This was posted 3 years 1 month 18 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Acer Swift 3x 14'' i5-1135G7/8/512SSD Laptop: $798 C&C /+ Delivery @ Harvey Norman ($798 Delivered @ Amazon AU)

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Acer Swift 3x 14'' i5-1135G7/8/512SSD Laptop: $798 C&C /+ Delivery @ Harvey Norman ($798 Delivered @ Amazon AU)
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Naoyin on 26/02/2021 - 14:55 harveynorman.com.au (1039 clicks)
Last edited 28/02/2021 - 22:28 by 1 other user

Have been looking for an ultrabook for a while. Firstly I gave up on Acer Swift 3. It seems to be good in value/price, however, I read some comments from Amazon about its fan bearing QA (with heavy noise issue), and its screen can be a little dark.

Acer swift 3x is more advanced model comparing to 3. Acer claims it is for graphic designer so the Swift 3x equips with a nice 14-inch matte FHD IPS panel (72% NTSC Gamut). It has most edge techs (WIFI-6 / Thunderbolt 4 / USB 3.2 / backlit / Fingerprint sensor / Fast charging). It is 1.37kg, a little heavier than Swift 3, which is at 1.2kg.
Details from Acer official website:
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/AU/content/series/swift3x

Anyway, I've just purchased one of this, look forward to it. There are plenty in stock.

There is another on with i7 costs $1098 at Harvey Norman, sub-bargain IMO:
i7-1165G7/8GB/1TB SSD
https://www.harveynorman.com.au/acer-swift-3x-14-inch-17-116…

Amazon AU follows the same discount:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08RX1L9WL

Computing 14inch Acer Computer Laptop Ultrabook

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closed Comments

  • Homr on 26/02/2021 - 15:08
    +2

    8gb ram kills the deal

  • Phoebus on 26/02/2021 - 15:18

    Looks like the RAM is upgradable at least.
    screen brightness?

    • seb on 26/02/2021 - 16:00

      Pretty sure it is LPddr4x RAM which is soldered on and not upgradeable.

    • freefall101 on 26/02/2021 - 17:42

      300 nits "peak", reviews put it a smidge under this. I'd be pissed if I paid $1200 for it considering that's getting into XPS 13/Ryzen Zenbook 14 territory but for $800 it seems pretty good.

      Battery life is also a bit crap, a lot less than the XPS 13 or Zenbook 14. So the other problem is you can't run it at full brightness anyway, you'll burn the battery out too quickly.

  • adam-07 on 26/02/2021 - 15:34
    +5

    Wow, that's a really good price for 3 laptops.

  • oz-dave on 26/02/2021 - 15:41
    +2

    I initially read this as 3 Laptops for $798 ;-)
    3x as "three times"

  • wrx5 on 26/02/2021 - 16:02

    The 14-inch full-HD matte display has a brightness of 300 nits,

  • limafoxtrot on 26/02/2021 - 17:32
    +12

    Got this a couple of days ago.

    Same price on Amazon. There must be heaps of stock, I'm guessing nobody wants the Gold-shelled version and they're trying to move units. US RRP for this model is $USD900, AUD RRP is $AUD1200 (as per https://www.cnet.com/news/acer-swift-3x-review-a-lightweight…)

    Note this is one of the few laptops with Iris XE MAX - so the discrete Intel GPU solution with 4gb of VRAM (so no shared system memory).
    It is designed to work in tandem with the Iris XE iGPU for appropriately optimised programs - not many at the moment, but one example is Photoshop.
    The XE MAX isn't hugely faster than the XE, but some performance gains in some games (some benchmarks show 10-20fps gains). 1080p low will typically get you at least 30fps, often 60+fps. Benchmarks suggest it's somewhere between MX250 and MX350 = around MX330-type performance. What sold me is that it consistently benches better than Ryzen 4000-series mobile chipsets - although no doubt 5000-series will jump ahead.
    Drivers are clearly not optimised at the moment (some weird variabilities in some gaming benchmarks), so maybe there is still some room for improvement. I run Warthunder at 1080p low at over 60fps comfortably, but using current Intel drivers (not the Acer ones) Rainbox 6 has substantial graphical glitches ("snow") that make the game unplayable. Rainbox 6 autodetect wanted to run at 1280x720 & 50% scaling, BTW.

