Acer Nitro 5 review (AN515-45 model, AMD Ryzen 7 + RTX 3000 Laptop)

44 Comments

  1. Mul

    March 9, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    I am waiting for a new line of office laptops with Ryzen 5000 U processors and QHD 15-17 inch screens.

    • Aftab

      December 27, 2021 at 11:51 am

      I am getting a nitro 5 with ryzen 7 5800H, RTX 3060 and 16gb ram. I was concerned about the temperatures. I do however have the choice to get either nitro 5 with i7-11th gen or ryzen 7 5800H with exactly the same specs, I want your advice to which one I should prefer if I want good thermals, better usage and a long lasting laptop to say the least. the ryzen one is about $100 cheaper than intel. Please advice on which one I should be choosing.

      • Aftab

        December 27, 2021 at 11:54 am

        I should mention that I will be using this computer for 3d modelling in catia, solidworks, fusion 360 and blender as well as some content creation in photoshop, illustrator and some light-medium gaming.

  2. Levent

    March 10, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    Thank you for this great review. I hope they increase the TDP of the GPU by 10-15W. Is there a way to get rid of the pink stuff at the back?

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 10, 2021 at 6:24 pm

      it's red, not pink. And no, all Nitro 5s are like that this generation

    • Yura

      July 17, 2021 at 4:09 am

      Acer actually did upgrate the GPU to run at ~100W through uefi and GPU vbios updates, at least in my AN515-45-R9SC with 3070. GPU scores will reflect the bump, being about 20% higher than measured here, eg firestrike almost 9k, superposition medium almost 17k. GPU still stays surprisingly cool at around 75C max.

      • Andrei Girbea

        July 17, 2021 at 9:26 am

        thanks for the update. Will look into maybe asking this back for an update, but no guarantee

  3. Scanian

    March 12, 2021 at 7:07 am

    Thanks for the review, but you must have made something very wrong with the 3dmark scores. My Time Spy is 300 points above your value, and and 800 above on the graphics sub score. But this computer has one of the baddest CPUs available and a RTX 3080 (Max-Q), while I have an i7-8750H and a RTX 2080 Max-Q (no SUPER). No trix or overclocking. I get beat in Fire Strike but not nearly by as much as I should.

    Either this generation of (what we should not mention, Max-Q) is really shitty, or you're doing something wrong, like not using the correct drivers. I mean, the 3080 Max-Qshould definitely not be worse than the 2080 Max-Q. The TDP is the same.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 13, 2021 at 11:13 am

      yeah, the GPU scores in 3Dmark are on the lower side. Can't tell why for now, we don't have a mature BIOS. Take it for what they are for now, with potential updates later on once these are available in stores and get a finalized BIOS.

      Also, i wouldn't expect this 3080 80W to perform a lot faster than the 2080 SUper 80W. It's all about that power limit, so you need to compare similar powers for an apple to apple picture

  4. Aren

    March 15, 2021 at 2:01 pm

    It would be a small breakthrough in laptop reviewing if some reviewer would be able to record laptop fan noise profiles in a comparable way. Many reviewers give dB measurements but it means nothing to an average reader. I have no idea what 40 or 50 dB means in a practical application. Similarly words like quiet or loud means nothing. To one person quiet is loud to another person.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 15, 2021 at 2:08 pm

      Ok, and how would you do that?

      • Jah

        June 17, 2021 at 11:23 pm

        perhaps a short, 3-second clip of the fan noise at each performance profile.

  5. ighe43

    March 17, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    Salut!
    Stii cand intra la vanzare si pe piata din Romania?

  6. kamesh

    April 11, 2021 at 10:14 am

    how did you connect this laptop with fast refresh rate external monitor as far i know the nitro 5 lineup doesn't support display out over the usb c .

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 11, 2021 at 10:20 am

      via HDMI, but my external monitor is only 60 Hz, so not fast refresh

  7. BeardedATM

    April 29, 2021 at 11:59 pm

    Wait, Acer site says the new AMD 3080 Nitro 5 that is releasing in May has the Ryzen 9 5900HX in it.

    Do you think it's just good to get the NEW AMD 3060 model when it releases in May or go all out for the 3080? It's going to be my first real gaming laptop for gaming/streaming.

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 30, 2021 at 12:25 pm

      I don't entirely follow your question. Based on my experience testing laptops for all these years, there's always better value for your money in the mid-range configurations. That being said, a 3080 will outperform the 3060, questions is, by how much and how much extra would you have to pay for it. Hard to tell here without having tested both or knowing how much each will cost.

