We had an early look at the Acer Predator Triton SE. Our model, although an engineering sample, did exceed our expectations when it came to performance.
Design & Build
For a thin and light machine, the Triton 500 SE has solid build quality with minimum flex. It’s a little on the heavier side, so we would not advise you to carry it on your back. At 2.5 Kg the Triton is on the heavier side and with its charger it pushes the total to 2.7 Kg.
The gunmetal grey does look attractive but with a little bit of sun shining turns it into a reflective surface.
We liked the minimal branding on it, and It would not raise any eyebrows at a business meeting. One thing that we noticed is that the build does not have any sharp corners. This would be a pain point in many thin and lights as it would lead to many cuts.
Performance
Specs are no joke. An eight-core CPU, top-of-the-line GPU, and SSD storage in raid 0. This machine puts the “F” in fast. We have come a long way from the days where one needed a desktop for performance.
- RTX 3080(Max-Q with 8GB VRAM)
- i9-11900H – 8 cores 16 threads with UHD Graphics
- 32 GB RAM (Up to 64gb)
- 2tb internal ssd (2X1 TB NVME SSDs in raid 0 upto 4TB)
Since we had access to an RTX 3080 MAX-Q on here, we tested Metro Exodus. This is a demanding game, and since Deep Silver updated the game for raytracing via its enhanced edition, it was one I was excited to test.
We were able to get well over 160 FPS on 2560 X 1600. However, we did need to turn some settings down. We should note here that this machine gets extremely hot. I ran the turbo mode while gaming as it cooled the surface a little.
Our one feedback to Acer would be to add in a vapor chamber to take off the excess heat. Or perhaps limit this design to a RTX 3070 GPU & allow us to under-volt the CPU a little.
We were curious to what kind of rating Resident Evil would give it and “S” Class is the maximum so that says a lot.
I think the 3D mark scores & drive speeds speak for themselves. I have never tested a drive this fast, so I was blown away by the speeds.
Since our model was an engineering sample, it ran Windows in test mode, limiting the titles that could work. For instance, when we tried to load up Fortnite, it triggered the anti-cheat system and did not allow us to start the game.
Screen & Battery
16:10 aspect ratio on a 2560 X 1600 16-inch screen did feel different from my 16:9 27-inch monitor. But it was for the better as the Triton packs a much faster 240hz display.The display also gets very bright at 500 nits.
On average usage, while watching YouTube videos, I got up to 4 hours of video time. This is good considering the form factor, but we would not expect any less from a 99.9wh battery. We noticed a strange line comeup next to the videos if you moved them off screen. This was due to our model running preproduction drivers and a simple update fixed that.
Keyboard & trackpad
I don’t think I can complain about the keyboard much. But It would be a lot better if the keys were slightly bigger and if the trackpad was larger too. I feel like Acer might have just used the same trackpad and keys used in our review of the Acer spin here.
The triton comes with a fingerprint scanner however ours did not seem to work reliably.
Speakers & Webcam
Speakers are audible and clear with a strong base; however, the fans running on turbo mode can muffle the sound. We would recommend a good pair of headphones like the Razer Kraken X. Also, we would have liked it if the speakers faced the front of the user vs. firing it below.
The webcam is far from impressive but gets the job done, especially since the camera sensor is tiny. We would like it if other laptop manufacturers included a webcam too.
Ports & Connectivity
We get a full range of ports:
- 2 X Thunderbolt 4 (one on each side with power delivery up to 100 watts)
- 2 X USB-A ports
- HDMI 2.1
- SD 7.0 card reader (Speeds up to 985MB/s)
- Gigabit Ethernet
On the wireless side of things we get Bluetooth 5.1 and WIFI 6.
Final thoughts
The loud startup sound was a bit frustrating during first boot. Conveniently we could disable this.
Next is the heat; RTX3080 and an i9 processor heat up the machine too much. I would prefer to have an RTX 3070 Max-P and a i7 processor that can be undervolted over the current configuration. Also AMD’s current lineup of Ryzen mobile chips would make a really good repacement instead of the Intel i9 used in out configuration. Although we would miss out on thunderbolt.
We initially assumed the heat was due to a driver issue but after installing the latest drivers we found out this was not the case.
Conclusion
Overall, the Triton 500 SE is a solid machine if you are looking for a workstation on the go. With four hours of battery life and a bright display, I think the Triton SE would make a better workstation than a gaming machine. If you decide to game on it for long periods, maybe consider an Xbox controller. It made my experience a lot better.