Acer Predator (Vega 56+Ryzen 2) Helios 500

It still might be worth for others to message them and request the same thing.
It sure beats filing a ticket with Acer and waiting for a reply 24 to 48 hours later.
At least this seemed like they understood what I was saying.

It doesn't hurt to ask/prompt/pest.

 

Just did a clean windows install with Acer software, latest drivers from manufacturers, etc. but the "Tuning" option under Radeon Software>Performance is missing. Anyone knows why? Is it driver incompatibility or the software is detecting that Vega56 is on a laptop? How to undervolt the GPU, MSI Afterburner?

 

Yes, its missing probably because the software is detecting V56 on a laptop (on laptops, Wattman doesn't show up by default - even if we're using desktop grade hw).
Anyway, it can be enabled using MSI Afterburner by unlocking voltage control - however, the best way to undervolt it would likely be via MSI Afterburner since Watmman on laptop is a bit unreliable (It could be a different with these new drivers, but not sure - last time I tried it, I used MSI Afterburner to undervolt or overclock).

You don't need to undervolt V56 on this laptop though.
You should actually overclock it by setting the HBM to about 900 MhZ.
Additionally, you should be able to increase the core clocks to about 1400MhZ.

Both of these shouldn't drastically increase the GPU temps.
Right now (at stock), they seem to hold steady at 65 degrees C when fully stressed (therefore, it doesn't have to be undervolted at stock).

But if you're asking whether you can overclock and undervolt at the same time... you'd be hard pressed doing that since the GPU is already well optimized in regards to voltages, so your best bet would be to either undervolt only, or overclock only.
If you overclock, as I said, you should be able to raise HBM clocks to 900MhZ and core to 1400MhZ easily without modifying anything else... that said, when I tired to undervolt using those settings, the GPU wasn't stable... so I figured if I want to more or less max out GPU performance, I couldn't undervolt it... but with the cooling in this unit, its not necessary.

 

This is not true, vega 56 in laptop is not optimized, not even close, with undervolt and overclock you can gain more than 10% and lower temps or the same temps with higher clock.

TEST1---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My old tests, maybe i have even better results now because of new tricks and new drivers, this was long time ago, who knows

Stock vs oced + 180w powertable
https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/8500191/spy/8105741

In games you can get more than 50% fps beacuse of power, some games eats more watts and on stock they drop clocks alot. Long story btw

If i compare gta 5 and battlefront 2, gta 120-130w and 100% gpu usage, battlefront 2 160-175w and 100% gpu usage.

TEST2---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stock vs oced and undervolted
https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/8105741/spy/8142023


If i remember, i think i went from 90fps to 110-115fps in gta 5, this is more than 20% just with overvolt and oc with stock 120w.
In asseto corsa i got 70-90% more fps in Nurburgring Nordschliefe beacuse of shadows and more stable clocks.

Edit 2
In blind shoot, you can oc clock to 1400mhz and hbm2 to 900mhz and -50mV, -45mV . I am sure this settings will work on all predators (or you dont have luck with vega). I tested with better tuned voltages.

Edit 3
TEST3---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you just oc without undervolting.

https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/8105567/spy/8105741/spy/8105824

Almost the same scores, look clocks in Graphic Card tab!
Remember, lower voltages, higher and stable clocks and ofc lower temps with better performance

Now with 180w powertable, i am on desktop vega 64 performance which eats much more, 300w.. I changed timings on HBM2 too which i got 2-5% more perf. It makes me smile alot because i know i have 35% slower gpu than overpriced rtx 2080 mobile super xD With new bios and new cpu, i can fill that gap and boost to 25% adventage of rtx with much better cpu than intel laptops. Faster cpu can help alot in fps department even on weaker gpus.

Edit 4

I edited alot and corrected few things because i am sleppy and soo tired. I apologize

 

I agree with xdyphx. Thanks to his power table I was able to push my laptop to 2060 or 2070 max q performance. Sometimes more for Radeon optimized titles.

https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/12606128/spy/12506702#

 

And only 3 °C difference for 13%+ more perf xD I really love vega with hbm2 ram.

I see, new drivers improve performance alot, i think i need to "refresh" my scores again xD

 

Thanks Deks and xdyphx.

Which kit would you choose: Crucial or
G.Skill

Or some plain Samsung kit?