  8. Dan

    May 6, 2021 at 11:49 pm

    Hi Andrei, do you know if that power limit (TGP) on GPU (80W, up to 85W with Dyn Boost) also applies to RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 models of 15" Nitro 5? Logically, it should, since it is the same size heat transfer problem for all new AN515 (15" Acer Nitro 5 models). Any info on GPU TGP for AN517 (17" laptop models of Nitro 5)?

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 7, 2021 at 11:15 am

      I'm pretty sure the 3070/3060 should be the same TDP on the Nitro 5. I don't know if there are any differences on the 17-inch models, for some reason Acer don't share many details on this and I've yet to test the 17 inch

      • Jayant Siwatch

        May 25, 2021 at 7:10 am

        Acer has release a new bios which increases the dynamic boost to 15W, thus making the max TGP 95W. Please test that too.

      • Andrei Girbea

        May 25, 2021 at 10:01 am

        I no longer have this around.

    • Yura

      July 17, 2021 at 4:24 am

      Hi Dan, Acer released UEFI and vbios updates that make the 3070 run at ~100W (80+20) in AN515-45-R9SC

  9. Jaakko

    May 10, 2021 at 9:12 pm

    Thanks for good review, I didin't know that 10% difference with same specs can happen. I ordered 3060 model but it wont come for 1 month to Finlnad.. Currently I have old Asus ROG with 980m which had many battery problems, had to replace dc power jack and other tempature problems so hopefully this would be nice. I am sceptical tho, since this cost 1150e and other 3060 models witch pretty much same stuff cost 300e more minium (tho Acer Helios 250e more with 3070) so we shall see.

  10. Agus

    May 25, 2021 at 12:11 pm

    hi,i want to ask if the extra m2 slot can use with sata interface model?because the price is so high for the pci type.i also want to add 2.5" harddisk for my archive and document.

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 25, 2021 at 2:41 pm

      Good question. I'd suppose it should work, but cannot 100% confirm it. Maybe others can pitch in

  11. dustojnikhummer

    May 26, 2021 at 8:31 am

    My 115W 3060 in my Legion 5 is like 20% faster than this 80W abomination. MaxQ is a scam.

    Don't believe me? This is my TimeSpy result

    3dmark.com/spy/20283811

    • Jah

      June 17, 2021 at 11:47 pm

      Interesting. Could you share FPS figures for some common games? Trying to decide between yours and the Nitro.

  12. kira

    June 1, 2021 at 11:52 pm

    can you release the .icc profile after calibrating the screen? i would really appreciate it as i dont have such a device but id like my screen to look a little nicer

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 2, 2021 at 9:54 am

      I'll send it to you on email

      • Markus Schaefer

        June 10, 2021 at 7:39 am

        can you send me the .icc profile after calibrating the screen too? i also dont have such a device. Thx a lot.

        Anyway, thank you very much for that recension and best regards

      • Ilian Iliev

        July 23, 2021 at 12:22 am

        Can I have the .icc profile as well, please. Will be much appreciated!

      • hadi

        February 14, 2022 at 3:29 am

        Hi, can i request the icc file for this acer nitro 5 rtx3070 with qhd 165hz display after you have done calibrating the screen?

    • lostlife

      June 9, 2021 at 2:47 pm

      can you release the .icc profile after calibrating the screen? i would really appreciate it .

      • Gp

        June 21, 2021 at 7:25 am

        I bought this laptop 3070 version after saw your review.
        If u have a time may i ask sending icc profile too?
        I appreciate ur kindness.

  13. wang ti feng

    June 3, 2021 at 10:49 am

    can you release the .icc profile after calibrating the screen? i would really appreciate it .

  14. Glenn

    June 21, 2021 at 12:16 pm

    Which generation is the PCIE does this model have, Gen 3 or 4?

  15. Dave

    August 12, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    Great review. Saved me a big mistake in getting this due to USB-C being data only.

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 12, 2021 at 4:15 pm

      for what is worth, the Intel 11th gen model is TB4 with video

  16. Felix

    September 16, 2021 at 2:24 am

    Fantastic review, thanks a lot – helped me with my purchase decision. Used your page via iPhone and clicked on some adds – hope it helps 😃👍

  17. Anzoken

    October 15, 2021 at 10:35 pm

    Whispermode can be enabled but requires Acer provided GEForce experience, we've found a solution over at the acer forums

    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/635221/whispermode-2-0-not-ready-nitro-5-an517-52/p1

    Whispermode 2.0 can't be enabled but atleast we can get some kind of functionality this way :D

  18. MartinS

    November 9, 2021 at 4:09 pm

    Do correction from AN515-54 to AN515-45 in text.

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