Acer Predator (Vega 56+Ryzen 2) Helios 500

A pity the OP in that thread didn't follow up with a more detailed report (temps, undervolting, TDP tweaking...)

 

Sure, I see your point. More detail as to what the link is about is not redundant. Having said (and this next part does not take away from your helpful suggestion) I would have thought that posting a link in a thread about a very specific topic would indeed give a clue as to what the posted link is about. However there maybe less then semi intelligent people reading this, so take no chances, spell it out in graphic detail. I concur with you on this.

Bottom line is, no one could (reasonably) argue that more information about the link is wrong, so as you suggest, far better to give more info rather then less.

Will proceed that way in future.

I really hope someone here gets that laptop soon. I almost pulled the trigger on the ASUS. Glad I waited. I dont want to keep waiting though but also dont want to buy a lemon. So we look to this forum where the guys who know what they are on about will reveal all to us. Cant wait for that.

 

By the way, apparently they ship the Ryzen Helios with only 2133mhz RAM, this will badly affect performance

https://www.4launch.nl/product/4075...MIzMGx4r3J3QIVRed3Ch1hrgsZEAYYASABEgL9d_D_BwE

 

I suppose one of us could sign up there and post questions in reply to his post...

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It's not unusual for laptops to have slower speed RAM, especially in the original build. Although IDK if faster RAM will be recognized by the BIOS, it might be worth trying, and contacting Acer for support for higher speed RAM in a future BIOS update.

Initially the 67xx / 77xx CPU laptops would only support 2133mhz memory as well, and some still haven't gotten much further, newer laptops yes, but support in older laptops hasn't changed.

It will take lots of user complaints, filing tickets with support, to get faster and broader RAM support in future laptops.

"You can have any color you want, as long as it's "Black"...Henry Ford

It's a matter of fighting the "bean counters" trying to make a price point, and with high RAM prices it's a hard sell to build in the fastest "most expensive" RAM out of the box.

There are few BIOS updates for laptops done by these companies, so I wouldn't expect the support for RAM to change in existing models, like it can for desktop motherboards.

More complaints filed via tickets could help...for future laptops. But, again, it's worth trying faster memory - if you've got the time to futz around with it. Several times I've been lucky and faster RAM has worked in laptops, but I've heard a lot reports from others that it didn't work in their (different model) laptops, so make sure you can return the RAM before you buy it.

Worse yet is single stick of RAM (or a single memory slot!) rather than pairing RAM for Dual Channel support, which is just as or more critical than RAM speed.

AMD needs to do a better job of writing into the CPU order "contract" that makers are required to provide high performance Dual Channel RAM in their AMD laptop builds.

 

Well, all laptops have "quirks", some more than others, the first of a new generation of CPU usually are the most likely to have gotcha's, and AMD along with laptop makers applying AMD CPU's / GPU's to laptops is all new too. Even established building blocks weren't available or applicable, and yet might get used, so it's a learning process.

I think most / all of the Asus guys were / are happy to be "first", even if they kvetch about the tiniest of problems - like complete motherboard failures - or catastrophic fan control failures -

That's the fun of being on the bleeding edge.

 

I understand why the OEM sells its with cheap RAM, the problem is, again, perception: I doubt if reviewers will take sufficiently into account that Ryzen is much more sensitive to lower speed RAM than 8th generation Intel. Hopefully quality resellers will offer the option of replacing the RAM with something more sensible.

I've registered at the Acer forum, btw

 

Hey that's great news, please keep us in the loop with updates from the Acer forum

It's not that the resellers don't want to offer the RAM speed upgrades, they love selling high margin RAM to customers, it's that the BIOS won't recognize the higher speed and use it - for the most part either it won't work or the higher speed RAM will still run at the forced stock speed.

The @Prema BIOS supported laptops, Clevo's for the most part - but I think there is an MSI 16L13 @Prema and @Eurocom Support BIOS's that have been modded to support higher speed RAM in those laptops.

Asus has been good about recognizing XMP settings and supporting them, but I haven't checked for a while - and I don't recall if anyone with the Asus Ryzen laptop have tried higher speed RAM.

