The HP Spectre lineup has been one of the lightest and sleekest laptops available in the market. The lineup’s signature thickness paired with the extended functionality makes it one of the more versatile laptop lineups out there. However, if there was one feature that was lacking – it would be the lack of graphics prowess. Yes – there are options with NVIDIA’s GTX graphics but that’s hardly enough for creators.
Source: HP
The new HP Spectre x360 16 changes that with the inclusion of NVIDIA’s RTX3050 Laptop GPU. Yes – that’s right, the new laptop comes with an entry-level RTX 30 series GPU. It’s also the largest screen available in the lineup with a whopping 16-inch display. The 16:10 display has options that range all the up to a UHD+ OLED display. It comes certified with VESA True Black HDR and is calibrated for colour accuracy. It’s also near borderless with 91% coverage of the panel.
HP has also enhanced the camera of the Spectre x360 16. You’ll be able to use AI-enabled algorithms to touch up your appearance with Beauty Mode. You can also stay in frame when you need to get up to get the blood flowing again with the Auto Frame feature. The AI also enables a myriad of features that many will find useful; for instance, the device will lock as soon as you walk away and wakes when you return. It will also blur the active screen when someone is looking over your shoulder.
Source: HP
Along with the graphics prowess, the new HP Spectre x360 16 comes equipped with Intel’s 11th generation Core i7 Processor. It also comes with support for the latest WiFi technology – WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. The best part? It comes with a full complement of ports with everything from microSD to HDMI to USB-C and Thunderbolt. It also has compatibility with the HP Pen.
Pricing & Availability
The HP Spectre x360 16 2 in 1 Laptop will be available starting in October 2021. It will be priced starting at USD$1,639 (MYR6,869.69).
What do you get when you need a multipurpose tool that you can have fun with, be productive with, be creative with, and does not break the bank? In 2021, that means you get an NVIDIA® GeForce RTXTM 3050 gaming laptop. While most will tell you that building a gaming desktop PC is usually the way to go when you want a powerful tool that could fit the bill for entertainment, creativity, and productivity, a gaming laptop could make a little more sense in these times.
The question now is not whether or not you should get a gaming laptop. You still have a tough decision ahead though. In the sea of gaming notebook PCs in the market, which one would be the right one for you?
For all the consideration above, the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 30 Series powered HP Pavilion Gaming 15 might be the one for you.
Source: HP
Experience Modern Gaming with NVIDIA
Despite its “entry-level” moniker, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 still packs plenty of punch, equipped with a rather powerful NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050. The new award-winning NVIDIA Ampere architecture on NVIDIA’s 2nd Generation RTX Architecture is also a large step up from the previous generation’s platform. That means you are getting a lot more performance for your money in this department.
Being a part of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX family also means you have access to NVIDIA’s game changing technologies. You can experience Ray Tracing for the most realistic gaming experience with ultra-realistic lighting and reflection models. You get NVIDIA DLSS technology too to optimise your gaming performance. The OMEN Command Center ensures that gaming is an uninterrupted and immersive experience by prioritising what is important to you.
The GPU powers a modest Full HD 144Hz display measuring at 15.6-inch. The IPS panel also means that the display projects bright, vivid colours that could benefit in both gaming and working situations. While the display may not be the highest resolution or fastest available, it also means that the internal hardware can take full advantage of the display’s 144Hz refresh rate.
Of course, the GPU alone cannot be handling everything required for a game to run at high frame rates. To really optimise the gaming experience, you need a powerful CPU to pair with. You get to choose between up to an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 or an AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPU.
Source: HP
Of course, with powerful hardware, gaming is just half the story. The stealthy, Shadow Black colour scheme and design language of the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 allows it to blend in at your workplace. It is thin and light to as well, meaning moving it from home and to work is not a chore.
The Powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 paired with a powerful CPU from either Intel or AMD allows you to easily work across any creative software with ease. Need to edit a video using Adobe’s Premiere Pro, no sweat. Need to get a photo edited quickly with a combination of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, done. With up to 16GB in RAM (8GB x 2), no creative task is too great for the HP Pavilion Gaming 15.
At the end of the day, when it is time to take a break from the hustle and bustle, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 comes equipped with powerful speakers tuned and designed by Bang & Olufsen. The powerful audio drivers come with a built-in discrete amplifier to make the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 a true entertainment powerhouse. With the B&O sound system, you can cast your worries away with soothing music. Or, when the mood takes you, you can get immersive audio and graphics while battling with your friends in Doom Eternal and Rainbow Six: Siege. When the hustle and bustle of competition gets a little tiring, you can go into titles like Minecraft, and even Red Dead Redemption 2 to get some peace and quiet.
The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is now available in Shadow Black accented with an Acid Green LED backlit keyboard. You can get the new HP Pavilion Gaming 15 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 and AMD Ryzen 5 5000 series for MYR 3,899 onward via their website.
ASUS has been on a roll lately with smaller form factors, new features and augmented experiences making their way to their laptop lineup. Not too long ago, the company announced a slew of new laptops which would define their offerings for the coming year. One of their new offerings announced was the new Zephyrus M16, the latest entry into the Zephyrus M series which comes under the Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand.
