Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-760S gaming laptop with its 11th Gen Intel i7-11800H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU.
Do you want to have a gaming laptop that has 16GB of RAM instead of 8 GB? And do you want to have a laptop that has a good combination of RTX 3060 and 11th Gen Intel i7 CPU? Check this laptop out, as it has a fair price with those great specs. Let’s talk about it.
Why Acer Predator Helios?
Acer Predator Helios 300 is one of those popular gaming laptops. The laptop we are reviewing here is the new updated generation this year, that brought over updated components inside, especially the 11th Generation of Intel CPU, and Thunderbolt 4. And it is offered at a very reasonable price. So I would not be surprised if it will be sold out soon. The previous generations, including the 2019 and 2020 models have been best sellers on Amazon in its category. Check out the positive ratings of the 2020 model on this page.
Appearance-wise, it looks identical to its predecessor. The lid is still made from Aluminum, and there is still the Predator Helios logo in the middle of its cover which will illuminate when your laptop is on. You can turn it off though. The two blue stripes are also still there. We appreciate the design which does not include those bizarre illuminated attributes.
The first thing you will also notice is the vents that are literally everywhere, meaning Acer has done a good job for this laptop’s heat management system.
Let’s read more about this Acer Predator RTX 3060, moving on with the main specs.
PH315-54-760S Main Specs
| Product | Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-760S Gaming Laptop | Intel i7-11800H | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU | 15.6" Full HD 144Hz 3ms IPS Display | 16GB DDR4 | 512GB SSD | Killer WiFi 6 | RGB Keyboard |
| Display | 15.6″ LED Backlit IPS screen Full-HD (1920×1080) Anti- Glare Display
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| Processor | 11th Generation i7-11800H with 8-Cores/16-Threads, 4.60GHz max. Turbo Boost Speed |
| Dedicated Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| RAM (dual-channel) | 16GB DDR4 (expandable) |
| Storage | 512GB SSD (with options to upgrade) |
| Ports | 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x Mini DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A), 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-A), 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C; up to 10 Gbps, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4, USB Charging 5V; 3 A). |
| Connectivity & Other Features | IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, RJ-45 Network port, Bluetooth 5.1, 720p webcam, 4-Zone RGB Backlit Keyboard with numpad |
| Pros & Cons | VIEW |
Performance
Let’s see what features inside this laptop that make this machine capable.
Powerful Intel i7-11800H
This Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-760S model is sporting the latest generation of Intel i7 (11th Gen i7-11800H) processor that has 8 Cores rather than 6. And it has also the 16 Threads rather than just 12. This CPU is also just a few months old, very new.
i7-11800H is a high-end CPU that is often found in premium gaming laptops. Its performance is comparable (even faster) to the 10th Gen of Intel i9 and AMD’s Ryzen 9 (while AMD does not support Thunderbolt 4/PCI-E 4.0).
In terms of the CPU performance, due to its Tiger Lake new architecture, the 11th Gen i7 CPU is ahead of the 10th Gen i7. Compared to its previous generation that has only 6-Cores/12-Threads, this CPU is even ~50% faster.
Other than the update of its architecture, more Cores/Threads, and Thunderbolt 4, Intel also brings substantial updates with the 11800H. The smaller fabrication process (10nm Superfin vs 14nm) and a larger cache (24MB vs 16MB on the i7-10820H ), which are clearly important features for your demanding tasks.
In short, you are getting a quite powerful updated gaming laptop for a fair price.
Top Tier GPU
Out of the gate, the CPU of this laptop comes with an up-to-date integrated GPU which is the Intel® UHD Graphic with 32 EUs (Execution Units) and up to 1450 MHz clock speed. This iGPU can perform as good as the Intel Iris Xe iGPUs.
But this iGPU is not the Graphic that makes this laptop a capable gaming laptop. The Intel UHD iGPU is adequate to play basic games, but the “dedicated” GPU that this PH315-54-760S pack makes this laptop, even more, a capable machine.
Yes, we are talking about NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, this GPU can perform better than the RTX 2000 series (RTX 2060). Even when compared to the popular RTX 2070S, the RTX 3060 has bigger Graphic memory ( 12GB vs 8GB on the RTX 2070S). This means you can even run games on a 4K or an 8K screen resolution.
The Intel i7-11800H and RTX 3060 combo are more than powerful to handle very demanding computing jobs like programming, managing servers, and virtualization, and of course gaming with DLSS and Ray-Tracing on.
GeForce RTX series graphics help your games to be more cinematic. In the following years, you will see a growing number of games that offer Ray-Tracing features for a more real-life gaming experience. This simply means gaming laptops that have lower-tier GPUs will have more challenges to play those games.
