Today we review an updated Acer Predator Triton 500 SE gaming laptop with one of the best NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards to date, 32 GB of RAM, a 16” IPS 165 Hz display and a very impressive price tag. We will figure out what this “beast” can do and whether it is worth the money.
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Equipment
The laptop comes with a 230W charger. The memory is heavy and bulky – it will not be easy to carry it with you in your bag every day, but in general it is quite transportable. By the way, the cable length is 180 cm, and the block dimensions are 155x75x30 mm.
Design and ergonomics
The body of the laptop is made entirely of aluminum, only the display edging is plastic, so the device is almost “all-metal”. Everything is assembled perfectly, without backlash and squeaks.
The device opens up to 180 degrees, which will come in handy on those rare occasions when you need to use it on your lap or for other atypical uses.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is not monstrously huge, as was the custom among gaming laptops a few years ago. The dimensions of the device are 358.5×262.4×19.9 mm and, according to general impressions, it is not much larger than 15.6-inch office models, especially in thickness – 19.9 mm is not much for such a powerful filling.
The weight of the laptop is also not too much: 2.4 kg for a 16-inch gaming laptop is quite acceptable, if not good. In a good backpack, it does not put too much pressure on the back, but again, not everyone wants to carry more than 3 kg (laptop + memory) to work and back every day.
Ports
The more stationary the Windows machine, the more ports it has. Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is not deprived of them and on board the device you can find the following inputs only on the right side of the case:
- SD 7.0 card reader
- USB-A 3.2
- USB-C Thunderbolt 4
- HDMI 2.1
- Kensington lock
On the left is:
- Charger socket
- Ethernet RJ45
- USB-A 3.2
- USB-C Thunderbolt 4
- 3.5mm audio jack
Display
The novelty uses a 16” IPS display with an aspect ratio of 16:10, a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels, a response speed of 3 milliseconds and a refresh rate of 165 Hz (there are also configurations up to 240 Hz). Matte finish with anti-glare.
The display gives a juicy and rich picture. The scan is gorgeous, which is felt even while using the Windows interface. In shooters, the response speed is especially noteworthy – it is very noticeable, especially after office laptops.
The manufacturer claims 100% DCI-P3 support, so the device is suitable not only for games, but also for working with graphics (with such and such a video card on board). The results of the colorimetric tests are as follows:
Keyboard and touchpad
The keyboard does not have a NumPad block, but the keys are a little more apart from each other, and the buttons themselves are larger than most office laptops. In theory, this should have a positive effect on the gameplay, but the author did not notice any particular advantage. The keyboard is responsive, with a pleasant, soft and fairly short stroke.
The rightmost vertical row contains the volume and mute keys, as well as a button that launches PredatorSense, Acer’s proprietary application. RGB backlight is configured through the same utility: you can choose 4 brightness modes, as well as customize what kind of backlight will be.
The touchpad is responsive and tactilely pleasing, although it is inferior in size to some office laptops.
Sound and camera
As for the sound, I’m afraid the Apple MacBook Pro 14” left such an indelible impression that now all cars over $2000 are doomed to be compared with it. Unfortunately, according to this parameter, Acer does not even reach the Xiaomi Pro 15.6, which is significantly inferior in price and dimensions. Built-in speakers sound booming like a barrel; they lack clarity, detail, and volume. That is, the sound quality is unsatisfactory, especially for a device of this class.
But it is worth noting that with such a cooling system, the user will preferably play with headphones. And in general, the gaming experience, even in an entry-level headset, is a cut above gaming through the most sophisticated laptop speakers, so they are installed according to the leftover principle.
HD camera of acceptable quality for laptops. It passes the test by video calls, but it is unlikely to work for streams, even in field conditions.
Specifications
We reviewed an Acer Predator Triton 500 SE configuration with the following specifications: Intel Core i9-11900H 11Gen processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, 32GB LPDDR 5 4800MHz RAM and 2TB PCIe Gen4 SSD storage.
Performance and software
Acer’s proprietary PredatorSense program is preinstalled on board, in which the user can select parameters such as cooler rotation speed, brightness and backlight type, as well as monitor the state of the iron, including its temperature. You can also install the following utilities through it:
It is comfortable to use the Triton 500 SE as a working machine. Naturally, with such ordinary tasks as photo processing, working with documents and web surfing, the laptop copes with no problems at all. All programs “fly”, ranging from hundreds of tabs in Chrome and ending with photo processing in Lightroom. It was much more interesting to evaluate how exactly such a machine would behave in games, which is discussed below.
