Acer - Nitro 65 Gaming Desktop - AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 2024 - AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT - 32GB DDR5 Memory – 1TB Storage - Black

Gaming If you’re looking for anything gaming related streaming or productivity, this is one of the best desktops you can find on the market With those three items, this desktop shows no weakness and has the power to do it all day no issues The high refresh monitor rates are comparable to professional systems and plenty of memory, although I’m a firm believer of you can never have too much memory so there is room to add on. I really like the the style of the unit: same lighting style and the tempered glass gives me an extra sense of Security. Unfortunately the game I play call of duty can each consume well over 100 GB and this is Only a 1TB SSD so add another 2TB SSD asap and don’t worry about later. There is also the fan noise while gaming that can put a drone noise in the air so headphones will offset that. Otherwise get use to it. I was worried that when gaming I would need to close my Discord, browsers, and my editing software but it can run it all in the background seamlessly. No glitching, so far. I’m trying to trip it up so I turn everything on and open everything run a game leave the game playing in the background go to the browser and so far the wait time is very minimal and the screen refresh rate again is super high, so I’m getting high-quality monitor views of whatever I’m looking at whether to be a video game a video emails editing, social media it all lens to how well this computer was built and the fact that I didn’t have to do any of it myself. I just plugged it into a keyboard and monitor updated all of the software connected to my Wi-Fi and I was good to go. This is actually a very good system.

Acer has put in great combination of CPU, GPU and Memory options into this sleek looking PC that I would love to show off at my desk. I enjoyed the unboxing experience and the additional foam inserts to avoid the GPU and CPU cooler from moving around during shipment. As I easily connected all the peripherals and started through the Windows process I had my first "Oh, that's interesting" experience. I searched Acer's product and support pages but I could not find anything related to the Acer Nitro 65. I understand that this is a BestBuy Exclusive product but you would still think that it would be beneficial to have a support page to see firmware and bios updates straight from the manufacturer itself. I thought I could just shrug it off if the overall out of box experience was good but that was not the case. After getting situated with Windows and being able to login and view the bloatware included like McAfee, Dropbox, express vpn (which were all removed), I made sure I booted into the BIOS to see what was going on. To my surprise, there was some performance options that were off by default and left too much on the table for me not to take full advantage of the CPU itself. After all, this thing is packed with a powerful Ryzen 9 9900x. I fully expected it to dominate in multitasking with ease. Also with the 9070xt, I fully expected it to excel in 1440p gaming. Color me unimpressed when I go to boot up and monitor my temps while running bf6 and I quickly see myself being bottlenecked by my CPU getting hit with high temps. I ended up running benchmark tests to ensure I was not just limiting it to in game experiences since most games should rely more on GPU over the CPU for performance but I know BF6 does utilize a higher CPU usage than most. My CPU CCD1 and CCD2 temps max at 88.8c and 90.0c when running Cinebench 2024 CPU multicore, and I get a score of 1631. When playing bf6, the CPU fps drops periodically from hitting temps of 97.8c and 94.6c at the CCD1 and CCD2 sensors. Even with my case side panel taken off, I still get thermal throttled. I believe the safe spot for this CPU should be 90c. I started some other titles like Counter Strike 2 and I still could not overcome the high CPU temps. Just for the sake of trying to run the game, I lowered all my settings and still could not get past this. My thoughts are that this CPU would benefit from a more powerful cooler and I could try undervolting to lower CPU temps. The case itself isn't ideal for airflow but it does look dang cool. Overall, I plan to utilize this PC to its fullest potential one way or another. You shouldn't be afraid to tinker with this even with it being a prebuilt. Swap out the CPU Cooler, add 2 more SSDs, throw some more RGB fans while in there! The customization for modding for the better of this machine is available to you. If you want this to just work out of the box expect to hit it's limits.