You could inquire with Acer your intention to run faster RAM in your Helios 500 Ryzen laptop and see what they say.

It's a game of patience and politeness with support, to get your inquiry escalated through the first line of defense, up through the support manager - and across to the engineering manager and finally to an engineer with the access to check for RAM support in the BIOS - and even better, find the engineer that can push a BIOS change to support XMP or specific higher speed RAM.

https://www.google.com/search?q=SODIMM+XMP+support

It may be that the Acer BIOS already does it. Like I said before I had good luck with several laptops where I tried higher speed RAM with similar timings to the stock RAM - it helps to pick RAM from the same production series - double check the expanded list of RAM made by the stock manufacturer for higher speed sku's from the same series.

None of my queries at the time resulted in support from the laptop maker, they didn't escalate my request through to engineering, until I reported success with a particular brand / sku of higher speed memory, then someone got interested - I was offering something useful, not just asking for help - and that got the ball rolling.

RAM has gotten expensive, but it was expensive back then too, I searched around for sellers of RAM that I could work / test out RAM at their office - so I didn't open sealed RAM blister packs, I used RAM already pulled for builds, so there was no cost to them for my testing.

When the stars align you can make it happen, but if you don't have access to lots of RAM to test it's a crap shoot. I've never gotten stuck with RAM or needed to sell it after failing a test, but others have, so be prepared.

SODIMM's are different than DIMM's and there isn't as much variety at times, so that may be a limitation too, especially when we switch to DDR5 in 2019, and need to characterize all of this work all over again.

 

The Acer is not good value for what you get, for same price you can get Clevo with 8700k and 1080 MXM GPU, this is much better value, I love AMD but there no point to use AMD for mobile stuff or even desktop because AMD are slow fools, I do not believe AMD can beat the 2080 Ti amazing performance even if costly GPU it is worth the price.

Acer with the Vega 56 is also disappointing, why would you want this? I can put the 1070 in my Clevo P150EM and get better results using the proper 150W MSI card instead of the ****ty throttled Eurocom 1070.
The Acer Predator also has horrendous I/O options, no SD card slot, are you serious?? Why put a 8 core CPU in a laptop and market it for gamers?? I expect 8 cores in a workstation laptop not a gaming laptop yet Acer did this because it makes no sense, its bad choices.
It also has horrendous storage options, only one 2.5 inch slot with no slot for anything else, even Clevo today has at LEAST two slots for 2.5 inch in their 15 inch notebooks, 15 INCH come on Acer.
This is clearly a laptop marketed for gaming, its useless for workstation use, no storage options, only has two M2 slots which is wank, even 13 inch laptops have more these days. It also has ****ty I/O port so you cannot use this laptop for workstation tasks, you need to have SD card slots and lots of USB ports.

Ryzen 5 is maximum you would want to go for gaming only, Ryzen 7 is not made for gaming but for workstation use, the only game I even know about that uses 8 cores is BF1, not even BFV uses 8 cores anymore, even the Asus laptop with Ryzen first gen has Ryzen 5 option alongside 7 yet Acer does not.

 

I guess you're the type that only plays one game at a time?

You need more than 2TB on a single HDD for a local system? I mean I understand why someone might want more, I have 10TB on my m4600 but its my plex server.

workstations are going to USB-C for docks/hubs so its not surprising to see less I/O built in.

Saying Ryzen 7 isnt for gaming but 5 is, is a little ridiculous when they are in fact the same die. They have all the same capabilities save for core / thread count. The Battlefield example is a bit moot, as anyone getting 8 cores to also game on very likely do more than JUST game. Stream, surfing the web, watching video content. Its a computer, not a terminal.

I must be the exception I guess.

 

This would be a great rig for multiboxing WoW. Having a better GPU is great for increasing visual quality, but having as many cores as possible goes a long way to reducing lag in raids or other intensive scenarios.

For awhile I ran a dual xeon hex core box to 10-box, and have enough extra CPU to stream at the same time.

This machine may also be tempting for Linux purists who do not want the Nvidia binary driver.

 

I was wanting to learn my way around game dev stuff so I was looking at this laptop but for the time being I really should just get my Ranger fully outfitted first. that way I dont need to bring two laptops when I go teach in S. Korea. Carrying 4 laptops last time was doable because the need was there but its not something I desire if I can plan around it lol.