The new Zephyrus M16 is the first laptop in the series that offers a larger, 16-inch display in what is typically a body for a 15-inch laptop. In addition to the larger display size, the Zephyrus M16 comes with a chassis that is 5% smaller than the previous Zephyrus M15. In addition, it’s also more powerful than before with the 11th generation Intel Core i9 processor paired with NVIDIA’s latest RTX 30-series graphics cards.
Coming in at slightly under 2kgs, it’s also one of the lightest gaming laptops – barring the ROG Flow – currently available. It also comes with 1TB of SSD storage with an extra slot for added memory. This paired with up to 32GB of RAM out of the box will definitely give you an edge over your gaming competition.
You can get the full details in our detailed write up of the international announcement.
Pricing & Availability
The new Zephyrus M16 is now available for the Malaysian market. The configuration sporting the RTX3060 is already available for purchase with official price set at MYR8,999 (USD$2,133.40*). The more powerful configuration with the RTX3070 will be available in August for MYR11,999 (USD$2,844.72*).
*Conversion rate taken from Xe.com on 19 July 2021 at 1 USD = 4.21799 MYR
Like any other good PC brand out there, Acer is one that houses several brands to serve different market segments. Acer houses, of course, Acer itself to sell computers for the general market, the lifestyle people and general office use. It also houses ConceptD, a new concept brand to serve the content creator or the creative industry with super quiet, super powerful, and super industrial computing solutions. Then there is Predator, the skunkworks, as we call it; that serves the gaming industry with souped up machines that looked like they could take you to the moon.
What we are reviewing here is nothing like a Predator machine, at least not in terms of concept or branding perspective. That is because it is not a Predator machine. It is an Acer machine but made for gaming anyway under the Nitro name. Oh yes, Acer has the Nitro namesake for its entry-level gaming line-up of products.
The Acer Nitro 5 has been Acer’s staple entry-level gaming laptop since they launched it a few years ago. In the market, the Acer Nitro 5 was also regarded as one of the best value-for-money machines you can get for gaming and content production. While it does not feature the most powerful components, it was plenty powerful for gaming as long as you do not expect Ultra graphics settings in games.
Here is the thing though, 2021 is a little different for Acer. It is also a different year for AMD. AMD is finally in a leading position in high-performance computing solutions after many years. They have made ultra-powerful CPUs that is loved by both the gaming and creator market. Acer decided that the powerful AMD processors should find a home in the Nitro 5 series and the Acer Nitro 5 for 2021 is born. Is it any good though? Should you buy it? We find out.
Design
The Acer Nitro 5’s shell in 2021 does still resemble the old Nitro 5. The angles are all in the same places, and the vents are largely similar in size and placements. Its dimensions did not change too much too.
Of course, there are some key visual differences between the older model and the new 2021 variant in terms of design. For one, the brushed aluminium look of the display shell is no more. It is now a semi-gloss finish. The power tappers running on both depths of the display shell is also gone. The glossy blacked out Acer logo remains from the previous generation Acer Nitro 5 though.
Instead, on the shell is now a Predator-esque lines that stems out from the bottom of the display shell. We would not call it a power bulge, maybe power lines. Instead of the regular red Nitro branding plate is now the same semi-gloss black finish as the display shell, while the Nitro print is red in colour, true to the Nitro theme colour.
While the keyboard is largely similar to the older Nitro 5, there is now proper RGB on the keyboard. We admit, it is not a per-key RGB, it is a four-zone RGB. Still, any RGB is good. Other than that though, the interior of Acer’s latest “entry-level” gaming laptop has remained very similar to before with the thin bezels and the semi-gloss black plate on the keyboard side.
The vents are also laid out differently now on the Acer Nitro 5. The have moved most of the I/O expansion slots further south of the device to make room for side exhaust vents on both sides. The rear vent however is not a single large vent anymore that stretches the width of the notebook. It is now split in two smaller vents with a quite a large red plate in the middle. It now looks a little bit like a mid-engine supercar, to be honest, especially with the charging port at the back too. We quite like the look, to be fair.
Hardware
The Acer Nitro 5 2021 is a very different beast compared to the ones that came before. We would not call the Nitro 5 that we have at hand “entry-level” anymore. There is no other way to put it, it is a high-end gaming PC, on paper at least.
Specifications
Acer Nitro 5 (2021)
As Tested
Processor (clock)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (Octa-Core@3.2~4.4GHz)
GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
Display(s)
15.6-inch IPS (2560 x 1440 QHD) Narrow Bezel
Memory
512GB NVMe PCIe Gen 3 SSD 16GB DDR4 RAM (8GB x 2)
Networking and Connections (I/O)
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C 3 x USB 3.2 Type-A 1 x 3.5mm AUX 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x Ethernet Port Killer WiFi Bluetooth 5.0
Operating System
Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
Miscellaneous
2.30kg All-metal body 720p webcam
Features
This Nitro 5 is also one of the most feature packed in its line-up’s history. There is quite a lot to talk about with the Nitro 5 starting with the decision to move the charging port and only the charging port to the back of the device. But there is also a new RGB keyboard on the Nitro 5 now, which is a sign of changing times and a new era in gaming. The Nitro 5 now looks more premium than any other “entry-level” gaming laptops out there.
Charging From the Rear
Instead of the usual placement of the regular laptop at the furthermost possible part of a notebook’s side, the Nitro 5 moved its proprietary charging port completely to the rear of the device. We saw Lenovo making the first move to put charging ports at the back of the device, and we are pretty much fans of the idea.
