Like cars, a refresh sometimes is needed for gaming laptops to make sure they are on par with the competition, and this Acer Nitro 5 refresh feels like it until its quirks outline the features instead.

So, is their Ray Tracing enabled self still worthy of a look? We shall see.

Hardware

ACER NITRO 5 AN515-58-78QQ

• CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060, 6GB VRAM
• RAM: 16GB RAM DDR4
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SED SSD
• Display: 15.6 inch 144Hz SlimBezel

The looks of the Nitro 5 are still one of its stronger points, with all of the previous Quality of Life improvements like better fan placement for keyboard cooling even on the highest fan speed and it’s still cool to the touch.

Its port placement is still mostly the same, with the addition of a Type-C port at the back near the charging port, which also supports USB 3.2 so you can use it for charging (with up to 5V of power) or connecting to displays as well.

Their 144Hz Display looks more clear than before when pushed to 90-144 FPS in games that require more frames like Assetto Corsa Competizione, so more competitive games could stand to be more fluid when needed.

Software

As with most of the Nitro line, they have a dedicated Nitrosense app for controlling the power plan of your Nitro 5, along with the fan speed and keyboard LED colors. But the addition of Windows 11 makes it sometimes incompatible. But you can still update your Geforce Drivers from here still, along with whatever drivers you need.

Gaming Performance

For this edition, we have gotten a bit of a downgrade from graphics when compared to our unit last year (from an RTX 3080 to an RTX 3060), but we do have the latest Intel i7 computing power on our side and 16GBs of DDR5 RAM to play with, which evens it out with its performance power.

The Nitro 5 has no problem running Cyberpunk 2077 with Ray-tracing on (at medium to make sure it reaches 60fps still) and boy does the reflections pop-out fine.

Even games like the recently released Saints Row (22) play amazing on High/Ultra without frame-drops, which can also be said for the likes of Death Stranding, Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe, and Re: Legends.

Value

At a Suggested Retail Price of 5,999 MYR, you are getting one of the better middle-ground of the new gen of Nitro 5s in the market and like its predecessors, fully equipped for the next generation of video games, software editing, or CADs, for at least 5 more years.

The memory side for this 512GB variant might get strained, due to software going upwards towards 100GBs for one singular application (looking at you two, COD Warzone and GTA V), but a simple external hard disk or additional SSD disk should suffice as usual.

Verdict

The Acer Nitro 5 is the choice for those who haven’t gotten a PS5 (or don’t plan to) but wanted something around its power range and it can do 120Hz or even 166Hz gaming easily.

It has its quirks sure, but that’s more on the software side due to being on a new operating system than anything else. So, if you have the dough and want something that’s pretty good, then there’s no better than this piece of technology.

Review Unit Provided by Acer Malaysia.