Whether you’re an old school PC gamer or a newcomer to PC gaming, the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is an ideal machine for your budget. It’s powerful enough to handle most games, and features a high-end CPU, solid-state drive, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics card. You’ll have plenty of performance for the latest games, plus a keyboard with backlighting, a touchpad, and a 144Hz display.
Table of Contents:
- Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD Gaming performance
- Port selection
- Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD feature
- Build quality
- Keyboard and touchpad backlighting
- 144Hz refresh rate display
1. Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD Gaming performance
Those looking for a powerful gaming laptop will be impressed with the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD. The laptop features a powerful AMD processor and a 144-Hz Full HD screen. It is also equipped with AMD FreeSync, which prevents screen tearing. The screen is also designed for 108 percent of the sRGB color gamut, making it suitable for 4K games.
- Graphics card
The Predator Helios 500 (PH517-52) is a 17-inch laptop that comes with an AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics card. The Vega 56 is backed by 8GB of HBM2 memory. This helps improve overall battery life.
- Image quality
The Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD (PH517-52) scores are below the average of the gaming profile. Its image quality has dark areas. This is mostly due to the processor. This laptop has a blue haze scheme. There are also some aces.
- Category average
The Acer Predator Helios (PH517-52) scores are 59 fps lower than the category average. Compared to other models, it is lighter and heavier. It also costs slightly more. The battery life is also poor.
- 17-inch gaming laptop
The Acer Predator Helios500 is a 17-inch gaming laptop with AMD Radeon RX Vega56 graphics card. This graphics card is backed by 8GB of HBM2 and can be upgraded to 16GB. The laptop is rated for a thermal limit of 92-95C. This means it should last a long time in gameplay.
- (8-core) processor
The Acer Predator Helios500 PH517-61-R0GX has an AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (8-core) processor. Its Vega 56 GPU and HBM2 memory help improve overall battery life. It also has a bright 17.3-inch screen. It costs slightly more than the review model.
2. Port selection
Whether you’re a gamer looking for a powerful gaming laptop, or a gamer looking to upgrade your existing one, the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is a great option. It’s packed with impressive specs, a mobile Intel CPU, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics. In fact, it’s probably the most powerful gaming laptop you can buy.
- The Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD can be configured with a mobile Intel Core i9-8950 HK processor, a discrete NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, or a combination of both.
- The Intel powered version also features 32 GB DDR4-3200 memory in dual channel.
- The AMD version features Radeon RX Vega56 graphics, a desktop-class CPU, and a 3.7GHz base clock with Turbo Boost.
- The AMD version also has HDMI and DisplayPort on the back, as well as two USB 3.0 Type A ports.
- The Intel and AMD powered versions both have the same 74Wh battery, although the Intel version has a slightly larger 1TB hard drive.
- The Intel version also comes with an Ethernet port and a Thunderbolt 3 port.
The Acer Predator Helios is also packed with NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics. You can overclock the CPU and graphics card to boost performance, but you’ll have to manually activate the MagForce keys. This feature allows you to replace the WASD keys with keycaps, and it allows you to customize the keys by setting up your own actuation points.
3. Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD features
- Powered by AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics processor, the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is a gaming laptop that has lots to offer. The AMD-powered laptop can play VR games, run modern games on High settings, and is also capable of overclocking. In our tests, the official specs for this model were accurate. However, there are some downsides to the Helios 500.
- First off, the Predator Helios 17 AMD is a little heavier than the competition. It weighs 8.3 pounds and measures 2.17 inches tall and 1.98 inches wide without the power brick. Its battery life is only two hours and 46 minutes, short of the two-hour Alienware 17 R5’s battery life.
- The Helios 500 features a 17.3-inch screen, a 144-Hz Nvidia G-Sync display, and AMD’s FreeSync technology. In addition, the laptop has a dedicated HDMI 2.0 port with HDCP support.
- The Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD features a full-sized keyboard with RGB backlit keys. However, these keys are difficult to see in bright environments. You can only customize the keys in four zones.
- On the right side, the Helios 500 has a Kensington lock slot, a HDMI 2.0 port, and two USB 3.0 Type-A ports. It also has a headphone and microphone jack.
