Acer Predator Orion 9000 is an 18-core, quad-GPU desktop for l33t gamers

Enlarge (credit: Mark Walton)

Following in the footsteps of the Predator 21X curved display laptop—unveiled at IFA 2016 and now sold out—Acer has unveiled the Orion 9000, a carbon fibre clad, RBG-laden behemoth of a gaming desktop with masses of upgradability. It's due for release before the end of 2017 at a starting price between "two to three thousands dollars."

That kind of money won't buy the configuration Acer has on show at IFA, which features an 18-core Intel Core i9-7980XE processor (the 7980XE retails for $2,000 on its own), four AMD Radeon Vega graphics cards, and 128GB of memory. Other configurations with more reasonable components—including comparatively cheaper CPUs like the i9-7900X, as well as GTX 1080 Ti SLI graphics from Nvidia—will also be available.

"Designed to intimidate enemies," according to Acer, the Orion 9000 has one of the most extreme l33t gamer designs I've seen in some time, with aggressive angles, vents, and enough RBG lighting to blind even the most the hardened of PC gamers. There are faux carbon fibre highlights throughout, too, along with a hinged side panel window that quickly comes loose with a click. Notably, the window has a metal mesh applied to it that distracts from the look somewhat but is required to make the machine EMI certified (something most enthusiast PC cases are not).