DDR4 isn't the main reason the Nitro V15 loses performance

Acer's Nitro V15 arrives with entry-level gaming hardware — an Intel Core i7-13620H, an RTX 5050, a high-refresh IPS screen and 16GB of DDR4 RAM — but its asking price feels out of step with the market. Wider industry shortages and datacentres buying up NAND have pushed component costs up, leaving this otherwise solid-feeling laptop looking expensive for what it offers.

The use of DDR4 is a notable oddity; that memory standard first appeared in this kind of laptop back in September 2015. The Nitro V15 does at least include a crisp 165Hz panel and a tidy chassis, but the internal choices extend to a single 500GB PCIe 4.0 SSD that, after Windows, leaves little room for games and apps — and the provided drive’s performance is not class-leading.

Thermals and power also limit outcomes. The CPU and GPU run hotter here than in some competing models, which pulls down sustained multi-core and GPU performance.

nitro v15, ddr4, i7-13620h, rtx 5050, 165hz, pcie 4.0, 500gb ssd, nand shortages, thermal throttling, power limits