Acer Helios 18 with RTX4080, Power button Issues, Extreme shuttering and Overheating

I got this laptop refurbished from Acer and I am pretty shocked at a few things.

The power button doesnt work. But there is a button on the keyboard that has symbol representing a power button and that works. Why? 💁
Framerate drops are wild. I tried running at 1440 and then to 1080 and still got massive framerate drops (stuttering.) I was trying the game Control which is pretty old and I had to turn display options surprisingly low to get rid of the studdering. Ray tracing which I have always wanted to be a part of - nope! too much stuttering. I thought "okay, maybe its just the game Control." So I ran may old favorite Overwatch 2. And I get massive stutters unless I set graphics to medium. And 1080. I tried DLSS. I tried various settings and it just shocked me how troubled this computer is with an RTX 4080.
Benchmarks: I did some benchmarking and I mainly used Superposition and I was shocked yet again. It score a 5843 and I made sure the fans could draw in fresh air by propping the back of the laptop up about 2 inches. It had a minimum framerate of 28.9 and a max of 59. Oh my.
Predator sense shows a lot of heat: The GP was pegged at 90c to 91c. The CPU was between 94c and 99c. This seems pretty hot. This was running Overwatch at 1080p in training mode.
Stutters in Windows on first run of the laptop. Clicking menus was slightly laggy. This was how it arrived. I reinstalled Win 11 with some hiccups along the way, but it should be in tip top condition now. I do not get the stutters since I reinstalled a fresh copy of Win 11 Pro.

Is the Helios 18 with an RTX4080 supposed to be this bad? The laptop this is supposed to replace is my Lenovo Legion 17" RTX 2080. So while the Helios was able to get a better peak by about 20 fps, my Lenovo minimum is about 20 FPS higher and doesn't stutter. Ever. And I have ran it like a gaming computer for 5 years.

I am going to return in for a refund and stay far away from Acer. I welcome any advice or good experiences with this model laptop as this has got to be just a poorly tested refurbished model. No one releases a laptop like this.

Any input is welcome. Thanks in advance.

Brian

Accepted answers

All comments

Helios18ughhh

I dont see a button to edit my post so here is a quick addendum:

The power button I thought was a power button is the mode cycle button. It switches performance modes. That was an odd user experience design decision. So the power button i guess is actually a keyboard button.

From the Predator Sense app > Scenario > Fan Control section, I can see that the GPU fan is running at zero RPMs. That seems bad. I tried adjusting it using custom. I tried moving the CPU down to zero and the GPU to max. No matter what, GPU shows zero RPMs.

My conclusion is the GPU fan is not spinning and that probably kicks in throttling and kills my performance. Womp womp.

Brian

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/720557/acer-helios-18-with-rtx4080-power-button-issues-extreme-shuttering-and-overheating

The power button doesnt work. But there is a button on the keyboard that has symbol representing a power button and that works. Why?

A1. 😁 the PH18-7x whichever exact model laptop you have, has a power button at #7 and a turbo button on/off at #4 shown below, you should know that, its in the eManual of your laptop.

A2-3-4-5. With the heating and fps "The GP was pegged at 90c to 91c. The CPU was between 94c and 99c" that is common for these laptops in gaming, as their Turbo mode temps are set for the below temps and as you can see that even at 99c the temp is not at its max listed below.

CPU TCC Trigger = 100C
CPU OS Shut Down Trigger = 110C
CPU EC Shut Down Trigger = 110C
H/W Shut down: 95.5C

You need to make sure that the laptop is setup properly and you have Win-11 24H2 and all its windows updated to OS build 26100.3037 installed, install GeForce Experience that will install the latest NVidia RTX4080 game ready driver and play the supported games through that NVidia software, install the latest bios and firmware for your PH18-7x model, as all this is essential for performance of these high end laptops. Also make sure that the M.2 SSD firmware is up to date and even better upgrade to a high end gaming M.2 Gen 4 x4 drive.

