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Acer Predator Triton 300 SE is insanely loud at up to 60 dB(A) when gaming

Acer Predator Triton 300 SE is one of the loudest laptops at up to 60 dB(A) when gaming
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE is one of the loudest laptops at up to 60 dB(A) when gaming

You might want to have a good pair of headphones nearby if you plan on playing games on Acer’s latest 14-inch Predator laptop. The model is as small as an Asus Zephyrus G14, but it’s noticeably louder and even distracting at times.

It’s generally accepted that gaming laptops, especially the thinner ones, tend to be loud machines. However, this shouldn’t be taken as a free pass for them to be as recklessly loud as possible. Most ultrathin models like the Razer Blade 15 or Asus Zephyrus G14 tend to top out at 45 dB(A) each when gaming while some can go as high as 50 dB(A). The 14-inch Acer Predator Triton 300 SE stands to be one of the loudest we’ve ever recorded at an alarming 60.1 dB(A).

You don’t even have to try very hard to get the Acer laptop to run as loudly as it does. We’re able to reach the 60 dB(A) mark just by playing regular titles like Witcher 3 on Performance (ie, Turbo) mode. The fans are so loud that it becomes difficult to hear in-game dialogue, footsteps, and other audio cues without a pair of headphones.

Setting the laptop to Balanced mode instead of Performance mode lowers the fan ceiling significantly to just 47 dB(A). By doing so, however, GPU clock rates and board power draw would drop from 1830 MHz and 93 W to 1605 MHz and 80 W, respectively, to represent a 6 percent dip in graphics performance. In other words, owners must enable Performance mode and endure the screeching fans if they wish to exploit the Acer laptop to its fullest. On the other hand, it’s a small hit to performance relative to the lower fan noise, and so some users may find the trade-off to be well worth it.

See our full review on the 14-inch Acer Predator Triton 300 SE for more information.

Fan noise profile (White: Background, Red: System idle, Blue: 3DMark 06, Green: Prime95+FurMark or Witcher 3 stress)
Fan noise profile (White: Background, Red: System idle, Blue: 3DMark 06, Green: Prime95+FurMark or Witcher 3 stress)
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE
GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i9-12900H, Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 GA402RJ
Radeon RX 6700S, R7 6800HS, Micron 2450 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFK
Razer Blade 14 Ryzen 9 6900HX
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU, R9 6900HX, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
Alienware x14 i7 RTX 3060
GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-12700H, WDC PC SN810 1TB
Schenker Vision 14
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11370H, Samsung SSD 980 Pro 1TB MZ-V8P1T0BW
off / environment *

23.8

Idle Minimum *

23.8

Idle Average *

23.8

Idle Maximum *

30.6

Load Average *

44.2

Witcher 3 beyond *

60.1

Maximum Load *

60

* … smaller is better

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