I forgot about multi-boxing WoW, thats an easy example for sure.

For me I ran into issues when I was playing R6: Siege and when waiting for a match to be found I would work on passive skills in Black Desert Online. My 2500k @ 5.0Ghz couldnt handle it.

 

I actually accelerated my HDD using 64GB of my 1TB SSD just to put even more games on it so yes I do have quite the library I find myself playing all the time.
Regardless of the argument, it is 17 inch, has only one 2.5 inch option and two M.2 storage options.

The Acer cost 1999 dollars yet has less I/O than a Clevo which features SD card reader one of the fastest ones in fact, THUNDERBOLT USB-C 3.1 gen 2, the Acer features ONLY USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 so you are stuck with 10 gbps bandwidth instead of thunderbolt enabled 40 gbps, most pro docks need thunderbolt to function properly they do sell dock for regular USB-C 3.0 and 3.1 but why should I need dongles for everything?? This is a PC not a Mac, why come Clevo still has room for four USB 3.0/3.1 and two USB-C ports, with thunderbolt yet the Acer can only do two USB 3.1 ports and two USB-C ports?? This laptop is very thick and has plenty of space for more I/O, Acer just do not want to spend more money than they have to. (Yes I know thunderbolt is almost exclusive to Intel, curse those greedy blue trolls)

Ryzen 7 is a poorer choice for gaming this is a fact, it is not to say Ryzen 7 cannot game this is false I have it myself and I game on it all the time running it at 4.9GHz like nothing, however the Ryzen 7 is more expensive than Ryzen 5 when the 5 series does the job just as well in gaming as the 7 does, why put an 8 core in a laptop that is specifically aimed towards gamers? It even says it is in their advertisement.


Also for the same price of this Acer sorry excuse of a gaming laptop which retails for 1999 dollars or more depending on your region, you can get a Clevo P751TM1-G with an i7-8700k and a 1080, yes this is a fully upgradable laptop but its a 15 inch form factor! This one has two slots for 2.5 inch drives, AND two M.2 slots, this is a 15 inch laptop yet has more drive slots.

My final killing blow to this overpriced crap, 74Wh battery, THE CLEVO HAS 82Wh. WHAT?!?!??!!? 15 inch, more slots, upgradable GPU and CPU, yet has bigger battery, un FFF believable.
I love AMD but Christ, I despise branded junk that is horseshit value and from the very few reviews that are out there of the chassis, it is not of a good build quality just to add that in there worse than Clevo? I would argue yes while Clevo may not make chassis as high quality like Asus and Alienware they are at least VERY rugged and my P150EM still hold up today after 6 years of use.

 

the lack of thunderbolt is due to Intel.

The P150EM is a fine machine but Clevo would be hot garbage like everything else if Prema wasnt around. I had a P157SM-A and immediately hated the keyboard. Basically unusable, but thats a preference. Now it overheats in my brothers room, but inclined to think its because he's ignorant. The other issue though, was that optimus on Windows 10 ruined frame times. Its why if my laptop cant do PEG, it wont be my laptop for long.

Your issue is with the market demand, if the market demanded SD cards they would still be on every laptop, but they're not. Its cheaper on the manufacturer to offer less and have the consumer buy the dongle for the people that need it. Im not saying I like it, but its what they are doing and the market is still supporting the behavior.

The video basically showed 1-2 FPS difference between the two chips so I am not sure how an 8 core is worse at gaming. Specifically for gaming while streaming which is what Ryzen was marketed towards not to mention running multiple titles at once, I dont treat my pc as a terminal, its a computer that is capable of doing more than one thing.

A colleague who also owned the P751TM-G immediately sold it because the CPU ran too hot. Also you dont know if its upgradeable until the next gen is released and people can test for it. Does it have the potential? Sure, but compatibility is an unknown factor that you are already using as a selling point.

To be frank I would be happier with a 10Wh battery if it meant more cooling. I removed the battery out of my Ranger immediately after getting it. Its a DTR at 17", at least thats how I look at it.