    Form factor and build quality is good. Not as premium as Lenovo Yoga, but, given metal unibody design, not a million miles off either.
    Colour is not as terrible as the photos seem to show - more on the silver side of bronze. Blue hinge is…stupid. I mean - why?? It looks like somebody forgot to take off the shipping protection/film. It probably works much better with the blue-shelled version, but that isn't in stock.
    Keyboard is fine (although not as good as Lenovo Yoga). Trackpad is good.
    Screen is good - bright enough, accurate enough (for office/casual/gaming), matte finish is great. NON-TOUCH if that's a thing for you.
    1135G is snappy, as is the storage.
    Battery life - not looking great so far. Claimed 17hours. I call BS. My guess 4-6hrs office-type activity based on a meeting I had this morning. Reviews are saying 6-8hrs.
    Fan noise - pretty noisy, it does seem to ramp up quickly under load.
    Speakers & Webcam - low-average

    Gaming powerhouse? Nope.

    Snappy office machine with some casual gaming chops? Absolutely. Been fiddling around with many refurb laptops over the last few years, last three being 6th gen coreM -> 7th gen i7-7700HQ -> Snapdragon 850 WOA -> now the 11th gen i5 1135G7. Typically plugging into two or three external displays in various work locations via Displaylink and Displayport/DVI hubs, running Onedrive x2, Teams/Zoom, Whatsapp, Outlook, Windows 10 Mail, Xodo PDF, Citrix Workspace, RDP and about 10-15 Edge tabs -> the responsiveness of the 1135G7/Swift 3X has been just a joy to use - particularly noticeable when searching through large email databases/multiple accounts in Outlook and Mail.

    Running Warthunder is an added bonus. Almost always plugged in so battery life not so much of an issue, though I might regret that as travel is starting to open up a bit now. But even so, even if I only get 4hrs unplugged (worse case that, I think), that should be enough.

    For my use case, 8GB not a problem, esp given the discrete 4GB VRAM for casual gaming. Sure, if you're photo-editing/video-editing/virtual machine, go for 16GB. (RAM is NOT upgradeable)

    I think it's very well priced at <$800 for a new machine, current/fast processor, and (modest) discrete graphics. If you want something now, mostly use Office, are casual/esports gamer only, and don't want to wait for Ryzen 5000-series mobile processors, I think this is as good a deal as you'll get at this price-point.

    If you don't mind that stupid blue hinge…😣

    More reviews - mostly i7-1165G7 version, about 10-15% benchmarking difference with I5-1135G7:
    - https://www.laptopmag.com/au/reviews/acer-swift-3x
    - https://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/acer-swift-3x-r…
    - https://pokde.net/review/acer-swift-3x-review
    - https://gadgets.ndtv.com/laptops/reviews/acer-swift-3x-i7-11…

    • chad87 on 26/02/2021 - 22:25

      Whats your experience with refurb so far? Higher % of duds? Hows warranty on them?

      • limafoxtrot on 27/02/2021 - 03:09
        +3

        Generally speaking - excellent.

        Have purchased or "claimed" perhaps a dozen refurbs/seconds/office-throw-away laptops and desktops over the years for myself and family, and have never had anything go wrong that wasn't of my own making. Generally, if tech is going to go wrong, it goes wrong pretty quickly, with perhaps the exception being heat-related issues/poorly engineered thermal management solutions. I've been fortunate on several occasions, to find that issues that resulted in heavy discounts were either non-existent or easily fixed - (e.g. "locked BIOS" - wasn't locked; "loose CPU fan" -> screw not locked down; "turns off if you move it" - open case sensor for laptop triggered by wrong screw being used to reattach the case back on; "USB-C port not working" - USB-C port totally fine.)

