Acer Predator Helios NEO 16S AI assessment

I do love a superb puzzle. There’s one thing actual satisfying about wanting on the benchmark outcomes and specs of two completely different laptops and coming to a crisp, neat conclusion on why one, that is so related on paper, performs so in a different way to a different. That is nice and all, however the truth that that reality is even a factor is an issue. The truth that we’re speaking about that reality right here proper now, as a factor, with Acer’s newest Predator Helios Neo is an issue. And it should not be.

Since you ought to be capable to have a look at any laptop computer, see a GPU identify, and know what efficiency you are getting, immediately. It should not be ambiguous. You should not should dive into critiques, and also you should not have to go searching round within the murky deep waters of spec manuals, looking for out precisely if this new RTX 5080 is barely nearly as good as an RTX 5060, or secretly an RTX 5090 pretending to be an RTX 5070. And but right here we’re. Similar drawback. Completely different day. However apparently, it isn’t simply the wattage caps which can be totally the bloody situation for as soon as (like they nearly all the time are). And I will get to that irritating stuff, however first, let’s discuss up the good things, we could? As a result of there’s quite a bit to love right here.

That is Acer’s newest Helios Neo 16S AI. It is not truly out there but, correctly, so pricing is slim on the bottom (and naturally there are additionally 23 completely different specs per area with barely completely different reminiscence and SSD setups), however it’s been revamped particularly for this 12 months, and introduced admittedly (I am a gradual reviewer) in Might. And it is gorgeous.

You have obtained a lovely, crisp shiny OLED show, surrounded by a super-thin bezel, pumping out a 240 Hz refresh fee throughout a 2560×1600 res, with a VESA-certified DisplayHDR True Black 500 ranking. It is located on high of a ridiculously skinny chassis physique (20mm deep), with clear, sharp edges, and a end that, though not tremendous premium on really feel, appears nice. With a fragile, delicate touchpad and a easy but environment friendly RGB keyboard.

There’s buckets of connectivity right here too, together with three USB Kind A, two USB Kind C, HDMI, drop-jaw ethernet, Micro-SD card reader, and one way or the other (I do suspect I understand how) Acer’s additionally crammed in 92 Whrs of battery into this factor, in assumedly the identical method that I’ve managed to stuff 32,673 unread PR messages into my electronic mail archive within the final 12 months (sure Intel I will provide you with your Core i7 6700K again once I’m good and prepared thankyou).

That is the bit the place I crack my knuckles, placed on my reviewer’s cap (jokes on you, it is flat and it is all the time on), and inform you what the hell is occurring by way of efficiency, as a result of on paper the Helios NEO appears unbelievable. There’s 32GB of DDR5 operating at a luxurious 6400 MT/s, Intel’s newest Core Extremely 9 290HX Plus (with a staggering 24 cores), and an RTX 5080 16GB GPU, backed up with a 115 W TGP restrict. Yowzer. All tied to that beautiful OLED show too.

You have obtained all of that energy able to go. So the efficiency is nice, proper? It is good, proper? Errr, nicely, I imply, you get some. It is there. Aspect-by-side, in comparison with Lenovo’s Legion 9i Gen 10, it is sort of common, kinda dangerous. Even in comparison with the Nitro V 16 AI I reviewed earlier within the 12 months (the one with a 95W RTX 5070), it barely hits numbers larger than that may muster. At the very least in-game, which is problematic as that RTX 5070 machine is about two grand cheaper.

Now I will let the charts do the speaking predominantly for the remainder of the figures, however the important thing numbers I need to deal with are how the Helios handles Metro Exodus at 1080p, as a result of it is actually telling on numerous fronts.

So throughout that benchmark run, we measure common and max temps for the CPU and the graphics card, alongside GPU clock velocity and energy draw. We measure all by way of these runs, which final for about 10 minutes or so. Motive being is that it is a actually good simultaneous load take a look at for each the CPU and the GPU in a gaming surroundings, notably at a decrease res, because it stresses the CPU greater than it will at 1440p or 4K.

Common energy draw for the RTX 5080 in that outcome was 66W. It is obtained 115W to play with, keep in mind, which suggests the load for the cardboard is sitting about 49W decrease than it doubtlessly might be if it was operating at full tilt. Equally, the CPU maxed out at 105 levels Celsius and averaged 77 Celsius throughout the runs, which is not tremendous scorching on the typical. Now, the chip is Intel’s newest “refreshed” (I take advantage of that time period calmly), Arrow Lake, 24-core. It is scorching, it is hungry, it is steady at excessive temps, and did I point out it is nicely scorching?

