ASUS FX502VM vs Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G) – a battle between two GTX 1060 notebooks

Recently we have compared a few of the best budget gaming notebooks currently available on the market but not everyone is looking for an entry-level all-rounder. For those of you who are seeking something more premium, we are stepping things up a notch. Today we are going to take a look at two slightly more expensive models that feature the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. These are the ASUS FX502VM and the Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G). Both of them are great devices but which one is better? You are about to find out in this comparison.

Today we are going to take a look at two slightly more expensive models that feature the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. These are the ASUS FX502VM and the Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G). Both of them are great devices but which one is better? You are about to find out in this comparison.

 

Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G): Full review / Check price

ASUS FX502VM: Full review / Check price

Contents


Design and construction

The two notebooks share a very common construction. The materials used on both are the same – aluminum for the lid and plastic all around. In terms of quality, there isn’t much to talk about – both of the lids are fingerprint magnets and bend fairly easy especially in the middle. However, little to none ripples appear on the screens. The Aspire V 15 Nitro BE is 2.4 kg in weight and just 22.5 mm thick which makes it quite portable for a device packing a GX 1060 GPU. The FX502VM, on the other hand, is listed as 2.2 kg in weight on ASUS’ website, however, we measured approximately 2.515 kg which is still reasonably light; it’s a bit thicker than its rival measuring at 24.5 mm. the hinges on both models provide a sturdy screen but allow you to open the notebook with one hand.

Design-wise is where we star to see some difference. The ASUS FX502VM keeps its looks pretty minimalistic. Although it is a gaming device (it packs an i7 CPU and GTX 1060 GPU) it isn’t branded as a ROG notebook, therefore, it lacks all the flashy colors, stripes, illumination, ROG logos etc. The aluminum lid has a brushed finish. At least to my opinion, the V 15 Nitro BE has much better looks. The so-called nanoimprint lithography is used in the making of that textured surface we see on the aluminum lid which despite the fact that it attracts fingerprints it also gives the device that premium look we are searching for. The silver-gray hinges contrast to the darker graphite-like lid to add even more finesse.

Moving on to the sides of the notebooks. Although thin they provide all the necessary ports and connections. We like how they are evenly distributed between both sides on the FX502VM, however, the V 15 Nitro BE provides more connectivity options. You get three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI, mini DisplayPort, RJ-45, SD card reader and a 3.5 mm combo jack on the FX502VM. The V 15 Nitro BE lacks the mini DisplayPort but offers two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports as well as a single USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt 3 support. It also features two 3.5 mm jacks rather than one but the right appears to be a bit overcrowded.

Display

The display section is where the V 15 Nitro BE really shines. It uses a far better display than its rival and you are about to see what we are talking about. V 15 Nitro BE uses an IPS panel manufactured by BOE  that carries a model number of NV156FHM-N43. On the other side of the ring, the FX502VM features a TN panel manufactured by AU Optronics with model number B156HTN03.8. Both displays have Full HD (1920 x 1080p) resolution which translates to a pixel density of 142 ppi.

Viewing angles on the V 15 Nitro BE are excellent due to the nature of the IPS display while colors on the TN panel of the FX502VM start to shift when viewed from the sides. The IPS panel also has a higher maximum brightness of 308 cd/m2 in the center than the 233 cd/m2 that we measured on the FX502VM’s screen. The contrast ratio of the FX502VM is also very low – 310:1 while the V 15 Nitro BE provides us with a fairly high ratio of 980:1. Color temperature is slightly colder than the optimal 6500K with a value of 6700K for the FX502VM and 7000K for the V 15 Nitro BE.

Color reproduction is another aspect where the IPS panel of the V 15 Nitro BE just blows out that of the FX502VM from the water. The screen of the FX502VM can display just 51% of the colors in the sRGB gamut which may be acceptable for a budget device but this one is a bit pricey to provide such poor multimedia experience. It’s a different story when it comes to the V 15 Nitro BE’s screen which can display 94% of the sRGB colors. Color accuracy is also better on the V 15 Nitro BE – the average DeltaE is 5.3 before calibration and just 1.6 (lower is better) with our Office & Web Design profile while FX502VM has an average of 6.6 and goes down to 4.3 with our profile.


Something we can boast FX502VM’s screen is that it uses no PWM to regulate the brightness level which is a disadvantage even in some more expensive models. Speaking of disadvantages, despite the excellent quality and color reproduction V 15 Nitro BE’s display uses low-frequency (1 kHz) “aggressive” PWM at all brightness level which is a bit of a letdown. Fortunately, our Health-Guard profile eliminates the harmful PWM.


Our display profiles

Here at LaptopMedia, we create a set of custom-tailored profiles for every notebook we review. They boost the productivity of display and reduce negative effects such as blue light emissions and PWM. You can read more about them here.

Buy our profiles from here:

Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G): Profiles

ASUS FX502VM: Profiles 

Specs sheet

Specs are very similar but there are some major differences. For instance, the FX502VM is equipped with the Intel Core i7-6700HQ (4-core, 2.60 – 3.50 GHz, 6MB cache) while the V 15 Nitro BE runs on its successor from the latest 7th generation Kaby Lake – the Intel Core i7-7700HQ (4-core, 2.80 – 3.80 GHz, 6MB cache). As you can see the i7-7700HQ has a slightly higher base and Turbo clock speeds which we will see how it results in the Performance section below.

