Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 Review – It Gets Better

Unboxing the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020

Inside the box of the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020, you will find the following items:

• International Travelers Warranty Guide
• Setup Guide
• 230W Charging Brick
• Power Cable
• The Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 laptop itself

Appearance

This new Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 looks virtually identical to the one we reviewed last year. It doesn’t have the over-the-top gamer aesthetic as far as the chassis goes, and it’s relatively thin and light for a gaming laptop that packs plenty of firepower.

You have the Predator logo in the center surrounded by the dark blue colour of the lid. It uses an aluminum body, like last year, with the only difference being that this iteration doesn’t have the “Predator” text on it, only the logo which also glows blue. It’s a fingerprint magnet, so you’re going to see smudges appear rather quickly.

Open up the lid and you’ll be greeted with a 15.6-inch Full HD 300Hz IPS display, per-key RGB chiclet keyboard, a trackpad, and some product stickers. The layout is identical to last year’s model, with the Turbo button located above the F1 and F2 keys and the PredatorSense shortcut right below the Power button.

On the left side, you have an air vent, the proprietary charging port, an RJ45 LAN port, a USB 3.1 Type-A port, an HDMI port, a mic jack, and a headphone jack. On the right side, you have LED indicators, a Thunderbolt 3 port, a miniDisplay Port, two USB 3.1 Type-A ports, an air vent, and a Kensington Lock. There’s nothing on the rear except for two additional air vents. Once again, this has both an HDMI port and a DisplayPort.

Moving to the bottom, you have four rubber stands, air vents, speaker grilles, and some product stickers. You can find nine screws exposed here, with one most likely hidden under the Acer sticker to prevent from getting your warranty voided.

Overall, the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 is essentially the same gaming laptop we know and love, at least as far as looks go. The build quality is still good, relatively portable for a gaming laptop, and doesn’t go for the over-the-top gamer aesthetic. It’s quite the fingerprint magnet, so be prepared to wipe it down often.

Specifications

CPU	Intel Core i7-10875H (8C / 16T @ up to 5.1 GHz, 16M, 45W TDP, 14nm)
RAM	16GB (2 x 8GB) 2933 MHz DDR4
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER with Max-Q, 8GB GDDR6
Storage	512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Software	Windows 10 Home PredatorSense Acer JumpStart KILLER Networking
Connectivity	Wireless Wi-Fi 6, 802.11ax 2×2 (KILLER AX1650) Bluetooth 5.0 Wired 1 x RJ45 LAN (KILLER E3100G) 3 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (1 x Always On) 1 x Thunderbolt 3
Display	15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 300 Hz, Acer ComfyView IPS display with G-SYNC 1 x HDMI 2.0 with HDCP support 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1.4
Webcam	HD 720p
Audio	2 x speakers 1 x 3.5mm audio jack 1 x 3.5mm mic jack Supports DTS:X and Windows Spatial Sound
Keyboard	Per-key RGB chiclet keyboard
Power	230W power adapter 84Whr 4-cell Li-ion battery
Dimensions	358.5 x 255 x 17.9 mm
Weight	2.1 kg

Performance

Kicking off our benchmark suite with CrystalDiskMark, the speeds are pretty good. Especially given its 512GB capacity, most consumers should have no problems with this and can freely enjoy the fast speeds.

As for Cinebench R15, the Intel Core i7-10875H has pretty good performance. The single core score is pretty close to the Intel Core i9 CPUs and the multi-core score is noticeably better than the previous generation CPUs. It appears to be better overall than the slightly weaker i7-10750H.

On Cinebench R20, the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 even managed to beat the the Intel Core i9-9980HK in the Alienware M17 m2. It was only outclassed by the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H and the desktop-class Intel Core i9-9900K CPU.

Moving on to Unigine SuperPosition in its 4K Optimized benchmark, we see something rather interesting. As GPU performance plays a bigger role here, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q seems to sit somewhere between a regular mobile RTX 2070 and a mobile RTX 2080 Max-Q. It’s actually pretty good.

In 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark, the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 managed to beat a gaming laptop running an Intel Core i9-9980HK and an RTX 2080 Max-Q. That’s a pretty amazing feat if you ask me. It may not be the best but we are seeing a pattern on how solid the performance is.

As for 3DMark’s Port Royal benchmark for ray tracing on the other hand, it did perform well enough but not as good as the ones running a variant of the RTX 2080 mobile GPU. This isn’t really a surprise given how intensive ray tracing can be. I still don’t see ray tracing as a must-have for now, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

Moving on to PCMark, you have a clearer idea of the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020’s capabilities. It excels in every area, and it currently holds the highest overall score in our list of benchmarked laptops for this test. Whether it’s office work, content creation, professional work, or web browsing, you can expect a smooth experience.

