You can tell you will play some challenging video games as soon as you turn on the “big blue” Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD. The 17-inch Helios 500 model (PH517-61-R0GX) we’re testing is decked out with RGB lighting that runs from the keyboard to the touchpad, and every time you turn it on, the speakers emit a swooping screech to signal the arrival of the Predator.
This Predator is the complete opposite of the typical slim Max-Q gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15; it is large and heavy, and this design aids in maximizing its performance potential through the use of powerful thermals and full-graphics silicon. It offers strong performance for both gaming and productivity tasks by combining a second-generation Ryzen desktop CPU with Vega 56 graphics.
Specifications:
| Brand | Acer |
| Type | Gaming |
| Model | PH517-61-ROGX |
| Screen Size | 17.3 inches |
| Flash Memory Size | 256 |
| CPU Model | 4.3 GHz 8032 |
| Ram Memory Installed Size | 16 GB |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics Coprocessor and Chipset | AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8 GB HBM2 |
| CPU Speed | 4.3 GHz |
| Item Weight | 9.37 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 11.73 x 16.85 x 1.52 inches |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
| Memory Speed | 2666 MHz |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 5 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 1.5 hours |
| Hard Drive Interface | Solid State |
| Optical Drive Type | No Optical Drive |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion battery |
PROS
- Excellent performance from the CPU, GPU, and SSD
- Unexpectedly quiet for a top-of-the-line gaming laptop
- Generous 60–144 Hz variable-refresh window on the FreeSync panel
- Keyboard Clicky
CONS
- A limited battery life
- Plastic-only finish
- Tight storage
Features:
1. Design
Your present gaming laptop is a big model that stands out from the crowd. The Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD varies from typical gaming laptops in that it boasts AeroBlade 3D fans for cooling and a black chassis with blue paint splotches. Apart from the unusual color, everything else seems typical for gaming. The chassis’ plastic composition strikes us as highly uncommon given that competing laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus S and Razer Blade 15 have metallic bodies.
Unfortunately, neither a bargain beaker nor that is the situation here. We always presume that anything that costs more than $1,000 has an aluminum body. Although the Predator Helios 500 PH517-61-R0GX is a somewhat large laptop, its dimensions—1.5 by 16.9 by 11.7 inches (HWD)—fall within the range of other 17-inch gaming laptops of a similar size. In comparison, the Helios 500 weighs 8.82 pounds, while the Alienware 17 R5 (17-inch variant, 1.18 by 16.7 by 13.1) is slightly thicker and weighs about a pound more. If you want to replace an obsolete gaming setup that you can occasionally travel to competitions, the size and power of the Predator 500 make it a great choice.
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2. Display
Gaming laptops rarely have distinctive screens; possibly the only characteristic you can differ from the norm is the GPU engine, which can be either AMD or Nvidia. A 17-inch matte IPS panel with a 1080p (1,920 by 1,080) resolution is included on the Helios 500. The screen features a 144Hz refresh rate, and AMD Radeon FreeSync is the only significant addition here; both are excellent for high-end gaming.
Thanks to the high refresh rate and these capabilities, the panel can display your games and other range at up to 144Hz frames per second (fps), and once AMD FreeSync is turned on, you won’t have screen tearing.
When a display tries to register a new frame to the screen before the preceding one has finished writing, the result is a screen with mismatched halves, known as tearing in gaming. AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync allows a screen’s refresh rate to change along with the number of frames the graphics card produces, which lessens the tearing problem.
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3. Battery life
Because of its low battery life, Acer Predator Helios 500 is intended to replace desktop computers.Its time is approximately 2 hours 46 minutes, significantly less than the similarly unimpressive Alienware 17 R5’s 3 hours 58 minutes. Imagine using this horror to operate from a bar or coffee shop and finding no power outlets available. Any laptop with fewer than three hours of battery life is difficult to accept, let alone one whose manufacturer advertises a “long battery life.”
4. Typewriter and touchpad
The blue paint around their edges clearly distinguishes the key’s directional arrow and WASD keys. You can program a row of dedicated hotkeys on the upper deck, next to the hinges, to perform any task of your choosing, including auto-overclocking. Although the entire keyboard and touchpad have a blue haze backlight by default, which also covers the six hotkeys and the power button, there is strong backlighting that allows you to customize the lighting shades in the machine’s built-in PredatorSense program.