We do have a little complain on the backplate that houses the charging port though. The plate is so large that it covers nearly half the back of the device which could be used for more cooling vents. If the plate had to be this large, we would also prefer some expansion slots to occupy the rear of the notebook.
We also had a problem with the charging port in the New Nitro 5 when we first unpacked it and was going to get it to boot. The charger plug is a sort of a “two-stage” plug. You have to line it up with the charging port, and then slide it in. Usually, that is job done. It is not in this case, you have to push it into the charging port until the charger goes deeper in with a noticeable ‘click’. This, we do not like. What is wrong with using magnets to secure the charger?
4-Zone RGB Keyboard – Finally
The 2021 version of the Acer Nitro 5 houses a 4-zone programmable RGB keyboard. While it is a fresh change to the keyboard, the keyboard is physically the same keyboard you find on the previous Nitro 5 though. It feels the same, it types the same, it works the same so we are not going to talk about that.
Because it is 4-zone RGB though, you cannot program the keys to do a ripple effect from the Nitro Sense software bundled in the Acer Nitro 5. You can set four different colours on the four different RGB quadrants on the notebook with Nitro Sense to make it look a little more unique. We prefer the rainbow wave effect though, cos that makes the notebook look like it has per-key RGB.
Nitro Sense – Not Quite Predator Sense
The Nitro Sense is very much a stripped down, red toned version of Predator Sense. There is no Predator ‘Turbo’ function on the Nitro 5’s Nitro Sense. That also means that you do not get to overclock your CPU or GPU. Might as well anyway, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (as tested) is a locked unit which also means you cannot really overclock the CPU. We would still appreciate some overclocking capabilities on the GPU though.
Instead, what you get are fan speed and RGB control app. Of course, you can monitor your system temperatures as well from the app. Just keep in mind that because the air intake is at the bottom of the notebook, your thermals could be greatly improved if you could just lift the Nitro 5 a little bit.
Via the app though, you can customise or maximise your fan speed depending on the apps you launch. You could tie the settings to Adobe Premiere Pro for example, to max out your fan speed when the app launches to keep the Nitro 5 from thermal throttling when you start rendering videos. You can also automatically throttle the fan speed when you launch certain games too if you want.
In terms of RGB, there is obviously a limited number of things that you can do with 4-zone lighting instead of per-key lighting. You cannot set individual colours to each key for example. You cannot even set ripple effects or rain drop effects on the keyboard with 4-zone RGB. Still, a programmable RGB is always a welcome addition to the Nitro 5.
Performance
We mentioned earlier that the Acer Nitro 5 is not what we would consider entry-level on paper. On paper, this is a damn good gaming PC. The Nitro 5 with AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H is really “entry-level” only by name.
The Productivity and Creativity Stuff
The keyboard on the Nitro 5 is pretty much the same Keyboard you get from before. It also feels pretty much like any other keyboard that you get from Acer’s Predator gaming laptops. Then again, keyboard technology on notebook PCs have not changed or progressed all that much.
Key travel is expectedly shallow, like any regular laptop keyboard you would be used to. Still, it is not an uncomfortable keyboard to use. While key travels are short, there is enough travel in the keyboard that typing feels a little more natural.
The keys bottom out with a soft touch too. It does not feel like you are hitting your fingers against a solid block when you type out long emails or essays with the Nitro 5. There is also enough tactile feedback to each key press to help with precision and speed once you get used to the keyboard.
You would be more interested in its work performance though, in its horsepower in editing videos and even photos. With a spec like the Nitro 5 that we have here, browsing the internet is really a breeze; nothing to shout about or even criticize there. At some point we have more than 40 tabs open on Mozilla FireFox, three Microsoft Word instances open, Adobe Acrobat with about 3 tabs open at the same time as well, and the Nitro 5 has not even broken a sweat.
We use a lot of Adobe Creative Suite apps in our line of work too. We heavily rely on Adobe Premiere Pro, Audition, Acrobat, Photoshop, and even Lightroom for most of our day-to-day operations. Obviously, the most taxing app of all in our selection of apps is Adobe Premiere Pro.
On that end, it took the Acer Nitro 5 xx minutes to render a 1:30 minute video. The video was shot in 4K resolution and was rendered directly to H.VEC 264 MPEG-4 format in Full HD resolution with AAC format audio. Video rendering is AMD’s territory anyway, we expected the Nitro 5 to do well here.
Scrubbing through the 4K footage feels smooth too without too much trouble. Smooth and quick scrubbing also means accelerated workflow and less downtime. The downside here is that you have less excuses for not completing your video projects on time now.
Gaming
A gaming PC is built to game though, and game we did. We played titles like GTA V, Horizon Zero Dawn, Two Point Hospital, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Evil Genius 2, and A Way Out with the Nitro 5. We let the games decide the best resolution for each game when we first ran the game, and later crank the graphics settings all the way up.
You can expect most modern games to run on either ‘high’ or ‘ultra’ settings on the Acer Nitro 5. Remember we are running the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 variant, far from an entry-level spec sheet this. In that case, ‘high’ and ultra’ graphics on certain games are quite expected.
With Horizon Zero Dawn, the game defaults to Full HD in resolution for some reason. Although, graphics settings are set to ‘Ultra’ by default. Once we set the resolution to the correct size at 1440p, the game ran at about 70fps consistently without dropping a beat. Two Point hospital defaults to ‘high’ resolution and at times scored as low as 28fps. Once you zoom down into the littler details though you get about 50-60fps easily.
