Nitro 5: Acer's Best Budget Gaming Laptop

Edmund_McGowan · February 18

If you’re a gamer on a budget who demands optimal performance from your gaming laptop at an affordable price, then Acer’s Nitro 5 may be just what you’re looking for. Acer’s Nitro 5 gaming laptop truly pushes the boundaries of what budget gaming laptops can do. Available in many configurations to suit a wide range of requirements, Acer Nitro 5 offers gamers adaptable flexibility with both Intel and AMD CPU processor versions, and GPUs from the RTX™ 30 to 40 series.

Stylish, high-performance, and affordable, the Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop is among the best budget gaming laptops out there, offering steady gaming performance as standard with a 144Hz refresh rate display. Read on to discover why, and explore the different options available to optimize your gaming with a laptop from the Acer Nitro 5 range.

Why is the Nitro 5 the best budget gaming laptop out there?

When it comes to budget gaming laptops, finding a model that strikes a balance between performance and price is not always an easy task. There are so many budget gaming laptops retailing at the $800-$1000 range, that it's hard not to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice. If you’re looking for a laptop that offers decent performance at a wallet-friendly price, then the Nitro 5 offers buckets more than similarly priced competitors.

Combining high-spec power and speed with affordability, the Nitro 5 is the perfect platform for tackling the next generation of games. Both the Intel and AMD processor versions provide superior gaming performance while delivering the flexibility to seamlessly multitask. While the Nitro 5 is a gaming laptop, innovative new architecture matches the right core to the right workload, ensuring that everyday computing tasks won’t impact your gaming.

Now, let’s take a look at the Intel and AMD versions priced around $1000, right in the middle of the budget laptop price range.

Acer Nitro 5 Intel

The Nitro 5 AN515-58-552Y Gaming Laptop is currently priced just under $1000, comes in stylish Obsidian black, and features the following specs:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-12450H processor Octa-core 3.30 GHz
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 4050 with 6 GB dedicated memory
Memory: 16 GB DDR5 SDRAM standard memory
Storage: 512 GB
Display: 15.6” (1920 x 1080) LCD display, 144Hz
Interfaces/Ports: 1x HDMI, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A Ports, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A Ports, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Ports, (up to 10 Gbps), DisplayPort over USB-C, Thunderbolt 4, USB charging 5 V; 3 A, DC-in port 20 V; 65 W
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 AX 1650i, Bluetooth 5.1 or above
Input: TouchPad, backlit keyboard
Battery: 4-cell Li-Ion, max 5 hour run time
Dimensions: 14.2x10.7 x 1.06 inches, approx 5.15 lb

As you can see from these impressive stats, the Nitro 5 is a solid gaming laptop equipped to handle even the most demanding of modern games. The 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processors impressively offer up to 14 Cores and up to 20 threads. This core processing power is combined with NVIDIA RTX Ampere architecture, featuring multiple cutting edge AI assisted technologies: NVIDIA DLSS and Max-Q technologies, enabling high performance, lightweight laptops. The Acer Nitro 5 has lightning-quick 165Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, meaning that your game sessions will be fluid, unbroken, with minimal ghosting.

NVIDIA DLSS boosts the speed of your games, without compromising on image quality, while NVIDIA Max-Q optimizes laptops to deliver high performance, while retaining their thin form. What’s more, Ray Tracing provides gamers with true to life, immersive graphics, creating a truly realistic gaming experience.

Acer Nitro 5 AMD

Now let’s look at the specs of the Nitro AMD series: the Nitro 5 AN517-42-R35M Gaming Laptop is similarly available in stylish obsidian black, and is also priced just under $1000. Let’s take look at the features:

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 6800H processor Octa-core 3.20 GHz
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 3070 with 8 GB dedicated memory
Memory: 16 GB DDR5 SDRAM standard memory
Storage: 1 TB Solid state drive
Display: 17.3” (1920 x 1080) LCD display, 144Hz
Interfaces/Ports: 1x HDMI, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A Ports, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A Ports, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Ports, (up to 10 Gbps), DisplayPort over USB-C, Thunderbolt 4, USB charging 5 V; 3 A, DC-in port 20 V; 65 W
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1 or above
Input: TouchPad, backlit keyboard
Battery: 4-cell Li-Ion, max 8.50 hour run time
Dimensions: 15.8x11.6x1.10 inches, approx 6.61 lb

Just look at the specs! The specs of the Nitro 5 AMD speak for themselves, giving gamers what they need to dominate at whatever game they choose. Featuring maximum speed and massive storage, get ready to go big. Equipped with the most advanced laptop processors ever, the AMD Ryzen 6000 Series Processors provide incredible performance, supporting up to 8 cores and up to 16 threads. The 6000 Series Processors, created using the most recent breakthrough 6nm processor technology promise to unleash pure gaming adrenaline, without your laptop overheating or making too much noise.

Shared features

Depending on individual requirements and preferences, different users might opt for Nitro 5 Intel or Nitro 5 AMD models. Many of the innovative features, including the AI assisted technologies, as well as Ray Tracing are shared across the two versions. The following features are also shared:

MUX switch technology lets you disable integrated graphics for an increase in performance at the expense of battery life.
The sleek, refined chassis features dual-fan cooling, dual-intakes (top and bottom) as well as a quad-exhaust port design. Be the master of cool, and control fan speeds, lighting and more in the NitroSense utility app.
Improved audio gives you a competitive edge and immersive experience: Dual 2W speakers and DTS:X Ultra delivers crystal clear sounds in a 3D spatial soundscape, helping you to figure out the location of your opponents with deadly accuracy.
Finally, the impressive array of ports allows you to plug in all of your peripherals for a connected, future-ready gaming experience.

The takeaway

We hope that you have enjoyed this article about Acer’s best budget gaming laptop. The gaming world never stands still. Technological developments and breakthroughs in game design mean that increasingly powerful laptops are needed for seamless gaming experiences. Unreal Engine 5 is the upcoming engine that game developers will use to create their games going forward. With ever higher game specs, this new engine will require a better GPU in order to play new games. Acer Nitro 5 series laptops are future-ready laptops to play the new generation and future generations of Unreal Engine 5 games on medium to high settings. So, if you’re looking for high gaming performance, without breaking the bank, do yourself a favor and check out Acer Nitro 5 today.