It’s always an advantage to have a future-proof gaming machine, as they are not cheap!
Other Noteworthy Features
These are some other features that make this 15″ Acer Predator i7 11th Gen gaming laptop special at its price.
Fast Display
There are a lot of components that can impact your gaming performance on a laptop, your CPU and RAM, also GPU, but your screen is also a very important component. Everything that you see on your games will be displayed on your screen.
So raw power and the great screen of your laptop are crucial combinations to beat your enemy in PC gaming. This PH315-54-760S features a non-touch 15.6″ Full-HD 1080p IPS display with a fast 3ms response time and 144Hz screen refresh rate.
With these specs, the display has vibrant colors and sufficient brightness for daily tasks and gaming. The 144Hz screen refresh rate makes the gameplay buttery smooth. If you have used monitors that have lower refresh rates, this 144Hz will blow you away. Watch the following video to see the demonstration about the smoothness of 144Hz vs 60Hz refresh rates.
Dual-Channel 16GB & SSD
This machine packs 16GB (rather than 8GB) of dual-channel RAM out of the box. This is more than enough to play games without hassle to upgrade your laptop. Plus, not everyone can open up their laptops and swap the components, right?
We always recommend people to get a dual-channel machine to game because you will simply get faster performance. Gaming is an intensive computing task, therefore it will require more GBs of your RAM, and if you have a dual-channel configuration, your laptop is capable to deliver more memory to your processor faster.
For the storage, it has a generous 512GB, and it is a fast SSD. Most newer gaming laptops are sold with only 256GB SSD these days, to decrease the price tag. However, this one comes with larger storage space. And what I really like is the option to upgrade the storage and even the memory whenever you need it in the future.
Pretty Keyboard
The backlit keyboard of this Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-760S is pretty. If you enable them, the keys will be lighted up, pretty lighting yet not to distract. You will love the backlit keyboard if you often game or work at night.
However though, if you are looking at per-key RGB, you will be disappointed, as it has only 4-Zone RGB lighting. By using PredatorSense, the customization of the lighting is very simple. Simply press the Acer Predator dedicated button on the right side (on the number pad), and you will see the PredatorSense app instantly.
There is also the Turbo button on the top to help your laptop releasing hot air that can be generated while gaming or doing heavy load tasks. Next to the Turbo button, you will see air intakes, which show Acer has done a good job to manage the thermal system on this laptop. The keyboard deck is also made from Aluminum to give durability and premium looks.
Trackpad size is large enough, and it features Windows precision gestures. Anyhow, I prefer using an external mouse to game, but it is always nice to have everything functional on your notebook.
TB 4 & Other Ports
Looking at the ports, this PH315-54-760S has a very nice selection of connectivity.
On the left-hand side, you will see the Kensington Lock. Next to it, you’ll locate the Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm Audio jack. There are also anodized blue-ish heatsinks and a power port on the back.
Ethernet port is helpful to keep a steady internet connection while gaming, so it’s nice to have it in this device.
On the right-hand side, it has a USB-C which is also Thunderbolt 4 (TB 4) port. This means you can charge your laptop with this port, as long as the AC adapter has the right wattage for your laptop. Other than the USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port, you will also get another USB 3 Type-A, a full-sized HDMI port, and a Mini DisplayPort on this side.
It is a bonus that Acer includes the latest Thunderbolt 4 port in this laptop since it is capable of lightning-fast 40 MBs transfer rate and supports two 4K or one 8K monitor. I saw many laptops that are more expensive, yet they don’t include TB 4 port.
Summing up
For this price range, it’s spectacular what you can get with this Acer Helios PH315-54-760S;
- 11th Gen “Tiger Lake” CPU and RTX 3060 GPU can lead to high frame rates
- 16GB of RAM, dual-channel out of the box, and expandable
- 512GB SSD storage rather than 256GB, and the option to add your own SSDs
- 144Hz FHD IPS Display with fast response time (3ms) and 1080p resolution
- An HD 720p built-in webcam
- A 4-Zone RGB backlit keyboard with dedicated keys and Number pad
- The metal construction on some parts will help this to be a long-lasting gaming laptop.
Speaking about price, it can be crazy sometimes, at the moment, this laptop is a few hundred bucks cheaper than the 10th Gen variant. In a few days, it’s possible that this unit also jumps up in price, too.
In summary, is this the perfect gaming laptop out there? no, it is not. And of course, there are other laptops that have higher specifications than this one. But at this price point, this Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-760S gaming laptop as a total package is spectacular!