There are flaws for sure, but the rose colored glasses for clevo isnt going to help your argument.

 

I get your point, my point on the 8 core was that it costs more while not really giving much benefit over Ryzen 5, for a laptop designed to do gaming it is cheaper and more cost effective for end user to choose the Ryzen 5 version, however Acer does not offer this laptop with a Ryzen 5 which is a shame because it could have been reasonable priced if this was the case.
Also there very little data on how well this Acer handles heat with the Ryzen 7 2700 and the Vega 56, Clevo machines are enthusiast machines and have always been that way, there is no rose tinted glasses here, this is hard scientific data, the Clevo is a better value, to argue Acer is comparable is not correct it is poor value for what you get.

It is not AMD's fault for the poor results of the Acer laptop, it is Acer's fault for poorly implementing AMD hardware into a laptop, in the perfect Utopia we would have Alienware laptops with socketed Ryzen CPU's and Vega 56 on MXM cards, but reality is not like this, we must look at the Acer with a critical view, it is poor value in fact for lower price you can get same chassis with BGA Intel CPU and soldered GTX 1070, how is it justisfable to charge more for less performance?? Makes no sense, if they put the Ryzen 5 in there like I said the laptop would have been the better choice for uninformed consumers rather than sticking with cheaper Intel based chassis.

Also the 8700k uses toothpaste under the IHS, you are literally blaming Clevo for Intel problems, delid the 8700k in fact most Clevo retailers offer to do this for you, to gain vastly better thermals, you cannot blame an issue that Intel created to begin with on Clevo who designed a thermal solution for 95W when the 8700k has thermal output of a 130W CPU because its literally using toothpaste between core and IHS. Liquid metal it and drop 20 degrees right away.

 

Shouldnt have to void the warranty to have the 8700k run optimally, thats a nonstarter counter point. You can buy a 3rd party warranty sure but you're basically encouraging the behavior.

Clevo's are enthusiast machines that have a reputation for warped heatsinks and without Prema have terrible sBIOS implementations, thats also hard fact.

Ryzen 5 may not have better use than the ryzen 7 but thats for you.

 

You still void Intel warranty when you delid it, but what other choice do you have?
And yes, there no such thing as perfect machines, today Alienware is all soldered bollocks, MSI has questionable practises and Clevo is neither perfect but at least they offer you the choice of user upgradability, when you build a desktop you have no warranty either apart from on the parts themselves.

Acer still uses the AM4 socket, which puzzles my mind why there no Ryzen 5 choice and only a Ryzen 7 choice, but like people said earlier, market for AMD Ryzen laptops is not that great despite superior thermals to a 8700k.

 

Its not a choice of upgradeability, its a chance and thats why I think you are looking at this through rose colored glasses.

If it released with ryzen 5 people would be wondering there is no 7 especially with the 2600 and 2700 share the same TDP.

Regarding voiding warranty and what choice you have, you can vote with your wallet. You continue to buy then you continue to support.

 

I'm a Clevo fan. I'll order the P775TM1, hopefully in a week's time.

You cant' find a p775TM (17inch) or P751TM (15inch) with a 8700K and a gtx1080 for §2000. If you do, please let me know the reseller :-D The Clevo in the same price category would be the PA71ES, which is a totally different product.

 

Eurocom has it for around that price, they are called Sky series, you have to strip parts away from it like harddrive and leave only one M.2 SSD, and no OS. Still its not like its hard to add those at later date though, I recommend to have the 8700k delided though whether you do it yourself or have them do it for you.

 

I'm familiar, of course, with Eurocom. A configuration that resembles the helios 500 costs about $2500. You can check it here:

