Acer equips its 2018 PC gaming lineup with AMD hardware

Ahead of the Computex 2018 tech show in Taipei, Taiwan next week, Acer has announced AMD processor and graphics options for its entire, freshly-revealed PC gaming hardware lineup.

Starting with its new flagship gaming laptop, the Acer Predator Helios 500, Acer will release this 17.3-inch monster with AMD 2nd generation Ryzen processors up to the Ryzen 7 2700, an octa-core chip. Of course, that processor can be paired with AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics touting 8GB of high bandwidth (HBM2) memory.

With all other options being equal as noted here, these versions of the Helios 500 will go for $2,199 (about £1,659, AU$2,909) to start this August.

Acer Predator Orion 5000

Acer’s desktops join the Red Team, too

Along with Acer’s new desktop replacement laptop, the company’s straight-up towers are getting kitted out with AMD silicon, too. The latest, highest-end AMD hardware is now available in the freshest Acer gaming PCs.

The leader of the pack, Predator Orion 5000, will be available this September with AMD options for a processor as far as the 2nd-gen, octa-core Ryzen 7 2700X paired with graphics cards up to dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 for high-resolution, feature-rich gameplay as well as smooth VR. That version of the leading gaming PC will cost interested buyers $1,499 (about £1,129, AU$1,989) to start.

As for Acer’s more mainstream gaming PCs, the Nitro line, they too are receiving AMD upgrades, with the same aforementioned processor topping out the processor options for the Acer Nitro 50, paired with AMD graphics up to Radeon RX 580 or Nvidia GTX 1060 cards. The AMD flavor of the Nitro 50 will arrive in September as well for $899 (about £679, AU$1,189) to start.

If you’ve been holding out for AMD PC gaming hardware in easy-to-install packages at decent prices, then Acer has just answered your plea in a move that makes it one of the most dedicated mainstream supporters of AMD currently.