Acer Predator Triton 500

[TL;DR at the bottom!!!] Purchased this laptop after extensive research on hardware components, including the processor and graphics, air flow, and overall performance. Acer convinced me over other products for their awesome cooling system, and I wasn’t about to get a 10th gen Intel processor (we all know how last year went for Intel… yikes). Below are some detailed specifics on the noteworthy components. ________________________________________________ Gameplay: I ran a couple games, GTA V and Cities: Skylines (C:S) on the highest graphics possible. After using this laptop for about a couple weeks, I must say, this is a solid buy if you are wanting a laptop that can keep up with quality graphics and performance. Things worth mentioning about gameplay: (more of a game issue rather than a laptop issue) C:S does have random chopping from time to time. After some research, Reddit users claim this is due to low RAM. As you know, this laptop comes with 16 GB. I am considering putting in an additional 16 GB to better that choppiness (as that was stated as a resolution on multiple Reddit threads). The graphics aside from that are very smooth. Definitely a major upgrade from my PC that has a 1070Ti with 16 GB RAM, and an i7-8700 processor. If you can afford the price difference of getting 32 GB RAM, I would do it. C:S maxed at about 35 FPS (note: population of my map is ~375K with various mods enabled.) GTA V maxed out at around 75 FPS on both Story and Online mode. ________________________________________________ Wi-Fi/Ethernet: This laptop comes with the Killer Suite software that allows you to prioritize bandwidth for certain apps, view wireless networks and their frequencies, has a “double-shot” function that “automatically switches high priority traffic to your faster network connection (Ethernet or Wireless) while standard traffic is sent over the slower connection.” if you really care that much about speed. The Wi-Fi is great. I have a TP-Link AX6000 (Wi-Fi 6) router with 400 down and 20 up and I love the fact that this laptop came with Wi-Fi 6. I haven’t experienced any lag thus far playing GTA Online. YouTube 4k videos load in a snap. Wi-Fi 6 was a major factor on my purchase. I’m just so glad Intel and Acer got it right! No complaints here. ________________________________________________ Screen/Brightness: Small bezel makes this screen feel huge!! I mean, yeah it’s already big but man does it feel bigger than what it is. Quality and colors are great. Darks are dark, brights are brighter than bright. Having it set on 100% brightness is too much on my eyes! But that’s a good thing for when you’re playing games with dark scenes! ________________________________________________ – Buttery smooth 165 Hz screen: You don’t know how much you missed on life until you get a screen with this fast of a refresh rate… It’s just amazing how smooth everything seems, from gameplay to scrolling on a website. Both internal graphics and Nvidia have no problem with holding this standard. ________________________________________________ – Turbo mode: With one push of a button, Acer’s “Turbo Mode” presses the gas pedal to create smoother gameplay. I do notice a difference with this turned on, as it pumps up the fans to full speed and “overclocks” the processor and graphics card. Now this does come with a couple downsides… 1. There’s are pre-requisites to making the button work… The battery has to be at least 40% charged AND it has to be plugged in. I understand that the limitations of the battery along with battery integrity is taken into account with this limitation… it’s just… first world problems… 2. Fans can be loud! I mean not TOO loud, but if you aren’t using a headset, hearing your game could be an issue with Turbo Mode turned on! Which brings me to my next portion… ________________________________________________ – SOUND: This is where Acer failed big time. The speakers on this thing sound like they came out of a recycled iPhone 3GS or Galaxy S4. They are low in volume, sound very mid-rich, not enough bass, not as immersive. It does have surround sound effects but definitely not a ‘wow’ factor. Re-iterating Turbo Mode downsides, this can be a major issue for playing games without a headset ESPECIALLY when needing to hear precise sounds. These speakers WILL DISAPPOINT. I personally found it so disappointing when I pay over 2700 bucks on a laptop with old cell phone quality speakers. ________________________________________________ – Battery life: It’s okay. Definitely does not last an entire day. Lasts up to 3/4 hours with typical surfing on the web/Twitch streaming and 1 to 1 1/2 hour of gameplay. Something pretty important to note: gaming while on battery power, it is extremely noticeable that the graphics and processor is HEAVILY throttled, meaning it won’t be as pleasant of an experience versus having it plugged in. This was most noticeable on resource-hungry Cities: Skylines. (Time seemed to slow, and choppiness grew) ________________________________________________ – Heat: Man does this laptop get hot. Like, HOT hot. It definitely has great heat dissipation because the entire laptop gets hot, not just one specific area. I use a laptop cooler when using it on my lap to help my legs from burning. (okay I might be exaggerating… it is pretty uncomfortable though.) _________________________ All in all, this is a solid buy for someone who just needs a laptop that works well under heavy gameplay (while plugged in) and this one doesn’t disappoint. The only real disappointing thing about this laptop is the speakers. _________________________ TL;DR – This laptop is a solid buy for speed and performance. Amazing gameplay – buy the version with more RAM if you can. Gaming online using Wifi is great! Screen is buttery smooth and REALLY bright. Turbo mode makes it go a bit faster, but fans can be loud. Speakers lack the “oomf” needed for games and sound like early 2010s cell phone speakers, and loud fans with these speakers DO NOT MIX. – use a headset! Battery life is okay. 1 hr of (throttled) gameplay, 3 hrs of Twitch streaming. Get a laptop cooler because this laptop gets HOT. Hope this helps k bye.