Although the keyboard has four zones of RGB backlighting that you may tune from a palette of 16.8 million colors, it does not feature individual keys with customizable lighting. The keyboard’s feel is precisely what you would expect it to be. Although the Predator Helios 500 utilizes membrane switches, the Acer keyboard nonetheless provides deep and satisfying keystrokes, giving the impression that it does not.
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5. Performance
One of the first Helios 500 models that stray from Intel and Nvidia technology is the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD model we’re reviewing. Instead, it is entirely powered by top-of-the-line AMD components, which will undoubtedly give its Intel rivals a close run. It has an eight-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen 7-2700 desktop processor, with a ground clock speed of 3.7GHz and a maximum boost speed of 4.3GHz when Turbo Boost is enabled. Windows 10 Home is run on a device with an AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics processor and 8GB of HBM2 memory.
This is a good setup that can compete with the Intel Core i7-8700K CPU featured in high-end gaming rigs like the Dell Alienware Aurora and iBUYPOWER Pro Trace 928770, both of which have good gaming and productivity scores. The Predator Helios 500 stands out as an ideal desktop replacement laptop since it has a strong CPU and a decent graphics card, allowing you to utilize it simultaneously for media creation, Photoshop, and gaming. A 256GB PCI Express NVMe solid-state drive is another feature of the Acer Predator Helios 500. (SSD). For a midrange to a high-end gaming laptop in 2019, its 16GB of RAM is typical.
6. Gaming Achievements
So much for the essential parts; performance in games also improves. Despite its strength, the Helios 500 performs better in contemporary games than some of its more powerful rivals, some of which employ pepper CPUs or GeForce GTX 1080 graphics processors. It averages 122 frames per second when playing Fortnite at 1080p, High settings. However, playing at Ultra settings drops to 109 frames per second. Grand Theft Auto V’s Helios 500 achieved an average frame rate of 103fps at Medium settings, compared to 82fps at High graphics.
This would not be very sensible on a 60Hz screen, where 60fps is the most effective frame rate that can be shown. However, because of the 144Hz screen, aiming for the most excellent frame rate possible for gamers who bought this machine expressly for that function is essential. The AMD Ryzen 7 CPU can’t indeed be overclocked; only the Core i9 version of this computer has an unlocked CPU. However, the Helios 500 has built-in PredatorSense software that makes it simple to overclock the GPU when necessary.
It typically features three overclocking settings: Normal, Faster, and Turbo, which you can use to increase the frame rate. PredatorSense software on this system enables you to regulate and personalize your gaming experience, including lighting, fan speed, and game settings.
Seldom will you bump up a game against the Helios 500’s 144Hz refresh rate display, even with the reasonable frame rates? Most games will run between 60 and 130 frames per second, while less taxing non-AAA games should run at frame rates of at least 144, even without changing the settings.
7. Ports
The Helios 500 delivers the kind of significant port freedom that comes with larger laptops. Two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, individual headphone and microphone jacks, and a Kensington lock slot are found on the device’s right side. On the left side of the device are two USB Type-C 3.1/Thunderbolt 3 ports, an Ethernet socket, and one USB 3.0 Type-A port.
The machine’s video outputs, which include HDMI, DisplayPort, and a USB Type-C connection, are situated around the back of the device and allow you to attach up to three extra screens. Surprisingly, there isn’t an SD-card port, which media workers who frequently use DSLR cameras and expensive camcorders but need to transfer the extra loads to the laptop want. In addition to a conventional Ethernet connection, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 are available for wireless networking.
A further triumph of the Helios 500 is its speakers, which deliver high-quality sound that is astounding, bassy enough to fill a room, and distortion-free when turned up all the way. In the middle of the bezel, directly above the screen, there is a 720p webcam. It isn’t your typical high-resolution cam, but it works great for video conferencing.
Last Words
Acer’s AMD-powered Predator Helios 500 gaming laptop has much to recommend. A 16-thread Ryzen 7 CPU gives it unrivaled multi-threaded productivity, and its extreme power is matched by nothing else in its class. Considering how strong it is when gaming, it also runs surprisingly quietly. With AMD’s FreeSync technology, its outstanding screen has a high refresh rate and is made even better. If only Acer could provide all this and respectable battery life, we might be looking at an Editors’ Choice for 17-inch gaming laptops.