        Brands I have acquired this way have included Sony and ACER, but mostly Dell, HP and especially Lenovo.

        Of course, YMMV.

        The only issue, probably highlighted here, is that at the real bargain area of the market, you'll be dealing with tech that is at often at least 4-5 generations behind. With desktops I find that isn't often an issue (main desktops in my family right now are 1x 1st gen i7 and 2x 3rd gen i7 -> all happily being used for 1080p 60Hz gaming) - but with laptops, this can be an issue, I think especially given the speeds of contemporary M.2 SSDs.

        After years of never breaking the $AUD300-350 for my personal tech, I finally got a bit sick of the compromises I was forcing on myself re: my workflow, and was starting to look at refurb/second hand current gen Lenovo Slim 7 and Surface Laptop 3. That started taking me into the $AUD800+ range, so getting this new for the same price was a bit of no brainer.

        Pity about the colour, but I can live with that. 😂

  • dreamerman on 26/02/2021 - 19:12

    I don't want to be negative but I have had 3 acers in the past - 2 desktops and one laptop. None lasted long and poor driver support from acer. I have had great success with DELL and Lenovo. I avoid HPs. I am only referring to refurb ex-corporate machines.

    • limafoxtrot on 26/02/2021 - 19:30

      I only have experience with a second-hand Acer Nitro V (7200U/GTX950M) - running OK still.
      Have seen some comments about Acer quality control being terrible in the past, and improved more recently.
      Also saw a Swift3X review on youtube where the speakers and right USB port were DOA.
      All I can say at the moment - so far, so good…at just over 48hrs of ownership

      Update on graphics drivers - don't download the latest ("beta") Intel drivers, stick with what Windows Update serves you.
      -> Rainbow 6 now working fine. Playable at 1080p low + 50% scaling, just tried with v-sync on, benchmark averaged about 55fps, occ dips down to 30fps. In-game (situations), seemed smooth with occasional small stutter. Caveat - I am crap at R6.

      Noted also that Intel Graphics Command Centre says XE MAX has only 1gb of VRAM. Everything I've seen suggests it should be 4gb. R6 & Warthunder reckons it has 4gb available, however is that ??1gb dedicated + 3gb shared??

      • limafoxtrot on 27/02/2021 - 03:25

        For anybody else using this laptop - do NOT update graphics drivers with Windows Update or Intel driver management -> you'll bluescreen frequently. Stick with ACER drivers, you can re-install from the ACER website if necessary (https://www.acer.com/ac/en/AU/content/support-product/8619?b…).

        I am beginning to wonder if VRAM for the 3X is really 1GB and not 4GB after all - crashing out with "high" textures in Warthunder, no problems with "low".

        • limafoxtrot on 27/02/2021 - 04:08

          Hmm. Just BSODed again.

          See https://community.intel.com/t5/Graphics/Intel-XE-Max-and-Iri… and https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/631111/acer-swift-3…

          Update - hadn't deleted "updated" drivers -> now properly rolled back to ACER drivers. Will see how it goes.

          • chad87 on 27/02/2021 - 14:48

            @limafoxtrot: please keep updating. I am tossing up between the i5 or i7 from HN atm.

            • limafoxtrot on 27/02/2021 - 20:21
              +2

              @chad87: So far, so good - since rolling back the drivers to stock, no more BSODs.

              Have been unplugged on a few more occasions, I would say with battery saver on looking at 5-6 hrs for web-browing/light office tasks - far from M1 territory, but useable enough for most people I think.

              Funnily enough, in my rapid pre-purchase research I got completely mixed up between the various i5/i7 3/3x models, and when I threw the cash down for the i5 3X, I actually thought I was getting an i7!!! Didn't dawn on me that I'd ended up with the i5 until after I'd gotten it home and completed setup.