Base
System and Display EUROCOM Sky X7C
Choose your LCD Display 17.3-inch (43.9cm); 60Hz; FHD 1920x1080; Matte; IPS; 300nts; 700:1; 72% NTSC; eDP 30pin; LP173WF4 SPD1
G-Sync Technology with NVIDIA G-SYNC™
Display Calibration Optional - choose from the options below:
eXpansion Modules for 2-3 External Displays None - Choose from the options below
VGA / GPU Graphics Options 8GB GDDR5; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (desktop); 2048 CUDA; N17E-G2; MXM 3.0
GPU Heatsink - Thermal Paste IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound for Maximum Performance
BIOS Options Standard BIOS
Processor / CPU 3.7GHz (up to 4.7GHz) Intel Core i7-8700K; 6C/12T; 12MB L3; 14nm; Coffee Lake; LGA1151; 95W
CPU Heatsink - Thermal Paste IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound for Maximum Performance
Memory (RAM) Configuration - Fully Upgradeable 16GB; 2x 8GB; DDR4; PC4-2400; CL17; 260-pin; Micron; 1.2V; 2 SODIMMs
Operating System(s) Microsoft Windows 10 Professional; 64-bit; OEM; with DVD and USB key
Choose Your Keyboard (Language) US English; QWERTY; Backlit
Office and Business Productivity Software None - Choose from the options below
RAID Options: M.2 PCIe/M.2 SATA/mSATA Storage None - Choose from the options below:
Internal M.2 (2280) SSD Storage; 22mmx80mm 250GB; M.2 SAMSUNG 850 EVO; SSD; SATA3; R/W: 540/500 MB/s
Internal M.2 (2280) SSD Storage; 22mmx80mm Choose your SSD M.2 type 2280 (80x22mm) from the options below:
RAID Options: HDD/SSD Storage None - Choose from the options below
1st Hard Drive. Choose Regular HDD, SSD or Hybrid SHDD: *** Without Hard Drive; with HDD bracket included ***
2nd Hard Drive Choose your 2nd HDD/SSD/SHHD from the options below:
External Optical Drive None - Choose from the options below
Internal Card Reader 6-in-1 Card Reader; MMC/RSMMC/SD/MiniSD/SDHC/SDXC; UHS-II interface
Biometric Device Built-in Fingerprint Reader
Embedded Security Chip Embedded TPM 2.0 Security Chip for Data Encryption
TV Tuner (Internal and/or External) None - Choose from the options below
Wireless LAN 2-in-1: 802.11b/g/n WLAN + Bluetooth 4.0 Combo; M.2 2230; Realtek RTL8723BE
Built-in Web Camera 2.0 Megapixels; Webcam; Built-in
HDMI Port(s) HDMI 2.0 Output Port
Thunderbolt Port 1x Thunderbolt 3 (via USB 3.1 type C)
Standard Battery (internal) 8-cells Smart Li-lon Battery
Standard AC Adapter 330W AC Adapter; Auto-switching; 100-240V; 50-60Hz; DC 19.5V @ 16.9A
Standard Power Cord - included USA / Canada
Carrying Case None - Choose from the options below
Choose Your Warranty Plan 1 Year Return to Factory Depot with 1 Year of Tech Support

Currency: $ USD
Price: $2,529
Shipping: Choose $0
Quantity: 1
Sub Total: $2,529
Tax: None [0%] $0
Total: $2,529

To
Email: *** Cc:
Name: *** Phone:

From
Email: [email protected]
Name: Phone:


Message:
Price quote

Email: [email protected] Phone: 1-877-EUROCOM (387-6266) x 1 / 613-224-6122 x 1

* Edit: you have to subtract the surplus cost for Windows Professional from the quote. The Helios comes with Windows Home, if I'm correct. Still, you pay around §500 more and this is with a gtx1070, not a gtx1080, as you originally claimed

 

Well it IS Eurocom after all, they overcharge on everything.

 

Yes, they're not the cheapest. Still, if you find a reseller that offers a P775TM with 8700K, gtx1080, 16GB, 250GB SSD, win10 home, etc. for $2000, let me know

 

Strange how I am getting 1700 euros for it.
http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(2,431,0)SkyX4C

The Acer is over 2 200 euros in Europe, 1 985,83 euros for a Clevo from PC Specialist with 8700k and 1080 I just checked.
Again if you really want to save pennies, buy barebone of the chassis and get the GPU and CPU from taobao and save plenty as Bhiner will ship it however fast you want it.

