Acer’s New Predator Triton 500 Is a Good Gaming Laptop That Costs Too Damn Much

Owning a gaming laptop is super commodious , even if you do n’t need one for travel . It saves infinite on your desk , and you do n’t have to worry about mess around with monitor placement or figuring out the beneficial place to put your desktop tower to show off all that RGB firing while also experience enough electric cord distance for all your peripherals . ( Take it from me : box desks are not always the well choice for desktop personal computer . ) But all that gadget commonly have in mind a high cost ticket , and depending on the specs , some gaming laptops are either bulky , get really hot , or both . Aside from specs , aesthetic and thermals are the principal differentiating factors between brands and models , and the same applies to Acer ’s new Predator Triton 500 .

While Acer ’s Predator laptop line has n’t been altogether perfect over the last few years , it gets a lot of thing right — especially compared to its competitor . This Triton 500 could easily foil the line from light and portable to a monolithic electronic brick , but cause a Max - Q graphic visiting card and a ten - keyless keyboard help keep it in check . Other laptops , likeMSI ’s GS66 Stealth , are cheaper , but if you ’re unforced to beat out out the immediate payment for this one , you ’ll get a well - plan , specced - out simple machine that can moderately exchange a high - end screen background in a 0.7 - inch ( 17.9 mm ) gadget that weighs 4.9 pounds ( 2.2 kg ) .

Acer Predator Triton 500 ( 2020 )

Photo: Joanna Nelius

What is it ?

Acer ’s late edition of its Predator Triton 500 with a 10th - gen Intel central processing unit and Nvidia GeForce RTX Super graphics carte du jour .

Price

$ 2,200 ( $ 2,500 as look back )

nerveless chassis , good performance , clean and subtle design , DTS auditory sensation

No Like

Loves to compile fingerprint , brief mainframe throttling , keyboard kindling glitches

The Triton 500 sports a slightly more pernicious look than the previous coevals . The ‘ Predator ’ logo has been absent from the top of the grapple , but the metal blue - outlined logo remains , which also lights up when you bring up up the laptop computer . you could define the keys to whatever colour you ’d like , or none at all , and the black metal chassis gain me forget I ever lovedAsus ’s ROG Zephyrus G14white shape — that is , until I touch it . The Predator Triton 500 collects fingerprints like some people pull in Funkos , and wiping it down with only a material wo n’t do . You ’ll call for some sorting of lens cleaner to square away it back up .

But performance and thermals are at the top of the list of affair to be touch about . With such an excellent list of components , this gambling laptop delivers . The cheaper Stealth edges ahead in some areas , such as battery life ( almost doubling the length of service of the Triton 500 , which clock in at 3:26 in the Gizmodo battery mental test ) . But when it comes to performance , the Triton 500 impresses .

This Triton 500 is $ 250 more than the GS66 Stealth , but that agio is due to a better graphics card . In the models Gizmodo tested , the GS66 Stealth come with a RTX 2070 Super Max - Q , and the Predator Triton 500 a RTX 2080 Super Max - Q . Both have the same processor , an Intel Core i7 - 10750H , 32 GB RAM , and a 300Hz 1080p display . Both come in with lower - specced configurations if you want to preserve money , but these high - end laptops are are clearly get at gamers chasing frames per second with that high of a display refresh rate .

With the same C.P.U. , the Triton 500 was about 220 points ahead of the Stealth in Geekbench 4 exclusive marrow performance , yet even the same tenth - gen i7 CPU paired with a technically better GPU did n’t read to a obtrusive dispute in Far Cry 5 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider . While the Triton was even - stevens with the Stealth in Tomb Raider at 1080p ultra with an norm of 98 - 99 frames per s , the Triton came in 5 fps behind the Stealth in Far Cry 5 at 1080p on ultra at 91 Federal Protective Service , compared to 96 fps .

But those differences are negligible . thin pas seul in bod per second can be induce by anything from running a laptop computer in performance verses turbo mode , flow of air , thermal , or just the game itself . expect at Overwatch , the Stealth comes 30 fps behind the Triton ( 270 fps equate to 300 fps ) . The Triton also bump off 77 Federal Protective Service in Total War : Warhammer , 69 fps in Metro Exodus with beam tracing off , and 57 fps with ray draw on — all at 1080p ultra . Those are stellar stats . But to get those stats you have to have turbo mode turned on . Without it , wait around a 5 - 10 Federal Protective Service drop in performance .

Unlike some other play laptops , the Triton 500 stay prissy and cool — at least on the open . It ’s not uncommon for central processor temporary worker to rise to 90 degrees Celsius ( close to 200 degrees Fahrenheit ) , due to their small form factor , but also due to the tweaks some manufacturers make to give you as sinewy performance as possible powerful out the box . There ’s nothing wrong with that , but without a good cooling solution , fans , and flow of air , some laptop can get uncomfortably warm . Gigabyte ’s Aorus 17Gwas toasty . MSI ’s GS66 Stealth was hot , too . Asus ’ ROG Zephyrus G14 got to temperatures to as high as 50 degrees Celcius on some part of the keyboard chassis . Not the Triton 500 , though .

When under load , processor temps did rise as high as 92 C ( that ’s , uh , extremely live ) , but Earth’s surface temps peak at 45 C. I would n’t gage with it on my circle , but on a flavourless Earth’s surface , it ’s pleasantly comfortable . However , harmonize to HWInfo64 , I did experience some thermal throttling once CPU temp go up higher than 90 C on two of the cores — that was with turbo modality on , and its loud , loud fans — but it must have been only for a abbreviated menstruation of time , because I did n’t notice a dip in execution while playing secret plan .

However , because the CPU temp did get high , this means neither Intel ’s caloric Velocity Boost or Turbo Max Boost engaged . HWInfo immortalise the highest clock frequency at 4.7 gigahertz . Had the mainframe temperature been low enough to lock those hike engineering , it would have reach the C.P.U. an extra 300 MHz and allow it rack up its max rise clock of 5.0 gigacycle per second . An excess 300 MHz might not sound like much , but if your main concern is getting the most frames per secondly in any game potential , that frequency swelling would ’ve increased the frame count .

There were a few other glitchy things I noticed about the laptop computer . Even with the RGB keyboard inflammation grow off , a key or two would quickly dash a colouration on occasion if I was typing or pressing commands in a biz . nobble the laptop up with the charging cable connected caused it to toot loudly every few irregular until I mark it down . ( However , this may really be a lineament of the laptop computer , not a bug , because it only pass when the power cord shifted when attached to the laptop . ) But if I ’m shell out $ 2,500 for a gamy - end gaming laptop , I ’d expect little glitches like these not to be .

The Acer Predator Triton 500 is an well-fixed play laptop to advocate if you have the cash , but it would n’t be No . 1 on my list — that spot belongs to MSI ’s GS66 Stealth , which is cheaper , lasts longer on a heraldic bearing , and offers like carrying into action . After all , $ 2,500 is not an inconsequential amount of cash to pass , and the Stealth will get you great 1080p carrying into action for less . Acer ’s quality is consistent for the most part , but at this high a damage , it ’s not excessive to want something as close-fitting to hone as possible . The Triton 500 is n’t it .

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