Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 Desktop Review

Update: Since writing this review, we now recommend the Acer Aspire TC-885-NESelecti3 Desktop. While this is not the newest model and has an 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8100 vs the 9th Gen Intel Core i3-9100 that the TC-885-UA91 Desktop has, our updated recommendation comes with a larger hard drive (1TB HDD).

The Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 Desktop is Acer’s latest offering for home/office desktops. It is a powerful budget desktop thanks to its robust set of features; 8th Generation Intel Core i3-8100 processor, 8GB DDR4 memory and 1TB solid-state drive memory.

The Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 Desktop comes with a similar design to other past Acer offerings and is a great fit for small office and home settings.

Pros

• Elegant design
• Great performance (modern CPU)
• Easy accessible case
• Enough room for expansion
• Plenty of ports
• Low heat emission
• DVD-RW drive available

Cons

• 300-watts power supply limits upgrades

The Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 looks good at first glance, considering its design/ aesthetic, superior CPU and extra storage. If anything it’s a striking resemblance to last year’s Acer Aspire TC-885 series, case in point the Acer Aspire TC-885-ACCFLi30 Desktop, our Editor’s Choice.

Like its predecessors, the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 comes in a basic plastic enclosure with a black color scheme and series of ports.

We loved that Acer maintained a few characteristics of its predecessor. The tower offers a distinct design, plenty of room for future upgrades, and comes with Wi-Fi connectivity. The  Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 we review amps up the performance a bit on several fronts. It features a faster processor (Intel Core i3-8100), 8GB memory and 1TB solid-state drive storage.

All these add up to make a great productivity PC. So whether you’re replacing an older PC, setting up digital signage or equipping a new or temporary office that needs only simple computing, the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 desktop should a good starting point.

Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 Specs

Processor	9th Gen Intel Core i3-8100
Memory	8GB DDR4 2400 MHz
Storage	512GB SSD
Graphics Card	Integrated  Intel UHD Graphics 630
Operating System	Windows 10 Home
Dimensions	13.78 x 6.42 x 13.39 inches
Weight	14.92 pounds
Color	Black

Design and Features

Not much has changed in the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91’s physical design over the original – this may be either a disappointment or music to your ears, depending on your perspective. Acer towers have always been attractive, reliable and above all value-packed and the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 Desktop doesn’t stray too far away from the track.

Like the Acer Aspire TC-885-ACCFLi30, its chassis is clean and minimalistic. The front deck is made up of a black metallic sheet whose only accents are the Acer and Aspire logo embossed visibly at the top and bottom.

Packed in a 16-liter chassis, the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 desktop has enough space for components and upgrades should you need to expand in the future. Altogether, it’s a sleek, sophisticated look that stands out among other PCs. In an office setting, its subtle yet rigged edges give it an aggressive aura that makes it look and feel unique.

Measuring 13.78 x 6.42 x 13.39 inches and 15.8 pounds, it would be correct to say that the Acer Aspire TC 885 is a small tower. It’s a compact system making it an easy fit in most desk spaces and the tiniest of apartments. Well, it’s not as small as the Intel NUC NUC7i5BNK Mini PC but it is small.

Note: The Acer Aspire C24-865-UA91 is the All-in-One desktop version of our unit, the  Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 desktop. If you want a desktop and monitor combo, it’s a great first choice you can opt for.

Under the hood

Getting inside is relatively easy too. All you need is to unscrew a few screws at the rear. Once inside, the components are well laid out. The cable management is done well for functionality. The system packs a 300 watts power supply, a single 5.25” bay, 2 expansion slots, a single PCI Express slot, and a single PCI Express x16 slot.

Generally, from a first glance, there is enough space to throw in a few components should you desire an upgrade. FYI, upgrading to a discrete graphics card like GTX 1050 will require upgrading the power supply unit.

Ports

The port system is just as pretty as the design. But before we dive in, Acer offers a complimentary wired keyboard and mouse just as is common with desktops these days. They both are very standard so we recommend getting a wireless keyboard and mouse if you want convenience.

The front deck comes with a single USB 3.1 Type C port, one USB 3.1 port, microphone, and headphone jacks and an SD card reader. Acer included a DVD drive at the front as well, for installing software for playing music and movies.

