The Ryzen 7 CPUs perform the best among all the available processors for this laptop.įor web-based and light productivity tasks, the Acer Aspire 5 with an Intel i3 or Ryzen 3 CPU are more than adequate, but if you tend to have many tabs open or multitask often, the Intel i5 and Ryzen 5 models are a better fit.

Although the Ryzen processors don't have SMT enabled (known as 'simultaneous multithreading,' AMD's implementation of hyperthreading), they perform better in multi-thread workloads compared to their equivalent Intel counterparts. There are also AMD variants, with the quad-core Ryzen 3 4300U being the slowest, the 6-core Ryzen 5 4500U the midrange, and the 8-core Ryzen 7 4700U is the fastest. All the Intel processors have hyperthreading, which allows multiple processes to run on the same core and results in greater multi-thread performance compared to processors without hyperthreading. It's also available with the slower dual-core i3-1005G1 or the faster quad-core i7-1065G7. We tested the Acer Aspire 5 A515 with a quad-core Intel Core i5-1035G1. Variants with the NVIDIA MX350 or AMD RX 640 dedicated GPUs can run demanding computational tasks like 3D rendering but might take longer than a dedicated workstation, whereas you'll need to lower many graphical settings on modern AAA games to get a playable framerate. It's powerful enough to handle light and medium productivity tasks with ease, but if you do plenty of multitasking or run more demanding programs like 3D rendering or physics simulations, you'll get a much better experience with 16GB of RAM and the AMD Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, or Intel Core i7 CPUs. We tested the Aspire 5 with a 15.6 inch IPS display, a Intel Core i5-1035G1 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce MX350 graphics, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD.

While the speakers get loud, they sound unremarkable, and the webcam and microphone are only okay. Its matte-coated screen has decent reflection handling but has a mediocre maximum brightness, so it isn't suitable for use in very well-lit environments. Unfortunately, the battery won't make it through a full 8-hour workday, so you'll need to bring the included power adapter, which can be inconvenient. It has an NVMe SSD that makes booting and launching programs amazingly quick, and you can even install an additional 2.5 inch drive for extra storage space. The keyboard is backlit and feels good to type on over long periods, the plastic touchpad is decent, and there's an adequate selection of ports that should be enough for most people. The Acer Aspire 5 15 (2020) is a portable, well-built 15 inch laptop.

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