Also if you think Eurocom is expensive, perhaps you should familiarise yourself with XMG, Asus, MSI, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Razer, Apple and many more.
MSI GT73VR 7RF-408NE in Norway, for 2 483 euro with VAT, 200 - 300 euros more for extra performance on a brand computer like MSI compared to that Acer, is not bad deal and not that much difference for a Norwegian but it just shows you the MSI tax on it, 500 more than a Clevo of similar spec list.

Also, Windows 10 is free to use without activation, you do not HAVE to pay for it, Microsoft lets you use it however you like with some features locked down, so basically you buy that Acer you also pay the Microsoft tax on top of it.
GPU is soldered to the board and you cannot upgrade it, in the Clevo AND the MSI you can upgrade the GPU to RTX 2080 MXM if it would appear in the future, if you like to do so.

 

Eurocom is not a prema partner, so thats an automatic non-starter.

 

@SMGJohn Show me a quote of your Eurocom configuration like I did. Can you give me the link to the PC Specialist offer?

And in any case, why are you comparing the 17 inch helios to the X4c (15inch, P751TM), you should compare it to the X7c (17 inch, P775TM).

 

Hey guys, if you want to buy Acer with soldered Vega on its motherboard, pay 2000 dollars or so for it, with limited memory bandwidth, cheap Acer plastics, go ahead I went to the store today just to have a look at it, LOL well lets just say they keep using the same plastic they use for every darn laptop they ever made. Keyboard is pretty okay though and the touchpad is, well is an Acer touchpad gets the job done I suppose.
Speakers were also okayish, standard laptop speakers I have never really heard a laptop with good speakers, not even the Alienware's have good laptop speakers.

Display is very nice though but its nothing that stands out, its clearly a TN panel so colours will suffer and blacks are more like grey, good enough for most people.
Overall, okay laptop by the feel and look of it, sadly the greedy storemanager did not let me do anything with the software.
If you think its worth buying then go for it, do not let me stop you people, I have owned 3 Acer laptops in my life, all 3 went back to Acer for repairing their junk of a motherboard, one laptop went back literally 7 TIMES because it kept breaking, out of those 7 times it had 4 motherboard replacements, this was all under warranty.

1070 outperforms the bottlenecked Vega 56 in that laptop, and good deal of 1070 laptop is at least 30% cheaper than it.

 

I'm not buying it, I'll be buying a P775TM with a gtx1080

I'm just interested in how it performs, hopefully we'll get a NBC review soon.

 

The feeling is mutual, I may not be getting this but I hope it does well we need more options in the market.

Its clear John doesnt like the laptop but unfortunately wasnt able to test or look into anything of interest.

 

Looks like custom Vega 56 in the Acer is not yet supported by AMD and must rely on Acer drivers, no Wattman and no ReLive.
https://community.amd.com/thread/232249

Hopefully AMD fixes this soon, oddly enough Wattman DID work on the Rx 480 (Laptop), I also had Wattman (OverDrive) on my 7970M and the M290X(HD 8970M)

There was a forum post as well on Community AMD about the laptop overheating, that one was promptly removed, the guy had overheating issues on the Vega, I did not get to see the answers before it was removed. Not trying to stir up stuff, just reporting back what VERY little I could find on this laptop, because there no reviews yet strangely not even in Norwegian tech websites which usually loves AMD stuff.

Another forum post with some small details.
https://community.acer.com/de/discussion/548731/release-datum-acer-predator-helios-500-ryzen-bekannt

 

GTX 1060, 15.6" 60Hz no G-sync, no OS. Add GTX 1070, 144Hz G-sync and Windows Home... More expensive.
Plus taxes and fees.

With similar specs I get it to be €2463 while the Acer goes for €1999.

 

Has anyone seen any reviews or know anyone who has the damn thing? I talked to a few Germans who bought it but they "refuse" to do undervolt or overclock the Vega 56 in fact they are REALLY vague on everything for some reasons could just be laziness.
Its been 4 weeks since it launched here in Norway and nothing, not an ounce of reviews, tried asking on Norwegian computer forums, and no one know anyone who got one, in fact the in stock numbers on all the sites that sell it are the same as they were on launch day.
It says I can buy one, pay later and free returns within 60 days no questions asked, interesting it almost makes me want to just order it just to test it because no one else wants to it seems.
Only problem if I do this I cannot take it apart, I can only bench it, try some really safe overclocks and undervolts to push the Vega but some users report there no OC ability in the AMD control panel.