Which is better 2x16GB or 4x8GB modules?

And what is the cheapest way to upgrade to win10 pro? I've read that I can buy an upgrade from Microsoft Store, but couldn't find it. Do I have to register and sign in or what?

 

The bigger question is, which is better, 2x16gb dual rank or 4x8gb single rank or dual rank. 4x8gb single rank is better than 2x16gb dual rank, but if you have both options in dual rank then chose 2x16gb because ryzen supports only dual channel. The real problem is, most companys wont provide which rank they run, if you want to know which rank they have then you need to ask crucial or gskill via mail. The fastest is kingston even with 2400mhz beacuse of tight timmings.

I bought licence from there, fast and cheap.
https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap/

Upgrade costs 3x more in my country via ms store.

 

xdyphx, thank you for the link. By the way which Kingston kit are you talking about?

 

This is the one of fastest ram for laptops which works in this laptop, ( its even faster than most of 3200mhz rams) but you need to put timmings manualy via ryzen master becase bios lacks few things and cant read ram profiles. 2400/2666mhz is max support for this laptop!
https://www.amazon.com/HyperX-Kingston-Technology-HX424S14IBK2-32/dp/B01BNJL8I4

But if i compare then Crucial Ballistix is the best on the market, it is 3200mhz and cl16-18-18-36, but they will not run at that speed on this laptop, maybe wont even boot xD

 

Ok, but how can you push the V56 to 180W?
Its hard-coded in the BIOS to 120W, so, not sure if I could actually change this (or how).

 

Actually you can, i made a powerplay table, look page 77 xD Have fun

 

I tried sending another question to Acer on Twitter to ask them if there has been any progress regarding the BIOS upgrade request... thus far, no reply.
Seems like they might be going back to ignoring.

 

Well color me surprised, but it seems our machine can be upgraded to 128GB RAM:
https://community.acer.com/en/discu...m-on-acer-predator-helios-500-ph517-61-r0gx-g

 

How, i think its not true, ryzen 2700 supports only 64gb. Its only possible with 3900x and up.

 

The 2700 specs on AMD website don't state its limited to 64GB.
They do mention it supports speeds of 2933MhZ though (nothing about memory capacity).

Still, wikichip apparently mentions 64GB as maximum RAM... which begs the question, how did the guy on Acer forums manage to get 128GB to work in his PH517-61

 

Yes 64gb is maximum confirmed and supported and works on all motherboards i think, but 128gb, depends. And yes, maybe pc reads all 128gb but the real question is, it is stable? I didnt saw any prof of prime 95 with 24h test.

 

Btw, currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn game...
On my vega 56 and High settings, I only get 59FPS during cut-scenes, but most of the other time during gameplay, it dips down to 25 on some occasions (usually it keeps at about 30 to 45 FPS - not overclocked).

Don't worry, I know the game lacks proper optimizations and that Vega GPU's have suffered horribly in this game... so both the developer and AMD will need to step up.


Also, I tried using MSI Afterburner to overclock the GPU, but it ended up causing problems with the core clocks... it dropped them down to 150MhZ apparently. At one point they refused to exceed 750MhZ (memory I was able to overclock) when I tried using Wattman manual override.
And on another occasion, it reads the stock core clocks fine, but every time I try to apply higher clocks, they just 'reset' (the core clocks keep resetting themselves all the time - can't raise them).

Any suggestions on how to reliably oveclock this thing to say 1450MhZ on core and 900MhZ HBM and what to use (and how)?
MSI Afterburner is not being cooperative and Wattman is even less reliable (the settings have changed so much that its become very difficult to make heads or tails out of it).

 

There's a difference between supported and possible.

When AMD were creating the Ryzen 2000 chips the biggest DDR4 modules that you could use in a consumer AM4 board were 16GB so they could only test/certify the chips for use with up to four 16GB modules (64GB). When Acer were making the Helio 500 the biggest SODIMMs around were 16GB so again they could only test/certify with up to four 16GB modules (64GB). Manufacturers are not in the habit of going back and retesting discontinued products for compatibility with newer hardware, so in both cases just because it doesn't say >64GB will work does not mean it won't hence why you see people running 128GB on a 2700.