Meanwhile, the rear is home to the bulk of ports on this baby. You’ll find an additional two more USB 3.1 ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports (which can be used for mouse and keyboard connecting), two HDMI ports and one VGA port. The HDMI port should come in handy for making your dual-monitor setup. Other connectivity options include 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0.

Performance

I did say there were no major changes in the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 desktop. The major changes, in fact, one of the biggest changes to the Aspire TC-885 is the processor. Under the hood, you’ll find the 8^th Generation Coffee lake Intel i3-8100 processor, a quad-core CPU with Intel UHD Graphics 630.

The processor has four cores and four threads with a base clock speed of 3.6GHz and a max turbo of 4.2GHz. Each has 6MB of Intel Smart Cache, is rated at 65W TDP and runs on Intel 300 series chipset motherboards with the LGA1151 socket.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand all these. All it means is that with the updated 8^th Generation Coffee Lake processor, the system markedly improves general speed – especially on single-core tasks. The system is therefore very capable at handling web browsing, content creation, multimedia files, and light photo editing.

On the whole, it provides enough oomph for office productivity tasks. In general use, it provides a smooth experience working with office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheeting, Web browsing, and videoconferencing.

Memory and storage

Acer included an 8GB memory and 1TB solid-state drive which are both a decent combination of features. If you need a PC for content creation and productivity, the 8GB memory is ideal. You can have more than a dozen tabs open on Google Chrome while listening to music in the background and while also making notes on Word. Needless to say, the 8GB is more than enough for daily run-to-the-mill tasks.

As far as memory goes, the 1TB available is remarkable at retrieving data and causes this PC to boot in seconds. Copying files is also lighting fast such that it blazes past average budget desktops. The only downside is you’ll have to save only the most important data as the 1TB fills up pretty quick.

Alternatively, if you’re a tinkerer, consider boosting the PC with at least 1TB hard drive to increase storage for music, movies, and games.

Gaming Chops: Get a Graphics Card

Honestly put, the Intel UHD Graphics 630 on this PC is not sufficed for hardcore gaming. However, it can play some less demanding games like Overwatch or Farming Simulator. To really boost gaming performance on this PC, we recommend upgrading to a dedicated graphics card.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 is a good option to bring smooth gameplay and decent frame rates into your gaming. Otherwise, if that’s not an option, we also recommend the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8060A7 desktop with better gaming chops and almost similar price point for gamers.

Conclusion

The Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 is the desktop you get if you’re on a budget. It features a neat arrangement of features that should get you through an average workday at the office or at home relaxing. The only real wrinkles that show with this PC is the lack of a dedicated graphics card for users who want to game.

Thankfully, if you’re a true DIYer, this should not be a problem at all. It all adds up to how fast you can throw in a GTX card or RTX card.

On the whole, the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 makes sense for anyone looking to buy a desktop for less than $500. It’s a powerful system with plenty of room for upgrades for the future and a stand out 8^th Generation processor.

Is there a better alternative?

At this price range, there are more than a few alternatives with a few feature changes here and there. For almost $99 more, the CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme GXiVR8060A7 desktop brings in a 9^th Generation processor, extra storage in form of mechanical hard drive and a dedicated RTX graphics card – all the aspects missing on the Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91.

That alone makes it capable of handling light gaming, light video, and photo editing and storing more data (files, games, music, and movies). Its complete list of features is an Intel Core i5-9400F CPU, more storage space (120GB SSD + 1TB hard drive), superb connectivity and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 (6GB RAM) graphics card.

A second desktop option is the Acer Aspire TC-885-ACCFLi3O desktop. It is similarly specced and created as a productivity desktop PC. Under its hood is an 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8100 CPU, 8GB DDR4 + 16GB Optane Memory, and 1TB HDD storage.

While it is cheaper by almost $40, our unit has better performance thanks to the 9th Generation processor and SSD storage available.

Lastly, if you don’t mind All-in-One desktops, the Acer Aspire C24-865-UA91 is a great option too. It is the All-in-One version of our desktop, and like our unit, offers a sleek design, good connectivity, and strong overall performance.

Should you buy it?

Why not. The  Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 is a great option for users who want an affordable desktop for home and office productivity. You don’t always have to spring for a premium desktop that costs thousands of dollars to get performance. The  Acer Aspire TC-885-UA91 brings high-end features and high-end performance to a budget level desktop.