The Acer Triton 900 has a unique design with powerful hardware inside, but just how well
does it perform in different games? I’ve tested a bunch of games at 1080p, 1440p and
4K resolutions to see what it can do.
My configuration of the Triton 900 has an Intel i7-9750H CPU, 180 watt Nvidia RTX 2080
graphics, 32gb of memory in dual channel, and a 17.3” 4K 60Hz screen with G-Sync,
you can find updated prices linked in the description.
The Acer Predator Sense software allows us to swap between normal, fast and extreme modes,
and these overclock the graphics and control fan speed and power limits. I actually found
the overclock in extreme mode a little too aggressive as some games crashed, so I dialed
it back a bit with MSI Afterburner to these settings. By default the Triton 900 is also
undervolted out of the box by -0.1v.
We’ll only be covering gaming performance in this video, so if you’re new to the channel,
you'll definitely want to get subscribed for the upcoming videos on thermal testing and
the detailed full review. Let’s start out by going through all games at all setting
levels at three different resolutions, then afterwards we’ll see how the Triton 900
compares with some other laptops.
Battlefield 5 was tested playing in campaign mode, and I’ve tested with both RTX enabled,
as shown by the green bars, and RTX off, shown by the purple bars. At 1080p, RTX on was actually
playable with ultra settings as it was able to average above 60 FPS, however we could
almost double this with RTX off. At 1440p RTX on still went kind of ok at high settings,
but medium was needed to sustain good frame rates, making it a little more pointless given
RTX off with ultra settings looks and plays much better. At 4K RTX is basically a write
off, however ultra settings with RTX off was still close to the refresh rate of the screen.
Control was also tested with and without RTX enabled. At 1080p with max settings RTX was
still almost able to average 60 FPS, although RTX off felt smoother, as shown by the 1%
lows from RTX off which are higher than even the averages from RTX on. At 1440p RTX on
was sort of ok at low settings, but at this point I’d stick to not using it for improved
performance, as the high setting preset was still able to average above 60 FPS with it
off. The game wasn’t running that well at 4K, low settings was still a playable experience
with almost 60 FPS averages, so depends if you want to sacrifice graphical settings to
run at this higher resolution.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark tool. Even with
all setting set to ultra the Triton 900 was able to average above 60 FPS, with 100 FPS
and above achieved at medium settings and below. At 1440p the high setting preset was
needed to maintain an above 60 FPS average, while low was just behind 100 FPS now. Performance
drops back quite a bit at 4K, with low settings only just holding on with the 60 FPS average
result.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also tested with the game’s benchmark, and there wasn’t
really that big of a difference between the setting levels at 1080p, likely due to a limitation
of CPU power. At 1440p there’s a larger difference between the different setting levels,
however even max settings is still able to hit above 80 FPS. At 4K low settings is now
required to hit above 60 FPS, although medium wasn’t too far behind in this test, we’ll
see how the results in this game and some others compare against other laptops soon.
Fortnite was tested using the replay feature, with the same replay used for all testing.
At 1080p even maxed out at epic settings the 1% low results are well above the refresh
rate of the display, so absolutely no issues here. It’s a similar story at 1440p, although
the results drop back, even at epic settings this level of performance is still more than
enough. At 4K it was still possible to average 60 FPS even at epic settings, while high settings
was close to this in terms of 1% low performance, so even with good settings at this worst case
resolution you can play it without issue.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was tested with the benchmark tool, and even the 1% low results
from the highest ultimate setting preset were above the refresh rate of the display at 1080p.
The results don’t change all that much at 1440p, ultimate settings are still performing
fairly, although going down just one level to ultra settings saw 1% low results that
were now only just below the screens refresh rate. The performance drops down quite a bit
at 4K, however the very high setting preset was still able to average above 60 FPS.
