Acer brings AMD to its latest Predator gaming PC lineup
Ryzen and Radeon make their way into the company's new Helios 500 laptop and Orion 500 desktop.
- More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Predator Helios 500
Just last week, Acer announced a bunch of new gaming PCs and accessories, but it apparently held back something for Computex 2018, which kicked off in Taipei today.
The company's new 17.3-inch Predator Helios 500 gaming notebook and Predator Orion 5000 and Nitro 50 desktops will be available with AMD Ryzen 7 processors as well as options for AMD Radeon discrete graphics. These are in addition to Intel and Nvidia configurations previously announced.
Options for the Helios 500 will include up to a second-gen AMD Ryzen 7 2700 processor and AMD Radeon RX Vega graphics with 8GB of second-generation high-bandwidth memory. The full HD-resolution display will feature a 144Hz refresh rate and support for Radeon FreeSync that eliminates blur and tearing during gameplay. Those are in addition to versions with up to a new hexa-core Intel Core i9+ 8950HK processor with Intel Optane memory support and overclocking along with an overclockable 8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU.
The Orion 5000 desktop will come with second-gen AMD Ryzen 7 2700X processors paired with the latest AMD B450 chipset and up to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU. The more entry-level Nitro 50 will offer the same 2700X processors, but graphics options of AMD Radeon RX 580 GPUs or up to Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPUs.
The Predator Helios 500 will be available in the US in August starting at $2,199 (approximately AU$2,900 and £1,650) while the Predator Orion 5000 and Acer Nitro 50 will follow in September starting at $1,499 and $899, respectively, which coverts to roughly AU$1,980 and £1,125 and AU$1,190 and £675.