As an example I have a NAS that Synology states supports up to 8TB of storage (2x4TB drives), that doesn't mean it can't use bigger drives it just means bigger drives didn't exist when it was on sale, it's running fine with 20TB (2x10TB).

 

Good point.
Certain posts on Reddit seem to indicate that both Zen 1 and Zen+ support 128GB RAM too.
I was under the impression that RAM support was moved to the CPU... though it would appear this only applies to RAM speeds, not necessarily capacity (which would be down to the motherboard mostly).

It would be easier if Acer simply posted a BIOS update for this laptop allowing us to use Zen 2 CPU's with support for high speed and low latency RAM too (no more of this auto-downclocking the RAM to 2133 or 2400MhZ if all 4 slots are in use, but rather max out the RAM frequency and using best possible timings that RAM supports at a given frequency).

 

Well, it looks like overclocking Vega 56 is impossible for me.
When I set core and VRAM to manual and apply the settings, apparently, core frequencies keep resetting themselves or drop to 150MhZ.
VRAM however I can adjust apparently to 900 but (again) the core frequencies in MSI afterburner drop to 150MhZ after trying to apply the settings.
And if I set in the drivers to automatically overclock core frequencies, they go up to 1370MhZ apparently, however the VRAM then keeps resetting itself to 800MhZ.

Any idea what's happening?

 

Hi guys, not exactly a technical question so hope this is allowed, but does anybody know the current going rate for one of these laptops used? I'm planning on parting with mine but there haven't been any AMD ones sold on UK eBay recently so have no idea how much to ask for.

It's a fully working unit in great condition due to very infrequent use, fitted with an extra 120GB M.2 drive plus the 1TB HDD has been replaced with a 1TB SSD, it also has the original box plus the optional Acer Predator rucksack.

 

Do you have any suggestions on how I can OC my Vega 56?
The MSI Afterburner isn't playing nice. It keeps resetting my clocks to stock.

It may be that Afterburner isn't playing nice with latest drivers for some reason... either that or I forgot to turn something on (though I don't see how... since everything is set to 'manual' in Tuning)

 

I tried installing older version of MSI Afterburner (4.4.2) and it worked.
I was able to OC the GPU to 1450MhZ core and 900MhZ HBM.

Looks like newest version of MSI Afterburner isn't working with Vega 56 as it should.

I did get a boost on Horizon Zero Dawn (though it wasn't radical) and am running it at 1080p Ultra. FPS are still much lower (around 35-45 FPS) compared to where they should be (as V56 should easily be able to hit about/over 60 FPS in this title at 2K even).

 

MSI works with new drivers, i use it all the time. OverdriveNTool works and is good, it still one of the best oc programs for AMD, Sapphire Trixx works too.

About your performance, boost wasnt radical because you hit power limit with 120w gpu even with higher clocks than stock and gpu need more headroom to breathe, all you need is to unlock power to get better gains. And with 120w limit, overclocked gpu will work better only with undervolting + overclocking, only overclock wont get you better performance.

 

For me, latest MSI afterburner isn't working properly. I don't know why... it keeps resetting the clocks.
Only the older version works fine.

To be fair, I wasn't 'expecting' a radical boost in the first place... mainly because I know Horizon Zero Dawn isn't exactly well optimized for PC in the first place and Vega gpu's have been especially hammered by it (which the devs are in the process of patching).
But even with stock (non-overclocked) Vega 56 in this machine, I should be getting well over 60 FPS at 1080p Ultra seeing how a stock Vega 56 should be getting over 60 FPS at 2K Ultra.

Anyway, I do agree I am likely hitting a power limit... I was just testing out the OC to see how it behaves. The clocks do end up dropping to about 1350MhZ if it hits 120W... but HBM stays at 900Mhz.
I will do an undervolt, but a minor one at best because I recall that I couldn't undervolt too much without crashing with an overclock on my previous Helios 500.

I'll see what I can accomplish with 120W TDP... as I likely don't necessarily need it to be more powerful.
However, you mentioned that the power mod carries some risk to it (what kind exactly?).

 

GPU gets hotter with power Mod, but not that much as long as you lift the back of the laptop for more air. Leaving GPU oced all the time may degrade the gpu, not sure about this but i've read some post about vega cards getting unstable when oced for long periods of time. For me, i just oc My gpu if I need fps boost.

