Frame drops, lagging and overheating of Acer Nitro 5 - AN515-43.

GypsyDanger24 · April 2020

I'm having a couple of problems with my Acer Nitro 5 - AN515-43. I've had the laptop for less than a year now and its lagging terribly. a Simple right clock on the home screen takes 2-3 seconds to load, and if I go into any other options like trying to create a new folder or file then it takes like 5-10 seconds before the option even appears. This doesn't change irrespective of whether my laptop is on battery saver or high-performance mode. Over and above this, my laptop is heating up terribly. On Nitrosense it shows that my laptop is consistently between 79-85 degrees celsius even with CoolBoost on and the fans on Max speed. To add to the problems, since the past week there's been horrible fps drops while playing games on even the lowest settings. Like there's literally a drop in the fps while playing Midtown Madness and NFS Underground 2!! One would expect that with a dedicated graphic card and 8 gigs of RAM that that wouldn't be an issue. I'm a student and generally use my laptop for just working on MS Office. Gaming is minimum and I only play old games such as the above, and that too for 10-15 minutes max. Any idea on how to fix this?

GAMING6698 · April 2020

@GypsyDanger24 answer
1)what is your amd radeon software version?
2)post image of task manager
3)run this benchmark and post your result link

batmalin · April 2020

You might consider RAM upgrade as well as from 8GB you have only 5,9GB are usable the rest is reserved for the vega.

GypsyDanger24 · April 2020

@GAMING6698

AMD Software Version: 2020.0401.1512.27368
Task Manager Image:
Benchmark Link: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/26707886

GypsyDanger24 · April 2020

@batmalin Ya, I'll definitely be upgrading the RAM. Just haven't gotten the time yet. Hoping to do it soon.

GAMING6698 · April 2020

@GypsyDanger24 upgrading ram not going to help, your games running in Vega 8.some settings need to done follow these steps -

1)-set high performance in nitrosense both AC AND BATTERY THEN CLOSE

-After setting up from nitrosense right click on battery option in taskbar and go to power option

-then go to change plan setting (right side of the high performance plan)

-Then go to change advance power settings

-Then find and expand Switchable Dynamic Graphics then expand Global Settings and set maximize performance in both PLUGGED IN AND ON BATTERY

-then find amd graphics power settings then expand Amd powerplay settings and set maximize performance in both PLUGGED IN AND ON BATTERY

-set maximum performance if you have this option available

after this check your games fps
2)make you add your game in amd radeon software and launch from there only

Doing above steps will solve your issue we have same model AN515-43 check out my userbenchmark.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/26371275

GypsyDanger24 · April 2020

GAMING6698 said:

@GypsyDanger24 upgrading ram not going to help, your games running in Vega 8.some settings need to done follow these steps -

1)-set high performance in nitrosense both AC AND BATTERY THEN CLOSE
-After setting up from nitrosense right click on battery option in taskbar and go to power option
-then go to change plan setting (right side of the high performance plan)
-Then go to change advance power settings
-Then find and expand Switchable Dynamic Graphics then expand Global Settings and set maximize performance in both PLUGGED IN AND ON BATTERY
-then find amd graphics power settings then expand Amd powerplay settings and set maximize performance in both PLUGGED IN AND ON BATTERY
-set maximum performance if you have this option available

after this check your games fps
2)make you add your game in amd radeon software and launch from there only

Doing above steps will solve your issue we have same model AN515-43 check out my userbenchmark.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/26371275

I made the changes you suggested. Most of the settings were already on the ones you advised. While the gaming score went up from 20% to 22%, the overall condition of my laptop is much worse. The laptop is crazy hot right now (varying between 88-90 degrees Celsius) and there wasn't much of a difference in the gaming. There was still frame dropping.
Heres the benchmark score:
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/26718676

GAMING6698 · April 2020

@GypsyDanger24 play you game now and when your experience lag then press nitrosense button, nitrosense will open now check temperature and tell.

Also tell are you able to play this game smoothly in starting?

GypsyDanger24 · April 2020

@GAMING6698 sure bud. Here you go.

AMD Software Version: 2020.0401.1512.27368
Task Manager Image:
Benchmark Link: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/26707886

GAMING6698 · April 2020

@GypsyDanger24 why copy and send old reply.read all posts

GypsyDanger24 · April 2020

GAMING6698 said:

@GypsyDanger24 why copy and send old reply.read all posts

Buddy ignore that message. I didn't copy and send it again. When I originally sent that message to you, i pressed post a couple of times but it took like 5-10 minutes to post after the tab loaded. So I think it got sent again right now.

Also, I saw your suggestion regarding pressing nitro sense while gaming and then checking the temperature. The temperature is still high. Same as earlier i.e. 88-90 or sometimes even 92. And the games are lagging since the beginning right from the loading screen. I've tried NFS Underground 2, Most Wanted(2005), Midtown Madness 1&2, even Roadrash lags, which were all run on the lowest settings of the games.
Gaming is reallying not my priority, coz I mostly use my laptop for work or studies or in my free time for movies and stuff. The issue is just that all these problems suddenly began about a week ago. I have an active anti-virus and it hasn't detected any threats either. So the frames dropping is fine. But the amount of heat coming from the laptop and the amount it's started lagging is my main concern. So the overall performance matters. Could it be that the windows update changed some settings or something?

