Hi everyone. This is my second review in LTT forum. I will be reviewing the Acer Aspire 5 laptop. It belongs to my brother which replaces his old Lenovo Ideapad Z510 laptop. It's bought for MYR 2600 (MSRP MYR 2699, cheaper prices available online) which is about $668. Main specs are in my signature below.
Intro
My brother needs a new multimedia laptop since his old laptop has many OS issues as well as some build quality issues. His budget is MYR 4000 max. He doesn't have any particular requirements for his new laptop apart from not heavier than his previous Z510 and able to run some light games. In the end, I choose the Acer Aspire 5 as it's one of the best budget laptops in the price range with good overall build quality (he also saved some money BTW). The MX150 GPU should be enough for his gaming needs since he doesn't have many time to play games now. The laptop is upgraded to 8GB RAM (added Crucial 4GB 2400MHz RAM, running in dual channel mode) and added 250GB SSD (Samsung 850 EVO M.2 250GB for OS and other stuffs). Total upgrade cost is MYR 679. The package comes with a few documents (but no user guide), a 65W power adapter (which is compact and light), a free laptop bag (very spacious) and the laptop itself. I will also focus on the new Kaby Lake Refresh CPU (i5-8250U) in this review.
A few notes before reading:
1. This is a quick review; thus, I will not cover everything here.
2. For reference, pictures can be found from the external review. I do not attach pictures; however, you can request for it.
3. My English Language is not that great. I apologize if you find the review too simple and boring.
4. This review will be updated from time to time. If you any inquiries, kindly leave a comment below. I will answer as much as I can.
Part 1: Build Quality
Chassis - The chassis is mostly made of plastic. The plastic used has above average quality which is quite rigid. The lid has a brushed rough texture (grey colour) which looks a little premium; however, it has some flex but for the price, it's still acceptable. Also, ripples can be seen on display when force is applied on the bezels. Nevertheless, I have to praise the lid because it's hard to twist the lid and you can open the display lid smoothly with one hand. The lid can be opened to 180 degrees. The inner chassis has aluminium brush; as a result, only little to none flex at keyboard and palm rest area; still, it can attract fingerprints (but not as serious as my Y520). The laptop is fairly light and thin (2.2kg, <22mm thickness).
Keyboard - The typing experience is very nice. Key travel is OK IMO (1.3mm, I bottomed out the keys often, maybe I had used to deep travel keys) but the keys are very clicky (actuation force is perfect). Very comfortable to type with. There's an one stage white backlit (a bit blueish) which is distributed evenly and bright enough in dark environment. A full, original layout numpad is available. There are some complains though. Some keys are very cramped (you can see reference pictures from other review websites). The up and down keys are half sized (which is a big deal for some ppl).
Touchpad - The good news is, it's a Synaptics, Windows Precision certified clickpad which is accurate. Smoothness is OK but wet hands may be a problem. However, there is a major issue. The clickpad is very wobbling at the bottom part, as a result it cannot register inputs sometimes. For instance, left and right clicks can be hard to register regardless how much force you apply. Tapping and gestures are also a problem, you need to find the sweet spot when applying the force. The sides of the clickpad are not sensitive to inputs.
One thing to note about the AC adapter is, it gets quite hot even while idling. I will update this in future after I find out what's wrong with the power brick. Also, the ports in this laptop are very tight. You need to use quite amount of force in order to plug in/out USB devices.
Overall score: 80/100
Part 2: Display, Battery, Audio, Connectivity
Display - The laptop has a poor TN panel (don't worry, almost all laptops below MYR 2600 has the same, bad TN panel) but since my brother doesn't care about display, I think that's fine. Note: Models in other countries come with entry level IPS panel, the 17 inch FHD version gets a high quality IPS panel. Vertical viewing angles are crap (nature of TN panel), colours are inaccurate, contrast is very low, brightness is a bit low, colour gamut is mediocre. Everything you can expect from a low quality TN panel. After calibrating with Windows built-in tool and manual tuning via Intel Graphics Control Panel, colours slightly improved but still cannot match an entry level IPS panel. The only good thing is it's a matte (non-reflective) finish.
Battery is where the 48Wh battery shines. Other laptop models below MYR 2600 have smaller battery. The battery can last around 6 hours in web browsing (better performance mode) but battery life will drop massively while under load. Nevertheless, I will update the battery life in future since I don't have much time to test the battery so results may be inaccurate. The built-in speakers are mediocre. Bass is absent, too much disruptive noise, highs is imbalance. Volume can get pretty loud though. WIFI adapter is the 1x1 Intel 3168.
Overall score: 75/100
Part 3: Benchmarks, Temps, Noise
I don't have much time to test so I will only provide some benchmarks. Feel free to ask for benchmarks you would like to see. All tests are tested at ambient temp of around 30℃. CPU&GPU are undervolted. GPU performance is not reduced while on battery but there's a 60 FPS cap due to Nvidia BatteryBoost.
Cinebench R15 multi core - 625-650cb (more on that later), drop around 25cb under sustained load (loop). TDP limit will hit earlier and it has a lower limit (<10W compared to 15W) while on battery, as a result the score is much lower.