With GTA V, we expect graphics to run at up to ‘Ultra’ by default. By default, you do not get ‘Ultra’ settings from GTA V. In fact, even fps is limited to 60 fps by default. We corrected that to project at 165Hz and you automatically free up some horsepower from the Nitro 5 to get up to 100fps at times. Of course, not every setting on default was at ‘Very High’ or ‘Ultra’, Most of them were just below the highest settings available though, so it is just a single toggle away. Once we turned all of that up with MSAA off, we still got about 90fps. With MSAA is a little different though. We could turn it up to 4X without losing too much performance in terms of FPS. Once we get it to its max settings though, fps dropped to as low as 53fps at times and remains at about 65-70fps most of the time.
With these games, you are not really hitting the 165Hz of the QHD display at all though, which is a little bit of a waste. If you want to hit 165fps to fully take advantage of the 165Hz refresh rate though, you can play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and easily hit that much frames in a second.
Still, the Acer Nitro 5 is a formidable gaming PC that can hold itself against the sea of gaming PCs you find in the market currently. In fact, we do think it can hold itself against its more premium cousins in the Predator family. We believe that it could even outperform some of them in similar spec sheet with an Intel processor in fact.
Battery Life
The Nitro 5 lasted nearly 2.5 hours with its display on full brightness and power mode set to high-performance. We were using the Acer Nitro 5 for web browsing, typing a Word document (this review, in fact), and listening to some music (50% volume) at the same time. There were also a few browser tabs that was open at the same time on Mozilla Firefox.
We have to point out that we still could get GTA V running at about 30fps while on battery on its default settings. While it was our own careless mistake in forgetting to plug the charger in, this is also an indication that you should never game on battery. Still, we were quite impressed.
Putting the Acer Nitro 5 in battery saving mode via Windows turns the brightness down a little and limits background applications like OneDrive auto-sync. It does extend your battery life to 2 hours 45 minutes hours though. In that case, you might want to consider leaving your Acer Nitro 5 on battery saving mode to extend its battery life for the long meetings.
You may also use Nitro Sense to sip battery life with even smaller straws too. Putting the Nitro 5 on power saving mode on Nitro Sense decreases the brightness of the display even further and limits power draw by both the GPU and CPU. Plenty of times then, the GPU is not used at all for regular operations like web browsing, document editing, and even emails. In that case you can push the battery life of the Acer Nitro 5 from 2.5 hours to a little over 3.5 hours in our use case.
We believe that if you skim on the music playing part, turn the RGB on the keyboard off, and dim down the display all the way with both Nitro Sense and Windows on Power Saving mode, the Acer Nitro could go the distance and last over 4 hours. 4 hours in our books is usually more than what more gaming laptops could offer, even in the same conditions.
2K Display and DTS: X Ultra
In our test unit, we got the best possible display for the Acer Nitro 5. We have here a Quad HD 1440p display at 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. It refreshes at 165Hz for a maximum of 165fps that would really help in competitive titles. The IPS display also covers up to 100% sRGB colour gamut. That would help plenty in colour grading use cases, or even photo editing. But that also means that the 2K display looks good in any gaming or movie situation. It is the perfect display for entertainment, and a far cry from the Acer Nitro 5 displays we are used to in the older generation devices.
The display is now something that we can enjoy and rely on for work and play. While it is a little on the small side for a 2K monitor, the 15.6-inch display is fully capable of what we want it to do. We could use the display to reliably colour grade and edit videos, and even photos when we need to. We could do them on-the-go if we really have to. The lockdown that was enforced because of the pandemic though did not allow us to take this Acer Nitro 5 to the streets; we would have loved to do so though.
The speakers are DTS:X Ultra speakers that you should be used to with Acer’s gaming line-up in the modern era. On the Acer Nitro 5, you only get two speakers that fires outward and downward at both sides of the laptop. That is also quite a standard arrangement with laptops these days. There is a while science on why manufacturers designed speakers this way, but we will get into that another time.
We do have to say that laptop speakers have come a long way though. On the Acer Nitro 5 at least, the speakers do sound great. Audio sounds clean and clear throughout its volume range. Of course, low frequencies could benefit from having a dedicated sub-woofer. The mid and high frequencies are excellent and clean though. That also means that you should be able to enjoy your movies with the built-in speakers. Unfortunately, we do suggest you get a decent pair of headphones for games though. While sound is good and clear, the fan noise can overwhelm the speakers (even at full chat) a little bit especially when it spools for gaming and video editing purposes.
The Acer Nitro 5 – Finally, a gaming Laptop You Can Be Proud Of
You pay MYR 6,399 for this piece of kit we test. You get a brilliant AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 to boot. The combination of these hardware alongside 16GB of RAM are in no way “entry-level”. It is a high-performance gaming machine that fits the bill when you need some power in LAN parties.
While prices are not to say in the budget-friendly range, MYR 6,399 is still less than most laptops boasting similar hardware in the current market. In some sense, you are getting a more powerful PC than plenty of gaming PCs of the same price in 2021. With all that considered, this is still the more budget-friendly version of a high-performance gaming laptop.