The Acer Nitro 65 is a very solid pre-built gaming desktop that performs well given the price point, pairing a Ryzen 9900X with a Radeon 9070 XT and 32gb of RAM, resulting in a machine that handles not only high-end gaming tasks, but productivity tasks with ease. This is a great option for anyone not looking to go the route of custom building a PC, while leaving the door open for future upgrades. The specs on this machine are the obvious headline here, with the 9070 XT being the star of the show. It's a seriously capable GPU that performs extremely well in triple-A titles at both 1440p and 4k, and it's the kind of card that's going to stay relevant for years. The system overall feels very responsive, and games run great, no doubt owed to the 9900X and the 32gb of RAM included. Once considered the bare minimum, 32gb is actually a luxury these days given the price, and it's great to see Acer squeeze this in rather than try to cut costs with something like a single stick of 16gb RAM as you may see in other builds. Overall, this machine stands out from other pre-built machines I've owned in the past because of the components: all reputable, off-the-shelf components instead of proprietary OEM parts. You get a Gigabyte motherboard and GPU, along with Kingston Fury memory. No proprietary motherboards or connectors, or layouts that lock you into their ecosystem for eternity. The Nitro features all user-upgradeable components, giving this machine a longer shelf life than other options. The case design here is also another win for the most part. I'm a big fan of the tool-less panel removal system implemented here, which makes getting inside the case as easy as can be. Additionally, there's a generous amount of airflow promoting mesh, with the side-panel implementing dual intake fans, allowing Acer to feature a wrap-around glass front and side panel that looks phenomenal without sacrificing much on thermals. And for those who are beholden to RGB, this case has plenty of that as well, with the included fans, RAM, GPU, and case bottom all featuring addressable RGB lights. It's slightly understated, but well designed and should please all but the most RGB hungry gamers. Another positive note here: Acer kept the bloatware of this system to a minimum. Frankly, this is unexpected in the world of pre-built machines, and the only real piece of bloat here is the included McAfee antivirus suite (which is semi-annoying to remove, for the record). Beyond that, the out-of-box experience is clean and uncluttered, making this feel much closer to a custom built machine than your typical pre-built. One more note on the components here: they work very well as part of a local LLM setup. I set up a dual-boot with Linux to run the ROCm build of Ollama, using the Qwen3 14B model, and things have been functioning very nicely. The 9070 XT's 16gb of memory is on the lower side for this type of setup, but as models have gotten more efficient, it's become more viable than it used to be. Paired with the raw horsepower of the 9900X, audio transcriptions, meeting summaries, and my general local prompts have been very responsive and quick overall, making this a very nice bonus as a high-end gaming machine that can also function as a capable local AI workstation. With all the positives, there are a few things worth pointing out. First, the 9900X, while being a very solid chip, and genuinely excellent at productivity and aforementioned AI tasks, is rather underwhelming for gaming. In this machine, it's the clear bottleneck at 1440p (though this goes away at 4k). It oddly almost feels like a budget-conscious choice in the build; the X3D variants of this latest generation of Ryzen chips are the better option for gaming given their huge L3 cache, but those are the more premium chips and would undoubtedly add to the cost of the build. The CPU overall performs well enough, and given the AM5 socket, you thankfully have a number of options for upgrading down the line if you so choose. Second, while I like the case layout, I was a little underwhelmed by the overall build quality. It feels quite plasticky, which is a bit unexpected for a machine in this price range (which admittedly gets you less these days given the out of control pricing on components), and feels like an area where Acer trimmed costs. And finally, on the topic of trimmed costs, the motherboard also feels like an entry-level budget pick that's out of place with the rest of the components. As mentioned, it's an off-the-shelf component (the Gigabyte B850M C), meaning it has a standard layout and can be upgraded down the line. But its price point shows to a degree; you get Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5gb ethernet, a rear Q-Flash plus button (making BIOS updates a breeze), and a passable amount of high-speed USB ports, but you're saddled with a single full-bandwidth PCIe slot and an underwhelming VRM setup. The VRM in particular likely restricts the level of CPU you could utilize here, and also has limited cooling capacity. Overall, this is an incredibly solid machine. It nails the things that matter most: a modern and powerful GPU, ample system memory, a solid CPU, and a clean out-of-the-box experience with user-upgradeable components. There are some compromises, but they feel logical on the backdrop of today's component costs, and none of them undercut the fundamental functionality of this strong gaming PC. If you're looking for a capable, upgrade-friendly gaming desktop without completely breaking the bank, the Acer Nitro 65 is a strong contender that's well worth your consideration.