- The Acer Predator Helios has a 256GB SSD and 16GB of RAM. You can also upgrade to a 512GB SSD and 32GB of RAM. The Helios 500 is also compatible with AMD’s FreeSync tech, which keeps screen tearing in check.
4. Build quality
Whether you are looking for a desktop replacement or an entry level gaming laptop, the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is an excellent choice. It is a powerful machine that offers the latest components and a great display.
- The Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is one of the most powerful laptops available today.
- It has a powerful Intel Core i9 processor and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card.
- The processor is an 8-core processor that runs at a maximum speed of 5.0 GHz.
- The graphics card has a base frequency of 1100 MHz and can be boosted to 1710 MHz.
- The graphics card also features 16GB GDDR6 vRAM.
- The Acer Predator Helios has a full-size 17-inch screen with a high-refresh rate.
- Its resolution is 4K with a 120Hz refresh rate. It also has a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 video feed.
- It supports AMD’s FreeSync tech.
- The Acer Predator Helios is very well constructed. It weighs 3.9kg and has a very thick base.
- It comes with two rubber stands for the power supply units, one for each side.
- The base also contains a cooling system. It has two RAM cards and a 2.5in HDD.
- It also has two USB Type-C ports and a Gigabit RJ45 socket.
Acer has given the Predator a two-year warranty. Although a one-year warranty is becoming the norm for laptops, this is still a significant amount of protection.
5. Keyboard and touchpad backlighting
- Whether you want to upgrade your current gaming setup or want to step up your game, the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is a great option. With a powerful AMD CPU, Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics, and a great display, this laptop is built for gaming. It’s also great for everyday use.
- The Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD has a 17.3-inch screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution. It’s built around the AMD Ryzen CPU, so it comes with standard 16GB of RAM and a 256GB PCI Express NVMe SSD. It also has a 4K Mini LED IPS panel, which offers improved high dynamic range performance. It’s also equipped with a downward-firing subwoofer.
- The keyboard has a full-sized numpad and media buttons. It also features four-zone RGB backlighting. The backlighting can be set to any color using a lighting key. There are also dedicated hotkeys.
- The Acer Predator Helios 17 AMD trackpad is a bit smaller than most gaming trackpads. It has a 3.1 mm travel distance and separate click bars. It’s perfectly responsive, though. The trackpad is also made of plastic. It’s not the largest laptop trackpad on the market, but it’s still a solid choice.
- The Predator 17 is also equipped with an SD card reader. It’s also got a power button that’s easily identifiable. The lid also opens with one hand, and the hinges are sturdy. It also has a Kensington lock slot. It’s also got an HDMI 2.0 port with HDCP support.
6. 144Hz refresh rate display
Whether you’re looking for a new gaming laptop or you just want a better display, the Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is worth a closer look. It’s a 17.3-inch beast that has a lot to offer.
- Refresh rate display
With a 144Hz refresh rate display, you can play games on a much higher frame rate. Even games that aren’t particularly demanding will run at 60 or more frames per second, and a lot of them will run at a steady 130 or more.
- LED technology
The Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD doesn’t just have a 144Hz refresh rate display, it has a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) Mini LED IPS panel. The Mini LED technology improves high dynamic range performance, which makes the screen look like an AMOLED panel. It also prevents screen tearing.
- RGB lighting
The Helios 500’s keyboard has a numpad and media buttons. The keys are backlit and are in four zones. It also has RGB lighting from the keyboard to the touchpad. There’s also a lighting key that lets you switch the lights on and off at will.
- The Predator Helios 500’s keyboard is compatible with Predator Sense software.
- This software lets you customize your keyboard lighting and adjust the fan speed to match the settings of your game.
- You can even sync the settings with your games.
- The Helios 500’s display isn’t the prettiest, but it does have some benefits.
- It’s got AMD’s Radeon FreeSync display technology, which prevents screen tearing.
- It also covers 114 percent of the sRGB color gamut.
Conclusion :
Featuring AMD Ryzen 7 processors, Acer Predator Helios 500 17 AMD is a 17-inch gaming laptop that offers an excellent gaming experience. The laptop is equipped with a GeForce GTX 1070 GPU. The laptop runs Windows 10 Home.
The interior of the laptop is a full plastic shell with a matte black finish. It features large vents on either side of the case. The lid is made of metal with a deep hinge that allows for stability. The lid opens with one hand and reveals a large number of status LEDs.