              I didn't take the i5 back and swap it for the i7 though.

              After an initial pang of disappointment, I rationalised that, for me, i7 & extra SSD space wasn't worth the 38%/$300 price-hike over the i5 - but that's from a perspective where (a) I'm spending my own money (not on a company expense account, although I am salary packaging this through one of my employers), (b) I have never previously spent >$350 for a laptop, so going to $798 was already a pretty big psychological stretch for me, (c) my use-case is not particularly processor or storage heavy (office tasks, 2x entertainment titles, no significant/regular photo/video editing), and (d) the i5 is smashing the office tasks I'm throwing at it, and looking at the i5 vs i7 benchmarks, I don't think I'd notice any significant difference.

              If you're mainly after the bigger SSD, don't forget there is an empty M.2 slot (https://laptopmedia.com/highlights/inside-acer-swift-3x-sf31…), and you can get a 1TB M.2 NVME SSE for $130.51 (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/search/node/m.2%20type%3Aozbdea…) -> for about $940 you can get the i5 with 1.5TB of storage.

              • Francis82 on 27/02/2021 - 20:55

                @limafoxtrot: Very interested in how you get on, I'm not very computer savvy at all!
                looking a modern light laptop that I can use for emailing watch netflix and hopefully play old skool games such as age of empires and command and conquer lol,was hoping something like this would do the trick ( i5) for 5 years .?

                A little concerned about the acer build quality and what you've been highlighting with the drivers,idnt even know what that fully means to be fair etc,

                Something that works outa the box with minimal fuss would be great!!

                • limafoxtrot on 27/02/2021 - 22:59
                  +1

                  @Francis82: Hi @Francis82:

                  Drivers are the bits of computer code that tell the computer how to play nice with a specific bit of hardware, in this case the graphics chips. Where I came unstuck was that I downloaded optional new drivers from Windows Update, and manually tried "beta"/not-Acer-certified drivers directly from Intel, and it turns out that neither of them play nicely with the Swift 3X. You need to deliberately go out of your way to download the Intel drivers, and you need to manually select the Windows Update "optional" drivers as well. Stay away from both of them for the time being, and you should be fine.

                  Five years is quite a long time in tech - especially laptop tech (where you're looking at miniaturisation/power efficiency/battery technology/screen technology)…having said that, I have two refurbs/seconds laptops that are 7th gen Intel (so 5 generations old) and there's nothing particularly wrong with them, although be aware that lithium ion batteries deteriorate over time ("The typical estimated life of a Lithium-Ion battery is about two to three years or 300 to 500 charge cycles, whichever occurs first".)

                  I could have pushed on quite reasonably with either of them, but there were some compromises with them that were starting to bug me (one has a small right shift key - never got used to that - and the other weighs about 2.3kg, and I do quite a lot of travel with work, which is probably going to pick up again in the next couple of months). I've been waiting for years for a convergence of size/weight/graphics capability/price that was just right for me, and the Swift 3X is pretty close to hitting the nail on the head.

                  Probably the only major short-fall with the Swift 3X is the battery life, and you have to expect that to get worse over the next few years. But if you're mostly going to be plugged in, won't be untethered for more than 4-5 hours, and/or you're happy to invest in a USB-C PD battery charger, that's not necessarily a deal-breaker.

                  Do I think I'll still be using the Swift 3X in 5 years? Mmm…not sure. My history is that I tend to use a (refurb) laptop for a year, then I move on to the next (semi)bright and (semi)shiny refurb/seconds that has caught my attention. Now I've lashed out on a new one, I think I'll push on for 2-3 years, but given my history, I'll be surprised if I'm still using it in five. There's that battery issue. Trying to replace a laptop battery 4-5 years down the track is completely hit or miss re: availability and pricing. Also hard to say whether 8GB will be a comfortable amount of RAM in 5 years. It depends on a whole bunch of variables, including how the OS develops, how apps develop and which of those apps you want to use. I'd probably have to say if you definitely want to squeeze 5 years out of something you buy now, you either need something with an empty DIMM slot (not the 3X), or something that has 16GB on board right now (with the 3X and 16GB, then you're looking at a whole bunch more money, at which point the value proposition goes right out the window and the options from alternatives really opens right up - these are a completely different class of laptop, but check out these 16GB options - https://online.acer.com.au/acer/store/refurbished/nitro-5-am… and https://online.acer.com.au/acer/store/refurbished/acer-nitro…).

