I'll start it off with this warning. This laptop is not for everyone. It is what we in the line of business call a "Desktop Replacement", one step down from "Lunchbox PC". And indeed, the heart and soul of this laptop is built with true desktop components. The Ryzen 7 2700 here isn't the cut down portable variant with a integrated Vega GPU and only half the cores, no sir: this laptop is built with a desktop 2700, one without the onboard GPU but with the full 8 cored, 16 threaded work. The chipset is a separate desktop B450, and the GPU is a desktop class Vega 56 with a custom BIOS It is also equipped with the full Killer networking suite. And as cherry on the top, the LCD panel is FreeSync-enabled and clocks at 144Hz. Not the best in the world, but already a class above the typical 60Hz panel found on other laptops and the lower-end 120Hz gaming monitors and gaming laptops. The laptop also comes with 16GB of RAM and the upgrade options are generous. Indeed, the lack of a integrated GPU means Grand Theft Auto V runs like a dream on this machine, as that game is known to act up on machines with multiple graphics cards.
That's not to say the laptop isn't without it's flaws. As a consequence of being built of desktop components, the laptop's battery life has to be sacrificed. It gets about 1 to a little over 2 hours per charge on battery savings mode, that means no gaming and probably not even some of the more taxing productivity software. Try to game and the battery flatlines in about 30 minutes. As such, the battery should be treated as a UPS device and not as an mobility aid. Additionally, Two of the four RAM slots are not accessible without completely removing the motherboard. This makes getting a RAM upgrade for the laptop very difficult as the existing RAM either does not have a proper SPD or the BIOS is blocked from disclosing the SPD information to programs like CPU-Z. As a result, one has to dig deep, and then best guess the type of RAM the laptop has, and even after that getting matching RAM will not be easy as they are OEM parts and your best bet is to find them off eBay. It would've been better if all four RAM slots are on the back of the laptop to ease memory replacement or upgrade so all four sticks could be swapped as required to maintain stability.
Another thing I noticed is that a lot of people are complaining that the laptop's second M.2 slot can only accept SATA-type SSDs and not NVMe ones. I'll explain: The B450 does not provides the necessary passthrough PCIe x2 lanes for a second NVMe hard drive unlike it's more capable sibling the X470. As a result Acer had to make sacrifices. Granted, it later surfaced that there is a hack that allowed two SATA lanes to be disabled in exchange for two more PCIe lanes, but Acer was either unaware of the hack, or didn't think it was worth the effort since it only offered NVMe 1.2 speeds instead of the faster four-lane NVMe 1.3 which the first slot offered. However, even then there is still hope for use. Despite AMD's claims that no existing laptops supports StoreMI, this laptop actually does, and pairing a slow but roomy HDD (which can be added using the provided HDD addition kit) with a cheap and cheery SATA-3 M.2 SSD would let you use the hard drive as a hybrid drive, with StoreMI migrating between the SSD and HDD as required. This was probably Acer's intention, as I had did so on mine and the laptop would actually run games from the hard drive blazingly fast. If you choose that route, I would advise going for the largest laptop hard drive you can get (probably 4-5TB) which will probably only be available at 5400rpm, and pair it with a 240GB SATA-3 SSD. In my use case I paired a 1TB 5400rpm Seagate with a 120GB Kingston SATA-3 SSD, and it works wonderfully well- Subnautica (a game that can take several minutes to load on a 5400rpm hard drive) only took around 70 seconds to load after StoreMI did it's work.
Any improvement I wish to see? Yeah. Firstly, the Vega56 is built right into the motherboard. It would be great if Acer had spent a little bit more money and put in a MXM 3.1 slot instead and put the Vega56 in on the slot to improve upgradability and repairability. So if the GPU has a meltdown the user could just pop off the cooling, and then replace the GPU. Likewise, having all four slots of RAM on the back would improve repairability and upgradibility as well. RAM is known to go bad even if they've been functioning normally for years, and when upgrading the RAM it is often advised that the user should use RAM of the same type for all the slots. Having all four slots on the back makes it easier for the user to find out what kind of RAM to get when upgrading, or even just replace all four sticks outright if they need to. Thirdly, I urge Acer to consider implementing the M.2 NVMe 1.2 hack in the next revision of the motherboard. It may not be as fast as the first slot, but since they're only using two of the four SATA ports of the B450 anyway, this hack is not going to hurt anybody, especially since 1. A number of desktop motherboard manufacturers are using it anyway, 2. Acer is already cramming a full desktop PC into a laptop shell, something not supported by AMD either, and 3. NVMe 1.2 is still at least three times faster compared to SATA-3. Lastly, I'd wish for one ExpressCard slot to the side. This laptop does not support Thunderbolt. So why not give the user an option, even if 90% of them aren't really going to use it? I know I'm going to use it if the laptop had one- I would immediately be grabbing a SoundBlaster X-Fi ExpressCard sound card. All my PCs have a SoundBlaster X-Fi, and if I can, I would like my laptop to have one as well.
So, in a nutshell, this is a very powerful machine. Calling it a laptop would be an understatement, it's more of a "Desktop Replacement" or a "Portable Workstation". It's heavy, it's rather huge and won't fit in many common computer bags, and it's not for everybody. However, if you're the sort of person who would be playing demanding FPS titles, developing heavy web-based applications, or editing videos on the go, and don't mind the heft and the sad battery life, this machine is right up your alley.
Pros:
- Real Ryzen 7 2700 with 8 cores, not the cut down 2700 portable CPU with only 4 cores.
- Vega 56 graphics, the first and only time seen on a laptop.
- Generous upgradability
- Killer triple solutions
Cons
- Vega56 not on a MXM 3.1 board, if GPU dies mobo dies
- RAM upgrade difficult as two of the four slots can only be accessed by tearing the entire motherboard out
YMMV
- Second NVMe slot SATA-III only and did not apply the NVMe 1.2 hack. Still usable, but NVMe 1.2 would still perform three times better.
- No ExpressCard slot. Having one would be a great compromise since AMD cannot use Thunderbolt and has no competing standards.
Other observations:
- Acer could've chosen the Energy Efficient Ryzen 7 2700E CPU instead. This CPU also uses the Zen+ core, 8 cores, 16 threads, and identical L1, L2 and L3 cache configurations, but it's clock speed is slightly lower than the regular 2700 and the memory clock is capped out at 2666 instead. All these tradeoffs results in a CPU that runs only at a measly 45w- 20w cooler than the current CPU which runs at 65w.
- When I imported my laptop from Amazon, DHL held my laptop and made me go through a bunch of hoops to get it released, mainly requiring me to pay SIRIM and MCMC a "WiFi Tax". This even though the laptop has already underwent the necessary tests of compliance (as I found out after I removed my laptop from the packaging and noticed the regulatory stickers underneath). Amazon should work with DHL to make sure this does not happen especially since it has already have all the regulatory paperworks included in the first place. Really frustrating nonetheless. Any Malaysian AMD fans reading this, be prepared if you're going to import this. Especially since Acer Malaysia seems to be biased in shintel and only brings in weak AMD laptops to make shintel look superior.
| Standing screen display size | 17.3 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
| Processor | 4.3 GHz 8032 |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 2666 MHz |
| Hard Drive | SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | RX Vega 56 |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 8 GB |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 5 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 1.5 Hours |
