Not everybody desires to chain a gaming laptop computer to a desk. Acer’s Predator Triton 500 SE ($2,999) is filled with an up to date RTX 3080 Ti, a twelfth Gen Intel CPU and a show with a 240 Hz refresh price, however makes use of a chassis that is skinny sufficient to hold round. There may be additionally an Ethernet port for avid gamers who prefer to play with a wired connection. And whereas $2,999 is some huge cash, some rivals provide comparable specs for tons of of {dollars} extra.
Sadly, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE was outpaced in gaming efficiency by among the finest gaming laptops. This is a matter from final 12 months’s fashions that haven’t gone away. However this 12 months’s makes up for that with a standout webcam and keyboard. It was additionally capable of outpace its rivals throughout productiveness benchmarks. So the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE could also be for you if productiveness can be in your agenda and also you don’t need to break the financial institution, or your again, lugging round a leviathan of a machine.
Design of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is gentle and skinny with a silver end that offers the laptop computer a premium look. The Triton 500 SE additionally has a small indent between the hinges which homes LED lights indicating if it is powered on or charging.
With the laptop computer open, there’s small Predator branding on the underside bezel under the show. You may see the small 1080p webcam within the minimal bezel on the high.
On the left aspect of the laptop computer is a headphone jack, an Ethernet port, a USB Sort-A port, a port for the ability adapter, and a Thunderbolt 4 port. On the proper aspect is an SD card reader, a USB Sort-A port, one other Thunderbolt 4 port and HDMI.
The Acer Predator Triton measures 14.11 x 10.3 x 0.78 inches and weighs 5.29 kilos, sustaining a compact determine. The Alienware x17 R2 (with a much bigger 17-inch display) is 15.72 x 11.79 x 0.84 inches and weighs 6.82 kilos. Alternatively, the MSI GE76 Raider is 15.6 x 11.2 x 1 inch and 8.8 kilos. And in between, the Razer Blade 17 is 15.55 x 10.2 x 0.8 inches and 6.1 kilos.
Acer Predator Triton 500 SE Specs
| CPU | Intel Core i9-12900H |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (16GB GDDR6) 1125 MHz Enhance Clock,115 W Max Graphics Energy |
| Reminiscence | 32GB LPDDR5-4800 |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD |
| Show | 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 16:10 240Hz, G-Sync |
| Networking | Killer Wi-fi 6E AX1675s 160Mhz Wi-fi Community Adapter |
| Bluetooth 5.2 | |
| Ports | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Sort-C) | |
| 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Sort-A) | |
| 1 HDMI 2.1 | |
| Ethernet | |
| SD card reader | |
| 3.5 mm headphone jack | |
| Digital camera | 1080p |
| Battery | 99 Whr |
| Energy Adapter | 230 W |
| Working System | Home windows 11 Residence |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 14.11 x 10.3 x 0.78 inches (358 x 261 x 19.8 mm) |
| Weight | 5.29 kilos (2.4 kg) |
| Worth (as configured) | $2,999 (as configured) |
Gaming and Graphics on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
We reviewed the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE with an Intel Core i9-12900H and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU. The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 reminiscence (which is why I used to be capable of run just about something with out exhausting the VRAM) and a max graphics energy of 115W. Opponents just like the Alienware x17 R2, MSI GE76 Raider, and Razer Blade 17 even have the identical GPU.
Once I performed God of Struggle on the best setting with unlocked body charges, I barely scratched the floor on the quantity of VRAM I might use and was using 99% of my GPU in line with GeForce Expertise. The sport was attractive, the visuals have been sharp, and I didn’t expertise any lag in my in any other case easy gameplay. I stayed at round 74 fps with High quality DLSS turned on.
On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark (1080p, excessive settings), the Triton 500 SE churned out 96 frames per second. In the meantime, the Alienware x17 R2 reached 107 fps, the GE76 Raider bought 112 fps, and the Razer Blade 17 achieved 116 fps. At 1600p, the Triton hit 62 fps
On the Far Cry 6 (1080p, extremely) benchmark, the Triton 500 SE reached 70 fps, which was outpaced by Alienware’s 78 fps, the GE76’s 82 fps, and the Razer Blade 17’s 84 fps. When benchmarking on the Triton’s native 1600p, the Triton gained 51 fps.
On the benchmark for Borderlands 3 (1080p, “badass” settings), the Triton 500 SE earned 76 fps however was overwhelmed as soon as once more by the Alienware’s 97 fps, the GE76’s 106 fps, and the Razer Blade 17’s 100 fps. At 1600p, the Triton hit 52 fps.
Throughout the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark (1080p, Very Excessive), the Triton 500 SE bought 113 fps, the slowest of the bunch. The Alienware earned 129 fps, the GE76 133 fps, and the Razer Blade 133 fps.
Lastly, throughout the Crimson Lifeless Redemption 2 benchmark (1080p, medium), the Triton 500 SE at 70 fps wasn’t as quick because the Alienware’s 78 fps, the GE76’s 82 fps, and the Razer Blade 17’s 84 fps. When benchmarking in 1600p, the Triton reached 51 fps.
