Acer Predator 15 Gaming Notebook Review
Category : Notebooks / Tablets
Published by Marc Büchel on 14.01.16
With their Predator gaming notebooks Acer has powerful devices its portfolio. On the following pages we're going to have a close look at their Predator 15 with 16GB RAM, GTX 970M graphics and 256GB NVMe SSD. Apparently we're curious to find out how this machine is going to perform.
On the following pages we will show you the strenghts and weaknesses of the Predator 15 Gaming Notebook from Acer.
Preview
Specifications / Chassis
Test Model / Avialable Models
| Acer Predator 15 - 16GB RAM, GTX 970M 256GB SSD | Acer Predator 15 - 64GB RAM, GTX 980M 512GB SSD | Acer Predator 15 - 64GB RAM, GTX 980M 1000GB SSD | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700HQ, 2.60 GHz Standard, 3.50 GHz Turbo | Intel Core i7-6700HQ, 2.40 GHz Standard, 3.50 GHz Turbo | Intel Core i7-6700HQ, 2.60 GHz Standard, 3.50 GHz Turbo |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Multi-Language | Windows 10 Multi-Language | Windows 10 Multi-Language |
| Chipset | Intel HM170 Express Chipset | Intel HM170 Express Chipset | Intel HM170 Express Chipset |
| Memory | DDR4 1600 MHz, 16 GB | DDR4 1600 MHz, 64 GB | DDR4 1600 MHz, 16 GB |
| Display | 15'' Full HD, 1920 x 1080 LG LP156WF6-SPP1) IPS | 15'' Full HD, 1920 x 1080 LG LP156WF6-SPP1) IPS | 15'' Full HD, 1920 x 1080 LG LP156WF6-SPP1) IPS |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, 3 GByte GDDR5 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M, 4 GByte GDDR5 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, 3 GByte GDDR5 |
| Hard drive | 256 GB SSD (M.2 NVMe) 2000 GB HDD (2.5'') Western Digital |
512 GB SSD (M.2 NVMe) 1000 GB HDD (2.5'') Western Digital |
1000 GB SSD 2000 GB HDD (2.5'') Western Digital |
| Network | 1 x Gigabit LAN (Killer) 1 x WLAN 802.11ac (Killer) |
1 x Gigabit LAN (Killer) 1 x WLAN 802.11ac (Killer) |
1 x Gigabit LAN (Killer) 1 x WLAN 802.11ac (Killer) |
| ODD | Blu-ray RW | Blu-ray RW | Blu-ray RW |
| Video Camera | HD Web Camera | HD Web Camera | HD Web Camera |
| Connectors | 1 x 3.5mm Jack 4 x USB 3.0 1 x Thunderbolt 3 1 x RJ45 LAN jack 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI Type A 1 x SD-Card Slot |
1 x 3.5mm Jack 4 x USB 3.0 1 x Thunderbolt 3 1 x RJ45 LAN jack 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI Type A 1 x SD-Card Slot |
1 x 3.5mm Jack 4 x USB 3.0 1 x Thunderbolt 3 1 x RJ45 LAN jack 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI Type A 1 x SD-Card Slot |
| Audio | Built-in Speakers incl. Subwoofer and Microphone | Built-in Speakers incl. Subwoofer and Microphone | Built-in Speakers incl. Subwoofer and Microphone |
| Battery | 6000 mAh, 8 Cells | 6000 mAh, 8 Cells | 6000 mAh, 8 Cells |
| Dimensions | 391 x 299 x 38.5 mm (W x D x H) | 391 x 299 x 38.5 mm (W x D x H) | 391 x 299 x 38.5 mm (W x D x H) |
| Weight | 3.4 kg | 3.4 kg | 3.4 kg |
| Price | CHF 1999.- | CHF 2749.- | CHF 3199.- |
Châssis / Design / Build Quality
As soon as you take the Predator 15 out of the box you'll see that this is one serious gaming notebook. Small wonder it weighs 4.50 kilogram and it therefore leaves lasting impressions - positive as well as negative ones. Nevertheless one M.2 solid state drive and an additional hard drive, a high-end notebook GPU, a quad core CPU with eight threads, 24 GByte memory, a 15 inch FullHD IPS display and a powerful cooling solution do need some space and cause additional weight. As a matter of fact the Predator 15 can produce more than 200 Watts of dissipation power, which make the cooling system mission critical. Acer decided to put GPU and CPU underneath the speakers, close to the display. The CPU can be found on the left side and the GPU has been placed on the right side. Furthermore there are two radial fans which blow hot air out of the case. The entire cooling solution is very efficient and keeps the temperatures low and even the noise level is on a very reasonable level.
