Building on the success of Acer’s Predator gaming notebooks but ramping up the performance even further, the new Predator 17 X brings overclocking and desktop grade performance[2] to mobile gaming. Powered by a 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-6820HK processor, NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 graphics, and a custom triple-fan cooling system, it delivers an uncompromising combination of power and portability2. With overclocking, gamers will enjoy turbo speeds of up to 4.0GHz for the CPU; up to 1310MHz for the GPU; and up to 3.7GHz for VRAM. Fully ready to tackle virtual worlds, its top-end GPU and the high performance CPU makes it an ideal “VR-to-go” platform.
“The Predator 17 X incorporates the world’s only notebook GPU powerful enough for virtual reality—the GeForce GTX 980,” said Kaustubh Sanghani, general manager of notebook business, NVIDIA. “Gamers and VR content developers will embrace the Predator 17 X’s performance, design and mobility, allowing VR to be experienced anywhere and everywhere.”
For the ultimate in game play, buttery smooth visuals are delivered on the notebook’s 17.3inch G-SYNC panel. Available with either a FHD IPS (1920 x 1080) or UHD IPS (4K 3840 x 2160) display, NVIDIA G-SYNC technology matches the refresh rate of the screen with the powerful GPU to eliminate screen tearing and minimize stuttering.
All this muscle is enhanced with DDR4-2133 memory and enterprise level NVMe PCIe solid state drives2 in a three-SATA-SSD RAID 0 array for immense data transfer speeds. Killer DoubleShot Pro enables Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections to work together, so gamers can use Ethernet for gaming while at the same time using WiFi for watching twitch.tv, listening to music or Skyping with friends. Thunderbolt™ 3 brings Thunderbolt to USB-C at speeds up to 40 Gbps, for one compact port that does it all – delivering the fastest, most versatile connection to any dock, display, or data device. It is up to 8X faster than USB 3.0 and 4X faster than USB 3.1.
The Predator 17 X also includes a new triple-fan cooling system that maximizes heat dissipation and ensures extreme overclocking performance. An Aeroblade fan located near the GPU uses the world’s thinnest metallic blades (0.1mm) to simulate aircraft wing flight behavior to enhance fan speed, reduce drag and noise. Together, the three fans optimize air flow while an efficient front intake system brings cool air into the laptop. A vapor chamber, most typically used in server environments for high-performance and cooling efficiency, also helps to dispatch the heat and enable better overclocking performance. The Predator 17 X also includes DustDefender and CoolBoost, which use dual high-speed fans with reverse rotation to remove dust build-up and improve heat dissipation.
Acer’s PredatorSense software offers advanced customization options for gaming features like overclock modes, keyboard macro profiles and programmable keys for favorite games and adjustable lighting configurations. In addition, the Predator 17 X’s backlit keyboard includes customizable RGB illumination, so gamers can change and personalize lighting zone colors for specific game or profile setups.
Pricing and Availability
The Predator 17 X notebooks will be available at leading retailers in North America in June with prices starting at $2,799; in Europe in June with prices starting at €2,499; and in China in May with prices starting at ¥39,999. In the United States, the Predator 17 X will also be available for pre-sale at the Acer Store soon.
