HP Pavilion Gaming 15 VS Acer Nitro 5- Full Review

Two of the most popular choices for budget gamers who aren’t DIY fans. The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 VS Acer Nitro 5 is a much debated topic among the gaming community. So which of these qualify to be a budget gaming laptop?

HP Pavilion Gaming 15 VS Acer Nitro 5: Specs

Before we get into the HP pavilion VS Acer nitro 5 review, let’s take a quick glance at the specifications of both.

Acer Nitro 5

CPU: 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-9300H (quad-core, 8MB cache, up to 4.0GHz)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 ( 4GB VRAM); Intel UHD Graphics 630
RAM: 8GB SDRAM (DDR4)
Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) Acer ComfyView (IPS LED) LCD
Storage: 256GB SSD
Ports: 1 x USB Type-C, 1 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, HDMI port, SD card reader, Ethernet (RJ-45) port, 35mm headphone jack, Kensington lock slot
Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Gigabit LAN, Bluetooth
Camera: 1,280 x 720 webcam
Weight: 6 pounds (2.75kg)
Size: 15.35 x 10.47 x 1.05 inches (38.99 x 26.59 x 2.67cm; W x D x H)

HP Pavilion

• CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ (2.6GHz, up to 3.5GHz, 6MB cache, 4 cores)
• Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 530 +  GeForce GTX 1050 graphics (3 GB GDDR5)
• RAM: 8GB DDR3L SDRAM (1 x 8GB)
• Screen: 15.6-inch diagonal FHD IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080)
• Storage: 512GB SSD+1TB HDD
• Optical drive: SuperMulti DVD burner
• Ports: 1 x HDMI, 1 x headphone/microphone combo, 1 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x RJ-45, 1 x multi-format SD media card reader
• Connectivity: Ethernet LAN, 802.11ac (1 x 1) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo (Miracast compatible)
• Camera: HP TrueVision HD Webcam (front-facing) with integrated dual array digital microphone
• Weight: 2.32kg
• Size: 385 x 265 x 28.8mm (W x D x H)

The essentials that a gamer requires in a gaming laptop narrows down to a good processor, a better graphics card, bigger memory(RAM). These are more or less termed as the fundamentals of gaming. Then follows the screen factors such as resolution, refresh rate and the design of the laptop. HP pavilion VS Acer nitro 5 prompted into comparison based on several factors.

Also some other issues such as the heat generated and finally the price. HP pavilion 15 and Acer nitro 5 are two of the most popular laptops that satisfy the above mentioned conditions for a laptop gamer. Unless of course you prefer building your own gaming rig, customized for your purposes.

As you have already seen, stating the obvious HP pavilion and Acer nitro have almost the same specifications except for a few differences and hence the price difference. But more importantly both the products are budget,laptops with good battery life for gaming. Let us inspect each feature in detail for both the products and clearly differenciate between them.

Processor

Acer nitro comes with the Intel i5-9300H @ 2.4GHz which is overclocked to 4.2GHz . HP pavilion on the other hand comes with Intel Core i7-9750H which also @  2.6GHz overclocked up to 4.5GHz. But also there are models with AMD Ryzen processors for Acer as well. For now lets stick with good old intel for the sake of comparison. As we can see on the CPU power HP is ahead with the intel configuration.

RAM and Storage

Both are built in with 8GB DDR4 RAM. As we know they are upgradable even up to 32GB. Storage wise HP has the 512GB SSD additionally making it a bit faster than 256GB SSD. Acer on the other hand only posses the 256GB SSD. As we know the SDD helps in the start up process, file transfer etc making it much faster and HP has the upper hand with 512GB. But don’t forget that all these are upgradable.

Graphics Unit

Essentially HP pavillion is equipped with Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 while the Acer nitro is also the same, with dedicated 4GB VRAM. So its pretty much even on this unit. As we are aware there are many games and softwares that sometimes require more processing power and RAM more than the graphics. We have witnessed plenty of gamers who, with lower processors and lower GPU but with higher RAM play some quality video games with average higher settings.

Display and Design

Both the laptops are built with the same display which is 1080p and same IPS panel. If you wanna know more about gaming monitor panels visit here. Also same screen size with FHD LED display. When it comes to gaming the refresh rate is more important than the resolution which in this case is 60Hz for the nitro 5 and 144Hz for the pavilion. We know the importance of that factor when playing battlefield or overwatch. Design wise nitro and pavilion are not that different,both weighing a little above 2kg.

