Face Off: Asus ROG G501 vs. Lenovo Y50 vs. Acer Aspire V15 Nitro

When compared to larger 15.6-inch gaming notebooks like the GT72, Alienware 15, or Asus G751, these thinner alternatives are simply not as strong in terms of chassis quality. Buyers must accept the fact that they will be sacrificing case rigidity for a thinner and sleeker product. This isn't to say that case quality is bad, but there are indeed notable differences between the size classes.

The G501, Y50, and Aspire V15 all share weak lids that are more susceptible to twists and depressions. The base of the G501 warps more easily than on the Lenovo and Acer, while the Lenovo tends to creak more frequently due to its more complex frame and gaps between surfaces. The matte all-plastic Acer looks cheap compared to the brushed aluminum surfaces of the Asus and Lenovo, but in reality it is not any less flexible.

If based purely on longevity, the Y50 loses this round for its over-designed chassis and use of materials. There is a bit too much going on for its own good with its matte rubberized surfaces, glossy plastic bezel, brushed aluminum lid, and sharp speaker grilles. It looks good visually, but is also more susceptible to damage and cracks compared to simpler unibody designs. The Y50 is also noticeably heavier (2.4 kg) than both the Asus (2.0 kg) and Acer (2.2 kg).

Between the Asus and Acer, Asus has the thinner profile at the cost of a weaker base. The Aspire V15 is stiffer around its palm rests and keyboard. Whether or not the structural advantages over the Asus are worth the increase in weight and thickness will depend on the user, but Acer takes this round for its slightly better build quality.

Winner: Acer Aspire V15 Nitro

The Asus notebook wins without much of a fight in this category. Its dual video-out ports and optional Thunderbolt make for a more versatile gaming machine than the Lenovo or Acer. The M.2 PCIe x4 slot can also be found on the latest MacBook and is one of the fastest SSD interfaces currently available. On the flip side, users will be giving up a dedicated Gigabit Ethernet port and must rely on either the Thunderbolt port or the included 10/100 Mbps USB-RJ45 adapter.

Certain G501 configurations will come with an internal 2.5-inch SATA III bay in addition to the primary M.2 PCIe x4 slot. This makes storage upgrades cheaper and more in line with the Y50 and V15 Nitro. However, the internal battery will be reduced in both size and capacity to accommodate for the 2.5-inch bay.

Winner: Asus ROG G501

The red backlit chiclet keyboards on all models provide shallow travel and are not as firm as the keyboards on more expensive gaming notebooks like the Asus G751 or Clevo barebones. The worst offender is the Lenovo Y50 as we find its keys to be softer and spongy. The G501 feels a bit better in terms of feedback with its 1.6 mm scissor-switch keys. The Acer keyboard tends to teeter, but still provides keys with firmer pressure point in comparison. The downside is the half-sized Arrow keys that will assuredly irritate users who are accustomed to desktop-size keys.

As for the touchpads, the one on the Acer has the larger surface area (10.6 x 7.8 cm) compared to the Asus (10.5 x 7.3 cm) and Lenovo (10.6 x 7.0 cm). However, we experienced cursor skips that make precision tracking more difficult and the surface itself could have been more rigid. We experienced no such problems on the Asus or Lenovo and both are very similar in feel and feedback. The integrated mouse clicks are shallow with satisfying clicks when pressed.

Winner: Keyboard -- Acer Aspire V15 Nitro

              Touchpad -- Tie -- Asus ROG G501 & Lenovo Y50

Synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark and CineBench do not show any consistency between our three notebooks. However, the Asus notebook appears to be behind the Lenovo and Acer in both 3DMark 11 and 3DMark 2013 tests, which supports our throttling data as detailed in our G501 review page. Nonetheless, we cannot comfortably make any conclusions based on these few data points.

The GTX 960M has been so heavily benchmarked and repeated in our database that we recommend checking out our dedicated GPU page for more technical details and comparisons. Instead, we're more interested in any potential throttling issues when gaming and if one notebook can consistently outperform the others.