Dota 2:
1080p, fastest preset (60 FPS cap):
Temps: CPU 72-77℃, GPU 59-61℃
After repaste: CPU ~65℃, GPU 59℃
1080p, fastest preset: around 140-160 FPS (FPS during heavy fights not tested yet, will update in future)
Temps: CPU 78-82℃, GPU 64-66℃
After repaste: CPU ~70℃, GPU 65℃
1080p, best looking preset: around 65 FPS (FPS during heavy fights not tested yet, will update in future)
Temps: CPU 84-88℃, GPU 73-75℃
After repaste: Some issues occurred, will update in future
As you can see, CPU temps are a bit high but GPU temps are solid (due to the efficient Pascal architecture). The fan runs every time while idling but not audible. It will ramp up after the CPU reaching over 75℃ (no matter light or heavy load) which is audible due to high pitch noise.
I've done a repaste. As you can see, GPU temps hasn't changed much. This is because I messed up the paste on GPU die. Besides, the GPU will receive the heat from CPU. Meanwhile, stock paste on CPU is a mess. iGPU even don't have thermal paste applied.
Overall score: 85/100
Bonus section 1: Discussing the new Kaby Lake Refresh CPU (with tuning guide)
Notes about this laptop model:
1. I noticed that the thermal paste isn't applied evenly since the difference in temps between the lowest and highest core temp is 5-8℃. This increase the chance to hit the thermal limit of CPU.
Update: Uneven core temp has gone. Max difference only 4℃.
2. The single heat pipe cooling solution isn't that good (OKish). The GPU is placed closer to the fans where its heat can be dissipated easily. On the contrary, the CPU suffers from higher temps and slower heat dissipation.
3. I can't change the TDP limit (firmware+BIOS lock). I changed power limit 1 to 20W via Intel XTU and even though HWInfo shows that PL1 is 20W, the system will still throttle the CPU to 15W under long period load.
Disclaimer: Every laptop model has different cooling design, firmware, BIOS and silicon (CPU) so your results and settings may vary.
As everyone knows, the new Kaby Lake Refresh ULV CPU has double the cores (and threads) compared to last gen ones and higher clock speed. However, their 15W TDP limit makes the CPU can't handle the full turbo speed under multi core load. Hence, I tried to find the solution and here are my findings:
- Undervolting only help temp by a bit, it's real function is to lower the power consumption and thus, enables higher clocks@15W (result is noticeable even with a small -0.05V)
- Downclock helps A LOT in lowering temp even with 0.1GHz reduction (4-5℃ reduction). For those who're wondering, the default all core turbo speed for 8250U is 3.4GHz, same with single core turbo speed.
I manage to obtain a 610-635cb (after Meltdown update) score in Cinebench R15 multi core load (normal score for 8250U is around 550cb). This is done by -0.125V undervolt and 3.1GHz full turbo, ~20W power consumption, ~70℃ CPU temp. Since I can't increase the TDP limit, the laptop itself will power throttle itself (15W) after a period (which is inconsistent) and clock speed sits around 2.7GHz. -0.145V can be done but it's unstable while idling; however, more undervolt makes the average clock speed slightly higher (hit 3GHz occasionally) with 15W power limit. I don't know how much undervolt can be done for 3.4GHz all core turbo. I may try 3.2GHz all core in future since the temp is still OK (but 80℃ is a bit high IMO).
Update: 135mv undervolt seems not stable, now trying 125mv
One thing to note is, if there is some load running in the background while idling, the CPU will heat up quickly (60-70℃) and if one of the core temp hit 75℃, the fan will ramp up suddenly and cause audible noise which is annoying (this is also the case with 7700HQ). Power throttling will also occur in games if >15W is used by the CPU which drops the clock speed to 2.8-3.0GHz. For those who're wondering, the CPU thermal throttled under stock settings due to high power consumption (~30W).
What I can conclude is, the all core turbo speed can be sustained with following conditions:
1. TDP limit is set higher as long as the CPU temp allows. This allows the multi core performance to reach near 7700HQ. In my case, 20W should be good.
2. Excellent cooling system (like Xiaomi Notebook Pro), you can probably set all core turbo speed to 3.2-3.4GHz along with a higher TDP limit.
3. Undervolting to reduce power consumption.
CPU silicon also important so don't lose the silicon lottery
Edit: Make sure you didn't exceed the AC adapter rated wattage when trying to tune the CPU. Repaste also helps in lowering CPU temp.
Bonus section 2: GPU undervolting
I managed to OC (yes, technically it's overclock) the MX150 GPU by +176MHz (your result may vary due to different silicon). I made 3 custom voltage to frequency curves:
1. 1645MHz@0.95V
2. 1544MHz@0.9V
3. 1430MHz@0.85V
One thing to note is, the 25W TDP rated MX150 with slightly lower TDP rating and higher frequency compared to its desktop counterpart (GT 1030) triggers power limit hard without tuning.
Conclusion: Well-built budget multimedia laptop
Pros: Fast performance, good build quality, best battery life among competitors in the same price range, good keyboard, easy accessibility (I didn't address above), affordable
Cons: OKish cooling, wobbling clickpad, bad display (regional problem), 1 RAM is soldered (I didn't address above)
Thanks for reading! Let me know if there are mistakes in this review.
