Acer's gaming notebook PC "Predator 15" review which can exchange optical drives and cooling fans

Gaming notebook PC Acer released on March 25, 2016 "Predator 15 (G9-592-H73H / L)"Is equipped with an IPS display of 15.6 inches and a large size but 4 K (3840 x 2160 dots), it is possible to play high-quality 4K movies. In addition to the two built-in cooling fans, one cooling fan module is included, so setting a module in the optical drive can play comfortable games with loads using up to three cooling fans I tried using it because it is about.

Predator G9-592-H73H / L | Notebook - Technical specifications and reviews - Acer
http://www.acer.com/ac/ja/JP/content/model/NX.Q0VSJ.001

"Predator 15" entered the big box and came to the editorial department.


Inside, there was a firmly fixed box of the main body and a long thin box.


An AC adapter and a power cable are included in a long thin box.


The AC adapter is slightly larger than the 5.2 inch Nexus 5X.


There seems to be five Nexus 5X thick.


A thin box (right) came out separately from the main body when removing the styrofoam which fixed the box of the main body.


If you open a thin box, there is a box again.


Inside was Cooler Master cooling fan module "Predator FrostCore". Predator FrostCore is a cooling fan module that you set yourself in the optical drive part.


Open the box of the main body, and finally meet Predator 15.


On the top of Predator 15 is a large logo of "PREDATOR".


Matte texture materials are used all over.



The main body is 391 mm in length × 299.5 mm in width × 38.5 mm in height and it is rather large, and it is about this size feeling with an adult male.


Bottom side.


What is worrisome at the bottom is the red part written as "Subwoofer", which is a subwoofer.


In addition to the subwoofer, two speakers are installed at both ends of the front.


You can experience the presence of presence with two speakers and subwoofer, and furthermore, by adopting Dolby Audio surround sound, you can play the game with sound with three dimensions. It is possible to play such as to sense the direction the enemy is coming from the surrounding footsteps.


The back is a vent as a whole.


The fan adopts a metal AeroBlade fan, improves fan rotation speed, reduces noise, and realizes efficient heat radiation. Also, Acer's unique removal mechanism is adopted, it seems that internal dust can be removed by rotating the blade in reverse at high speed.


On the left side there are a power plug, USB 3.0 terminal x 2, microphone terminal, headphone jack, SD card, DVD / Bluray drive


USB 3.1 Type-C terminal, USB 3.0 terminal × 2, HDMI port, DisplayPort, wired LAN terminal are mounted on the right side.


When opening the top board it is like this. The display is a 15.6-inch IPS display of 3840 × 2160 (4 K).


Design based on black, finished chic overall.


The keyboard is an isolation keyboard where keys are separated from each other.


"W" "A" "S" "D" frequently used in the game ... ...


"↑" "←" "→" "↓" is painted red with emphasis.


The key is big and easy to push, the keys are far apart, so it's easy to type.


The trackpad is smooth, yet it does not slip too much.


The type of the button of the track pad clicking firmly when it is pressed and clicking.


The power button has an inverted triangle shape.


I turned on the power.


Since the display is non-glare processing, it does not display big reflection.


When I turned on I noticed the keyboard LED backlight shining brightly.


At the top of the keyboard is a customizable hot key.


Darkening the lighting makes the keyboard illuminated by the beautiful LED backlight more conspicuous. The LED backlight can be customized to more than 16 million colors to your liking.


The indicator in the upper right corner of the keyboard shows the status of DVD / Bluray drive, power supply and light.


I will attach a big feature of Predator 15 at once by Cooler Master cooling fan module "Predator FrostCore".


Predator FrostCore is a cooling fan that removes the DVD / Bluray drive and replaces the optical drive part.


To remove the DVD / Bluray drive, press the button on the back ......


I pull it down a little. Pull it to the end, because the DVD / Bluray drive jumps out ... ...


It is ok if you remove the Predator Frost Core by pulling it out.


It looks like this when installed. Removing and installing will take less than a few seconds, so you can install it as soon as the heat of the main unit is concerned even while playing the game.


◆ Benchmark test
To measure the benchmark of the main unit and the benchmark when installing the cooling fan, the 3D benchmark software "3D Mark"I measured the score with.

The benchmark (test name: FIRE STRIKE 1.1) on Predator 15 without a cooling fan was "8276".


