Considering purchasing Predator 17 G9-793-79V5, but concerned about temperatures

Get the G9 man you won't regret it.

If you want a great machine, Predator is the right one, but after sometime expect it to start overheating and here what happens:

You should change the thermal paste yourself and lose warranty, or send it Acer and wait for ages until they fix it for you (thermal paste is the last thing they will check, and they are pretty bad at applying it too. I am not sure myself if they even apply any thermal paste at all.).

If you are willing to change the thermal paste yourself, go for this laptop. Otherwise I don't recommend it for you. I have Acer Predator and I regret not changing the thermal paste myself and I regret buying the laptop in the first place.

This is your own choice, I just gave my opinion.

I'll just say this as someone who has owned dozens of laptops...this is a great laptop. If you are buying it to hammer it with prime 95 for an hour and maybe get to thermal throttling then you will have some heat issues maybe. I play regularly on this laptop the following...just yesterday...Quake Champions, Battlefield 1, titanfall 2, overlook, doom, Grand Theft Auto 5, Ghost Recon, world of tanks, world of warships, project cars, Counter Strike go...with no overheating problems ever...if you are buying to game then buy a G9...it's a beautifully built Beast!

I have never run any CPU stress tests at all even for a micro second. The laptop (GX-791) worked fine during the first 4-5 months, I was happy to have it and even wrote a post to a thread that I hadn't regreted buying it, but recently 2 months ago this problem appeared out of nowhere. Here is what happened in short, I will post a new thread about it later so everyone can see it and this can happen to anyone, so no point of taking any risks with Acer.

It was one nice day 2 months ago, when I had the time to play a game - Forza Horizon 3, then I checked the themps from Predator Sense and it was reaching 92C on normal mode(100C on turbo) and this is from a game not a benchmark. I tried other games like GTA5 and the temps didn't go lower than 90C. After 2 weeks I decided to send my laptop to Acer for a 'repair' and told them that the cause is most likely the thermal paste. They replied 'I am sure that our technicians know how to repair your unit'. I sent the laptop to them and after 2 weeks, they returned it with no keyboard backlighting working and instead of GX-791 when you check the model of the laptop, it was G9-791 and also PS looked like the one on the G9-791 models-they changed the MB because of thermal paste issue big lol. And the temperatures got even worse - now when on normal mode the CPU temps went to 98C(couldn't check it on turbo as I didnt have these options in PS) from playing Universe Sandbox 2. I sent it back to them 2nd time, informing them of all issues that I have found and after a week they sent it back and the only thing fixed was the keyboard backlight. 2 and a half weeks ago I sent it back to them for 3rd, and I am expecting the laptop to arrive back tomorrow (hopefully everything fixed this time but I doubt it). Now I am being without the laptop for 6 weeks. BTW this the short version of my story.

I didn't just buy a product, which became faulty after 4months of usage, but most of us in this community. And on top of that, they are unable to fix it and instead they bring it with even more problems than before - great customer service!(that was a sarcasm). And not mention that the high temps issue can be fixed by changing the settings in BIOS, but they won't do that even when many people got this problem and our products are still in warranty.

G9 models - same thing. A friend of mine has the new G9-793 and he changed the thermal paste, after hearing about my experience, instead of sending it to Acer.

Better spend a few bucks more and buy something better like MSI, which performs better and has better cooling than the Predators.

Thanks for the replies AVJim and ven98. I'm sorry to hear about the troubles you've gone through with your laptop ven98. I recently went through the process of having a laptop replaced and ultimately refunded... So, my hunt continues for a suitable machine.

Both of your replies are helpful to me. Additionally, scouring this forum, watching the videos about the thermal paste, and carefully considering my options have lead me to the decision to go ahead and purchase the G9. Just so you know ven98, one big reason that I did not heed your advice is that I would have to avoid doing business with all of the gaming laptop manufacturers that I researched because they all have customers that received very poor service. In particular, I read many stories about MSI service, good and bad. I feel like Acer has a much larger support apparatus, and the company has gotten good reviews for customer service (as far as I have seen, anyways).

In the end, the issue comes down to whether or not I believe I can handle the temperature issue. Right now, I'm playing Skyrim at a resolution of 1024x760, with all graphics settings set to low, except for the distance settings, such as item draw distance or actor draw distance, which I set to maximum. I'd have no problem turning some settings down for a while due to any temperature issues. If I decide to redo the thermal paste, I'll just have to order some and wait for it to arrive.

Thanks for your input!

Good luck with your new machine and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have mine!

I don't think you will have to turn down any settings on that particaular game...you probably will turn them up...I run my games pretty much at high settings for the most part and experience great framerates. Keep us up on how it's going!

It won't be long before I have news to share. I did the regular shipping, but the computer is going to arrive tomorrow. Sweet!

Oh Boy! Nothing like a new computer day!

The laptop arrived today. I'm already blown away by the quality of the packaging. I've never seen a computer packed in a fancy box like this one was. It's going to take much of the day getting this thing setup. I'll keep ya'll posted as to how it goes.

LOL! That's the same reaction I had...Nicest presentation you can ask for...I took pictures of the unboxing it was so nice. The laptop is sweet too!

I should of taken pictures! It is a beauty, for sure.

Well, everything I've tested out on the computer is working. It is definitely living up to all my expectations. Thanks again for the recommendations. I'm keeping my eye on the temps. I don't have any plans to play anything more demanding than Skyrim, at the moment, so it might be a while before I put the hardware to a real test.

chunkdit

Enjoy! The laptop is absolutely great. I am experiencing temperature issues, but I am willing to find a solution for the problem.

I am not hating or trying to be rude, but that is why Acer is what it is. Because instead of complaining about the problem you just say 'nah, I will deal with it somehow'. Every single time a laptop is repaired, it is being reported to the HQ. So that is why they are not gonna fix it, by updating the bios or Predator sense.

chunkdit

I absolutely agree with you! I am actually not willing to open up the laptop, change the thermal paste and lose my warranty. Something I don't know yet: if you send the laptop back to Acer, are they even capable of sorting out the problem?