Borderlands 3 was also tested using the built in benchmark. At 1080p it’s a similar story,
where even the 1% low performance was around the 60Hz refresh rate of the screen. At 1440p
the average FPS at max settings was still above 60 FPS, though high would offer a smoother
experience, again as its 1% low isn’t that much below the 60Hz screen. At 4K, again the
performance drops back quite a bit, with medium settings now needed to surpass 60 FPS averages
in this test.
The Witcher 3 tends to be a GPU heavy game, like most other games at 1080p, absolutely
no issues at all playing with max settings. Again even at 1440p max settings are still
performing pretty well considering we’re limited to a 60Hz display, then at 4K the
results drop down quite significantly, however high settings was still able to average above
60 FPS, and was playable for the most part, but I’d prefer 1440p to keep things smoother.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the games built in benchmark. As more of a
resource heavy game that doesn’t need super high FPS to play, these 1080p results are
just fine even with the highest setting level. At 1440p it was still possible to average
60 FPS in this test and max settings, and for comparison is higher than most other gaming
laptops I test at 1080p, so just goes to show what this level of hardware can achieve. At
4K the medium preset was needed to average above 60 FPS.
Rainbow Six Siege was also tested with the games benchmark tool, as expected at 1080p
the results are more than enough. Even at 1440p ultra settings the frame rates are well
above what our screen can make use of, while even 4K was still able to get 1% lows at ultra
settings that are higher than the screens refresh rate.
Overwatch was tested in the practice range, and as a less demanding game we’re hitting
the 300 FPS frame cap at all but max settings at 1080p. At 1440p low and medium settings
could still hit the 300 FPS frame cap, while epic was still playing perfectly well, then
at 4K epic settings was still playing without any issue, perfectly smoothly with the 1%
low above the refresh rate of the screen.
CS:GO was tested with the Ulletical FPS benchmark just for fun, and at 1080p the results were
great. At 1440p, still good results that are higher than most mid range gaming laptops
I test at 1080p, and while I doubt many people playing this game seriously will be using
4K, the 1% low with minimum settings was still above the refresh rate of the 4K panel.
Now let’s see how the Acer Triton 900 compares with other laptops, use these results as a
rough guide only as they were tested at different times with different drivers.
In Battlefield 5 I’ve got the Triton 900 highlighted in red near similarly specced
machines. In this case it’s performing very similarly to the other RTX 2080 laptops that
I’ve tested, at least in terms of average FPS. The 1% low is notably lower compared
to most of the machines above it, likely because they all have higher powered i9 CPUs, while
my Triton 900 has the i7, although you can get it with an i9 too.
These are the results from Shadow of the Tomb Raider with the game’s built in benchmark
at highest settings. Again, the Triton 900 was very close to the other RTX 2080 laptops
above it, just slightly behind, but still a nice step up over even the 2080 Max-Q laptops
below it.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings with the games benchmark tool.
This test is typically more CPU heavy, so the lower results compared to the i9 machines
above it were expected, however I found it interesting that the Aorus 17 with higher
specs was beaten so easily in this test.
Overall the gaming performance from the Acer Triton 900 is next level, as expected due
to the RTX 2080 graphics. The i7 CPU does seem to limit it a little in some more CPU
heavy titles, but if you’re running at higher resolutions that are more GPU bound, the CPU
matters less and less, but you can also get the Triton 900 with an i9-9980HK instead.
As the Triton 900 makes use of G-Sync, we’re seeing increased levels of performance compared
to those that don’t have it, in addition to the option of smooth tear-free gaming.
Although the performance is good, at 1080p and even 1440p resolutions we’re frequently
limited by the 60Hz 4K panel. If you’re after a 4K gaming laptop though and willing
to take the compromise of 60Hz, then plenty of games can still run quite well at this
resolution with fair settings. Hopefully 4K 120Hz screens aren’t too far away from becoming
mainstream, as that would offer a better middle ground option, you could play at 4K or lower
resolution and still benefit from higher refresh rate.
Let me know what you thought of the gaming performance from the Acer Triton 900 gaming
laptop down in the comments, and if you’re new to the channel consider getting subscribed
for the full review to see everything this gaming laptop has to offer.