In my previous life, I worked as a drone for one of Australia’s biggest consumer electronics stores. We’d sell small appliances, household appliances, TVs, and sound systems, and I initially started my position there in the tech department, selling fun things like cameras, game consoles, and computers. Of the few computer brands we carried at the time, we didn’t hold too many gaming PCs, however, my favourite brand to recommend was Acer due to their after-sales support, and we were fortunate enough to occasionally get an Acer Nitro system.

The reason I mention this is because MKAU Gaming has just received an Acer Nitro V 16 AMD Gaming Laptop to play around with, and it reminded me of those few times I’d excitedly call over my department colleague to finally open a gaming system.

A stylised mirror-finished “N” sits proudly in the centre of the screen’s backing, surrounded by an otherwise simple and elegant obsidian black case. It’s not until you lift the 16” screen that you notice more aggressive design choices, with the same stylised “N” inset just under the numpad with three diagonal lines running through it as if to pay homage to their Predator range. The WASD keys and the directional arrows have yet another stylised “N” stand out on the keyboard, hinting at their importance, though looking a little strange while the system is turned off.

A quick press of the power button had the system booting up, and soon enough, an orange glow emanated from beneath the keyboard, the previously mentioned important buttons shining slightly brighter due to the translucent sides, and the Nitro symbol, portrayed by fiery lava surrounded by blackened stones, once again displayed proudly on the desktop.

There are a few different versions available in the AMD series, but the unit we received goes all in with an AMD Ryzen 7 (R7-8845HS) Octa-core Processor, capable of up to 5.1GHz clock speeds, a NVidia RTX 4060 GPU, with 8GB GDDR6 and a boost clock of 1890MHZ, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. The 16-inch IPS monitor runs 1080p Full-High Definition, with anti-glare glass and a fantastic 165Hz refresh rate – a perfect pairing for the RTX GPU.

A single USB 3.2 Type-A port sits on either side of the laptop, with a multi-functional USB 4.0 Type-C port seated on the rear, capable of running data, display, or power delivery, and it sits next to the power input and an HDMI port. The left side also houses the sockets for a 3.5mm audio connector and an RJ45 network port, and all three mentioned sides accommodate cutouts for airflow. Alternatively, for wireless connectivity, it supports Bluetooth 5.2 and comes with Wi-Fi 6E 802.11AX wireless protocols, so you’ll have all your bases covered.

After drooling over the new system and performing the mandatory updates to ensure a fair test, it was time to download some games to try out and run the benchmarking software. I’ve been playing a bit of Once Human the last few weeks, but I’ve also recently jumped into Gray Zone Warfare. My system runs Once Human somewhere in the 80 FPS mark with my current settings, while Grey Zone Warfare will typically sit around 50 FPS, although that’s a pre-alpha game that needs some optimisation work.

Unfortunately, the benchmark tests came back with some mixed results. From a gaming perspective, it performed decently for the price point, but there is room for improvement. The Ryzen 7 CPU, the 1TB SSD, and the RTX 4060 all came back with positive results, providing an average of 148 FPS during the 3D DX9 tests, and 139 FPS as the average for 3D DX10. 

Results for the 16GB RAM, however, suggest this is the biggest bottleneck on the Acer Nitro V 16 AMD, with results coming back to suggest it’s in the lower percentile, but this isn’t to say that the system is slow. The single 16GB stick runs a base clock of 5600MHz, so realistically, this is a decent piece of kit, but if you need more RAM, there is an extra slot available for expansion.

Of course, a benchmark test isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of performance either. There aren’t many games that require 16GB of RAM, let alone more, so with that in mind, I opened up Once Human, and running the same settings as I do on my regular rig, I found I was obtaining up to 110 FPS, a significant improvement over what I would normally experience. I also noticed that the framerate was a lot more stable. Depending on what’s happening on screen, my normal rig can drop to 40 FPS, whereas I was lucky to drop below 80 FPS while gaming on the Acer Nitro V 16 AMD.

It was a similar story with Grey Zone Warfare, where I could see anywhere up to 80 FPS, with the lower framerate typically no lower than 60 FPS. I can also say that the colours were more vibrant, particularly while playing Once Human, which is full of bright and exciting colours, thanks to the 16” FHD IPS monitor. The 165Hz refresh rate also meant that animations were silky smooth, leading to an amazing gaming experience overall.

All these tests were completed with the system running in the Gaming: Turbo mode through NitroSense, an easy-to-use-and-understand app that comes with the Nitro series devices. The previously mentioned stylised “N” key on the keyboard acts as a shortcut to open the software, which gives us a quick breakdown of the performance of the system, including fan speeds, GPU and CPU frequencies, and other system information, as well as offering a one-stop shop for downloading system updates.It’s here that we can see and switch between preset profiles and even create our own, within reason. While it won’t give you the ability to try and overclock your system, you can assign programs to the different profiles. As an example, you could assign the turbo profile to shooters, or the performance profile to racing games, and set it to default in power-saving mode while not playing games. There’s also a handy button just above the keyboard on the left-hand side, and by default, this is set to cycle through the preset profiles, but it can be switched out to turn the Turbo mode on and off.

The Acer Nitro V 16 AMD series comes with DTS:X support, however, the internal speakers sound quite hollow, and while this is typically the case for most laptop devices, it was a little more noticeable on this system. DTS:X comes into play when you connect a decent set of headphones, and then you’ll experience crisp and immersive sound that helps with your situational awareness. Outgoing communications are also supported by PurifiedVoice 2.0, AI-powered noise reduction that helps to isolate your voice from background noise, ensuring your callouts will be heard clearly by your teammates.

If you’re in the market for a gaming system, but don’t quite have the budget for some of the other big-brand systems out there, the Acer Nitro V16 AMD Gaming Laptop, with a Ryzen 7 processor, Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, punches well above its paygrade. A 16-inch full-high definition IPS monitor delivers gorgeous colours and smooth animations thanks to the 165Hz refresh rate, and NitroSense provides a one-stop in controlling the system’s performance and ensuring you’re up to date. It is easily one of the best budget-friendly gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time.

Written by: Mathew Lindner