In comparison with the Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 10, which is equally outfitted (RTX 5080 175W, Intel Core Extremely 9 275HX, a lot RAM, SSDs, and many others), the outcomes are dramatic, even throughout its two profiles. There is a 35 fps distinction between the 2 at 1080p (with each laptops in gaming mode), the clock speeds are an entire 1 GHz aside on the GPU, energy draw is precisely double; and apparently, the CPU maxes out at the same 105 levels, however averages 10 levels extra at 87 °C over the period of the take a look at.

On paper, for the Neo, it logically sounds predictable, proper? Clearly it is throttling at 1080p, that then chokes out the graphics card, which may’t draw system sources to generate the frames, and so that you get a 35 fps deficit, excessive temps on the CPU, and low temps and clock speeds on the GPU consequently. However that solely tells half the story. As a result of if that’s the case, then why is the typical CPU temp 10 levels decrease than its Legion counterpart?

And here is the factor: we should not assume that similar or related temperature readings throughout these two CPUs, in these two configurations, signify similar or related clock speeds or, extra importantly, efficiency, for that matter. The 9i in its gaming profile, maxing at 105 °C and averaging 87 °C, is not the identical because the Neo doing 105 °C and 77 °C. In actual fact, I imagine (I can not take a look at this as we not have the Legion), it is truly a difficulty with the cooling.

As a result of the thermal administration system within the Lenovo Legion 9i is bigger due to its chassis measurement, though the chip is hitting related temps, it might be that it could actually maintain larger clock speeds for longer with out essentially hitting thermal limits on the cooling setup. Lenovo’s cooling answer can possible deal with a bigger quantity of warmth (these cooling options are shared between each the CPU and GPU), whereas the Predator Helios Neo can deal with considerably much less earlier than it thermally overloads, which then forces the Neo to drop the clock velocity of its CPU right down to keep away from thermal runaway and hold the system steady, which in flip throttles efficiency throughout the graphics card, dropping the CPU temperature, GPU energy draw and clock velocity concurrently. The chips are nonetheless thermally throttling technically, however it’s due to the cooling capability reaching its ceiling, not due to the chips themselves.

Principally, as a result of the Predator Helios Neo has such a small footprint and is so slim, and Acer’s crammed that 92 WHr battery in there, it could actually’t accommodate the cooling to let the chips run on the speeds that they are able to, so it slows them down to stop any overly aggressive injury affecting the silicon long-term. Which is why, even upfront of that, that energy ceiling for the RTX 5080 is caught at a lowly 115W, and but even regardless of that, it struggles in titles the place the CPU can let unfastened.

What I do discover ironic, and extra telling, is that Lenovo’s “quiet” profile is definitely fairly just like Acer’s “gaming” mode. With almost similar GPU energy and related(ish) clock speeds, albeit with significantly decrease CPU temperatures.

What’s worse is that I can not inform if this was a superb design trade-off or not, as a result of in our battery life take a look at, it solely lasted 53 minutes. One of many lowest outcomes I’ve seen for what appears like an eternity. There is a good argument available right here that you must in all probability skip the RTX 5080 model totally and go for the lower-spec 5070 Ti variant as a substitute. You may get an extended battery life, extra accessible efficiency, and a cooler laptop computer at a less expensive price ticket; and nonetheless one which comes with that stunning display, design, and port setup.

Rapidly wrapping up the remainder of the specs, as I am very conscious I’ve spent half this assessment writing a small dissertation on product design issues and thermal envelopes, CPU efficiency was genuinely astonishing. The outcomes had been excellent in Cinebench, notably on the single-core, which scored an enormous 135 factors. Multi-core flagged a contact at 1,705 factors, however once more, I would chalk that as much as the cooling being the limiting issue, not the chip itself. Oh, and the dual 1 TB Kingston SSDs on this factor are extremely gradual, with a few of the worst outcomes I’ve seen in 3DMark’s storage take a look at this technology. Little question an indication of the NAND end-times.

I believe I complain about this in nearly each laptop computer assessment, however I am so drained of the present ecosystem being the way in which it’s. Whether or not that is single vs dual-channel RAM configs frequently being spirited away disguised as “oh, it is consumer alternative”, or completely different laptop computer GPUs coming in at completely different wattages and performing vastly completely different to at least one one other. It is simply so irritating to navigate as somebody who’s trying to purchase one, and the unhappy reality is, the Helios Neo is unbelievable; every little thing about it, from an exterior perspective, hell, even right down to the sticker, makes it appear like the most effective gaming laptops cash can purchase. And but, open up a easy 1080p take a look at, and it merely falls over. All as a result of kind got here earlier than operate. And that is it. A cascade of minor choices resulting in a much bigger influence than you would’ve predicted.