When testing 3DMark's SKY DIVER 1.0, the score is "20007".


When measuring when installing the cooling fan, the benchmark at FIRE STRIKE 1.1 is "8268", which is almost the same as when not installed.


Even SKY DIVER 1.0 "19753", it is almost the same as when cooling.


Next, to see if Predator 15 can withstand the operation of Oculus Rift,Tools to test whether VR works on my PCWhen using it, it is impossible to play Oculus Rift ... .... Again, it seems impossible for GeForce GTX 980M for notebook PC.


Built-in storage of Predator 15 is based on SSD × 2 with capacity of 128 GBRAID 0It has a configuration and a HDD with a capacity of 1 TB. In order to ascertain how much high-speed data access is possible, storage benchmark software "CrystalDiskMark"I measured the score with.

The score of SSD "MZ 7 TE 512 HMHP - 000" made by Samsung which is mounted on the notebook PC "CF - SX 4" used in the editorial department of GIGAZINE is.


On the other hand, the score of HGST HTS 721010 A 9 E 630 of Predator 15 and the RAID 0 configuration is not much different from the above MZ 7 TE 512 HMHP - 000 regarding Write, but greatly differentiated with respect to Read.


◆ PredatorSense
Predator 15 has preinstalled various software, among which the convenient one is "PredatorSense". PredatorSense only starts, it tells CPU and system temperature and fan rotation speed.


The moment the measurement of the benchmark was completed, the CPU was 49 degrees and the system was 46 degrees with the cooling fan installed ......


When the cooling fan was removed, the CPU rose to 58 degrees.


Also customize the keyboard LED lights ......


You can also customize hotkeys, etc. with PredatorSense.


◆ Experience 4K display and sound
I played 4K movie to see how powerful images and music can be experienced with 4K display & speaker 2 + subwoofer. 4K display is beautiful, but it is more noteworthy sound than that. Three-dimensional sound as if the sound is moving around and the realistic feeling with subwoofer can not be experienced on other laptops quite easily.

4K movie playback & gaming sound with gaming PC "Predator 15" sound like this - YouTube


◆ Actually play games
Playing with Predator 15 is the online mode "GTA Online" of "Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5)" with the first download data over 60 GB. I do not know whether graphics will come out, but I set it to 60 fps.


When I executed the benchmark test that can be done from the setting of GTA 5, I feel that the frame rate ranges between 30 and 40 as urouro. There was no choking, but 60 fps was not achieved.


I measured the benchmark and I will play it at once.


Actually watching GTA 5 playing with Predator 15 can be seen from the following movie. Even if it performs intense action, it is not seen at all, such as fluffing, play is comfort itself. Moreover, it is also paying attention to the sound with three-dimensional feeling.

I tried GTA online with a gaming notebook PC "Predator 15" - YouTube


When checking the temperature with PredatorSense when playing GTA online, the CPU was 62 degrees and the system was 63 degrees ... ...


When the cooling fan was installed, the CPU fell to 52 degrees.


The size of the fan's sound when playing GTA online can be checked from the following movie. Sometimes the sound was slightly bigger than the movie below when playing.

The sound of fans when playing games on the gaming notebook PC "Predator 15" looks something like this - YouTube


The specifications of "Predator 15" are as follows.

CPU:Core i7 6700 HQ (Skylake) 2.6 GHz / 4 cores
GPU:GeForce GTX 980M
OS:Windows 10 Home
Memory (RAM):32 GB
Storage (ROM):HDD 1 TB, SSD 256 GB
display:4K (3840 x 2160) 15.6 inches
Wifi:IEEE 802.11a (54 Mbps), IEEE 802.11 b (11 Mbps), IEEE 802.11 g (54 Mbps), IEEE 802. 11 n, IEEE 802. 11 ac
interface:USB 3.0 × 3, DisplayPort × 1, HDMI × 1, USB 3.1 (Type-C) × 1, headphone output × 1, microphone input × 1, SD card × 1, DVD / Bluray drive
size:391 × 38.5 × 299.5 mm
mass:3.6 kg

The price at Amazon at the time of article creation of Predator 15 (G9-592 - H73H / L) was 370,251 yen including tax.

Amazon.co.jp: Acer gaming PC Predator 15 G9-592-H73H / L Windows10Home 64bit / 15.6inch / 32GB / 1TB + 128GB × 2 SSD: personal computer · peripheral equipment