As this is a gaming laptop, we need to know how well it does in games. At Full HD in max settings, with the exception of Final Fantasy XV with some instances running in 4K, it performs fairly well. CS:GO is probably the only game that can take advantage of its 300Hz display, albeit having to lower the settings somewhat, as it managed an average of 231 FPS on the highest settings.

Running temperature in games appear to be good enough as there were no thermal throttling issues on my end for all games. Some games like Battlefield V and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey will require the settings to be toned down a bit for a smooth experience, but it’s still pretty great overall.

The battery life of the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 isn’t bad, at least within gaming laptop standards. In PCMark’s Modern Office endurance test, it lasted 194 minutes (3 hours and 14 minutes). As for the gaming endurance test, it managed to last 92 minutes (1 hours and 32 minutes) before the battery empties out. While you’re still better off carrying the charger around, you should be able to use it for a while without it.

If you’re curious about the Acer Nitro V running 10th Gen Intel Core CPU, check out the review by clicking right here.

User Experience

Building off the reputation from last year’s model, the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 is a powerhouse gaming laptop in a relatively portable package. It is powered by the Intel Core i7-10875H CPu and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q. Together with its 16GB dual-channel DDR4 RAM (2933MHz) and speedy 512GB SSD storage, it’s shaping up to be a very attractive gaming laptop.

It uses a Full HD 300Hz IPS G-SYNC-capable display with good viewing angles and colours for gaming. It should be okay for creative work, but you might want to opt for something with better colour coverage or use an external display if you’re looking to do some professional work. The bezels themselves, especially the sides, are relatively thin, but it could be thinner, particularly the top and bottom. The display feels a little flimsy, but nothing too bad. It’s worth noting that you can open the lid up to 180° flat for added versatility.

For running temperatures, both the CPU and GPU ran well with no thermal throttling on my end during my benchmarking process. The CPU did reach 90°C but I wouldn’t worry too much about it as never went past 95°C. If you’re worried, you can always use the Turbo button for maximum fan speeds. The GPU on the other hand ran noticeably cooler, which is great. The fan can still get a bit noisy, especially at high speeds, but it’s nothing overbearing. Just a little bit annoying at worst.

The Acer Predator Triton 500 has a decent array of ports. you have three USB 3.1 Type-A ports, a Thunderbolt port, an RJ45 LAN port, an HDMI port, a Mini DisplayPort, and separate jacks for headphone and microphone. I love the fact that it has both a mini DisplayPort and an HDMI port. This makes a tri-monitor display setup possible without much headaches.

Once again, you cannot charge this laptop via the USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 port. We’ve tried that with the Nintendo Switch charger and a PD powerbank which worked in other laptops compatible with USB-C PD charging. However, the laptop itself can function as a powerbank as it has the Always-On feature for the USB-A port on the left side, meaning you can charge your devices even when the laptop is powered off.

The Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 gaming laptop still uses the same keyboard from last year’s model but with one particular upgrade; per-key RGB lighting. It’s still pretty comfortable to type on and doesn’t feel any different from last year’s one, which isn’t a surprise. I still do wish there is a bit more space below the keyboard so my wrists can rest more comfortably. The trackpad itself works fine and there’s nothing to boast about.

As expected from a Predator-series machine, it comes with the PredatorSense software. You can activate it by by pressing the Predator button on the keyboard or manually looking it up on Windows 10. You can do some simple overclocking, adjust fan speeds, customize hotkeys, and more. The UI is simple, straightforward, and pleasing to the eyes so I’m sure most people would have no issues using it.

For the speakers, the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 gaming laptop performs well enough. It’s definitely loud and has a fair amount of depth for built-in speakers. It’s perfectly fine to rely on it, but its best to use your favourite pair of headphones for a more immersive experience. It does have separate audio jacks for headphone and microphone, something you need to take note of as it can affect the audio peripherals that you have on hand.

On the networking side, it is powered by the KILLER AX1650 Wi-Fi which lets you take advantage of the new 802.11ax technology. While I don’t notice much difference in terms of speed as my home internet isn’t super fast to begin with, it’s certainly reliable and seems to get better reception than my other devices, like my desktop and smartphone using 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 Verdict

Overall, the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 is essentially the same gaming laptop from last year, but with notable improvements inside. You get the new 10th Gen Intel Core CPUs, GPU up to an RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q, AX Wi-Fi, decent array of ports, can function as an emergency powerbank, and 300Hz refresh rate with G-SYNC support in a relatively portable package.

It still has some of the issues from its previous iteration, such as the lid being a fingerprint magnet, no USB-C PD charging, and the fan being a little noisy. Regardless of all that, it’s still a pretty solid gaming laptop, but if you’re not willing to spend this variant’s retail price of RM8,999, you can still go for its more affordable variants, which still offers good value for money.

With that, I award the Acer Predator Triton 500 2020 with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Acer Malaysia for letting us use this gaming laptop for the purposes of this review.