I absolutely love this machine, and here’s why. Since I haven’t owned a tower PC in years, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from a specs perspective. I’ve always used laptops with Nvidia graphics, so I’m not very familiar with AMD’s cards, and having only owned one Acer Chromebook, I’m relatively new to the brand. My first impressions, however, are very positive. The case is covered in tempered glass, and there’s no shortage of LEDs on the fans, graphics card, and RAM modules. There’s even a view strip along the bottom and front that reflects the lighting, adding to the ambiance the lights create. The overall design looks very premium, which I really appreciate. I’m not a PC builder, so it’s nice to have everything ready to go right out of the box in a design I would’ve likely chosen myself. The star of the show is the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, and it does not disappoint. Manufactured by Gigabyte—a quality brand—it features 16GB of GDDR6 SDRAM, which is plenty for nearly any AAA game. I mostly play racing sims, and this card handles them beautifully. On my 49” Samsung OLED 240Hz monitor, this machine runs Forza Horizon 6 like butter. It maintains a smooth 60+ FPS even under heavy load on ultra settings, and it stays impressively quiet while doing so. I’ve also tested Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and despite it being a power-hungry title, it runs very well. Every other game I’ve tried has been chewed through with ease. The motherboard is also made by Gigabyte and offers enough slots for future expansion. It comes with 32GB of RAM, which should be more than adequate for most gamers or CAD users. While I have no need to upgrade the RAM right now, it’s worth noting the CPU is a beast; the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is built on a 4nm architecture, making it both power-efficient and smoking fast. If I recall correctly, this Acer model actually offers slightly better graphics performance compared to its Intel/NVIDIA cousin, even though that version is about $100 cheaper. The only real bummer out of the box is the 1TB SSD. Since games, programs, and AI models are getting massive, I plan to add or upgrade the storage within the next few months. As for cooling, the four fans do an efficient job of keeping things cool and stay nearly silent most of the time. Even when you max everything out, the fans are never loud by any measure. You also get all the typical connections, including USB-C, USB-A, and accessible ports on top of the machine. The graphics card includes two DVI and two HDMI ports, allowing me to drive my secondary 34” OLED monitor alongside my main one. In fact, you can connect up to four displays, and this monster will handle all of them easily. In the box, you’ll also find the standard keyboard, mouse, power cable, and network cable. In summary, the Acer Nitro gaming PC is a serious bargain for just about any gamer or professional. It’s quiet, cool, beautiful, and incredibly powerful. At the price point Best Buy is offering, I can easily recommend it to anyone.

This is the current top of the line Nitro 65 desktop available only at Best Buy. The Acer Nitro 65 has thoroughly changed my opinions on buying a pre-built desktop. I have bought a few of the desktops from the company with the ET logo, and this Acer is simply impressive. The one giant sticking point with every previous pre-built desktop has been the proprietary nature of the cases, motherboards, and/or cooling solutions. Each of the previous pre-built I’ve had was not upgradeable. The Acer Nitro 65 is completely, refreshingly, upgradeable! Every part is PC desktop standard. Beyond the motherboard, which is an OEM board, (mATX standard) and the branded Nitro CPU cooler - everything is industry standard and for sale today. The power supply is not a big name, but it is High Power branded, which is a well-regarded ODM, it is also standard size and can be upgraded if you somehow want more juice. The case is sturdy, sleek, and very good for cable management behind the equipment. It has a great bottom section that houses the power supply separately, it even has a nice opening for your GPU cabling, which is usually a pain. This lower section hides all of the extra wiring for the power supply, and the bracket for the installation of SATA drives, and two cables are included. The lighting on the fans is bright, fun, and I really like the light strip embedded in the lower case vent area, super cool. Acer’s cable management is quite good, someone took their time and put this guy together right! The cool curved glass front on this case allows me to pop it open on hot days or when it might need more air. No parts were loose, the CPU heatsink was intact and well pasted, overall, quite the feat making such a hot rod computer able to handle shipping without damage. I’ve learned from experience how easy it is for a shipped custom desktop to be ruined in shipping. This case has mounting available for at least 6 more fans if you want to really make a lot of noise! Additional fans are a good idea, as this case, in looking good, chokes the airflow optimized fans that draw in the cool air for all