Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-52) review – budget refresh with Core i5-8300H / i7-8750H
It’s been quite some time since the release of the Kaby Lake Refresh CPUs that surprised users with high performance but disappointed them with the fact that they don’t go under the name “Coffee Lake”. Now it’s time for the “real” 8th Gen high voltage processors. They are already here and the most popular two models quite expectedly will be i5-8300H and i7-8750H, which are actually successors to the widespread i5-7300HQ and i7-7700HQ.
Acer Nitro 5 is one of the first lineups to incorporate the new Intel chips and of course, we can’t wait to check how the budget gaming machine handles them – what performance it delivers and whether the CoolBoost cooling is efficient enough to maintain their frequencies for a continuous period of time. Due to the fact that we have already reviewed the series, we are going to focus on the performance analyses and will answer the question of what “engine” is the most optimal choice for the new Nitro 5.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: http://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-nitro-5/
Contents
Specs Sheet
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-52 tableau des caractéristiques techniques
Not available
Design and construction, disassembly
As we have already mentioned, we have taken a thorough look at the appearance of Nitro 5, as well as the peculiarities of its construction and internals. You can find more information in our previous review.
Display Quality
The screen that Nitro 5 incorporates has already been tested in another Acer model – Aspire V 15 Nitro Black Edition (VN7-593G). We are talking about BOE NV156FHM-N43 – a high-quality IPS panel with Full HD resolution (142 ppi), high brightness and contrast, and pretty serious gamut coverage – 94% sRGB. However, keep in mind that your device may be shipped with the LG LP156WF6-SPK6, which came with the AMD configuration we tested earlier.
| Panel model | Max.Brightness | Contrast | dE ColorChecker | sRGB coverage | PWM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOE NV156FHM-N43 | 308 cd/m² | 980:1 | 5.3 -> 1.6 | 94% | 1 kHz |
| LG LP156WF6-SPK6 | 286 cd/m² | 1180:1 | 5.2 -> 3.6 | 53% | No PWM |
The color deviation in ColorChecker has an unacceptable value of DeltaE = 5.3 but our Gaming and Web design profile brings it down to dE = 1.6 – a level that will appeal to the amateur graphics designers.
The display has one serious drawback and this is the presence of PWM across all brightness levels under 100%. That’s where our Health-Guard profile comes in handy as it eliminates PWM and also reduces the negative blue light emissions.
Buy our profiles
Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Acer Nitro 5 (or Aspire V 15 Nitro) configurations with 15.6″ BOE NV156FHM-N43 (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS screen.
*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].
Read more about the profiles HERE.
En plus de recevoir des profils efficaces et respectueux de la santé, en achetant les produits de LaptopMedia, vous soutenez également le développement de nos laboratoires, où nous testons des appareils afin de produire les critiques les plus objectives possibles.
Travail de bureau
Office Work devrait être utilisé principalement par les utilisateurs qui passent la plupart de leur temps à regarder des textes, des tableaux ou simplement à naviguer. Ce profil vise à offrir une meilleure distinction et clarté en maintenant une courbe gamma plate (2.20), une température de couleur native et des couleurs fidèles à la perception.
Design et Gaming
Ce profil s'adresse aux designers qui travaillent avec les couleurs de manière professionnelle, ainsi qu'aux jeux et aux films. Design and Gaming pousse les dalles d'affichage à leurs limites, les rendant aussi précises que possible dans la norme sRGB IEC61966-2-1 pour le Web et la TVHD, au point blanc D65.
Health-Guard
Health-Guard élimine la Modulation de Largeur d'Impulsion (PWM) nocive et réduit la lumière bleue négative qui affecte nos yeux et notre corps. Comme il est adapté à chaque dalle, il parvient à conserver des couleurs fidèles à la perception. Health-Guard simule le papier, ce qui réduit considérablement la pression sur les yeux.
Obtenez les 3 profils avec 33% de réduction
CPU – Intel Core i7-8750H
Intel Core i7-8750H is a direct successor to the Core i7-7700HQ. The new Coffee Lake processors feature six physical cores instead of the just four found on the Kaby Lake CPUs. Moreover, the blue company was able to fit the extra two cores on the same 14nm architecture while maintaining a TDP of 45W. In terms of clock speeds, we have a slight drop in the base frequency from 2.8 GHz to 2.2 GHz but the Turbo one is 4.1 GHz (up from 3.8 GHz), whatsoever. This means around 50% better performance on theory and 9 MB of cache (vs 6 MB on Core i7-7700HQ). However, the new Core i7-8750H will be more cooling-dependent, due to the higher clock count and the wide range of Turbo speeds.