I don't know if the refurbished laptop that you got is 100% fictional or what can is wrong with it, but don't judge Acer by a refurbished laptop as its not the quality that Acer produces. I've been Acer for a long time (never bough a refurb but) and I'm currently using a Predator Helios Neo PHN16-71 13th Gen i5-13500HX cpu with an RTX4050 and upgraded to 64GB DDR5-4800MT/s CL40 type ram with a Gen 4 x4 Samsung with Heatsink M.2 SSD and my Predator functions perfectly and is outstanding in gaming like F1-24, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Le Mans Ultimate and Battlefield 2042. I don't know what you are doing wrong but there must be something, so try all the above and see if it improves the gaming on your laptop, otherwise there is something wrong with the refurbished laptop and you need to get Acer to fix it or replace it. Good luck.

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

Helios18ughhh

Steven, do Acer computers usually come with an e-manual? Zero documentation was included. You'd think they'd throw in a quick start guide. Stumped the engineer. 🥴

I previously would undervolt my systems to keep temperatures a little lower, but I had read that Acer prevents you from undervolting. Which is fine. I shouldn't have to to.

Windows 11 came from the official Microsoft link and I spent hours having Windows install all of its updates till there were finally no more.

I down to loaded Nvdia GeForce Now and it installed without issue.

I couldn't find any documentation on running BIOS updates but I still downloaded all of them. I had trouble running the first one and I decided this should be irrelevant. (Laptop purchased 2 weeks ago while it may not have the latest firmware updates, I imagine it should run reasonably well.)

I shouldn't need to upgrade the storage or anything.

It seems like there are Acer fans so I'll take your word for it that they produce good products. I will say I liked the aesthetics and specs. Should be a killer laptop. This one definitely is OBQ issues based on my findings.

Do me a favor if you find the time and check the Predator Sense app and see if your GPU fan reads zero. Maybe the app just isn't reading the GPU fan correctly. Otherwise, a dead fan in Predator Sense could be the smoking gun. I will remain neutral with Acer!

Brian

Axxo

Overheating can be caused by poor ventilation, dust buildup, or failing cooling fans. Prevention: Ensure that your computer is well-ventilated, regularly clean the dust from your components, and check that all cooling fans are functioning correctly. To help reduce the temperature, you can place the Laptop on a hard, flat surface, clean the air vents and fans, adjust power settings, use a cooling pad, or turn off the Laptop when not in use. If necessary, monitoring the temperature and consulting a professional is also recommended.

Get a powerful 5-fan cooling pad the size of your laptop and reduce the Max. Processor Power state to 95% when on power. Also use Balanced Power Plan instead of Maximum Performance Power Plan. Up to 95°C. under heavy load no issues, the CPU can sustain 100°C.

Paul1956

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1324756#Comment_1324756

I just got an Acer Predator Helios 16 4080.

The only problem I have had is the Predator Sense (nonsense) software, It constantly fails to load correctly and requires removing and reinstalling, it's a pain. Re your fan problem can you not here the difference when changing them manually?

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1335248#Comment_1335248

I've been using a Predator Neo PHN16-71-50JG since early December 2024 that has an i5-13500HX cpu /RTX4050 gpu, that I've updated its ram to 64GB 2x 32GB DDR5-4800MT/s CL40 type ram (btw see this link, as these laptops can be updated to 96GB 2x 48GB also or even their limit of 128GB 2x 64GB modules) as Crucial makes them and other ram manufacturers make 206pin DIMMs, so be aware of all this, as I've also upgraded the boot M.2 drive to a 1TB Samsung 990 Pro + Heatsink drive and the Predator Sense on this laptop has always worked perfectly and loads every time all the time and I've also played some high end games on this laptop without any lag or problems.

I don't know what you have done to your Acer Predator Helios 16 4080, but makes sure that you have the latest bios installed and Win-11 24H2 updated to the last OS build: 26100.3775, as that is the only thing that I've done plus the upgrades and my laptop works perfectly in all normal tasks and high end gaming.

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

Paul1956

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1335364#Comment_1335364

Agreed I find that updating windows regularly is best practice now, there always seems to be something from acer i.e. ULIC Tek Inc which I read is something for Acer Sense. Had far fewer problems when doing this.

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 360

StevenGen 175

RenanVilela 105

Alejandro_AC 100

Kno63 85

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™