Acer on Wednesday offered its new Aspire GX-281 gaming desktop as proof that you don't need to spend north of $1,000 for an enjoyable gaming experience, even in virtual reality.
At $799, the GX-281 is one of the cheapest PCs that can power high-end virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. It's able to accomplish that thanks to a combination of brand new components: the AMD Ryzen 5 CPU coupled with a Pascal-architecture Nvidia GTX 1050 GPU.
The result is a machine that should offer adequate computing power for midrange gaming, video editing, or 4K movie playback, according to Acer. While the GX-281 is unmistakably a gaming desktop, with red LEDs adorning the front of the aggressively-styled case, Acer says it's designed to appeal to mainstream users who care as much about price as about power.
That said, there's plenty of power to go around, and room for expansion, too. The standard 8GB of memory can be upgraded to 64GB. Together, the GTX 1050 and quad-core, eight-thread, 3.4GHz Ryzen 5 can power a 4K monitor or as many as four separate HD displays, perfect for flight simulators or multitasking while you game.
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There's a USB 3.1 Type-C port on the front, while two more Type-A USB 3.1 ports and four USB 2.0 ports are found at the back. You won't need to use any of them to charge your phone if it supports the Qi wireless charging standard, however, thanks to the GX-281's optional wireless charging deck.
Storage options are limited to a 1TB hard drive, so you'll have to install your own SSD or larger drive if you need one via the two available M.2 slots.
Acer says the GX-281, which comes with Windows 10 Home, will be available from US retailers by the end of the month.
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