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Acer gives Predator, Nitro gaming notebooks CPU and GPU upgrades

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Acer confirmed that the company’s newest laptops, which were announced at a press event earlier in April, will ship with Nvidia’s new GeForce GTX 16-Series graphics. This means that the Predator Helios 300, Nitro 7, Nitro 5, and Aspire 7 notebooks will ship with either Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or 1650 graphics card on board with a Max-Q design.

The inclusion of Nvidia’s midrange graphics card means that these laptops will benefit from a performance boost when compared to the prior generation GTX 1060 graphics. Acer’s gaming-focused laptops will compete against other systems, including those from Asus, MSI, and Lenovo that were all recently updated to support GTX 1660 Ti graphics.

In addition to updated graphics capabilities, all of Acer’s notebooks will also support Intel’s latest 9th-Generation mobile processors. The Predator Helios 300, for example, can top out with GeForce RTX 2070 graphics with a Max-Q design and Intel’s Core i7-9750H processor along with up to 32GB DDR3 RAM, and two PCIe NBMe solid-state drives. With up to RTX graphics support on the Predator, the Helios 300 is the most powerful laptop from Acer’s announcement, making it more suited for serious gamers who demand more performance.

If you aren’t a serious gamer and don’t need as much graphics performance, Acer is positioning the Aspire 7 as an everyday Ultrabook that delivers discrete graphics capabilities when you need it. Even if this laptop is made for occasional creative editing, it still comes with Intel’s ninth-generation Core i7-9750H processing power and Nvidia’s GTX 1650 graphics.

Occasional gamers will want to look at the Nitro 7 and Nitro 5. Though these laptops don’t max out with RTX graphics on the Predator series, the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti card makes it a stronger contender for casual gamers than the Aspire 7. The Nitro series also ships with ninth-generation Intel Core i7-9750H processor in a slim form. For a more premium look, the Nitro 7 comes with a metal chassis that measures under 20mm thick. The laptop comes with a 15.6-inch display supporting a 144Hz refresh rate with 3ms response time to reduce screen tearing when playing fast action games.

The Nitro 5 is available with either a 17.3-inch or 15.6-inch IPS display with Full HD resolution. Slim bezels give this laptop an 80% screen-to-body ratio. Though pricing and availability will vary by region, Acer previously disclosed that the Nitro 7, which is currently already available in North America, will start at $999, while the more affordable Nitro 7 will be priced at $799 when it arrives later this month.

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Chuong Nguyen
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
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