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Acer’s Predator Helios 500 gaming laptop is a Core i9 powerhouse

Acer Predator Helios 500 is an overclockable monster gaming laptop

Acer Predator Helios 500 (17″) – Specs

At Acer’s global press conference in New York on Wednesday, Chairman and CEO Jason Chen introduced two new Predator Helios gaming laptops, the Helios 500 and Helios 300 Special Edition.

The Helios 500 is a 17.3-inch beast with up to a new hexa-core Core i9+ 8950HK processor with Intel Optane memory support and overclocking along with an overclockable 8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU. The display options include a 4K UHD-resolution display with Nvidia G-sync or a full HD display with G-sync and 144Hz refresh rate. It’ll come with up to 16GB of memory, but can be upgraded to 64GB.

There are some interesting extras on the Helios 500, too, including a backlit RGB keyboard with four lighting zones and anti-ghosting technology and dual Thunderbolt 3 ports and an HDMI 2.0 output allowing you to drive up to three external monitors. The whole thing is cooled with the company’s custom AeroBlade 3D all-metal fans and five heat pipes, which should keep things from getting too toasty.

The Predator Helios 500 starts shipping in June starting at $2,000, but don’t expect that Core i9+ processor at the price. Configurations will start off with a Core i5-8300H.

The updated 15.6-inch Predator Helios 300 Special Edition is mainly just a color change coming in white with gold trim. It, too, will have an option for a 144Hz display, though without G-Sync. Otherwise, the update has new components that are a slight step down from the Helios 500, but should still give you plenty of gaming performance:

Intel Core i7-8750H or i5-8300H
Up to 16GB of memory, upgradable to 32GB
6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
Up to 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD and up to 2TB hard drive
Gigabit Ethernet and Intel Wireless-AC 9560 2×2 802.11ac

No pricing or availability was announced for the Helios 300 Special Edition.