On the iGPU end, there are no particular changes as the Core i7-8750H retains the HD Graphics 630 cores with 350 MHz Base frequency and 1100 MHz maximum Dynamic frequency. The only difference is the support of OpenGL 4.5.
You can browse through our top CPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/
You can check out all available configurations with Intel Core i7-8750H and their prices here: Acheter sur Amazon.fr (#CommissionsEarned)
GPU – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (4GB GDDR5)
The GeForce GTX 1050 GPU for laptops is part of the latest NVIDIA Pascal lineup of GPUs featuring a brand new architecture design but on contrary to the rest of the GPUs from NVIDIA’s lineup, the GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti feature a Samsung-made FinFET 14nm chip instead of the TSMC 16nm found in the GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080. The graphics card is based on the GP107 chip paired with 4GB of GDDR5 memory via a 128-bit interface.
Since the GTX 1050 is quite dependent on the cooling design, its performance may vary but if the laptop handles the GPU well and shouldn’t be much different from its desktop counterpart. Anyway, the GPU operates at relatively high frequencies (1354 – 1493 MHz) but incorporates the same amount of CUDA cores (640) while the memory is clocked at 7000 MHz (effective). These specs ensure a huge performance boost over the previous generation of Maxwell GPUs. For instance, the GTX 1050 performs better than the GTX 960M and can be compared to the GTX 965M’s capabilities while running at similar to the GTX 960M’s TDP of around 40-50W.
However, along with all the power consumption and performance improvements, the GPU now supports essential features like DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, HDR, improved H.265 encoding, and decoding.
You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/
You can find all available laptops with GeForce GTX 1050 here: Acheter sur Amazon.fr (#CommissionsEarned)
Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-53/52/51/41/31) Variantes du GPU
Vous pouvez voir ici une comparaison approximative entre les GPU que l'on peut trouver dans les modèles de la [série] sur le marché. Vous pourrez ainsi décider par vous-même quel modèle de la [série] vous offre le meilleur rapport qualité/prix.
Remarque : Le tableau présente les configurations de GPU les moins chères. Vous devez donc vérifier les autres spécifications de ces ordinateurs portables en cliquant sur le nom de l'ordinateur portable / GPU.
Les résultats proviennent de 3DMark Time Spy (Graphics). Un score plus élevé est meilleur.
Les résultats proviennent du benchmark 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) (un score plus élevé est meilleur)
Les résultats proviennent du benchmark Unigine Superposition (un score plus élevé est meilleur)
Gaming tests
With GeForce GTX 1050 you can easily play GTA and Rise of the Tomb Raider at Medium/High settings or Far Cry Primal and Ghost Recon Wildlands at Normal graphics settings.
| Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) | Full HD, Low (Check settings) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 114 fps | 55 fps | 34 fps |
| Min FPS | 59 fps | 35 fps | 18 fps |
| Far Cry Primal | Full HD, Normal (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 52 fps | 45 fps | 37 fps |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | Full HD, Low (Check settings) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 80 fps | 52 fps | 24 fps |
| Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 39 fps | 36 fps | 32 fps |
| Min FPS | 33 fps | 30 fps | 26 fps |
Temperatures
We have a new method that evaluates the cooling system and for gaming computers, it includes two tests – 100% CPU load and real gameplay load (Rise of the Tomb Raider).
Max CPU load
In this test, we reach 100% CPU cores load, while monitoring the fluctuations in their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column is indicative of the laptop’s response under a short load (between 2 and 10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), while the third column is a good indicator of whether the laptop is suitable for extended and heavy loads such as video rendering.