In 2021, the Acer Nitro 5 has matured into something else. It is not sitting at the bottom of the pile anymore. It can stand and sit alongside the greats in the industry, oddly enough. It sort of pushes the Acer Nitro brand into a brand that could stand on its own with AMD. Sadly, that is not the case because there are Intel based Acer Nitro 5 out there. This also brings another problem to Acer, what are they going to do when the Predator gaming products cannot compete at the same prices?
The question we set out to answer though is whether or not the Acer Nitro 5 with AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 worth your money, whether or not you should buy it. Our answer is yes to both, but only if you have the budget to work with. While the Acer Nitro 5 for 2021 has been the most expensive Acer Nitro 5 of all that came before, the kind of power that is offered within the AMD variant of the Acer Nitro 5 is quite irresistible if you are in-need of a powerful laptop right now.
NVIDIA launched their most powerful GPUs for consumer PCs toward the end of last year. The GPUs launched in 2020 had, according to NVIDIA anyway, the largest generational improvement ever in a GPU. While we ourselves have not had the chance to prove that on our own, we do believe that.
At the launch of the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series cards, we also expected NVIDIA to top their products off with Ti variants of the GPUs. The “Ti” moniker is also an indicator that it is the more powerful version of each GPU class. Fast forward a few months and into COMPUTEX 2021, NVIDIA delivered on those expectations, and they seem a lot more powerful than anyone expected.
NVIDIA launched the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti in their COMPUTEX 2021 keynote. While they are launched as more powerful versions of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070, they are not really sold as gaming GPUs. Instead, the more powerful cards are sold as GPUs engineered for content creators and professionals.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
Source: NVIDIA
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti features 6,144 CUDA cores. That is nearly 300 more CUDA cores than the regular GeForce RTX 3070. The GPU is clocked slightly higher too at 1.77Ghz (Boost Clock). You also get GDDR6X RAM compared to the GDDR6 that the regular card gets.
The result of all those combined into the GeForce RTX 3070 is a much more powerful GPU for both gaming and content creation purposes. While NVIDIA did not mention huge leaps in gaming experience, you still should get more performance out of the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti compared to the regular card. Then again, where it shines over the regular card is in content creation. It is supposed to shave up to a few minutes in your 3D workflow and even 4K HDR video processing. Of course, the improvements also depend very much on your platform of choice and other optimisations as well.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
Source: NVIDIA
To get more done though, you need even more power form your GPU. You need the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. You get 10,240 CUDA cores on the RTX 3080 Ti, that is just shy of the GeForce RTX 3090’s 10,496 CUDA core count and nearly 1,500 cores more than the regular RTX 3080. The cores are clocked a little lower than the regular card though at 1.67GHz (Boost Clock). You get 12GB of GDDR6X RAM, 2GB more than the regular GeForce RTX 3080. It also features a higher memory interface width at 384-biut, the same as the GeForce RTX 3090.
The result of the additions made to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti may not be that significant in terms of gaming too. You probably will see a few fps increase and stability here and there. The raw power I seen in major improvements in your 3D and video editing workflow. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is made to make short work of 8K video processing and even 3D rendering work.
Price and Availability
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is supposed to be available from the 3rd of June 2021 onward with prices starting at MYR 5,800. The NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti on the other hand will be available a little later from the 10th of June 2021 onward for MYR 2,880 onward. These are the Founder’s Edition GPUs though, there are no solid word on when manufacturers will release their own versions of the new GPUs. At the same time, expect some stock shortage even after its release date. For more information NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPUs, you can head over to their website.
Acer’s Swift line up of laptops is known for being a hero of the thin and light segment. Many of the offerings have, so far, come under the 1.5kg mark when comes to weight and come with a pretty slim silhouette. However, users have always needed to make a choice between performance or portability. That changes with the new Acer Swift X which marries both portability and performance into a single, slim body.
The Swift X is the first of a new line up of laptops under the Swift line up. The new lineup will come equipped with discreet graphics solutions. The new lineup keeps on-the-go creatives in mind allowing them to carry a laptop that’s lighter than 1.5kg with the power to cater to the needs of their workflow.
Acer’s new Swift X is Packed with Power with Little Compromise
The new Swift X comes packed with AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series mobile processor complemented with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050Ti laptop GPU. The setup should be able to handle some very heavy graphics and video workflows without problems. This is also coupled with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage. The Switft X comes with a 14-inch IPS display with 300 nites brightness and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The display is also one of the most colour accurate on a Swift laptop with 100% coverage of the sRGB gamut. All of this is housed in a premium, metal chassis.
The power-packed Swift X doesn’t compromise on being thin and light either. It comes in at just under 1.4kg and a hair under 18mm thin. That said, the cooling on the laptop isn’t compromised. In fact, Acer has made design improvements to optimise the cooling efficiency of the laptop. The fan of the Swift X comes with fifty-nine 0.3mm blades to maximise airflow. This is paired with two D6 copper heat pipes for better heat dissipation. The lapotp also comes with what Acer is calling air inlet keyboard design which helps expel about 10% more heat than a regular laptop keyboard. The fans have also been augmented with a stereo ring for up to 10% better airflow.
Pricing & Availability
The Acer Swift X will be available starting in June in North America for USD$899.99 (MYR3,723.23), early summer in EMEA for EUR899 (MYR4,534.19) and in Q3 2021 in China starting at CNY6,499 (MYR4,221.27).