On gaming laptops, we stress take a look at by operating the Metro Exodus benchmark on RTX settings 15 occasions, simulating about half an hour of gameplay. That sport ran at a median of 63.73 frames per second, remaining fairly constant all through.
Throughout the stress take a look at, CPU speeds got here in at a median of two.96 GHz on the efficiency cores and a pair of.37 GHz on the effectivity cores. The temperature of the chip averaged 77.1 levels Celsius (170.78 Fahrenheit). The GPU ran at a median of 1,192.879 MHz and measured a median temperature of 75.89 Celsius (168.6 Fahrenheit).
Productiveness Efficiency on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
We examined the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE with an Intel Core i9-12900H with 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. Though the Triton 500 SE had a tough time maintaining within the gaming division, it saved extra even floor with its rivals throughout productiveness checks.
On Geekbench 5.4, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE earned a single-core rating of 1,878 and a multi-core rating of 14,155. The Alienware x17 R2 (Core i9-12900HK) adopted up with a single-core of 1,842 and a multi-core rating of 13,710. The MSI GE76 Raider (i9-12900HK) reached a 1,833 single-core and 13,710 multi-core rating. Within the rear was the Razer Blade 17 (with a weaker i7-12800H) with a 1,741 single-core rating and a 9,875 multi-core rating.
Once we examined video transcoding with our Handbrake take a look at, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE was the quickest to transform a 4K video to 1080p, at 4 minutes and 32 seconds. Proper behind it was the MSI GE76 Raider at 4:44 and the Alienware at 4:45. The Razer Blade was far behind at 7:19.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE copied 25GB of take a look at recordsdata at a median of 1,280.49 MBps. The MSI GE76 adopted with 1,774.5MBps whereas the Alienware x17 R2 was the quickest at 2,268.18MBps.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE has a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 show with a 240 Hz refresh price and 16:10 facet ratio. Once I watched a couple of minutes of Avengers: Infinity Struggle on Disney Plus, I observed how crisp the image seemed. Nonetheless, I felt that the opening scene with Thanos clashing with Thor, Loki, and the Asgardians inside their ship appeared darker than normal. When the movie transitioned from the inside of the ship to house, I observed how nicely the display captured the blackness of house because the Hulk shot all the way down to Earth. As I settled properly into the primary act in NYC, I used to be stunned by how a lot pop the colours had. Additionally, it’s price noting that the anti-glare on the show is efficient, stopping reflections and providing robust viewing angles.
When taking part in video games like God of Struggle, colours from Kratos’ axe and clothes popped probably the most. Particulars just like the blue frost dripping from his weapon, the runes on its hilt, and the scales on Atreus’ costume have been sharp and vibrant. Though I’m used to taking part in the title on my 48-inch OLED display, the visuals nonetheless caught out to me on the 16-inch LED show.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE’s panel covers 111.6% of the DCI-P3 shade gamut and 158% of the sRGB gamut. Opponents just like the Alienware x17 R2 lined 76% of the DCI-P3 shade gamut and 107% of the sRGB gamut. The MSI GE76 Raider and the Razer Blade 17 lined across the identical share, and by no means hit the identical numbers because the Predator. The Triton 500 SE was the brightest at 460 nits, adopted by the Alienware at 325 nits, the Razer Blade at 276 nits, and the Raider at 259 nits.
Keyboard and Touchpad on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE has a chiclet keyboard with three RGB lighting zones, which I discovered surprisingly comfy to sort on and fairly to have a look at. It has a devoted energy button, just a few media buttons, and a key with the Predator image that launches the pre-installed PredatorSense app. The keyboard appears nice with three unbiased lights occurring and folk can customise it to light up any shade below the rainbow.
Though these keycaps are flat, and I often dislike typing on them, every cap on the laptop computer had a luxurious heart that felt nice throughout my keystrokes. Typing felt satisfyingly snappy. It even made a mechanical keyboard consumer like myself really feel at residence.
My normal rating on the 10fastfingers.com typing take a look at is 60 phrases per minute with a desktop keyboard, and my rating typing on the Asus TUF Gaming F15 was 51 phrases per minute with hardly any accuracy modifications. Nonetheless, this keyboard elevated my rating to 66 with solely a single spelling error. Possibly I used to be simply having a extremely good day, nevertheless it’s additionally attainable the keyboard introduced the very best out of me.
The multi-touch trackpad can be good and spacious with silver edges that make the laptop computer look extra premium. The trackpad feels easy, making it simpler to execute gestures. And though the fingerprint reader within the top-left nook seems distinguished, my finger hardly brushed in opposition to it accidentally or bought in my approach.