Like its predecessor, the Predator 15 also comes with a grippy surface. Paired with its distinctive shape and black as well as silver color the design itself reminds of a stealth bomber. Acer decided to stick to their design theme. The overall impression as well as build quality is great and LAN party gamers will like the toughness of this device.
Display / Input Devices
Display
Acer equipped the Predator 15 with a 15'' IPS display that features Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. Furthermore the display comes with LED backlight and the panel surface received a matte coating, which reduces reflections to a minimum. The brightness is on a good level with an anverage of 286 Candela per squaremeter. Regarding the backlight we especially like that there are no bleeding effects in the corners, meaning the light is being uniformly distributed. For a gaming notebook also color reproduction is on a very good level achieving 86 percent sRGB coverage. A quick look at the contrast ratio shows is at 852:1, which is a good value once again and the black level is convincing at 0.38 cd/m2. Since Acer is using an IPS panel with this notebook, viewing angle sability is great as well.
Input Devices
The Predator 15 Gaming Notebook comes with a standard keyboard and a number pad next to it. Inbetween you also find arrow keys which are suitable not only for gamers, office users will enjoy them equally. Basically the keyboard is much alike an Apple keyboard. The key drop is well chosen and the pressure point leaves a good impression. The keys themselves come with a slightly rough surface and provide good grip. Furthermore the chassis doesn't bend. This is another indicator for high build quality.
Centered, below the keyboard you can find the touchpad. Fortunately this has not been integrated into the material of the chassis and offers a left and a right key. The touchpad also offers supports multitouch gestures, which work perfectly fine. Overall the touchpad is what you expect it to be: precise and responsive. Apart from that the two mousebuttons - left and right - are also as responsive as they should be and they offer a well defined release point. To the left hand side of the mousepad we find a button to deactivate the mouse pad. This is very useful especially for gamers, since every now and then it happens that you touch the pad with you hand.
Test setup
Regarding our notebook reviews we use a practical approach. To get a detailed impresson of the device the tester uses it to work with. In case of gaming notebooks it replaces the testers gaming PC during the time of the test. These methods allow us to provide detailed user experience to you.Regarding performance benchmarks - which are listed below - we don't go very deep. What we do, is that we use benchmarking software which over the years have established as standards for reviewing purposes. Furthermore the specific game benchmarks give insight to the playability of recent games.