                  But for right now, and for the next two or three years at least, I think you'll be fine with the Swift 3X. It does work out of the box. re: Netflix, speakers are only average, I think very useable, but there are definitely better (and worse) out there. The older games should run very nicely.

                  • Francis82 on 27/02/2021 - 23:35

                    @limafoxtrot: Thanks for the very honest informed reply🙌🙌🙌, I'm coming from. A2013 toshiba satellite p850
                    I put a samsung ssd and windows 10 on it off a you tube vid lol,goes pretty good for emailing etc.
                    But feel I need something newer , lighter smaller modern ,to take on the go /use at home or mine camp donga.
                    Probably prefer laptop over an tablet (never had one either) but reading that ipad pros/airs are nearly as fast as most laptops also ,thought this might be a good option and a bit cheaper especially adding keyboards etc to a tablet

                  • Francis82 on 27/02/2021 - 23:42

                    @limafoxtrot: Yea will mostly be plugged in also!
                    Definitely will be getting a power bank also for what ever I get,big rumours of the ipad pro 2020 being replaced next month with a new one. Does a tablet not interest you either?

                    • limafoxtrot on 27/02/2021 - 23:59

                      @Francis82: I was into tablets for many several years, starting with the iPad 2 -> then a whole series of Windows tablets, with the last being the Samsung Tab S Pro (which was pretty good), with the occasional Android tablet thrown in a as well.

                      Some people are right into touch screens, pen-input etc. I went off the iPad due to the lack of mouse input. Then going through several Windows tablet/2-in-1 variations, eventually realised that the times I used a tablet as a tablet were vanishingly rare. If I'm doing document work, I need a keyboard and mouse, at least two screens, and I never touch the screens. I need the ability to open and view multiple .docx, .pdf and html files simultaneously, along with multiple email accounts - and this is a workflow the vast majority of tablets just aren't designed to handle.

                      If I want a media consumption or reading device, I'll use my phone.

                      The strong use case for tablets is, I think, if your dominant use is media consumption and light entertainment, and the need to have multiple documents/screens open is not that high. So a tablet may well fit your use case pretty well!

                      • Francis82 on 28/02/2021 - 01:51

                        @limafoxtrot: Cheers very grateful for all the info!!! Might give this a punt over an ipad, tomorrow 👍

              • limafoxtrot on 03/03/2021 - 21:33

                @limafoxtrot: Re: i5 1035G7 vs i7 1065G7, see also this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slHd4Ny8yDE&t=243s

                Short version - in a thin-and-light laptop with low & equal Thermal Design Power limit between i5 and i7 version of the same laptop, the gains with an i7 are marginal if any.

          • limafoxtrot on 02/03/2021 - 07:21

            @limafoxtrot: A quick update for those who may be searching for this issue in the future - after rolling back to stock drivers, no more BSODs. When gaming (Warthunder, 1080p low, vsync ON) however I am getting some graphical glitching (freezing) and then perhaps every hour or two, Warthunder crashes, with an error something along the lines of "can't access the 3D driver, update your drivers".

            I suspect overheating -> next thing I'll try is a $10 USB fan.

          • limafoxtrot on 05/03/2021 - 14:25

            @limafoxtrot: VRAM is definitely 4GB.
            Windows Update just forced an Intel graphics driver update on me two days ago -> so far, stable both in and out of gaming scenarios.

