Acer Aspire V15 Nitro (VN7-591G-77A9) Notebook Review

[Ayoye]

Thanks for the review, I've been keeping an eye on this model for a while. I think the only shortcoming here is the graphic card, do you know if any gtx 900m update is coming ? I would choose between this model and the MSI's GS60, but the sober design (so rare in gaming laptops), the great cooling system, and the silence of this model makes it almost a winner... IF ONLY IT WAS EQUIPED WITH GTX 970/980M !

[Syafeeqah Keita]

Should I get MSI GE60 or Acer V15 Nitro? I would like to
use the laptop mostly for gaming like Watch Dogs, Dota 2
but I'm so attracted to MSI multicolored keyboard.

[terrian]

DO NOT BUY THIS THING IF YOU INTEND TO PLAY GAMES ON IT.

Just got it brand new. Most games are unplayable because of the constant drops in framerate (50% or more, depending on the game) which are caused by the CPU downclocking itself to 800MHz frequently. I'm honestly amazed that the review even mentions it as if it's nothing!! Try to play Battlefield 4 with this thing, 30 seconds of 80fps, 30 seconds of 30fps, 30 seconds of 80fps, 30 seconds of 30fps... the cooling solution is absolutely incapable of cooling both the CPU (which gets to 98c in Prime995 just by itself) and the GPU.

[ojective]

Something is wrong with a statements/tests about throttling. Notebookcheck review of very simmilar model (VN7-791G; same cpu) couldn't detect any throttling. Both cpu benchmark results are virtually the same; if one is throttling immediately and the other is not, then how it's possible to reach the same cpu benchmarks?

[terrian]

@ojective:

Both cpu benchmark results are virtually the same; if one is throttling immediately

That's the thing. If you use mostly just the GPU[ OR mostly just the CPU, everything is fine.

• I can run Furmark for an hour, the system is rock solid, the GPU usage at 99%.
• I can run Prime95 for an hour, the system is rock solid, the CPU usage at 99%.

BUT, as soon as you start to heavily use both the CPU and the GPU, the CPU starts to downclock itself frequently. I'm pretty sure you can imagine what will happen in most modern games when you have a 800Mhz CPU.

The worst part? You can even see this in the review!! The CPU downclocked itself to 800MHz when the reviewever ran both the Furmark and Prime95. That in and of itself is absolutely unacceptable and I'm honestly surprised by the fact that one of the most prominent notebook HW sites on the net doesn't see this as a problem! (Let alone in a gaming notebook.)

It appears to be a system-wide heat dissipation issue, but it could also be a power delivery problem (i.e. the PSU is too weak)... I don't know.

You have been warned.

[Ryan]

Mixed impressions. On the bright side: high-end quad-core CPU, lots of RAM, very good graphics card, crispy bright display, backlit keyboard. Very light for its size. Catchy design. Battery life is decent but not impressive: 3-4 hours of web browsing, watchig youtube, etc.
BUT... very noisy under load, gets unpleasantly hot after just a few minutes of gaming. I've got to use cooling pad with extra fan that resulted in even more noise. Front edge of the laptop is very sharp which makes it discomfortable to type holding laptop on laps. Clickpad lacks presision and doesn't always react accuratly to gestures. All connection ports are on the right side. Perhaps a left-handed user will be happy but I'm a right-hander and all USB devices and power cable get in a way. Wi-fi card is fast when router is close but speed drops exponentially with distance and obstacles. I'd say the laptop is overrated on this website but for some users it may still be a good choice if you're willing to compromise usability for specs.

[Robert]

I am considering buying similar unit 591G-7857 (256 ssd + 1TB HDD) but am afraid of the CPU throttling issue.  Can the reviewer please clarify what this is about and verify if it's really an issue?  If so, Is Acer fixing it?  Looking forward to your response soon.  Thank You!

[Mihai]

Dear reviewer. I am asking myself question as Robert does. Is the instant downclocking of the CPU something that can be repaired? Bad reviews with freezes during gaming are starting to appear on the internet for this laptop

[Gage]

Regarding throttling,

I am not experiencing this. I initially had high temps when I set the laptop to high performance from balanced.

I believe the laptop cpu wanted to scale up when set at 100% cpu power. I scaled the cpu power down to 99% in advanced settings and notice no dangerous temps or throttling in games such as WoW and Thief.

I also replaced the network card with a killer m.2 card and this fixed all connectivity issues.

My only complaint about this laptop is the slow HDD and the fingerprint magnet matte surface. I would recommend putting the OS on an SSD.

[Srikanth]

I am not a gamer and i dont play games, how good is this laptop for a university student with heavy course projects that run for 10 min on 4GB Corei3

[midhun]

Been using this laptop for almost 5 months now after reading the reviews here. Straight to the point

Pros:
- Fantastic display, better than mac book pros
- Very good processor and good amount of ram
- Awesome gaming experience
- Really good heat dissipation
- Fantastic sound, not loud.

Cons
- Hard disk tends to throttle the system
- The entire system is a dust magnet

[KP]

Have been using this laptop since September 2014. Acer has created a very good one here. Except one annoying problem: The screen now shows horizontal lines, sometimes flashing and turn down completely black, then we have to close the lid and open again to make the screen show up. This makes a minus point for this flagship.
I'm gonna replace a new screen from ebay soon.