Btw, anyone played new Flight Sim yet?

 

Well, I obviously don't want to fry the GPU... but given the cooling in this unit, its unlikely the GPU would suffer much/any degradation even with a continuous OC (which will also depend on how often one uses the GPU like that since the OC only kicks in when the GPU is stressed by games or productivity software in general)... sure the temps would climb up (which is understandable), but unless its running at well over 85 degrees Celsius, I don't think it would be a problem.

Right now, if the GPU is OC-ed to 1450 MhZ on core and 900MhZ HBM without the power mod, it does go up to 70-71 degrees C...
I don't think that pushing the frequencies on either core or HBM past this point would gain me much of an advantage seeing how V56 is still very capable of running pretty much all games maxed out at 2k (and our screen is 1080p).
Even with the power mod and given the needed rise in frequencies, I don't think the temps would/should go over 80 degrees Celsius.

 

The power mod helps the GPU to stabilize its clock speed. I've noticed that with undervolting my gpu with the limit, clockspeed tends to go all over the place. With the power mod, the GPU is unleashed and can clock as high as it can and a bit more stable though less efficient. I've never seen my GPU consume more than 150 watts yet it gets similar performance with a desktop stock vega 56.

 

I actually cannot OC my vega, driver crashing all the time, using 20.8.2. stable clocks=default clocks. Dunno why i always get black screen, and a few minutes later driver restarts and all my clocks got reseted. Maybe a power problem? Should i restrict it up to 20% or so?

 

I have the same problem. Have the best HBM (Samsung? Don't remember) and still can't overclock. :/

 

This could be down to the drivers.
I'm still using 20.8.1. drivers and I don't have an issue using MSI Afterburner for overclocking.
I'm not updating to newest versions until more fixes/improvements are incorporated.

 

You need to add cpu microcode to bios in order to support newer cpu.
Try ask Lost_N_BIOS for his help. He can help you update the cpu microcode and unlock bios if needed.
https://www.win-raid.com/f54-BIOS-Modding-Requests.html

 

I know a CPU microcode is needed to support new CPU's... that's why I reached out to Acer to see if they are willing to do something about it (evidently, they are not).

 

Hey guys, I was thinking on possibly doing a bit of an 'experiment' by trying to see if we can supply our BIOS on Win-Raid Forum to see if someone can put in needed microcode updates into it and unlock the thing so we could install Zen 2/Zen 3 and high speed RAM into the unit.

Now, I know someone tried to extract the BIOS before and they managed to bork the MOBO (but only because they were trying to edit it in the process apparently).
So, my question is, would just extracting the BIOS (without trying to edit or otherwise touch it) be safe?
Or can we download the BIOS from somewhere?

 

You can try it on the one I dumped, if you like:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zj5ree1bfcywcw3/H20UVE.zip?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xi5s1yef2lrlwu7/backup.zip?dl=0

Now, does anyone here know how to make soft power play tables for Navi mobile, similar to how it was done for the Vega56 mobile? I want to try it on the 5700m.

 

Which one is it?
Backup?
Btw, what about this:
https://vinafix.com/threads/acer-predator-helios-500-predator-ph517-61-bios-zgx.37111/

Its the 1.08v of the BIOS for our machine.
Would that do too?

Oh and out of curiosity... which ROM programmer is needed for our machine?
I THINK I got the correct one, but I'm not sure.

 

Yeah. The first is a utility to modify options in the bios.

Just keep in mind that the bios chip has a partition that stores your windows license, mac address, serial number, so you are probably best to just dump your own bios if you intend to later flash it. A ch341a with a 1.8v adapter and 8-pin pomona clip should work. The bios chip is located near the GPU and can be accessed without removing the heatsink. Do not try to dump the chip before removing the backup coin battery and ensuring you are properly grounded.

 

Deks wait about microcode, i will write on amd and acer when amd release the new 4000 series.

I read someone cant oc gpu on new drivers, yes i can comfirm, my powerplay table not working good with new drivers, i think i need to update with other files. Everytime when i update i need to do new powerplaytable again just for each drivers.

5700m uses the same path like 5700xt, sadly i dont have 5700m or 5700xt and i cant make a powerplay table.

 

May I ask why would AMD's release of Zen 3 series be relevant to waiting?

