Ultimately, no matter how graphically intense or poorly optimized your AAA game of choice is, the Helios 300 (2022) will chew it up and spit it out with ease.

We test Windows PCs' graphics with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark, Night Raid (more modest, suitable for laptops with integrated graphics) and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs). Gaming performance is top-tier even on basic settings, and a ton of customization options enhances it even more making this a top contender for one of the best gaming laptops out there. It also doubles as a solid work machine. If you need it to also balance non-gaming tasks for work or school, this is absolutely a solid choice for that as well. It's not going to have the portability of the best student laptops out there, obviously, but it'll be great for those who need some downtime after long nights writing up papers in the library.Other preinstalled utilities range from PhotoDirector and PowerDirector to Dropbox, ExpressVPN, and Planet9 (Acer's gaming community) promos. Our test unit has Windows 10 Home, though Acer is now selling the system with Windows 11. We also run two tests from the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which stresses both low-level routines like texturing and high-level, game-like image rendering. The 1440p Aztec Ruins and 1080p Car Chase tests, rendered offscreen to accommodate different display resolutions, exercise graphics and compute shaders using the OpenGL programming interface and hardware tessellation respectively. The more frames per second (fps), the better. The Turbo button is especially useful as it allows you to instantly improve the already impressive air circulation and near-instantly cool down an overheated laptop, while simultaneously bumping up its performance. The main benchmark of UL's PCMark 10 simulates a variety of real-world productivity and content-creation workflows to measure overall performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and videoconferencing. We also run PCMark 10's Full System Drive test to assess the load time and throughput of a laptop's storage. A third USB-A port joins the Thunderbolt 4, mini DisplayPort, and HDMI ports on the right; the AC adapter plugs in at the rear.

But the two Acers share Intel's eight-core, 2.3GHz Core i7-11800H processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 144Hz, 1,920-by-1,080-pixel display. They even have the same ports in the same places, though the Predator adds a mini DisplayPort and its USB-C port supports Thunderbolt 4. Three benchmarks focus on the CPU, using all available cores and threads, to rate a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon's Cinebench R23 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene, while Primate Labs' Geekbench 5.4 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. Finally, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (lower times are better). USB Type-C port:USB 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps), DisplayPort over USB-C, Thunderbolt 4, USB charging 5 V; 3 A, DC-in port 20 V; 65 W This is due to its excellent specs including a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 and RTX 3070 Ti, as well as DDR5 RAM. And with the ability to step up to an RTX 3080, you’re getting some top-tier specs like those we saw in our a Razer Blade 15 review but at a much better price point.Opening it up reveals a gorgeous QHD panel display that doesn’t disappoint, with each game looking its absolute best between the vibrant colors and crystal clear display. And the 240Hz refresh rate certainly doesn’t hurt either.