When you think about getting yourselves a gaming rig, a few manufacturers will make your shortlist. One of those names is definitely MSI. MSI has been exclusively making gaming focused rigs since their inception, and they are rather good at it. They will not hold out as one of the top gaming brands in the world unless they are good at what they do.
Gaming PCs and laptops have evolved over the years though. Users want power from their rigs. They want even more portability and flexibility when it comes to their gaming laptops. They also want versatility, and an understated aesthetics that could fit even in a corporate meeting room. Out goes the over-the-top, sharp-edged design and in comes the sleek, understated, clean cut designs. That is 2021.
Of course, with 2021 things are also a little different. The old GPUs are outdated, the older CPU is also outdated. You need more power, you need Intel’s latest and greatest, you need NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series GPU.
MSI GE76 Raider & GE66 Raider
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
The GE76 (17.3-inch) Raider and GE66 (15.6-inch) Raider gaming notebooks are technically MSI’s ultimate gaming laptops to date. It packs Intel’s latest 11th Generation Core i9 for raw processing power. The Intel ultimate is also paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (up to) for unmatched gaming performance.
The GPUs power up to 4K (up to) in resolution on both rigs. Both displays images at 100% sRGB too for bright, saturated, and accurate colours in games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider. You feel like you are in the game itself. The CPU ensures that games are delivered to you at up to 360fps (360Hz) too (120Hz on GE76 UHD variant).
If you want, you can spec your Raider gaming laptop with up to 64GB of RAM and two NVMe M.w SSDs (1x PCIe Gen4, 1x PCIe Gen3) for up to 4TB of storage. On top of all the internals is a full RGD keyboard designed by SteelSeries, a world renown gaming peripherals manufacturer. While the GE76 weighs just under 3kg, the smaller GE66 Raider is only 2.38kg for a more agile gaming experience.
MSI GS76 Stealth & GS66 Stealth
In 2021, the name of the game is also stealth. For that, you need something ultra-thin, and ultra-light. That is the MSI GS76 Stealth and GS66 Stealth. It is everything the GE Raider series is, but in a tighter and smaller package.
In the slim body you still get the ultimate 11th Generation Intel Core i9 that is also paired with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3080 (up to). The GS76 Stealth’s 17.3-inch display can also be specced up to a 4k 120Hz panel just like the GE76 Raider. The 15.6-inch on the GS66 Stealth can also get a UHD 4K IPS display like the GE66 Raider.
Everything else under the SteelSeries RGB keyboard from its RAM slot layout and storage layout can be completely similar to the GE Raider series on the GS Stealth series. All except the speakers though. The GE76 Raider gets two woofers for an extra immersion while the GS76 Stealth only gets dual stereo speakers designed by Dynaudio. Understandably though, the thinner body of the GS76 Stealth will not accommodate chunky woofers.
True to its name, the MSI GS76 Stealth is only 20.25m thick and weighs just a little just under 2.5kg. The GS66 Stealth packs in tight as well at up to 19.8mm in thickness weighing just over 2kg.
MSI Pulse GL76 & Pulse GL66
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Further down the line you have the MSI Pulse GS/Crosshair series. As you can already tell in the naming scheme, there are 17.3-inch and 15.6-inch variants.
You do not get Intel’s ultimate gaming processor in the Core i9 with these ones. The 11th Generation Intel Core i7 should still prove to be a capable gaming processor though. Paired with an NVIDIA GeForce 3060 (up to), your games should still run nice and smooth at QHD resolution. You can opt to get your Pulse GL series with up to 64GB of RAM if you need to. With up to two NVMe PCIe Gen3 M.2 SSDs, you would not be wanting more in terms of storage space and speed.
The displays also refresh at 165Hz to give you a competitive edge in eSports titles. If you are using the notebook for work, you would be happy to know that both display sizes offer 100% of DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage so you know you are getting good colours from the notebook.
All of that, and its 3-cell battery are packed in underneath an RGB backlit gaming keyboard by MSI. The total package is kept under 25mm in thickness for extra portability. At 2.3kg (up to) as well, it is light enough for you to lug around to work with and to game with anywhere or at a LAN party if need be.
MSI Katana GF76/Sword 17 & Katana GF66/Sword 15
Source: MSI
You might think QHD is a little bit of an overkill on a gaming notebook, especially since 17.3-inch is too small for you to appreciate all those pixels. Full HD gaming is all you need, and 144Hz is good enough. There is the MSI Katana GF/Sword series. The naming scheme refers to the colour options you get with the MSI GF series gaming laptops.
You also still get the power of Intel’s 11th Generation Core i7 processor in the Katana/Sword series. You can pair that CPU to a budget friendly NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or a powerhouse of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU. With two RAM slots, the MSI Katana/Sword series can pack up to 64GB in RAM. Although, to be reasonable, 16GB or up to 32GB is more than enough in this case. There are also two NVMe PCIe Gen3 M.2 SSD slots for you to spec up to 4TB of high-speed SSD space on the MSI GF series.
There are no fancy RGB here too, no fuss. The Katana variant gets red backlit keyboard while the sword gets a blue backlighting. Everything is packaged in a body about 25mm thick. Still, at 2.3kg for the 17-inch variant, the GF series notebooks are still portable enough for a good LAN party. Before that though, you are going to bring it into your boardroom.
