Acer Predator 17 (GTX 1070) Review

4K Gaming. The Acer Predator series stands for classical gaming notebooks, which – in contrast to some of their slim siblings – are purely trimmed for performance. After we tested the Skylake version of the Predator 17 in September of 2016, now the Kaby-Lake model, which is similarly built on the outside, must prove itself.

Anyone looking for a powerful high-end notebook that offers more power than a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Aspire VX5-591G) or GeForce GTX 1060 (Aspire VN7-593G) will find it in the Predator series. Starting at 2000 Euros (~$2238), the massive gaming giants are either equipped with a GeForce GTX 1070 (Predator 17) or the front-runner from Nvidia's Pascal-eneration, the GeForce GTX 1080 (Predator 17 X), which promises sufficient performance for demanding games. Depending on the model, there is 16 to 64 GB DDR4-RAM and a 256 GB to 512 GB SSD plus up to 1 TB HDD.

Either a Core i7-7700HQ with a 2.8 to 3.8 GHz clock speed or a Core i7-7820HK with a 2.9 to 3.9 GHz clock speed and free multiplier serves as the processor. The display is either a conventional FHD display (1920x1080 pixels) or a razor-sharp UHD panel (3840x2160 pixels). Our test unit, which is labeled as G9-793-70PJ and was provided by notebooksbilliger.de, currently costs around 2800 Euros (~$3133). Even though you can also get notebooks with a GTX 1080 for this price, the 4K display and the 512-GB SSD are what make it so expensive. In the US, an Acer Predator 17, which doesn't have the 4K display but is otherwise similar, is available for around $1750.

Acer Predator 17 G9-793-70PJ (Predator 17 Series)

Processor : Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2.8 GHz (Intel Core i7)
Graphics adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Laptop) - 8192 MB, Core: 1443 MHz, Memory: 4000 MHz, GDDR5, ForceWare 381.78
Memory : 32768 MB , 2x 16 GB SO-DIMM DDR4-2133, dual channel, 2 of 4 slots occupied, max. 64 GB
Display : 17.3 inch 16:9, 3840x2160 pixel 255 PPI, AU Optronics B173ZAN01.0 (AUO109B), IPS, UHD, G-Sync, 60 Hz, glossy: no
Mainboard : Intel HM175
Storage : Toshiba NVMe THNSN5512GPU7, 512 GB , m.2-SSD type 2280 + Toshiba MQ01ABD100, 1000 GB HDD @ 5400 rpm
Weight : 4.34 kg ( = 153.09 oz / 9.57 pounds), Power Supply: 930 g ( = 32.8 oz / 2.05 pounds)