the parts inside. The outer panel’s vent holes do not align with the inner frame’s unnecessary, similarly sized vent holes almost completely choking the air intake. On top of that, there is a fairly fine mesh filter sandwiched in between. This seems to be in the interest of looking good rather than performance. If you want to keep the looks and also have good cooling in this case, you’ll want to add a fan or 2 on top of the lower compartment to draw air into the case more freely. All of this adds up to more noise and much higher than needed temps. Acer bundles their RGB keyboard and mouse, both of which are not bottom of the barrel devices. They will serve a beginner for while until they decide what kind of gaming keyboard and mouse to get themselves. The real meat here is the high performance internals. An AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with 32GB of 6000MHz (EXPO 1) DDR5 RAM and AMD’s top of the line RX 9070 XT with a whopping 16GB of VRAM. The NVMe drive is the Lexar NQ7A1, not the fastest by far, but fully capable of handling every game I can think of now. There are three NVMe slots available, one is on the back of the motherboard. The slot just below the cpu is on the CPU’s direct PCIe bus which is the the ideal position to put your fastest drive with games, and you can use one of the other slots for your C:\ drive and enjoy maximum performance. I would strongly recommend separating your game and system drives onto 2 physical NVMe drives. As fast as they are, when you’re using one drive for everything, you can have stutters and quick loading delays as Windows and the game are arguing about who gets to use the one drive, this can ruin your game experience and you can run Windows from a tiny NVMe drive, very inexpensive compared to the insane prices on the big ones. The mounting position of the primary NVME is right out in the open, not getting hot GPU exhaust blown on it. Even in the Battlefield 6, which is the most demanding game I have installed on here, the drive doesn’t go over 62C. RAM speed matters, and the Nitro 65 doesn’t skimp there either, as the included RAM is high performance with XMP and EXPO profiles. EXPO 1 is the setting for the full speed the RAM is capable of, and EXPO 2 is a slower, more stable setting if you have issues. The Gigabyte RX 9070 XT has a great, gigantic cooler that has handled all of my games without complaint. The fans can be a bit loud when my room temperature is high, but normally, I don't even notice them. This is AMD’s top current card, and it’s no slouch. The star of this show is the Ryzen 9 9900X. This is where I found the limits of the system out of the box. This is an ridiculously powerful CPU that is designed to always push itself to the limit of the power and cooling available to it. Options for “unleashing” the processor are available in the BIOS setup, but doing so will require the installation of a much beefier CPU cooler, designed specifically for AM5, and no, “compatible” doesn’t mean “works”, it just means “fits”, as I found out with the cool looking Nitro custom CPU cooler which has one of these universal mounts and claims compatibility with AM5 at 170W cooling capacity with no caveats. After capping the Ryzen down to 162 watts, it’s designed power threshold (Auto sets 200W available, whew), the factory cooler just can’t keep up under CPU heavy gaming like Battlefield 6 (the whole point of my getting this guy) and causing hard throttling that makes the game unplayable. This is easily corrected with the addition of a high mass, high performance air cooler or liquid cooler. Adding the PBO boost after installing a be quiet! Dark Rock Elite cooler, the AMD 9900X has gained 32% in single threads and 19% in max core loads in 3DMark CPU Profiler, WOW. The GPU does not have much headroom in my experimentation, but I’m just getting started. The CPU improvements also seem to have stabilized the RAM, which did not want to run full speed at first. Out of the box, all is well. You’ll want to immediately make sure you are on the latest BIOS/firmware package from the Acer support site to make sure you have the latest heat, performance, and security improvements introduced by AMD. Uninstalling and deleting the minimal bloatware only takes a few minutes, then you’re ready to game. When the rainbow show gets too much, first try out Windows 11 lighting options, then if that isn’t satisfactory, install the Gigabyte Control Center software and it will be able to control all of the RGB lights. It’s only basic control, but you can access all of the lights as opposed to SignalRGB. OpenRGB is also a great option. It’s interesting how much performance the Acer Nitro 65 appears to have left on the table, but it’s quite easy to do my own upgrades, learning at the same time, gaining performance that’s already waiting. It’s surprisingly upgradeable and this case is a breeze to work in. The low cost and no-cost updates and upgrades available here makes this a special machine. An excellent machine that has untapped performance and a solid foundation for upgrades galore. Recommended, but you should be ready to do a little upgrading if you want to wring all there is out of this hardware.