If you guys really interested in this, I could go on about it, and I have it in 3 days because the store that sells it here wont let me return it without a REALLY good reason.

@Megol
I honestly do not care, I stated the prices I got you can sugar coat or debunk them all you want, the important thing here is to test the laptop and see how wrong or how right I am, and to be perfectly clear with you, I hope I am VERY wrong in terms of how it performs, because a good AMD laptop has always been my dream, I used to droll over those super expensive Clevo Athlon laptops back in the day with crossfire ATi mobility GPU's.
And its also very clear that the last good socketed AMD laptop was that cheapo laptop from MSI with that AMD APU + M290X MXM that performed like a i7-920XM but is from 2013.

 

That msi laptop had a terrible chipset which bogged down the entire system. For certain it was a poor system.

Looking forward to more information but most importantly looking forward to how manipulative the system is. Being able to manipulate the tdp of the 2700 is a given but waiting to see if the tdp of the Vega 56 is on the table. That's the crux of the laptop. Assuming everything else about the system is above board.

 

"I'm afraid the AMD version won't be rolled out anymore. In Germany it is not longer listed with Notebooksbilliger. Not even for preorder. Otherwise, it is apparently nowhere else to get. For USA I wouldn't have high hopes. But for sure only Acer knows (maybe)."

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/548709/release-date-for-predator-helios-500-with-ryzen/p1

 

In Belgium the Ryzen Helios is €150 more expensive than the Intel Helios, by the way :-/

https://www.vandenborre.be/laptop-tablet-pc-of-2-in-1-hybride/acer-predator-helios-500-ph517-61-r6aa
https://www.vandenborre.be/family/acer-predator-helios-500-ph517-51-75xt-full-ignition

 

Well Komplett.no have two fewer machines listed than they had before, 7 now, 9 when first becoming available. Which shows that there isn't much interest in these of course.

The interesting thing for me is actually seeing things like if there are two M.2 sockets available, the Ryzen 2700 is a known thing and the Vega 56 is almost a known thing assuming it is a power optimized version of the desktop chip. So the GTX 1070 is faster and the i7 8750HQ will be faster for single threaded workloads, acceptable for me to avoid Intel if the design is otherwise good (the Meltdown exploit and the PR with lies following it _really_ pisses me off).

While I of course would be interested in some real testing it wouldn't feel right with you taking a risk - however slight - if you isn't doing it for your own sake.

I agree that the important thing is someone testing the thing properly, hoped notebookcheck would do the right thing as their tests while not perfect (what is) is systematic and allows comparisons with other machines. While they have reviewed 2 Intel versions of the Helios 500 they seem not too interested in reviewing the AMD version - a bit strange. Or not, standard operating procedure in the PC world - don't talk about AMD, don't compare with AMD or Intel may have to increase costs for some manufacturers...

Didn't want to debunk anything BTW just reporting what I saw when looking at those sites. For instance the Helios 500 have a FHD 144Hz G-sync/FreeSync screen which is at a premium, not important for me but I imagine gamers would choose that.

 

I'll be getting my hands on this model next week, ordered one today as I got negative answer back from the customs here in Norway on a clevo I wanted to import. Will post my thoughts and a in depth review when I receive it and get to play with it.

Sent fra min SM-N960F via Tapatalk

 

Well looks like we have to wait... my order got cancelled and I'm waiting for a answer on why? They have removed the ryzen model from the web shop also. I'll keep you all updated. I hope it's not a complete lineup removal...

Sent fra min SM-N960F via Tapatalk

 

Acer has been weird for a while now with cutting edge model releases, sparse shipments, drawn out release, yet strangely still shipping months and years later still, IDK what to think - I am hoping they are mimicking Asus's actions of a while ago, testing the market, tuning the design, then finally delivering down the road.

It makes you wonder if they are stalling to get into a new design for a new CPU / GPU - AMD has been releasing new higher wattage mobile CPU's - which fit better into the thermal headroom of laptops better than desktop CPU's.