Cooling deserves special attention, since the removal of hot air is provided immediately by 3 coolers and in the maximum “Turbo” mode the laptop blows as if it is about to take off. My old PC with two full-sized fans did not produce as much airflow as this quite transportable laptop. The machine remains at an acceptable temperature throughout all gaming sessions (the maximum duration during the testing period is 6 hours). The laptop is hot and uncomfortable to use on my knees, but, for example, my Xiaomi Pro 15.6 ” in the area above the keyboard after an hour of playing WarCraft: Reforged cannot be touched, while the Predator is just hot even after 6 hours of play.
The results of synthetic tests in Geekbench 5 in multi-threaded – 7663, in single-threaded – 1466.
Cinebench R23 in multi-thread – 9202, in single-thread – 1349.
In Blender, the results are as follows:
Games
Cyberpunk 2077
Finally, for the first time in the entire existence of the game, I was able to run around Night City at maximum graphics – in general, all settings, including ray tracing, were on ultra. It’s an amazing gaming experience as the game looks amazing on a 16-inch display.
Frankly, when I clicked on “Continue” in the main menu, I subconsciously expected a crash, friezes or something else bad, but this did not happen. Although the FPS was kept within 30-50, the game was as smooth and detailed as possible. By the way, the response time made itself felt and in the skirmishes the reaction time significantly decreased (although the Cyberpunk dummies are not the most frisky opponents).
The CPU temperature was kept around 90 degrees throughout the entire gaming session, and the coolers were running at maximum power. But no throttling was noticed, so the stress test can be considered passed.
The Witcher 3
Naturally, after Cyberpunk, running The Witcher on ultra settings didn’t cause such excitement, but the game still looks great, especially on a large display and especially after the 14-inch of the previous laptop I tested it on ( Asus Vivobook Pro 14X OLED ).
The gameplay is smooth and comfortable, without drawdowns and lags, even on the densely populated streets of Toussaint. FPS kept around 55-60, with drawdowns up to 50 in dynamic scenes. Heating is negligible and the temperature of the CPU was kept within 80-85 degrees.
Starcraft 2
As the final stage, StarCraft 2 went into action. The game is not very demanding, but the network one, which means it will help to conduct a long stress test. During a six-hour gaming session, the laptop warmed up in the same way as during a game of Cyberpunk, but did not reset the frequency – the gameplay is as stable as possible, without drawdowns or friezes. The CPU temperature was kept between 80-85 degrees, just like in the case of The Witcher 3.
autonomy
From a single charge, the laptop in quiet mode (that is, without games and with quietly working coolers, as well as with 100% display brightness and maximum keyboard backlight) lasted only from 10:00 to 11:42. Such results for office laptops look ridiculous, but given the filling and the fact that the gaming segment is generally not designed for long battery life, the minus is insignificant. Although, of course, I would like to see at least 4 hours, since during testing the load was minimal.
The 230 W power adapter weighs an impressive 700 grams and fully charges the laptop from 0% to 100% in 1 hour and 53 minutes, which is quite good considering the battery capacity of 99.98 Wh.
Cost and competitors
The retail price of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE review configuration is UAH 129,999. The amount, to put it mildly, is not small, so let’s consider a couple of options in the same price range and cheaper competitors. We will not touch on stationary options, since this is a separate niche.
The closest competitor for the same price is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE on AMD Ryzen 9, with the same RTX 3080 and an additional display, but with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. This option will be useful for those who work with graphics, but for gamers this is a less attractive configuration. But if you drop up to UAH 110,599, then you can take the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S17 – it will be without a second display, but with an RTX 3070, Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, 2TB storage and a 17.3” display.
For 72,399 UAH, you can take a simpler configuration from the same Acer and even the same Triton 500 SE, but with an Intel Core i7, GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB drive. The difference in price is almost two times, but in terms of characteristics, the gap is not as big as in cost.
Also on the RTX 3080 is a very tempting MSI Leopard GP66-11UH for 84,999 UAH, with the same amount of RAM and the same hertz as the Predator Triton 500 SE (32GB and 165Hz). But it will be with a simpler processor and a smaller drive – Intel Core i7 and 1TB.
If you move away from Windows and games, then for about the same amount you can go to the Apple camp and take a MacBook Pro 16 ”, but for the same 2TB drive and 32GB RAM you will have to add a good amount, since it will cost around 150-160 thousand hryvnia
Naturally, for this money you can buy yourself several simpler laptops or buy a typewriter and assemble a powerful stationary PC (unless, of course, you can find a GeForce RTX 3080 at least close to an adequate price), and take a smartphone or tablet for change. But if you want top-end compact graphics, a powerful processor, a 165Hz display and 32GB of RAM, then this is probably one of the most humane options in terms of cost today. It is easier to find gaming laptops, but they will all be compromises and it’s good if this compromise is storage, but most models with the same video card are inferior in such important parameters as processor, RAM and display quality.
