS, in that case, will it be easy to get other acer predator programes, drivers and utilities, for that type of computer? Will the system work correctly to install Windows 10 separately not factory installed? I am afraid to face system issues installing Windows 10 separately. Maybe I should wait until I find one with Windows 10 factory installed??? If anyone has recommendations, please let me know… How does work the camera and microphone on Predator? What is the big difference between the first and the last versions in this aspect (as you mentioned in the article above) And what about the battery life, as far as I Know on the first version of Predator G9-791, the users got more than 4 hours battery life, is it true?, and what has changed, that this new model gets the half of autonomic work comparing to the first Predator. Thank you all very much!

Reply
- Winson
  
  October 10, 2017 at 6:23 am
  
  Predator 17 is a beast and it's perfect. For me the screen is very clear and bright. I don't think there is any issue with the screen. Predator 17 is worth to your money no worry.
  
  Reply
Jay

October 21, 2017 at 8:14 am

Hey bro…. What do u say about the dell alienware 15 with 1tbhdd and 256gbssd over the acer predetaor you just reviewed…. Dont mind the size…. Also is there any other laptop like this acer predator but with a better battery life at the same price…. Thanks

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  October 21, 2017 at 12:41 pm
  
  The Alienware 15 is a pretty solid laptop as well. Just make sure you get it with a good screen.
  
  Reply
Alex

December 10, 2017 at 2:38 am

Hello ! Tell me where can I download a profile on acer predator 15 (1070, FHD) for the screen to recollect PWM (health guard)?

Reply
Mayowa

March 22, 2018 at 11:00 pm

Hello
Cam I use the Acer Predator 17 G9-793 UHD icm file for the FHD version?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  March 29, 2018 at 1:11 pm
  
  no, it's a different panel
  
  Reply
  - Mayowa
    
    March 29, 2018 at 5:36 pm
    
    Where can I find the correct File for my panel?
    The full hd panelw

Acer Predator 17 G9-793 review – powerful gaming laptop

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