I'd keep pursuing outlets to get what you want, don't wait on a particular vendor, just find them in stock and pounce on it, that seems to work best for those I've seen successfully get one of the hard to find / get Acer's.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop on your progress.

 

Yeah I agree, something is up since the germans also removed it from the stores (source: Acer forums). I was going for the GT75 from msi when I saw this. To be honest the AMD CPU and gpu is the only reason for going with Acer as I once worked for a service center repairing Acer laptops under warranty. Though it seems like they got better overall these last years.

I was a huge fan of AMD (fanboy lol) back in the day, so I really want to test them in laptops again. I am still awaiting answer from komplett and I will post here afterwards. If it's not coming for sale anymore I will go for the MSI...

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Not good news. Translated it means they are not sure this laptop will be available for sale any time soon. If or when the laptop becomes available they will be adding it to the shop again. Pretty standard reply but nothing about the laptop being recalled from Acer.

FYI: This was the only shop in Norway who had this laptop listed.

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For anyone looking for a link to buy the Ryzen Helios 500, 2 versions are listed in stock from the Hungarian acer site: https://www.acershop.hu/acer-laptop-termekek/acer-laptop/?search=ryzen helios

 

Komplett sold them out in a blink of an eye and delisted them shortly after for some reasons, this Acer might just be a small production scale of a couple of thousands.

 

Yeah I am awaiting answer from Acer Norway also. Seems like there is a limited production, maybe to see if the market shows some interest. Was also removed from many European countries just after a few units sold.

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Was waiting for a review of the final unit and finally someone tested it.
A little bit disappointed that it has been confirmed that it performs worse than the GTX 1070.

There are 4 Acer Shops near me and 2 of them have this laptop in stock ready for pick up, I honestly did not expect that other EU countries have such a huge stock issue with this model.

 

I would think since this is the first laptop with this CPU and GPU combo they probably went the safe route. If I could get my hands on this, I would most definitely unlock the bios to overclock GPU and also put way faster RAM in this bad boy.

Hopefully they didn't completely shut down the possibility of getting the Vega up to desktop class performance. Seems like they just cut the extra power to the card, most likely a firmware/bios modification...

I got the tools to dump the bios and get it unlocked, I just need the laptop lol. Never thought I would be so sad to not get a Acer product...

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Problem 1) This laptop is using Insyde BIOS so modding it is not as simple as an AMI BIOS. Possible, but if you can get a laptop, be prepared that it will not be as simple as modding an ASUS laptop.
Problem 2) I am 99% sure that the BIOS chip is write protected. This means you need to disassembly the laptop, remove the BIOS chip and flash the modded BIOS with an SPI programmer. You can leave the chip in the motherboard, but not recommended, because the SPI programmer might damage the board. Even for dumping the BIOS is the best and safest method to use an SPI programmer. Yes, new laptops are like the Pascal VGAs, you can mod the BIOS, but can not flash it, only with an SPI programmer.
Problem 3) Acer likes using it, so there is a high chance that the BIOS is stored on a XMC QH128AHIG chip. The problem with this is that the most popular SPI programmer, the TL866 does not support this chip (It can read it to dump the BIOS but writing is not possible with it).

To be safe, you might want to get an RT809F programmer, this should support this chip. But be aware, many sellers on Ebay are selling "pirated" versions and since these programmers are technically hardware keys, the software might detect if you have a "copy" and might not work.

 

Yes I am aware of this. Worked in a Acer repair center a few years back. It's not 99% sure, it's 100% sure the bios is write protected haha. I got the tools, but yeah I would have to use a soic clip on tool and a USB programmer. Done this many times before. But don't know how long I want to wait for this laptop being available. Needed a workhorse laptop yesterday =(

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Ok so they are coming back, don't know if I can wait that long, but at least it seems like they are upping the production.

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From the ACER forums

Temperatures after one hour of Tomb Raider, max. settings, no undervolting:



"I played Tomb Raider a bit longer now. 50 minutes with fan on auto and 30 minutes on max. The temperature of the CPU at auto never went above 78 centigrade. At max it went down to well below 60. The GPU stayed at auto always around 70 and at max down to about 51 centigrade. All in all I am very satisfied."