Battery life

This is one of the major issues of the laptop gaming market. The more high-end the laptop becomes the lower the battery life. This is one specific reason we chose the pavilion and nitro 5 as they provide a considerate battery life for a gaming laptop of that specifications. The Gaming Pavilion 15 has a 52.5 Wh battery, which lasted just 4:50 hours in the practical Wi-Fi battery life test. Acer claims that the Nitro 5 can last up to 7 hours on a single charge. On the Laptop Mag battery test (continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness), the Nitro 5 tapped out after only 4 hours and 22 minutes. We will see the gaming effects on the battery life in depth of the review.

Connectivity and Communication

We realize that this is not that essential of a factor in gaming but lets be thorough. The Gaming Pavilion 15 has a good selection of ports, with four USB 3.2 ports including one Type-C Gen 2, which also supports DisplayPort out with an appropriate adapter. By contrast, the three Type-A ports operate on the slightly older Gen 1 standard. There is also an HDMI 2.0 port, a 3.5 mm combined headphone and microphone jack, a Gigabit Ethernet port and a cable lock slot. Acer nitro on the other posses 1 – USB Type-C port USB 3 1 Gen 1 (up to 5 Gaps) 1 – USB 3 0 port (featuring Power-off charging) 2 – USB 2 0 Ports 1 – HDMI 2 0 port with HDCP support. And yes there is no thunderbolt although it is kinda gaming gig.

Audio

Acer nitro presents Dual stereo speakers Dolby Audio Premium Acer TrueHarmony while the pavilions Bang & Olufson speakers are also termed to be quite okay.

Gaming Performance- The real deal!

This is the core of this review and this is why you are here. Having a custom built gaming rig is amazing yet complicated to setup unless you are a pro. So gaming laptops like these which are also budget can be used to satisfy our needs. Both the laptops posses Geforce GTX 1050 which is awesome as many recent games has requirements that match the 1050.

• RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER. 
• BATTLEFIELD 1. 
• MIRROR’S EDGE CATALYST. 
• DOOM. 
• FIFA 17. 
• METAL GEAR SOLID V THE PHANTOM PAIN. 
• GRAND THEFT AUTO V. 
• FORZA HORIZON 3. 

Not just these but the new call of duty warzone or battlefiels 5 can also be run on different settings here. Loading up a save from Far Cry New Dawn, enjoy a steady 44 frames per second on medium graphics settings, crawling through grass and eliminating enemies in one fluid motion. On high settings, the game saw only a 4-frame decrease, with an average of 40 frames per second.Despite the initial encouraging numbers, the Nitro came in last on a majority of mainstream gaming benchmarks, as expected. You have to take into account that the Nitro is well above minimum thresholds while it is a third of the price less than other laptops that keep the same pace. 

All games are playable in these specifications except games like battlefield V should be played with lower settings unless you want to except lagging during gameplay. Comparatively resolution is not a big deal and all the games were tested by gamers at 1080p native resolution. Its the frames per second that matters.

Overall, the pavilion will play most games at 60 FPS on maximum graphics, but you could make use of its 144 Hz refresh rate display if you reduce the graphics settings to high. For games like witcher 3 it will reduce its settings to higher 40s with the resolution at 1080p and maximum graphics. Far Cry 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider are both modern AAA titles with built-in benchmark routines. Run these tests at 1080p on both the moderate and maximum graphics-quality presets (Normal and Ultra for Far Cry 5; Medium and Very High for the Lara Croft adventure).

 GTX 1050 is a good card for mid range gaming pc’s and provides about 40–70 FPS on most of the latest games with all the graphics settings turned up to max. But, when it comes to laptops, the same card will provide maybe 30–50 FPS on the same in game video settings. Maybe for some games a little above 55 FPS. But let’s not forget the fact that for both the laptops there are several configurations with the processor changing to AMD for acer, and GPU of pavilion been available also as 1660ti. The battery life however will last for a little more than one and a half hour for steady gaming at these settings but upto 4 hours with normal usage.

Final conclusion

There goes HP pavilion VS Acer nitro 5 full review. Both these laptops are budget friendly and most definitely will satisfy the needs of many gamers overall. Please note that this laptop review was intended for gaming purposes only and not for video/photo editing or running high-end softwares. Personally speaking a graphics card delivering 60+fps for many modern games at high resolution with maximum settings for this amount is very much worth it. Also the 8GB RAM and the 9th gen processors with FHD dispaly enhances its value. And also the battery life is not that bad considering the other competitors in the gaming arena.

Purchase the Acer nitro 5 here.

Purchase the HP pavilion gaming 15 here.