You can check out our Top CPU Ranking over HERE.

Both models are equipped with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card, however, FX502VM features the version with 3 GB of VRAM while the V 15 Nitro BE uses the 6 GB model. We will check the performance in the following sections.

You can check out our Top GPU Ranking over HERE.

 

ASUS FX502VMAcer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G)
CPUIntel Core i7-6700HQ (4-core, 2.50 -3.50 GHz, 6MB cache)Intel Core i7-7700HQ (4-core, 2.80 -3.80 GHz, 6MB cache)
RAM8GB (1x 8096MB) – DDR4, 2133 MHz8GB (1x 8096MB) – DDR4, 2400MHz
GPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (3GB GDDR5)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB GDDR5)
HDD/SSD1TB HDD (5400 rpm)1TB HDD (5400 rpm)
Display15.6-inch Full HD (1920×1080) TN, matte15.6-inch Full HD (1920×1080) IPS, matte
Features
  • 3x USB 3.0
  • mini DisplayPort
  • SD card reader
  • 3.5 mm combo audio jack
  • HDMI
  • RJ-45
  • LED keyboard backlight
  • 2x USB 3.0
  • 2x USB 2.0
  • 1x USB 3.1 Type-C (Thunderbolt 3 support)
  • 2x 3.5 mm audio jack
  • RJ-45
  • HDMI
  • memory card reader
  • keyboard backlight
Battery4-cell 64Wh69Wh
Profile thickness24.5 mm (0.96″)22.5 mm (0.89″)
Weight2.515 kg (5.54 lbs)2.5 kg (5.5 lbs)
PriceCheck priceCheck price

Battery

Battery life on both models is about average and it isn’t anything record breaking. They sport rather high capacity batteries – 64 Wh on the FX502VM and 69 Wh on the V 15 Nitro BE. Interesting to say the V 15 Nitro BE scores considerably higher than its rival.

In our Web browsing test, the FX502VM scored 269 minutes (4 hours and 29 minutes) while the V 15 Nitro BE lasted nearly double that time – 408 minutes (6 hours and 48 minutes).  The gap between the results from the Video playback test is again around two hours – 210 minutes (3 hours and 30 minutes) for the FX502VM  and 330 minutes (5 hours and 30 minutes) for the V 15 Nitro BE. Only in our Gaming test the FX502VM a bit longer (around 20 minutes more) than its rival – 88 minutes (1 hour and 28 minutes) vs 69 minutes (1 hour and 9 minutes) respectively.

Performance

Despite the fact that the FX502VM is equipped with the 3 GB version of the GTX 1060 and the i7-6700HQ from the former Skylake generation while the V 15 Nitro BE features the GTX 1060 at its full potential with 6 GB of GDDR5 VRAM and the i7-7700HQ from the latest 7th generation we see only minor differences in terms of performance.

GTA-V-benchmarks

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) – ASUSFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Max (Check settings)
Average FPS94 fps37 fps

 

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) – AcerFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Max (Check settings)
Average FPS87 fps37 fps

 

rise-of-the-tomb-raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) – ASUSFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Max (Check settings)
Average FPS 89 fps29 fps

 

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) – AcerFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Max (Check settings)
Average FPS51 fps31 fps

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) – ASUSFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Max (Check settings)
Average FPS84 fps18 fps

 

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) – AcerFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Max (Check settings)
Average FPS 82 fps19 fps

Temperatures

During the initial CPU stress test, both machines handled the 100% CPU load fairly good. The FX502VM ran at relatively normal temperatures of around 80-82 °C at 3.1 GHz clock speed. At first, the V 15 Nitro BE didn’t have any problems too but after a while, the clock speed started to wobble between the base clock of 2.8 GHz and 3.4 GHz. Also, the temperatures were a bit higher than on the FX502VM – around 90 °C.

Turning the GPU stress test as well didn’t have a positive effect on both devices. FX502VM’s CPU temperatures raised dangerously high and the GPU’s frequency slowly decreased. Shortly afterward, the notebook shut down itself to prevent any damage. This will never occur during a normal gaming session but it still indicates a bad cooling system. V 15 Nitro BE handles things better but still, temperatures were very high and clock speeds dropped to under 2.0 GHz at times for the CPU and 1189 MHz for the GPU (the base clock is 1404 MHz).

Surface temperatures on both models were fairly high with some areas even reaching 50 °C. However, the palm rest area remained cool at around 30 °C.


Verdict

Overall both models are great but if we have to pick a winner this should be Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G). Both notebooks are priced almost the same to cost is of no concern – only features matter. The V 15 Nitro BE has a much better display with only one flaw – the aggressive PWM it uses (which can be eliminated by our custom-tailored profile). A good display is a must for a higher priced device which rises above the budget end. V 15 Nitro BE also supports Thunderbolt 3 which allows high-speed data transfer and attaching eGPUs and 4K screens. Don’t get us wrong – the ASUS FX502VM is a great device but it certainly falls behind its rival.

Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G): Full review / Check price

ASUS FX502VM: Full review / Check price



Why choose ASUS FX502VM?

  • Lower price




Why choose Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G)?

  • Better cooling system
  • Lighter and thinner
  • Thunderbolt 3 support
  • Much better display


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Raef Hamdan
6 years ago

Do a Lenovo legion y720 vs acer aspire v15 nitro BE next please.