            • limafoxtrot on 06/03/2021 - 13:30

              @limafoxtrot: Forced Intel driver update -> BSODs again. :(

              Check this page for those who are having this problem: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/631111/acer-swift-3…

              The current working drivers at the time of writing are 27.20.100.8439 (12/8/20) for the XE graphics, and 27.20.100.8845 (5/10/20).

              Instructions for rolling back your driver (if you've had the forced update) are here - https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/support/articles/…

              This will already be a step too far for many casual consumers who just want a product that works, I strongly suspect.

              This is where we will see how ACER performs re: driver support. If they don't come out with a updated driver pretty soon, it doesn't bode well for the future, esp. given this is a new product, and a bit of a seminal one for XE MAX in particular.

              Having said that - I still really like this machine (with stock drivers) - and can't think of anything comes close to it if you can snap it up for ~$798. It probably has half the battery life of the M1 Macbook Air…but then again, you could almost buy two 3Xs for the price of one Air, and then use them sequentially… ;)

              • Francis82 on 13/03/2021 - 22:40

                @limafoxtrot: Hya mate how well is the swift x3 now? Much bugs or issues?

                • limafoxtrot on 14/03/2021 - 12:55

                  @Francis82: Not a great deal of change.

                  I would say XE and XE Max drivers are still not mature/optimised - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq21q7YagBM&t=49s - for a look at the Dell Inspiron 7506 which is also a relatively new release laptop with 11th gen Intel CPU with XE/XE MAX -> BDODs left right and centre.

                  Generally what I've noted before remains true:

                  • on stock ACER video drivers (~August 2020), no BSOD/stable for office tasks, but intermittent crashing out of Warthunder/gaming. Using cooling pad and checking task manager/performance shows no obvious CPU/GPU heating problems or memory issues. Tried disabling XE MAX and using XE only last night without any gain (still crashing out of Warthunder)

                  • I just tried updated Intel drivers, dated Feb 2021 but released about 3rd March. Thought I had already updated to these previously, but I have a feeling I may never have actually got beyond the December 2020 drivers. Just had a go then on Warthunder, and at the end of a game the video driver crashed, but without taking out the computer. Framerates seemed up (consistent with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njUMW3DTL0w&t=44s) but there was some stuttering (up to ~1sec pauses) in-game. I'm going to run some benchmarks with the Division 2 and see if I can crash the machine with that. Too early to say if BSODs are going to be a problem - need at least 24 hours for that, and I'm only 1 hour in so far.

                  Otherwise - I have put a $22 16GB Optane memory module (dirt cheap on ebay) in the spare M.2 slot and am using that as dedicated pagefile, after researching other people doing this with some benefits (mostly heavy content creation/rendering, which frankly I don't do, but curious to see what would happen, Optane 16gb so cheap, the slot is sitting there, and I don't need more than 512gb storage in the foreseeable future). Certainly hasn't caused any problems, although strangely the Optane wasn't recognised at the time of installation, but it picked it up when I had a look 24 hours later.

                  SO - remains excellent for office tasks. SHOULD eventually be fine for light gaming but frankly it's not there yet.

                  Would I get it again? Yes - but only if the price was right. For $798 I still think the upside (11th gen CPU, thunderbolt 4, decent screen, relatively light/portable, OK keyboard/touchpad, metal construction, USB C charging, crap speakers - hang on, that's downside etc etc) was extremely good value. For that, I'm willing to wait for graphics drivers to mature, as my mobile gaming use case isn't actually that important immediately (not travelling that much right now).

                  But if you want something that gives you portable gaming RIGHT NOW, this is NOT the solution.

                  • Francis82 on 14/03/2021 - 20:38

                    @limafoxtrot: Wow thanks for the awesome feedback🙌, how do they get away with selling something that isn't working correctly from the start!? I'm still looking something reasonably powerful ,light and under $1000
                    I guess other brands have these issues too with their new products?
                    Maybe worth getting something a year old that's more stable ? Cheers

                    • limafoxtrot on 16/03/2021 - 23:02

                      @Francis82: I think I might've stumbled across something of a "solution".

