With the offerings of computing components available on the market today, high-performance gaming experiences are not limited to purchasing and using desktop computers only. In fact, the concept of a “desktop replacement computer” or desktop replacement computer is not new, but now, Acer has introduced an update to their Predator Helios 18 laptop with the latest Intel and NVIDIA components, with the branding Predator Helios 18 AI.
Specifications
The Acer Predator Helios 18 AI comes with a Mini LED screen display with 4K resolution and a refresh rate as fast as 240Hz.
At the Acer booth, we had the opportunity to test this game with the Forza Horizon 4 racing simulation game, and the graphics processing shown on this display is very beautiful, and more importantly, the processing of this game on the display does not show the screen tearing issue that can be seen especially when the game is processed at a high refresh rate.
This Mini LED display also comes with Dual-Mode Display where the refresh rate of this display can be increased when the game is played at a lower resolution, especially Full HD. This is useful for first-person shooter games such as Counter-Strike, Valorant and so on for those who are more concerned with higher refresh rates for faster responses.
This laptop is powered by a combination of Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor chips and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards for the best gaming experience. This is also combined with the use of up to 256GB of LPDDR5 memory and 2TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage that can house several large computer games, including big titles such as Call of Duty, Forza Horizon 6 and so on without any problems.
The three sides of the left, right and back of this laptop also house Thunderbolt 4 plugs, HDMI 2.1, SD card reader, audio plugs and so on evenly to reduce the issue of tangled cables when many cables are connected to this laptop.
In the meantime, it also supports WiFi7 wireless internet connections and high-speed wired connections, depending on user needs.
Design
The Acer Predator Helios 18 AI still comes with a minimalist design like many previous Acer Predator laptops, but this model in particular has shown a slightly futuristic design with the addition of RGB backlighting on the surface of the palm rest, keyboard, back of the screen display and also the hinge part of this laptop, with Helios branding.
In addition, the keyboard part of this laptop also comes with RGB lighting where each key can be customized via the PredatorSense software. Above the keyboard part there is a button that functions as a switch to change the laptop's performance mode from silent, balanced and high performance modes.
To cool the powerful components in this laptop, Acer uses an Aeroblade 3D Gen6 cooling fan with 100 0.01mm fan blades to quickly dissipate heat from the CPU and GPU components. However, like most systems like this, the fan noise is quite loud, but on the positive side, the keyboard section can still be used comfortably, without the issue of it getting too hot.
You must be asking why this laptop comes with the AI designation. Both the CPU and GPU components of the Predator Helios 18 AI come with high AI TOPS capabilities (1824 via the GPU alone). And if you are someone who wants to take advantage of that AI processing power, Acer has introduced software called Acer Intelligent Space.
This software, introduced for Acer laptops that come with AI processing capabilities, will scan your computer and offer various AI software services that your laptop can utilize, such as generative AI software, artificial intelligence machine training software, artificial intelligence development software and so on, making this gaming laptop a professional productivity laptop as well.
If you are someone who has a pocket or bank account with numbers as long as a mobile phone number, the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI in my opinion is one laptop that I can recommend as a laptop with a terrible performance, but with a minimalist design that does not really steal attention, even though it has a rather flashy RGB lighting system.
This laptop is expected to arrive in selected markets in the third or fourth quarter of this year. At the moment, Acer Malaysia has not confirmed when this laptop will be in the local market.
