Intro and Design

Regardless of what anyone says, Acer has made huge strides in the past few years, especially in their Predator series of monitors, laptops, and now, their gaming desktops as well. We've loved testing and reviewing their gear and while not all are hits, most of the experience I've had hands on has been a pleasure and truly, a geeks dream. I still love my wife more than life itself (#plug) but I also love testing out the newest gaming goodness and this folks, is something delicious. You can catch all the detailed specs below but basically, we paired the new Acer XB321HK 32" GSYNC 4K monitor with a Predator G6 gaming desktop, SteelSeries mice and keyboards and the results were delicious. While this isn't an in depth review, we wanted to put these two beasts together and share some impressions spotlight style.

Immediately, I was stunned how well all the gear looked together when paired together. In the gaming world, aesthetics are important to some, life to others. Luckily, this is not overboard but the overall black design with red and some white accents is extremely attractive. Everything not only looked top notch but felt extremely solid and well designed. From top to bottom this is a quality setup and the envy of any peeps that behold this rig if you can swing it.

The monitor, the XB321HK, is a full 32" 4K GSYNC capable IPS monitor is extremely gorgeous also not only in initial looks but built quality. While some early Acer monitors lacked in quality, this is more than making up for those shortcomings that seem long gone.

Performance and Conclusion

Ok, ok. So it looks good. Who cares if it sucks performance wise, AMIRIGHT? At first glance, I was shocked by the inclusion of a Turbo button on top of the desktop. WTF? Is this 1989? I laughed at first but after booting into Windows and punching the turbo, I went from around 3.8 GHZ in game to 4.5! I also jumped several FPS in THE DIVISION and a few other games I tested. Not too shabby for an old school turbo feature.

The Division was rocking on this build but struggling at 30 FPS in some areas at 4K..

GPU wise, while the PNY GTX 980 is no slouch, an overclocked like a beast, for 4K, even with GSYNC, you'll want to go with a GTX 980 Ti system. On GSYNC, as soon as you drop below 40 FPS, it's choppy. I must say though, anything 40+ as butter smooth and I would add that the new 32" 4K is the most impressive IPS display panel I've seen to date.

The most gorgeous game on the market looked and played fantastic on this setup.

In the end, this setup is not cheap. While the monitor is truly a feat of engineering, the new standard of $1299 for these displays are getting to be more than overpriced and it hurts market share in the end. You can get a 50" 4K TV now for under $600, it's time to follow suit monitor manufacturers! Either way, this is a solid system and not only looks good but plays extremely well. Deelish!

SPECS G6:

Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Model i7-6700K
Processor Core Quad-core (4 Core)
Standard Memory 16 GB
Maximum Memory 64 GB
Total Hard Drive Capacity 2 TB
Total Solid State Drive Capacity 256 GB
Optical Drive Type Blu-ray Reader/DVD-Writer
Graphics Controller Manufacturer NVIDIA
Graphics Controller Model GeForce GTX 980
Ethernet Technology Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless LAN Standard IEEE 802.11ac
Bluetooth Standard Bluetooth 4.0 + LE
Number of External 5.25" Bays 1
Number of Total Expansion Slots 3
Number of PCI Express x1 Slots 2
Number of PCI Express x16 Slots 1
Number of HDMI Outputs 1
DVI Yes
Number of USB 3.0 Ports 6
Number of USB 2.0 Ports 2
Total Number of USB Ports 8
Network (RJ-45) Yes
Maximum Power Supply Wattage 730 W
Physical Characteristics
Height 21.8"
Width 8.3"
Depth 18.2"
Weight (Approximate) 34.39 lb

Specs XB321HK:

Screen Size 81.3 cm (32")
Screen Mode 4K UHD
Response Time 4 ms
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Backlight Technology LED
Panel Technology In-plane Switching (IPS) Technology
Tilt Angle -5°to25°
Swivel Angle No
Maximum Adjustable Height 120 mm
Maximum Resolution 3840 x 2160
Colour Support 1.07 Billion Colors
Contrast Ratio 100,000,000:1
Brightness 350 cd/m²
Tearing Prevention Technology G-sync
Speakers Yes
Interfaces/Ports
HDMI Yes
Operating Power Consumption (Energy Star) 56 W
Standby Power Consumption 490 mW
Off-Mode Power Consumption 470 mW