The answer is yes and that notebook is the Lenovo Y50. In most cases, our test model pumps out higher FPS in our tested games than the average GTX 960M in our database. For example, 1080p Ultra settings on Tomb Raider, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Battlefield Hardline, and The Witcher 3 return 52, 38, 33, and 13 FPS, respectively, compared to 50, 30, 31, and 14 FPS of an average 960M. Users can expect the Y50 to be a couple of frames faster than the Asus or Acer in matching titles.

The slight performance advantage of the Y50 can be partly explained by its impressive stability under extreme stress conditions as detailed in our next section.

In most cases, gaming at native UHD resolution on a GTX 960M will result in very poor results. See our dedicated 4K gaming review for more benchmarks at 1080p+ resolutions.

System Noise & Temperature

The dual fans in each of the three notebooks exhibit similar behavior. That is, they tend to idle when under very low system loads, but are easily agitated when browsing or performing other everyday tasks. Thus, these notebooks tend to have pulsating fans that may alternate between complete silence and becoming slightly audible. The Lenovo Y50 pulsates at slightly quieter noise levels than both the Asus and Acer. When gaming or under maximum load, however, the Acer notebook is more manageable.

As for surface temperatures, the three notebooks idle at just slightly over 30 C each on average on both the top and bottom sides. However, any statistician will tell you that averages don't tell us much about any potential extremes. On the Acer, for example, a hot spot of 46 C can be recorded on the bottom rear of the unit without even running any active applications. The center of the keyboard is very warm as well at almost 38 C compared to just 28 C on the left-hand side of the keyboard. Such extremes do not exist on the G501 or Y50 as their temperature gradients are flatter in comparison.

When under maximum loud, the Acer does an incredible job at concentrating excess heat at only a couple of quadrants on the notebook while leaving the rest of the notebook quite cool. This explains its low average of just 33 C under high loads when its minimum and maximum surface temperatures are 22 C and 53 C, respectively. The Y50 is the worst with the highest average temperature and the warmest keyboard reaching over 50 C. Meanwhile, the Asus notebook warms up much more evenly throughout all of its surfaces for both higher minimum and lower maximum temperatures.

Between the extreme temperature profile of the Acer and the flatter profile of the Asus, we prefer the Asus for its cooler keyboard when gaming.

Winner: System Noise -- Acer Aspire V15 Nitro

                Temperature -- Asus ROG G501

Unsurprisingly, the battery packs on all three notebooks are integrated and non-removable without first removing the maintenance panels. Capacity is largest on the Asus by far at 96 Wh compared to almost half on the Acer and Lenovo. As a result, runtimes are significantly longer on the G501.

As mentioned in our connectivity section, the G501 is also available with an additional 2.5-inch internal drive at the cost of battery capacity. This configuration is equipped with a smaller 60 Wh battery instead, so runtimes would be approximately two-thirds of our results below.

Winner: Asus ROG G501

See more quick comparisons in our Face Off series:

• Dell XPS 15 vs. Apple MacBook Pro 15 vs. Asus ZenBook Pro UX501
• Aorus X3 Plus vs. Gigabyte P34W vs. Razer Blade 14
• Dell XPS 13 vs. Apple MacBook Pro 13 vs. Asus ZenBook UX305
• HP EliteBook 820 G2 vs. Lenovo ThinkPad X250 vs. Dell Latitude 12 E7250
• Asus ROG G751 vs. Dell Alienware 17 vs. MSI GT72 Dominator
• Lenovo ThinkPad T450 vs. Acer TravelMate P645 vs. Dell Latitude 14 E5450
• Dell Alienware 15 vs. Clevo P751ZM vs. MSI GE62
• Acer Aspire V17 Nitro vs. Asus N751 vs. HP Envy 17
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 vs. Sony Xperia Z3 Compact vs. Dell Venue 8 7000
• Asus EeeBook X205TA vs. Lenovo S20 vs. Acer Aspire ES1
• Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs. Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi vs. Toshiba Portege Z20t
• Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E550 vs. Acer Aspire E5 vs. HP ProBook 450 G2
• HP Pavilion 15 vs. Lenovo IdeaPad Z50 vs. Toshiba Satellite S50
• Apple MacBook Air 13 2015 vs. Samsung ATIV Book 9 900X3G vs. Asus ZenBook UX303