                      For running games RIGHT NOW on the Swift 3X, DO NOT run an external display via USB C.

                      With USB C external display connected, the left hand deck was hot++, despite using cooling pad and XE MAX temps supposedly not getting above 60ish degrees.

                      Just now, on a whim, tried pulling out the USB connector, and (a) deck much less hot, and (b) no crashing out on limited testing so far (with stock ACER video drivers).

                      Perhaps running a high intensity task on XE MAX plus low intensity on XE (second display) just doesn't work out at this point in the driver evolution.

                      If you want something right now, I think you could happily go with a plain XE 1065G7 laptop. If I'm not mistaken, the graphic computation power for the 1065G7 is very similar to the XE MAX, but without the dedicated VRAM (so you prob want 16GB RAM to go with it). It will still be faster than iGPU AMD options, as long as you get a config with dual channel memory (look for the XE sticker).

                      Otherwise - you can still go a XE MAX laptop, just remember to unplug external displays before gaming!

  • limafoxtrot on 17/03/2021 - 00:24

    Wow - huge difference unplugging USB C external display -> went from 1080p super low in Warthunder to barely hold 50-60fps -> now 1080p comfortable 60fps and no crashing…

    • Francis82 on 17/03/2021 - 11:13

      Ok mate I wouldn't be probably gaming to hard on it or using it with a monitor, anything else you'd recommend in similar class ,tho I'm sure there's a few hundred price difference,l?lol .I wonder is it worth maybe trying harvey norman today for last months price!🙂

      • limafoxtrot on 27/03/2021 - 16:48

        @Francis82 - perhaps ACER Swift 3 11th gen (not the 3x - i.e. drop the XE MAX graphics). In the $1000 price bracket, it's pretty hard to go wrong with almost anything Lenovo (e.g. Thinkpad E14 or E15 gen 2, Intel or AMD). Otherwise - check out JustJosh channel on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHm9ai5zSb-yfRnnUBopAg) - he has very good buying guides for varying budgets/uses, as well as generally good reviews. W2BestTech is another good reviewer, doesn't review as many laptops, but very practical approach as well (https://www.youtube.com/user/W2Best).

  • limafoxtrot on 27/03/2021 - 16:41

    Update - office tasks work very very well. Gaming - expect stuttering and crashing. I've copy-pasted Intel response and then my response to Intel below.

    Bryce_Intel
    Moderator
    ‎03-24-2021 03:35 PM
    36 Views
    @limafoxtrot

    Thanks for highlighting the 3 issues!

    1. [BSOD with anything other than stock ACER drivers] The generic drivers on our Download Center site are said to be generic for a reason, while they support a broad range of systems, they aren't specific to any particular brand or OEM product. OEMs customize these drivers and validate their products to ensure they're functioning as intended. So it makes sense the Acer unit has no BSOD with their customized validated driver, though the non-validated generic driver has a BSOD. It's noted in the Download Center description that if you see issues with the generic driver, you'll need to only use the OEM driver as it appears is the case with this Acer product being a special design.

    At this point, I'm not sure if yours is the same issue as the others are seeing since there was mention of others seeing the BSOD using the Acer drivers as well. I had also thought they only see this while playing games, though you're saying yours fails "at anytime", but I could be misunderstanding that, I'll have to reread the reports. So you seem to have a better experience where at least you can use an Acer driver and avoid the BSOD. If so, your issue is considered resolved.

    2 & 3. [overheating when gaming with USB-C display out active; stuttering/crashing with gaming] I would suggest reporting this directly through Acer, if it's an issue with HW, your product is new and still under warranty for replacement or repair. If it's a SW/FW issue, they could likely offer a downloadable fix like a BIOS tweak or driver customization.

    Hope this makes sense, and hope it helps.

    Novice
    ‎03-27-2021 04:26 PM
    Thank you for responding, Bryce.