Audio on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE’s audio system go away one thing to be dsired. The highest of the laptop computer’s audio system learn DTS:X, so I believed I used to be in retailer for cinema-grade high quality. And when the DTS:X software program launched as quickly as I opened Spotify, I figured presets have been in use and every little thing was good to go. However after I heard “Mary Jane” by Rick James, I turned it off, because the audio system did not get as loud as I like, and the sound was a bit muffled. Positive, you possibly can hear it, however gaming laptops can sometimes produce higher sound than this.
I messed round with the DTS:X software program and EQ, testing all of the presets for a big bump in quantity. I went into the Home windows audio settings, however nothing elevated the amount and a few modifications made the sound worse. It was disappointing. In the event you determine to make use of the Turbo button to chill the laptop computer whereas taking part in video games, you’ll barely be capable to hear dialogue past the sound of the followers.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE’s backside plate is held by 9 Torx screws. Every part, together with the RAM and storage, have been soldered into the motherboard, or probably on the opposite aspect. The battery is accessible, however in any other case, this technique is troublesome to improve and restore.
Warmth on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
I examined the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE to see how sizzling to the contact it will get whereas operating our Metro Exodus stress take a look at. On the heart of the keyboard, the laptop computer reached 50.3 Celsius (122.54 Fahrenheit), which was unbearably sizzling to sort on and was the most well liked level on the laptop computer. Though the laptop computer was surprisingly quiet throughout the take a look at, the pc was additionally shockingly toasty sizzling. All of a sudden, I knew why Acer has a turbo button to make the followers spin full blast and why it must be at arm’s attain.
Alternatively, the touchpad remained cool at 28.8 Celsius (83.84 Fahrenheit.) Lastly, the underside of the laptop computer, which is often the most well liked spot, was 49.5 Celsius (121.1 Fahrenheit.)
Webcam on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
The 1080p webcam on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is great for a gaming laptop computer. The picture high quality is pristine and crisp, capturing the colour of all my clothes gadgets precisely. It excellently reproduced the jade and sizzling pink from my sweat jacket, in addition to the individually coloured petals from the flower illustrations on my hat.
The webcam additionally fluidly captured my movement on video, and it precisely mirrored the lighting and background of my workplace all the way down to the smallest element. The one criticism price writing residence about is that it had a little bit of hassle capturing lighting round my face. It took a little bit of head tilting and focusing to ensure that my face and pores and skin tone to come back by means of. However to be truthful, I had my hat and face masks on your entire time I messed with the digicam.
Software program and Guarantee on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
There are such a lot of preinstalled apps on the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE that it’s staggering. Whereas some are helpful, others are extras that make the system appear bloated.
The preinstalled Predator app controls the keyboard’s RGB lighting, switches between varied efficiency modes, (together with GPU/CPU overclocking choices), modifications fan speeds, screens efficiency specs, and extra.
DTS:X permits customers to optimize audio by content material sorts like Music, Voice, Motion pictures, Technique video games, RPGs, and Shooters. There’s additionally a graphic EQ for folk to toy round with.
PhotoDirector and PowerDirector enhancing software program comes preinstalled, as does Acer’s esports social media app known as Planet9 for all of the aspiring professional avid gamers on the market. Acer has additionally included Amazon’s Alexa on the laptop computer.
Aside from that, there’s minimal Home windows 11 bloatware like Amazon Prime Video, which can be discovered on most notebooks.
Acer is promoting the Predator Triton 500 SE with a one-year restricted guarantee.
Acer Predator Triton 500 SE Configurations
We reviewed the $2,999 configuration of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (PT516-52s-99EL) with an Intel Core i9-12900H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. It additionally includes a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 show with a 240Hz refresh price and 16:10 facet ratio.
The bottom mannequin is $2,299 with an i7-12700H processor, RTX 3070 Ti GPU, 16GB of reminiscence, and 1TB of SSD storage.
There’s additionally one with the identical processor and reminiscence as the bottom mannequin however with an RTX 3080 Ti GPU and 2TB of storage for $2,999. Lastly, there’s the Triton 500 SE (91UX) with an i9-12900H processor, an RTX 3080 Ti, 32GB of reminiscence, and 2TB of storage for $3,499.
Backside Line
I actually just like the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE. It has an awesome design that may slot in wherever you go, and it’s really compact sufficient to take wherever.
What’s extra, that GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM and an Intel Core i9-12900H places it in powerhouse territory regardless of how you chop it. For these utilizing the identical laptop computer for work and play, the keyboard was surprisingly enjoyable to sort on, although it bought hotter to the contact than I used to be comfy with. and that 1080p webcam is fairly stable.
Different laptops, just like the alternate options from Razer, MSI and Alienware that we reviewed, outpace the Triton a bit with reference to gaming efficiency. However our overview configuration of the Triton runs $2,999, which might be the very best bang on your buck, of these programs. The Razer Blade 17, Alienware x17 R2, and MSI GE76 Raider, which price at the very least $500 extra as we reviewed them.
In the event you’re in search of a machine that may do some productiveness work on the clock and a few heavy gaming after hours, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE stands out as the laptop computer for you. It is transportable sufficient and geared up nicely sufficient for each.