Predator Helios 18-Query reg: Lack of undervolting option is inexcusable, losing customers

I_Am_Weasel

Hello,

I really hope someone from Acer reads this as I see there is a huge number of posts regarding this issue, not only on this forum but on pretty much every single forum I've researched in the past week. Long story short: I've scored a great deal on a Predator Helios 18 from a local store, i9-13900HX and RTX 4080, finished setting it up and coming from an old HP Omen, first thing i did was to install TrottleStop and Afterburner as it's pretty much mandatory for these powerful machines, no matter what anybody tells you, a laptop form factor can NEVER properly cool an i9 + RTX 4080, you are arguing against the laws of physics if you believe otherwise. To my utter disbelief the option was greyed out so i started investigating ways to bypass this, after almost 2 weeks of research, my disappointment is unmeasurable when i find out there is no real way of doing this, Acer intentionally disabled it and keeps it this way. Who in their right mind at Acer ever thought this was anywhere close to a good idea!? To answer those that keep insisting undervolting is locked on Intel CPUs, you are partially right, all non-HK/HX CPU are locked but Intel themselves allow the option to change voltages on HX CPUs so like seriously Acer, what's your excuse now!? I regrettably returned the unit, as i find it inexcusable to not have this available on such a powerful machine that runs so hot and thermal throttles all the time, even under light loads. It's frankly baffling as this continues to literally get ignored to this day, this is bad business practice that is having real-world financial impact, I ended up buying a much more expensive laptop from a competitor that has undervolting available and will never touch an Acer laptop again, even though i would have kept it, as it's a good gaming machine minus the deal-killer issue mentioned, that can ironically be easily addressed. I don't know the status quo in the US but here in the EU, when i buy a product, I want to have full control over it, especially if it's underperforming by design or has designs flaws to begin with…

[Edited the topic title to include the topic issue.]

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/720911/predator-helios-18-query-reg-lack-of-undervolting-option-is-inexcusable-losing-customers

That is how things are at Acer, thank you for your feedback as Acer does rectify these problems. But you have to understand that Acer does not like customers tinkering with their laptops especially within the warranty period as and if anything goes wrong, Acer has to foot the bill of repair, which is BAD business, as that is why they have stopped all undervolting and or overclocking of cpu's and gpu’s.

Sorry that you have returned the laptop as I’m currently using a 13th Gen PHN16-71 and it works great for me. Good luck with your laptop hunting as all Intel 13 and 14 Gen cpu’s are the same.

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