BobbyG2 · May 2020

I had the same issue, with the same model of laptop. My problem was that the CPU and GPU heatsinks were filled with dust.

I used a qtip and isoalcohol to clean the dust build up between the fans and heatsink fins, than blew the rest of the dust out with while holding the fans still (to prevent the fans from spinning and creating an electrical charge back to the motherboard)

You'll have to remove the whole bottom of the chassis to access this. I also recommend disconnecting the battery (small cable between Mobo and battery) and grounding yourself periodically (touching metal parts of the chassis) to prevent accidental static discharge.

BobbyG2 · May 2020

While you have the laptop open, it will be a good time for you to upgrade the RAM as well. Download HWInfo, find out the model of RAM you have, and Google the model number to buy a matching stick (for best chance of memory comparability).

My laptop came with a stick of this model of memory:

Kingston 8GB DDR4 2666MHZ SODIMM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D3NG9MG/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apap_d8EmZZoVmcjin

BobbyG2 · May 2020

Because our laptops only came with one stick in single channel, adding a second stick enabling dual channel will add a noticeable improvement to performance. Up to 30% in some games, and more in more memory intensive productivity workloads like video editing. I don't understand why laptop manufacturers don't send all laptops with dual channel RAM, even if they have to use 4GB sticks to keep costs down...

Voidhex · May 2020

Laptop internal probably needs some cleaning and try to disable turbo boost in power options

GAMING6698 · May 2020

@GypsyDanger24
Need to respaste your laptop,clean fans,air vent and heat sink to solve this overheating.

System start throttling when temperature goes 89°C -90°Cor more at that time you experience lag
Some laptop comes with bad thermal paste by default.

If you are under warranty send it to service centre,
You may need to log your case first get in touch with acer costumer care your region
http://www.acer.com/worldwide/

Btw,is it cpu overheating?

Karlito · June 2020

@GypsyDanger24

As @GAMING6698 said in the above comment you need to repaste your CPU & GPU and perform some cleanup. I would rather tell you to do it yourself rather than sending to service centre because 1) It saves you money (even if under warranty in India they charge INR 600) 2) They will repaste it with the same cheapass thermal paste.

I repasted my laptop and now it runs pretty smooth with temps in 80 - 90 during prolonged gaming, normal use 50 - 60.

If repasting is not an option for you right now. I'll suggest stopping turbo boost of your processor in advance power settings. That should bring down temps significantly.

Please like this comment if it helps you.

Spectran · August 2020

GAMING6698 said:

@GypsyDanger24 upgrading ram not going to help, your games running in Vega 8.some settings need to done follow these steps -

1)-set high performance in nitrosense both AC AND BATTERY THEN CLOSE
-After setting up from nitrosense right click on battery option in taskbar and go to power option
-then go to change plan setting (right side of the high performance plan)
-Then go to change advance power settings
-Then find and expand Switchable Dynamic Graphics then expand Global Settings and set maximize performance in both PLUGGED IN AND ON BATTERY
-then find amd graphics power settings then expand Amd powerplay settings and set maximize performance in both PLUGGED IN AND ON BATTERY
-set maximum performance if you have this option available

after this check your games fps
2)make you add your game in amd radeon software and launch from there only

Doing above steps will solve your issue we have same model AN515-43 check out my userbenchmark.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/26371275

Hi there! Just bought this unit a week ago.
I did user benchmark too, and I get this warn sign "unable to locate attached display" for rx560x.
I check the AMD Radeon Software and can't seems to find the "Switchable Dynamic Graphics" in the AMD Radeon Software

Did I missed something?

Thanks in advance

GypsyDanger24 · August 2020

Hey Guys! Thank you for all the responses. The problem has been solved now.
Here's what I did:

Opened up the laptop and cleared out the dust with a microfibre cloth
Used Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the Fans
Did a thermal repaste. A friend had the Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste so used that.

These steps fixed the heating issues.
For improving the performance:

Switched off the Gaming Mode option of Xbox/Windows 10 on the laptop. Weirdly enough my laptop would lag and stutter when that was on
Needed more RAM so I went for another 8 GB RAM Card, Went for the Crucial 8GB-2666 variant

Now there are no issues with the laptop and performance is great. Thanks to everyone who helped!

Cheers!

VIPUL_3151 · October 2020

Hi,I have same problem about stuttering for 1-2 sec frame rate goes 60 to 10 and revert. I'm not able to play games. I have played division 2 , Ghost recon wildlands. Its plays smooth, but micro stuttering irritates.
Model : Acer Nitro 5 - AN515-43

Benchmark test:
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/33795399

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ie/6jwd4gfnylyi.png

batmalin · October 2020

You have RAM CL mismatch, so don't expect something else, next time ask before you "upgrade" your RAM. Why did you get a HypeX and why 16gb?

Frame drops, lagging and overheating of Acer Nitro 5 - AN515-43.

Answers

Categories

Assistance by Acer

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Frame drops, lagging and overheating of Acer Nitro 5 - AN515-43.

Answers

Categories

Assistance by Acer

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™