Last year NVIDIA announced their next generation GPUs, the GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs that they claim to have the largest generational gap over the older series. It is inevitable then for fans to be asking for the mobile variant of the GPUs to be put in the ever popular and growing gaming notebook market. They are also asking for more budget friendly variants like the RTX 3060 Ti and updated variant of the GTX 1650 and GTX 1660 Ti.
That is not all though, new CPUs are also introduced in 2020 and early 2021. AMD came swinging hard with the new AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs with Zen 3 architecture making them the most powerful consumer level CPU overall currently on sale. Intel pushed their own boundaries with their 10nm architecture 11th Generation CPUs early in 2021 too. To be fair though Intel came with the mobile variant of the 11th Generation Core processors early in 2020 before the desktop variants were introduced in 2021.
TUF Gaming F15 and F17 (FX506H-CHN021T, FX706H-CHX065T, FX506H-MHN103T)
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
ASUS kicks of with the new TUF Gaming notebooks, both in 15-inch and 17-inch flavours. You get to choose between an Intel Core i5-11400H and an Intel Core i7-11800H for the ASUS TUF Gaming F15’s (FX506H) processor. That powerful GPU also comes paired with either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 or an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM.
To ensure that you get a smooth gaming performance too, RAM is at up to 16GB for the top-of-the-line TUF Gaming F15 with room to spare. For storage you get a single SSD with 512GB in capacity. The storage is also expandable still with free extra NVMe PCIe 3.0 M.2 slot.
The 15-inch and 17-inch variants both get a 144Hz IPS display that pushes Full HD in resolution. For even more immersive gaming, the TUF Gaming F15 and F17 packs DTS Audio and speaker calibration. Of course, a great gaming experience today also means stable internet connection, and the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 and F17 packs WiFi 6 capabilities alongside Bluetooth 5.2 for extra stable wireless peripheral connection. With 90WHrs 4-cell battery, the TUF Gaming F15 and F17 may not last a whole day, but at least a few hours of use away from the wall socket should be enough for you to get your emails and whatever else done.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F15 with 11th Generation Intel Core i5 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 will be available mid of June 2021 onward at MYR 4,199. The TUF Gaming F17 with 11th Generation Intel Core i5 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 will be available at the end of June 2021 at MYR 4,299. The TUF Gaming F15 with 11th Generation Intel Core i7 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 will be available at the end of this month (May 2021) onward at MYR 5,599.
For extra portability, you might want to look at the ASUS TUF Gaming Dash F15, a thinner and lighter TUF gaming notebook like no other. At 2kg, it is no ultrabook. Still, it is a light gaming device with the power to match.
You get the 11th Generation Core i7-11370H processor that also has an Intel Iris Xe Graphics integrated GPU for general usage at lower power draw. For all the high-performance stuff though, this thing packs a powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU. Thanks to the integrated GPU, the notebook draws minimal power from the 76WHrs battery and ensures that the notebook can last longer than your average gaming notebooks.
The powerful NVIDIA GPU though powers the 15.6-inch IPS display to push Full HD into your face. You even get fast 144Hz refresh rate to ensure you still have the necessary competitive advantage in any gaming situation. With up to 8GB of RAM, you can be sure that gaming is a smooth and snappy experience.
The ASUS TUF Gaming Dash F15 will be available in two colour options – Eclipse Grey and Moonlight White. The new gaming laptop will be available this month (May 2021) onward. The thinner and lighter TUF Gaming notebook will set you back MYR 4,799.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 and G17 (G513Q-CHN019T, G512Q-CHN020T, G712Q-CHX022T, G512Q-CHN096T)
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
The new ASUS ROG STRIX G15 and G17 packs up to the highly acclaimed AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor. With AMD’s processor, the ROG STRIX G15 and G17 is also a powerful creator class GPU. Pair that with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 and you get a capable video editor and gaming notebook that you can take with you anywhere you want.
You get up to 8GB in RAM and up to 512GB in SSD storage. If those are not enough though there is an extra available slot for you to expand your RAM and SSD storage still. An extra 8GB and an extra 512GB of SSD storage would do you nicely for the ASUS ROG STRIX G15 and G17.
You get to choose up between 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch display sizes for the new ASUS ROG STRIX series. Both sizes are IPS displays that churns out Full HD in resolution too. Of course, for the extra smooth feel and edge in competitive gaming, the displays refreshes at 144Hz.
For all your connectivity needs there is the usual WiFi 6 that should be standard today. It also packs Bluetooth 5.1 for an extra stable wireless peripherals experience. You can find a USB Type-C port, but unfortunately Thunderbolt is not supported on the AMD based notebook.
The ROG STRIX G15 and G17 notebooks with either an AMD Ryzen 5-5600H or the AMD Ryzen 7-5800H will be available this month (May 2021) onward. The AMD Ryzen 5 variant of the ASUS ROG STRIX G15 will set you back MYR 4,199. The AMD Ryzen 7 variant of the ASUS ROG STRIX G15 and G17 will sell for MYR 4,499 and MYR 4,599 respectively. There is also an Elctro Punk special edition ASUS ROG STRIX G15 with AMD Ryzen 7-5800H that comes with its own set of colour matching accessories like a mousepad, a gaming mouse, and a backpack for MYR 4,799.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401Q-HHZ078TS, GA401Q-CHZ083TS, GA401Q-EK2023TS)
Source: ASUS
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, in our books, is one of the notebooks that put AMD’s Ryzen processors name in the gaming laptop map. The first Zephyrus G14 was a brilliant product that received many accolades. That packed the older generation AMD Ryzen 3000 series mind you.
