Acer is revamping its gaming laptop range with the arrival of Intel’s latest 11th-gen Tiger Lake-H processors. The company has announced newly updated versions of the Predator Triton 500cand Helios 500 that also feature NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30-series mobile graphics. The new laptops also come with Acer’s updated AeroBlade 3D fan tech for better cooling, DTS:X Ultra audio, and updated connectivity options.

Acer Predator Triton 500 SE

The ‘Special Edition’ of the Predator Triton 500 offers top-of-the-line hardware to deliver the best performance for AAA games. It will be available with up to an 11th-gen Intel Core i9 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 mobile GPU. Users will also have options of up to 64GB of 3200MHz DDR4 memory and up to 4TB of high-speed PCIe Gen 4 storage. Acer mentions the ability to hit CPU clock speeds of up to 5GHz, which means that the laptop will be available with the Core i9-11980HK.

We’ve seen laptop makers moving to a 16-inch display this year, and the Predator Triton 500 SE is yet another model getting the upgrade. It comes with a 16:10 aspect ratio with an 87% screen-to-body ratio and three-panel options- 165Hz WQXGA LCD display; 165Hz WQXGA Mini LED panel with peak 1250-nits brightness and 100% coverage of the sRGB color gamut or a 240Hz WQXGA IPS PolarBlack panel with a 3ms response time; and 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

As mentioned above, the new cooling system includes Acer’s Vortex Flow cooling design, featuring a triple-fan cooling system with the 5th-gen AeroBlade 3D fans and five dedicated heat pipes for the CPU and GPU. For connectivity, there is the Intel Killer E3100G Ethernet controller,  Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, an HDMI port, and an SD 7.0 card reader.

Acer Predator Helios 500

The Predator Helios 500 is for gamers looking for a larger laptop with a 17.3-inch display. It comes with the same hardware configuration, including options for up to an 11th-gen Intel Core i9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics and 64GB of DDR4 3200 MHz RAM, and support for two PCIe NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 and an additional SATA HDD, so you never run out of space for games.

The 17.3-inch display can be configured with a 4K Mini LED 120Hz panel powered by AUO AmLED technology that supports full-array local dimming. This is said to be as good as VESA Display HDR 1000, which means it should offer enhanced saturation and contrast. There is also the option of AUO’s superfast full-HD 360Hz panel with a 3ms response time.

Acer is using a special metal-alloy polymer that sits on top of the CPU for better heat distribution. This one comes with two fans, instead of the three on Predator Triton 500 SE, but there is a lot of RGB lighting all around and the option of replacing the WASD keys with Acer’s Racing keys or MagForce keys, that feature MagTek mechanical switches. Don’t expect them to be as good as a Cherry MX key switch, but it should be good for users who like a tactile keyboard.

In the I/O department, the laptop features an HDMI 2.1 port, a mini-DisplayPort 1.4, two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports with offline charging, and an RJ45 port.   Apart from the Intel Killer E3100G Ethernet controller and Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i , the laptop can be configured with an Intel Killer DoubleShot Pro 5G for fast mobile connectivity.

To complement the new laptops, Acer has also announced three new accessories- the Predator Connect X5 5G CPE Wi-Fi 6 router, the Predator Connect D5 5G dongle, and the Cestus Gaming Mouse 335.

Pricing and availability

The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE will be available in North America from June onwards, starting at $1,749.99, while the Predator Helios 500 will be available in North America in August starting at $2,499.99.