Acer's new 18-core Predator desktop and 35-inch curved monitor are beastly

Nobody needs an 18-core processor for gaming. We know that, you know that, and so does most everyone else. Be that as it may, it did not stop Acer from building a beastly desktop that can be outfitted with up to an Intel Core i9-7980XE Extreme Edition CPU with 18 physical cores and 36 threads. And that's just the beginning of what you cram inside Acer's new Predator Orion 9000.

"The Predator Orion 9000 is the most powerful PC we’ve ever made," said Jeff Lee, General Manager, Stationary Computing, IT Products Business, Acer. "With 4-way graphics and 18-core processors, it is a platform that takes gamers and intense graphic users beyond their dreams."

Why stop there? Should you choose, you can feed the Predator Orion 9000 up to 128GB of quad-channel DDR4 memory, and then top things off with up to 42TB of storage via tool-free mounts.

That is quite the haul. Granted, few people will go all-out like that, though it gives you an idea of the headroom that exists when going with a lesser configuration. According to Acer, this is a system that will handle VR gaming with ease, with support for 8K (when we get there).

All that hardware comes packed in a inside a beefy chassis that most people will either deem badass or ugly as hell. It features RGB lighting, has a massive window to show off the internals, and built-in liquid cooling. There are plenty of fan mounts, too.

In case you want to transport this system, there are two handles on top for longer trips, and wheels for scooting it from room to room.

Look for the Predator Orion 9000 to ship in North America in December starting at $2,000, and in EMEA in November starting at €2,000.

As to the Predator X35, it is a 35-inch WQHD (3440x1440) monitor with a 21:9 aspect ratio and 1800R curve. It supports Acer HDR Ultra and quantum dot technologies for visual splendor, while delivering 90 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space.

This monitor also has 512 individually-controlled zones that shine light only when needed. Deeper blacks and brighter whites are not unreasonable expectations, though we haven't spent any hands-on time with this monitor.

The Predator X35 has a 200Hz refresh rate and 4ms response time. It also boasts G-Sync support for smooth gaming.

Acer is shooting to release the Predator X35 in the first quarter of next year. There has been no mention of price so far.

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).