Average core frequency (Base freq. + X); CPU Temp.
| Intel Core i5-8300H (45W TDP): | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Nitro 5 | 3.37 GHz (B+47%) @ 81°C | 3.40 GHz (B+48%) @ 86°C | 2.75 GHz (B+20%) @ 75°C |
| Intel Core i7-8750H (45W TDP): | |||
| Acer Nitro 5 | 2.89 GHz (B+31%) @ 72°C | 2.71 GHz (B+23%) @ 78°C | 2.52 GHz (B+15%) @ 74°C |
| ASUS TUF FX504 | 2.59 GHz (B+18%) @ 71°C | 2.64 GHz (B+20%) @ 82°C | 2.46 GHz (B+12%) @ 74°C |
| ASUS ROG GL503GE | 2.89 GHz (B+31%) @ 66°C | 2.89 GHz (B+31%) @ 69°C | 2.53 GHz (B+15%) @ 71°C |
The cooling system appears to be powerful enough to ensure around 50% higher than the base frequency of i5-8300H (2.3 GHz) for the first minutes of the test, which may lead to a fairly good performance in almost any task. This doesn’t include processes such as video rendering – between the 10th and the 15th minute the average frequency is 2.75GHz (20% above the base), but at a slightly lower temperature of the chip – 75 degrees.
In the battle of the i7-8750H machines, Nitro 5 and GL503 are winners with approximately equal results, the latter having a certain lead in terms of temperatures, and also maintaining slightly higher frequencies in medium-long processes (0:15 – 0:30 sec).
Real gaming
The real gameplay test is longer. Here, the GPU is loaded to the maximum trying to process maximum frame rates per second. Quite expectedly, although the processor is not as needed as in the previous test, its temperature is higher (82° C) because it shares the two fans with the graphics card. The fans aren’t exactly silent so keep this in mind if you love silence during gaming. Of course, if you play with a headset or a cranked sound, you will hardly pay attention to it.
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (Lowest, 1080p) | FPS (After 2 min / 30 min) | GPU Core Frequency (After 2 min / 30 min) | GPU Temperature (After 2 min / 30 min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Nitro 5 – i5-8300H + GTX 1050 (~90W TDP) | 75 fps / 75 fps | 1734 MHz / 1721 MHz | 70°C / 73°C |
| Acer Nitro 5 – i7-8750H + GTX 1050 (~90W TDP) | 75 fps / 75 fps | 1734 MHz / 1734 MHz | 75°C / 72°C |
| Acer Nitro 5 – Ryzen 7 2700U + Radeon RX 560X (~80W TDP) | 61 fps / 60 fps | 1144 MHz / 1142 MHz | 68°C / 68°C |
During extended gaming, although quite noisy, Nitro 5 with 8300H/8750H and 1050 manages to maintain good temperatures of its components at over 1.7 GHz GPU frequency. In addition, the stability of the frames and frequencies makes a good impression. However, we wouldn’t recommend opting for a Nitro 5 configuration with GTX 1050 Ti, which would be too much for the cooling system.
On the other hand, the configuration with Ryzen 7 and RX 560X doesn’t encounter any difficulties with the cooling of the CPU and GPU. Actually, for most of the time, the fans weren’t even running at full power.
Rise of the Tomb Raider after 30 minutes gameplay (Acer Nitro 5 with i5-8300H + GTX 1050)
Gaming comfort
Core i5-8300H and GTX 1050 pose a serious challenge to Nitro 5 when it comes to external temperatures. The hottest point reached almost 60°C. Yet another confirmation that the GTX 1050 Ti won’t be a good choice.
Verdict
Acer Nitro 5 continues to be one of the most attractive solutions in the budget gaming segment. If you are a gamer, the difference between the i5-8300H configuration and the i7-8750H one will be hardly noticeable, which would have also included Ryzen 7 2700U, if it hadn’t come only with the significantly less powerful RX 560X GPU.
Interestingly, the Intel option came with a better screen (BOE NV156FHM-N43) and its only drawback is the presence of PWM. However, our Health Guard profile takes care of this issue. In the other tests, the BOE did a great job – 94% sRGB coverage, 1.6 dE color deviation (with our Gaming and Web design profile), high brightness and contrast.
Everything else we have told you about this model from the previous review is also valid here – easy upgrades, nice design, good battery life.
You can check prices and configurations: Acheter sur Amazon.fr (#CommissionsEarned)
Pros
- Nice design
- Amazing IPS screen (the BOE version)
- Easy RAM and HDD/SSD upgrade
- Good temperatures of the internal components at full load (for the RX 560X and GTX 1050 versions)
Cons
- Relatively high temperatures of the corpus at full load (for the H-series configurations)
- The cooling won’t be powerful enough for GTX 1050 Ti
- Not so comfortable touchpad
Author: Simeon NikolovEditor-in-Chief at LaptopMedia.com with 20+ years of experience in testing and analyzing laptops and mobile devices.
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