 

8 october for ryzen, 28 october for navi.

 

I know that, but what does it have to do with waiting with microcode?

 

I think hes trying to say its better to wait for the next release before going down that route with ryzen 3xxx since it wouldnt be much of a wait at this point.

 

You mean wait for the latest AGESA in that case.

 

Yeah I think that was what was trying to be communicated, just my take though.

 

I figured.
It might be better to wait for Zen 3 AGESA in that case and see if we can integrate that microcode into existing BIOS.

 

This!

Btw i think Kingston releases new ram modules 2 days ago with 32gb per stick which are SINGLE RANK modules which can run in dual channel. Is this even possible with 32gb? If is this true, they are the best rams on the market for laptops right now xD

Edit: i found info, they are dual rank. To bad

 

Indeed, I think waiting for AGESA that has Zen 3 would be our best bet.
Would there be a way to test it out though without... you know installing it on a live PH517-61?
I have the BIOS chip reader I got off e-bay, though in all honesty, I'm a bit scared in actually USING it .
On the other end, If I knew for a fact I could restore the BIOS in case something goes wrong, I'd probably do it... but the performance increases that will come with Zen 3 and (very likely) from being actually ABLE to run the RAM at maxed out frequencies are too good of a possibility to pass up.

Odd thing is, when I am looking (on Amazon UK) for RAM sticks to upgrade my PH517-61 to above 64GB... the 32GB (single stick) 2933MhZ RAM is cheapest of the lot.
Obviously, going with 4x16GB sticks of same speed would be cheaper still (about £90 cheaper than getting 2x32GB), but the odd thing is that Amazon charges higher rates for 32GB (single stick) rated at 2400MhZ and 2666MhZ.

I may just wait a bit more to see if prices drop further (as it was announced earlier - though I'm finding 32GB to work fine right now). I may end up getting 2x32GB in that case and just tear out the original 2x8GB Acer installed (really now... AT LEAST they could have given us easier time to access those sticks instead of having to disassemble the whole thing - OEM's should really make it simple to open up both sides of the laptop if necessary for simple maintenance and replacement of RAM if they design it by placing it directly below the kb).

 

Don't make me dream...
I guess you could test the programmer on a loose ROM to gain confidence? Most laptops have pre-burned ROMs available on ebay so it should be possible to find the exact same chip to verify the voltages and pin mapping is correct. Other than that remove batteries even the CMOS (this is from experience working on a Sony Vaio) while grounded and then verify that the clip is correctly orientated and seated before doing something. It'll be fine.

Hope that the BIOS isn't so bad it'll downclock it to 2100 or something, seen that happen in some other computers sadly. Should be possible to change timings on the SPD ROM in that case anyway.

That would make it more expensive and larger. Sadly portable workstations are the only machines that'll be made to actually support upgrades and they come with a price.
--
I think the best bet is to find a small place capable of making a custom BIOS if any still exist. Acer don't care, AMD don't care. Reverse engineering the mobo is hard without schematics but this machine is almost a standard desktop with a few exceptions so not impossible. Anyway nothing is going to happen without some money and... Well, are there enough people willing to invest any in such a project?
Really Acer have almost nothing to gain in making an upgrade for free just some publicity. They'd stand to lose money from warranty problems by extending the lifespan and would absolutely lose some to clueless noobs trying to upgrade a processor. Realistically even Acer would need to be compensated and require everyone interested to sign a contract voiding any remaining warranty _or_ doing the upgrade at their repair centers for even more money.

I absolutely love my machine and while hoping for the impossible the next upgrade is more likely a paintjob. Oh well...

 

Make you dream?
Picture Zen 3, 8c/16th at 65W with performance matching 3900x in multi-core and about 25% faster in single core (compared to Zen+ in PH517-61, you're looking at about 37% increase in IPC alone, nevermind the higher clocks).
That and being able to run the RAM at native clocks per their JEDEC ratings at least would be a tremendous boost across the board.

Pre-burned ROM's?
Oh I think I found those ROM chips with latest ROM's for PH517-61 online on ebay.
So, how would one test it out? you mean by directly flashing the modified BIOS onto that pre-burned ROM chip? If that's the case, it should be possible... but how'd we know the modified BIOS works? Is there a way to test out the BIOS without putting the ROM chip into a unit?

