The 5 coolest desktops at IFA 2018

Introduction

At IFA 2018, we’ve seen all kinds of bizarre and amazing pieces of technology shown off to prospective consumers – everything from new smartphones, 8K televisions to smart dishwashers. But, what we’re interested in here is the amazing new desktop PCs shown off by Acer and Lenovo. The best gaming PCs are about to get a lot more interesting.

We can’t wait to get our hands on the PCs that will be running all the best PC games of 2019 and beyond, and we got a sneak peek this week. 

So, with all the hype around the Nvidia RTX 2080, we thought it’d be a great time to take a look at some of the desktops that are going to be featuring all the new PC components. From compact PCs that’ll feel at home in your living room to massive workstations with multiple CPUs, let’s dive in. 

• IFA 2018 is Europe's biggest tech show. The TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new phones, watches and other tech as they're announced.  

1. Lenovo Legion C730

We’re going to start things off small here – literally. The Lenovo Legion C730 is a small form-factor gaming PC that you’ll be able to put next to your TV without having it stick out too much. It does have a pretty gamer-y aesthetic, but it looks slick enough.

What’s more interesting is the horsepower that Lenovo shoved inside this thing. Sure, you can just configure this thing with a simple Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, but where it’s really going to shine is in its maximum configuration, with Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 or 2080  graphics – you can have ray tracing in your living room.

We’re going to get our hands on this bite sized PC this November, and the refresh will start off at €1,999 (about $2,330, £1,790, AU$3,200) for the RTX 2070 configuration and €2,699 (about $3,140, £2,420, AU$4,330) for the higher-end RTX 2080 configuration. When you consider the 8th-gen processors and copious amounts of RAM, we think that’s a pretty good price.

2. Acer Predator Orion

At IFA 2018, Acer announced a refresh for its entire Predator Orion lineup. The Acer Predator Orion 3000, 5000 and 9000 are all getting updated with the latest high-end parts. The 9000, especially, is going to be capable of some insane performance – you can kit it out with dual Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards, 128GB of RAM and an Intel Core i9 processor. This configuration will absolutely destroy your wallet, but hey, we won’t judge.

Acer will be keeping all of this high end hardware cool with its own IceTunnel 2.0 cooling solution, which combines liquid cooling and air cooling which drives heat away from the center of the case. Good thing, too, because this desktop stands to get toasty.

The lesser two configurations are nothing to shake a stick at either, though. No matter what you decide to go for, the Acer Predator Orion is going to be able to cover all of your gaming bases for a very long time. We don’t know what the pricing looks like for these Orion desktops, but we put our money on them being quite expensive.

3. Lenovo Legion T730

Back at E3 2018, Lenovo hinted that its refreshed Legion desktops would contain the next generation of Nvidia graphics. What we didn’t know, was that it’d be among the first gaming PCs to feature these RTX-enabled cards. 

Not only does this desktop look cool as heck, but it’s going to be able to pack a ton of power at a pretty reasonable price. The pricing is similar to the Lenovo Legion C730 included earlier in this list: it’ll start at €1,999 (about $2,330, £1,790, AU$3,200) for the RTX 2070 configuration, with the 2080 option coming in at €2,699 (about $3,140, £2,420, AU$4,330).

The Lenovo Legion T730, apart from the graphics cards, will be available with up to 32GB of RAM, an Intel Core i7-8700K and a 512GB SSD with dual 2TB HDDs. It’ll launch in November 2018.

4. Acer Predator X

After IFA 2018, no one will be able to utter the word ‘excess’ without thinking of the Acer Predator X. This thing isn’t content with just having a typical high-end setup. No, the Acer Predator X is going to have two processors. Not just any processor either, these are full on server or workstation Intel Xeon chips – this goes far beyond just gaming.

Regardless of what Xeon chips are included here, it’s going to generate a ton of heat, which is probably why Acer’s IceTunnel 2.0 system will be included here. Acer hasn’t finalized the configurations, but it’s pretty much impossible to think of a single situation where the Predator X won’t cost a fortune – and that’s not to mention what your power bill will look like.  

5. Acer Predator Thronos

The Acer Predator Thronos isn’t technically a desktop, but more like a crazy gaming throne that not only will contain your desktop, but up to three of the best gaming monitors. We felt the need to include this insane gaming bubble on this list because it fits the bill of insane PC gaming. 

Not only is it a gaming chair, with room for all your tech, but it's completely motorized, with a roof, footrests and even a cup holder. If you’re a serious gamer with deep pockets, you’re going to want to check the Acer Predator Thronos out. 

As is the trend that you’ve likely noticed with the other Acer products on this list, we have no idea how much this thing is going to cost or when (if?) this chair will make it to market. However, chances are that it’s not going to be cheap – but isn’t it worth it to have your own private gaming bubble that kind of looks like it can roll around?