Acer Predator 17 (G9-973-78CM) Review
What’s black and red and weighs nearly 10 pounds? You guessed it, a gaming laptop! While the Acer Predator 17 G9-973-78CM (starts at $1,499.99; $1,999.99 as tested) doesn’t exactly subvert expectations when it comes to the category, it does offer VR-capable performance and solid gaming features at a reasonable price. It’s more wallet-friendly than the Acer Predator 17 X ($1,899.98 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , and sports a newer Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics card—both compelling updates to what was an already solid gaming system. But it doesn’t quite outdo the MSI GT62VR Dominator Pro-005 ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , which remains our Editors’ Choice for midrange gaming laptops thanks to its overall stronger performance and slightly less bulky design.
Mục Lục
Design and Features
If you put the Predator 17 and Predator 17 X side by side, you’d be forgiven for having a hard time telling them apart. For better or for worse, the heavy and bulky design of the 17 X has remained largely intact—along with some of the weaker design points, especially in regard to the keyboard’s backlighting. For a more in-depth look at design, read our review of the Acer Predator 17 X.
But if you channel your inner Sherlock, there are some key changes. For starters, the Predator 17 measures 1.56 by 16.65 by 12.66 inches (HWD), shaving off 0.21 inch in thickness. It’s also a smidge lighter at 9.4 pounds, instead of 9.67 pounds. To be clear, neither change makes a huge difference in terms of portability—the Predator 17 is still a hulking beast of a system, even if it’s not quite as heavy as the Asus ROG G752VS-XB78K Overclocked Edition (9.92 pounds).
The display is also different. While the 17 X we tested has a crisp 4K resolution, the 17 has a 17.3-inch IPS screen with 1,920-by-1,080 resolution. That’s not necessarily a step down, however, as even with beefier graphics cards, this remains the best resolution for gaming right now. Another subtle change is the design of the fans in the back. The Predator 17 X’s vertical grille has been replaced by more complex triangular venting. Speaking of fans, the Predator 17 comes with a Cooler Master fan module that can be swapped out with the optical drive to keep the laptop cool during long gaming sessions—a feature shared with the similar, slightly smaller Acer Predator 15 . Making the switch is easy enough, as there’s a simple release latch on the bottom of the system. That being said, it’s not hot swappable—you’ll need to decide before your epic gaming session if you want that extra cooling.
While the process for customizing macros remains unchanged from the Predator 17 X, you can now simply press Button 5 to open the PredatorSense GameBar. From there you can easily start the Xbox app, record video of your screen (either 30 seconds or unlimited duration), take screenshots, or open the settings page for game features. And whether you’re blasting your tunes or blasting your enemies to smithereens, the Predator 17 delivers robust, clear audio thanks to its four SoundPound speakers and two subwoofers.
For I/O ports, the left side is home to two USB 3.0 ports, the power jack, an SD card reader, a headphone jack, a microphone jack, and the optical drive. The right side has the remaining two USB 3.0 ports, one USB-C port, a DisplayPort connector, an Ethernet jack, an HDMI port, and a Kensington lock slot. A 1,280-by-720 HD webcam is in the top bezel. There’s also plenty of storage with a 256GB solid-state drive and a 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive. For wireless connectivity, the Predator 17 comes with dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1. It’s also compatible with Killer DoubleShot Pro, which you can use to combine Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections for faster gaming. Lastly, Acer covers the Predator 17 with a limited two-year warranty, and provides a dedicated Predator support line.
Performance
How does the Predator 17 stack up when it comes to gaming? Inside, there’s a 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM—a potent mix for a midrange gaming system.
See How We Test Laptops
So it’s not surprising that the Predator 17 delivered smooth gameplay on our 3D and gaming tests. It scored a respectable 24,273 points on our 3DMark Cloud Gate and 7,269 points on the more intensive Fire Strike Extreme. That’s a small but noticeable improvement from the Predator 17 X, which scored 22,177 and 5,642 respectively with a last-generation Nvidia GTX 980. It’s also on par with the 25,278 and 7,366 scored by the MSI GT62VR, and not too far behind the Razer Blade Pro ($1,299.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) (25,439 on Cloud Gate, 8,256 on Fire Strike Extreme), which is equipped with the same processor and the slightly more powerful GTX 1080.
It also performed admirably on the Heaven and Valley gaming tests, averaging 172 frames per second (fps) and 100fps, respectively, at 1,366-by-768 resolution with the graphics quality set to Medium. Cranking the graphics detail up to Ultra and running at native resolution turned out scores of 100fps on Heaven and 91fps on Valley—still more than enough to handle even demanding games. The fans occasionally get loud when running intensive programs, though—not so much that it’s a major annoyance, but enough to notice.
Even though the Predator 17 is designed for gaming, it’s more than powerful enough to handle everyday productivity tasks. On the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test, it logged 3,558 points—ahead of the Razer Blade Pro, Acer Predator 17 X, and MSI GT62VR. It lagged slightly behind the Asus ROG OC Edition (3,865), but that’s in part due to its overclocked processor and 64GB of memory. The Predator 17 also performed decently when it came to multimedia tasks, but took a sluggish 4 minutes, 10 seconds, to complete our Photoshop CS6 test—well behind its rivals.
And while no one would expect excellent battery life from a gaming laptop, the Predator 17 did fairly well. On our video rundown test, it lasted an impressive 4 hours, 44 minutes. Most gaming systems don’t make it past the 4-hour mark, including the MSI GT62VR (3:55), the Razer Blade Pro and the Asus ROG Overclocked Edition (both 3:48), and the Acer Predator 17 X (2:53).
Conclusion
Some gaming laptops try to play it subtle. Not the Acer Predator 17. This is a laptop for gamers who want the world to know that they’re not ashamed of a strong, bold, red-and-black gamer aesthetic—but would rather not take out a mortgage to get a system that can deliver high-quality gaming or handle a VR headset. And for $2,000, it also throws in a few nifty extras, like a swappable fan, that should appeal to gamers who want more than just the basics.
Acer Predator 17 (G9-973-78CM)
3.5
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Check Stock
at Amazon
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MSRP $1,499.99
Pros
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Cons
The Bottom Line
There’s no questioning that the big and hefty Acer Predator 17 is a gaming laptop that’s proud of its heritage. But it’s also a good deal with strong performance, VR-capable graphics, and long battery life.
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