Benchmarking Suite
- Futuremark PCMark 8
- Total Score
- Cinebench
- 1 Core
- Multicore
- Futuremark
- PCMark 7
- 3DMark
- Games
- Battlefield 4
- Watch Dogs
- Tomb Raider
- Crysis 3
- Thief
- GRID
- Sleeping Dogs
- Metro Last Light
- Far Cry 4
- GTA V
- Battery Life
- Load
- WLAN and Browser
- Idle
- Noise Level
- Load
- Idle
- Temperature
- Load
Performance
System |
Predator 15 |
| PCMark 7 | 6'219 Points |
| Cinebench R11.5 - Single CPU | 1.53 Points |
| Cinebnech R11.5 - Multi CPU | 7.17 Points |
| AS SSD - Sequential Read | 1'815.10 MB/s |
| AS SSD - Sequential Write | 1'178.53 MB/s |
| AS SSD - 4K Read | 35.88 MB/s |
| AS SSD - 4K Write | 108.03 MB/s |
| AS SSD - 4K-64 Read | 1'120.12 MB/s |
| AS SSD - 4K-64 Write | 340.37 MB/s |
| Access Time Read | 0.040 ms |
| Access Time Write | 0.036 ms |
Games |
Predator 15 |
| 3DMark Total Performance | 6'851 Points |
| 3DMark Total Extreme | 3'483 Points |
| 3DMark Total Ultra | 1'752 Points |
| Unigine Heaven - Very High Details - 1080p | 863 Points |
| Battlefield 4 - Very High Details - 1080p | 53.74 FPS |
| Watch Dogs - Very High Details - 1080p | 37.02 FPS |
| Tomb Raider - Very High Details - 1080p | 33.10 FPS |
| Crysis 3 - Very High Details - 1080p | 21.47 FPS |
| Thief - Very High Details - 1080p | 50.38 FPS |
| GRID - Very High Details - 1080p | 62.60 FPS |
| Sleeping Dogs - Very High Details - 1080p | 48.30 FPS |
| Metro Last Light - Very High Details - 1080p | 34.72 FPS |
| Far Cry 4 - Very High Details - 1080p | 38.95 FPS |
| GTA V - Very High Details - 1080p | 62.19 FPS |
Temperatures / Noise level / Power consumption / Battery life
Temperatures |
Predator 15 |
| Idle - CPU | 35 °C |
| Load - CPU | 88 °C |
| Idle - GPU | 36 °C |
| Load - GPU | 66 °C |
Noise level |
Predator 15 |
| Idle | 32.8 dBA |
| Load | 46.3 dBA |
Power consumption |
Predator 15 |
| Idle | 21 Watt |
| Load | 150 Watt |
Battery life |
Predator 15 |
| Idle | 9h 58min |
| Load | 1h 26min |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall the Acer Predator 15 leaves a good impression and you get a very solid and fast gaming notebook. We especially liked the high build quality, the comfortable keyboard and responsive touchpad, and next to the nice design, we were happy about the performance the GTX 970M graphics chips is able to provide. We also like that there is an anti-glare display with IPS panel. When it comes to cooling and noise level, we measured reasonably low temperatures, but they come at a cost: especially under load the fans are spinning very fast, which means the Predator 15 is subjectively noisy under these conditions. In idle the notebook is almost inaudible. | - Form factor
- Display - Performance |
- Noise level under load | |
| Display / Input devices | + | - | |
Acer provided the Predator 15 with an overall very good
display with IPS panel. It features 15 inch diameter and offers FullHD resolution. Apart from that there is an anti-glare surface, which removes reflections effectively. We were actually surprised about the color space, which is very good for a gaming notebook. Apart from that brightness, contrast and black level are on good to very good levels as well. |
- Display
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| Performance | + | - | |
| Equipped
with a Core i7-6700HQ quad core CPU which features eitght threads clocked
at 2.6 GHz there is plenty of performance slumbering under the bonnet.
Combined with the new NVIDIA GTX 970M this notebook is really quick when it comes
to 3D performance. Overall the GPU is powerful enough to run any recent game smoothly at fullHD resolution. Also regarding 2D applications there is plenty of performance under the bonnet. We also want to underline that Acer did an excellent choice regardin the ultra-fast M.2 NVMe SSD. When it comes to battery life we have to use another superlative, since almost 10 hours in idle is simply a new record. In addition we reached more than seven hours of watching movies. |
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Gaming Performance
- SSD Performance - Battery Life |
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| Recommendation | + | - | |
| If you should be looking for a gaming notebook that comes with a very good display, offers a lot of performance in terms 3D as well as 2D and extremely long battery life, then the Predator 15 is a solid choice. | - Gaming Notebook - Desktop Replacement | ||
| Rating | |||
| The Acer Predator 15 Gaming Notebook receives good 4 out of 5 stars. | |||
Buy Acer Predator 15 at:
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