The new one of course packs the new AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS processor to boot. You get to work with up to NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU for all of your gaming and content creation needs. Both the CPU and GPU are supported by an 8GB RAM that you can easily expand with an extra RAM slot in the thin and sturdy body with the very recognisable Matrix LED shell. Storage wise, you get 512GB in SSD with an extra expansion slot too.
The powerful CPU and GPU combination pushes games to up to 144Hz (120Hz for WQHD variant) on the 14-inch IPS display that comes with the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. You get to spec your Zephyrus G14 with up to WQHD display too if you need the extra resolution for content creation purposes. On both the Full HD and WQHD displays, you get 100% coverage of DCI-P3 for a super deep colour accuracy and Pantone validation as the cherry topping.
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 will be available in Eclipse Grey and Moonlight variants. The ROG Zephyrus G14 with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1650 GPU will come with a non AniMe Matrix shell while the rest of the variants get the AniMe Matrix panel on the shell of the notebook for extra personalisation. The new AMD Ryzen 7 powered ROG Zephyrus G14 notebook is available this month (May 2021) onward and will start at MYR 4,799 and tops out MYR 6,499.
ASUS has been hard at work expanding the influence of the Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand. It’s done this with collaborations with the likes of DJ and producer, Alan Walker and even design firms such as ACRONYM. Their latest collaboration brings together the skateboarding and gaming worlds. The ROG Strix has gotten a makeover befitting 6-time overall and current reigning world skateboarding champion, Nyjah Huston.
Source: ASUS
The ROG Strix SCAR gets new design accents inspired by some of the signature items skateboarders are familiar with. The vent on the back of the Strix SCAR is framed with a metallic bars akin to the bars on the skate park. More importantly, the laptop’s new design takes Nyjah’s unique style and emblazons his insignia side by side the ROG logo. The skateboard inspired accents continue on the main body of the laptop with a grey and black color and customised keycaps that bring more of Nyjah’s signature style.
Like previous collaborations, the design flair isn’t just on the ROG Strix SCAR itself. The Nyjah-ROG collaboration starts from the packaging with an imposing skull and backed by two skateboards – Nyjah’s logo signature – with the letters R-O-G embossed across it. The taglines for both ROG and Nyjah are emblazoned on the packaging as well across the skull. These accents are only visible under UV light.
The ROG Strix SCAR 17 was the centrepiece of this collaboration. The new Strix SCAR 17 comes with an AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor which is complemented by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics processor. It also has a Full HD IPS display with a 360Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time – a first in a gaming laptop. The SCAR 17 is also one of the first laptops to come with liquid metal cooling and has optical-mechanical keys on its keyboard.
Pricing & Availability
Source: ASUS
While you may be dying to get your hands on the special edition of the Strix SCAR 17, the laptop is a one-of-a-kind created especially for the world champion skateboarder and will not be available commercially. However, you can get a piece of the collaboration with a special ROG x Nyjah Huston wallpaper and Instagram filter.
It’s been over a decade since Alienware has released an AMD powered gaming laptop. Over a decade since the original Alienware Aurora mALX. In that time, gaming has taken a quantum leap with new experiences being more immersive than ever. That changes today with both Dell and Alienware announcing new AMD powered laptops.
The new laptops marry AMD’s revolutionary, performance and efficiency centered Zen 3 microarchitecture with NVIDIA’s graphics prowess to bring their best gaming experience yet. The Dell G15 Ryzen Edition and the redesigned Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition bring together some of Dell and Alienware’s best design with top of the line performance for gaming.
Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition
Alienware super charges their m15 line up with their signature technological features such as voltage gated cooling with the performance combo of AMD’s Ryzen 5000-H processors and NVIDIA’s RTX30 series graphics. All this power is packed into a slim 15-inch body with options to fit any gamers’ needs. On the display front, users get to choose from options including a QHD with 240Hz refresh rate and an FHD display wiht 360Hz refresh rate.
Smooth visuals and power packed performance is just the tip of the iceberg. The new Alienware m15 is also the first to come with Alienware’s new Legend 2.0 design language which features a sleeker silhouette and a new design feature called Dark Core. This darkens the interior shade of the laptop helping you focus on the game; while the new Silky-smooth High-Endurance paint formula will keep things clean and sleek. It is also the first 15-inch Alienware laptop to come with user upgradable 3200MHz DDR4 RAM. Of course, it will also feature the option for the new mechanical keyboard co-developed with Cherry MX with per key RGB lighting.
Dell G15 Ryzen Edition
Dell’s foray into AMD powered gaming laptops comes in the form of the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition. The new gaming laptop comes with Alienware inspired thermals which maximise airflow and improve cooling. Of course, the laptop comes with Dell Gaming’s signature “Game Shift” button which kicks the laptop into high gear. Similar to the Alienware m15, the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition comes with performance centric combination of AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors, NVIDIA’s RTX 30 Series graphics and user upgradable 3200MHz RAM. On the display front it will be coming with low blue light emitting displays with options for 120Hz or 165Hz refresh rates. Additional options for 360Hz displays will be coming later this spring according to Dell.
Pricing & Availability
Dell and Alienware haven’t announced the pricing for the laptops just yet. However, the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition will be available in early May 2021. The Dell G15 Ryzen edition is expected to be available at the same time.