    I hear where you're coming from, and it's a difficult to tease apart the boundaries between the supplier of the part (Intel) and the manufacturer of the product (in this case, ACER). I have posted all of these issues to the ACER support forums as well, with no response last time I checked.

    Certainly there are a multitude of bug fixes occurring, with many more bugs not addressed (as per this post - Intel graphics driver version 27.20.100.9316 fixes Iris Xe/Xe Max game launch crashes - Neowin). It is not clear whether those bugs are across all platforms, but I would assume so as it doesn't state otherwise. I have no doubt the reported issues are are just the tip of the iceberg. My guess, then, is that, with XE MAX being a new product to the market, the majority of the issues probably lie on the Intel side of the equation, with the drivers yet to reach maturity.

    I appreciate that is a massive task, given the years that AMD and NVIDIA have been working on their discrete graphics solutions and drivers, not to mention the commercial imperative for software developers to ensure their products are compatible with them.

    For what it's worth, for issue 1, I will confirm that with any of the Intel released drivers, my Swift 3X was crashing with the aforementioned BSOD at random occasions, whether that be office tasks or gaming.

    With issues 2 and 3 - essentially issues encountered when gaming with or without an external display, noted mainly with Warthunder (my game of choice), but also with Rainbow 6 and The Division 2 - it seems from info released with the XE MAX Intel driver updates (Intel graphics driver version 27.20.100.9316 fixes Iris Xe/Xe Max game launch crashes - Neowin) that Intel IS working to try and address bugs/crashing during gaming.

    But are you suggesting that the best way to report issues and get issues onto the bug list is to go via ACER; and then presumably ACER will liaise with Intel?

    As a new product to market, with limited roll-out ("Iris Xe Max will launch in just three laptops to start: the Acer Swift 3X, the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TP470, and the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1" - First Tests: Intel Iris Xe Max Is No Gaming Powerhouse (pcmag.com)) - I would have hoped that Intel would be working very closely with Acer, Asus and Dell to NOT release XE MAX driver updates via Windows Update that cause any of the limited number of machines on the market to crash. From your response, this (dishearteningly) doesn't seem to be the case.

    I'll add that I have also noticed that stuttering and crashing appears to happen faster when graphic details are turned up higher (MEDIUM on Warthunder), vs when details are turned down (LOW in Warthunder) - they still occur on LOW, but seem to take longer to appear.

    I appreciate that Intel is not a company with unlimited resources, and the cohort of XE MAX users is miniscule compared to the competing demands of your other customers. But it is hard to see how XE MAX market share will increase against the strong competition of AMD and NVIDIA with the current state of the drivers. And I can see it would be very easy to put DG1 to the side in favour of increasing development and support for DG2.

    Nevertheless, as somebody who took a deliberate (and perhaps, as it may turn out, reckless) jump away from the AMD SOC platform I (and many others over the last 12 months) was originally set on purchasing, I hope XE MAX/DG1 will not end up being a functionally stillborn/orphaned product.

    • Francis82 on 27/03/2021 - 20:58

      Fairplay to ya for giving them something to think about!👌💪,plenty of other purchaser's imsure are well pissed off and disheartened too!
      I went and bought the lenovo ideadpad flex 14inch i5 gen 10 for 880 last weekend of this site, does the tablet/lightlaptop thing good enough for my needs and age of empires , command & conquer gaming too👌

      Actually went back to Harveys and asked could they do the acer $800 price again from couple weeks before,best they could do was over $1100, so said fçk that , especially with these bugs I DnT need the hassle just something that works and a generation older performance is still not too bad really

      • limafoxtrot on 28/03/2021 - 20:30

        @Francis82 - nice, the Flex was on the list of laptops I was looking at as well, and I was looking at 10th gen i5 options too. Hope you enjoy!

    • Francis82 on 27/03/2021 - 21:48

      Hope the issues get sorted mate for you,your patience must be wearing thin!

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