Actually, Acer's BIOS is pretty bad.
By using stock RAM with identical latencies and speed, and upgrading from 16GB to 32GB... my RAM speed dropped to 2133MHz (but timings went from CL17 to CL15) with all 4 slots populated.
There is a way to bring that up to 2400MhZ... using Ryzen Master... but problem with that is if you make a mistake with a setting that isn't compatible, the machine might refuse to boot (because Ryzen Master apparently writes these settings into the BIOS), and you cannot nudge the RAM speed above 2400MhZ (for some reason, Acer's BIOS implementation was stupidly short-sighted in this regard - I don't think the mobo itself is the limiting factor seeing how 2 RAM sticks working in concert can operate at speeds of 2666MhZ at least - as this was apparently tested in this machine - but with 4 sticks, it drops to 2400MhZ or to 2133 Mhz).

The 'easiest' way would be to set the timings to stock ones reported by Ryzen Master when 2x16GB ran at 2400MhZ and CL17... and while its probably possible to set it to run at CL15 and 2400MhZ, there isn't a sure-fire way of knowing whether this setting would actually work (as each and every unit tends to differ slightly).
So for now, I've left it at 2133MhZ and CL15 so I can do my college work.

But if I have a sure-fire way to restore the BIOS with the ROM chip reader I have, then I might experiment with the machine.

Why would easier access to the RAM below the kb make it more expensive and larger?
I think the whole design should be thought over and instead of using screws, both sides of the laptop casing (along with majority of components) should just 'clip' into place until they are unclipped for maintenance or upgrades.
Its not that complicated, and it would actually reduce the amount of resources used (no screws).

I love my machine too... its still quite a beast, but it would be nice if Acer bothered to optimize the BIOS at least and allowing us to max out the RAM speeds to improve general performance.
We're losing about 10% (possibly more) right now in some games. I mean its far from 'huge', but its not exactly excusable behavior for a desktop replacement of this caliber.

Did you mean, find a place that maintains/repairs computers and that would be willing to do a custom BIOS?
Not sure if those places exist (or if they ever did).

I think this may be something we need to do ourselves, but out of general curiosity, I could make a call to a computer shop and inquire if they could do this.

As for Acer... don't underestimate the power of free publicity - it would show that Acer (unlike most other OEM's) provide BIOS updates and support for longer periods of time - that would likely bring more people to them.
The only thing Acer might need to do is compile latest drivers in that case and release them too... but this isn't strictly necessary as we can do this ourselves with full blown functionality
( oh and, PRO drivers seem to have identical performance as latest Adrenaline drivers, but they are geared a lot more towards stability and Enterprise users... I might just end up switching permanently to those given the fact I'm using 3d Studio Max and content creation these days for my college course).

Also...
OEM's provide BIOS updates years after the original mobos were sold and well after the warranties expired for free (PC-wise).
Not sure what the difference here would be or why would we be obligated to compensate Acer to provide continuous support for hw they themselves made and are technically obligated to support for time to come?

Also, Acer usually provides only 1 year warranty for their laptops... well, 2 years (depending on where you buy it), so people should be made aware that updating the BIOS outside the warranty would cost money (obviously).
But Acer should in that case make sure to release a tool (software or hw based) that would allow for BIOS recovery in case of a bad BIOS flash (a user shouldn't have to return the unit on this account... tools should be made available to the general public so people can retrieve a corrupt BIOS), or design a mobo with a redundancy that would restore last functional version of a BIOS in case the new one doesn't take for whatever reason.

We still don't know if Acer encrypted the BIOS in this machine (AMD version)... which could make extracting the BIOS simple, but if we try to delete it and overwrite it with a new one (with slipstreamed latest AGESA), how do we know the encryption (if its there) wouldn't just muck everything up?

Furthermore, BIOS updates have become a necessity these days what with all the security patches that have been released and integrated into newer BIOS versions alone (having extra hw support for new CPU's is just icing on the cake).

A desktop replacement machine like ours is actually EXPECTED to have longer term support and the ability to upgrade the CPU with newer ones (especially because we also have a removable desktop grade CPU).
The fact Acer decided they didn't care (well, Zen 3 is still not out so its possible they are waiting for the new AGESA before surprising us - if only) shows that not even desktop replacement machines are exempt from being forgotten.