Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE (7700HQ, GTX 1060, 4k) Laptop Review
We have already had quite a few Aspire V17 Nitro BE models in our lab, but the VN7-793G-738J is the king of the hill and the apex of Acer’s Nitro-series. Besides a Core i7 processor and a GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, the device is also equipped with a 4k display and an eye-tracking module. Its competitors are notebooks such as the Gigabyte P57X v7, the MSI GE72VR-6RF, or the HP Omen 17.
Due to the fact that we have already reviewed several Aspire VN7-793G models, we will not go into detail in terms of case, connectivity, input devices, and speakers. Details on these can be found in our extensive Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793G-52XN review.
Display
The matte 17.3-inch 4k display runs at a native resolution of 3840 x 2160. We are already familiar with this particular panel, after all it was used in the pre-production models as well. Both brightness (335.6 nits) and contrast ratio (1188:1) are superb, and PWM flickering is not an issue with this panel either.
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Brightness Distribution: 81 %
Center on Battery: 380 cd/m²
Contrast: 1188:1 (Black: 0.32 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.32 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91
ΔE Greyscale 4.9 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
100% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
87.2% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
97.8% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
100% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
85.4% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.61
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J IPS, 3840x2160, 17.3" | Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793G-52XN a-Si TFT-LCD, WLED, 1920x1080, 17.3" | HP Pavilion 17t-ab200 UHD IPS, 3840x2160, 17.3" | Gigabyte P57X v7 IPS, 3840x2160, 17.3" | MSI GE72VR-6RF16H21 TN LED, 1920x1080, 17.3" | HP Omen 17-w100ng IPS, 1920x1080, 17.3" | HP Omen 17-w010ng IPS, 3840x2160, 17.3" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -23% | 1% | 1% | -3% | -23% | 2% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 85.4 | 64 -25% | 87.1 2% | 87.8 3% | 90.2 6% | 67.2 -21% | 88.5 4% |
| sRGB Coverage | 100 | 90.2 -10% | 99.9 0% | 100 0% | 99.8 0% | 86.6 -13% | 100 0% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 97.8 | 65.4 -33% | 99.4 2% | 98.9 1% | 83.9 -14% | 63.3 -35% | 100 2% |
| Response Times | -10% | -49% | -83% | 37% | -7% | -37% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 29 ? | 36 ? -24% | 50.8 -75% | 55.6 ? -92% | 28 ? 3% | 35 ? -21% | 49 ? -69% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 27 ? | 26 ? 4% | 33.2 -23% | 46.8 ? -73% | 8 ? 70% | 25 ? 7% | 28 ? -4% |
| PWM Frequency | 1000 ? | ||||||
| Screen | -3% | -12% | -2% | 3% | -5% | -5% | |
| Brightness middle | 380 | 346 -9% | 325.7 -14% | 441.3 16% | 270 -29% | 342 -10% | 316 -17% |
| Brightness | 336 | 307 -9% | 309 -8% | 408 21% | 254 -24% | 331 -1% | 312 -7% |
| Brightness Distribution | 81 | 84 4% | 90 11% | 86 6% | 86 6% | 84 4% | 90 11% |
| Black Level * | 0.32 | 0.26 19% | 0.37 -16% | 0.44 -38% | 0.26 19% | 0.32 -0% | 0.29 9% |
| Contrast | 1188 | 1331 12% | 880 -26% | 1003 -16% | 1038 -13% | 1069 -10% | 1090 -8% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.32 | 4.32 19% | 6.5 -22% | 5.1 4% | 3.33 37% | 4.35 18% | 5.69 -7% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 7.63 | 8.05 -6% | 9.6 -26% | 9.8 -28% | 6.07 20% | 9.24 -21% | 7.94 -4% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.9 | 5.76 -18% | 5.6 -14% | 4.3 12% | 3.46 29% | 3.73 24% | 6.12 -25% |
| Gamma | 2.61 84% | 2.35 94% | 2.59 85% | 2.08 106% | 2.13 103% | 2.23 99% | 2.56 86% |
| CCT | 6558 99% | 6447 101% | 5860 111% | 7345 88% | 7419 88% | 6801 96% | 5875 111% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 87.2 | 59 -32% | 87 0% | 87 0% | 75 -14% | 57 -35% | 87 0% |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 100 | 90 -10% | 100 0% | 100 0% | 100 0% | 86 -14% | 100 0% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -12% /
-8% | -20% /
-14% | -28% /
-12% | 12% /
6% | -12% /
-9% | -13% /
-8% |
* ... smaller is better
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | ||
Out of the box, DeltaE 2000 deviation is at 5.32, and therefore much higher than the ideal target value of less than 3. There was, however, no blue tint, and we have managed to improve color accuracy somewhat through calibration. DeltaE decreased to 3.72, and gray scales were much more balanced as well.
As always, the resulting ICC profile can be downloaded from the box above. Make sure your panel manufacturer and model number matches ours, otherwise you might end up making matters worse instead of improving color accuracy. More often than not an OEM will ship its notebooks with several different panels from several different manufacturers.
AdobeRGB color space coverage was at a good 87.2%, sRGB coverage was at a full 100%.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 27 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 64 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 29 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 14 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 15 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 35 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
The matte IPS panel offers decent viewing angles, and can even be used outdoors. We would advise you to avoid direct sunlight, though.
Performance
The Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793G-738J is Acer’s portable 17.3-inch gaming notebook. Our review unit currently sells for a little over $2100. Various differently equipped models can be had for much less, and prices currently start at around $1200.
Processor
Our review unit was equipped with Intel’s quad-core Core i7-7700HQ Kaby Lake processor. The CPU represents an acceptable compromise between performance and power consumption, and can thus be found in most portable gaming notebooks. The CPU’s base clock speed is 2.8 GHz, and turbo boosts up to 3.4 GHz (four cores), 3.6 GHz (two cores), or 3.8 GHz (one core), respectively. Turbo boost is applied on battery and mains.
In order to figure out whether or not the CPU is capable of maintaining its full turbo boost speed for prolonged periods of time, we ran a 30-minute Cinebench R15 loop. While results fluctuate slightly, overall performance remained consistent.
| Geekbench 3 | |
| 32 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
| HP Omen 17-w100ng | |
| 32 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
| HP Omen 17-w100ng | |
| Geekbench 4.0 | |
| 64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
| HP Omen 17-w100ng | |
| 64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
| HP Omen 17-w100ng | |
| Geekbench 4.4 | |
| 64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
| 64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| HP Pavilion 17t-ab200 UHD | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793G-52XN | |
| HP Omen 17-w100ng | |
| MSI GE72VR-6RF16H21 | |
System Performance
Subjectively, the system feels very snappy and smooth thanks to its powerful CPU and fast NVMe SSD. Performance is thus not only sufficient for gaming, but also for demanding tasks such as video or photo editing. The Aspire scores pretty well in our PCMark benchmarks, but it still has to bow to the likes of MSI's GE72VR 6RF and other FHD notebooks due to its higher 4k display resolution. With the Aspire’s resolution lowered to FHD, it managed to outperform the GE72VR. Further performance improvements are thus not feasible.
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 3444 points | |
| PCMark 8 Creative Score Accelerated v2 | 5002 points | |
| PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 | 4207 points | |
Help | ||
Storage Devices
The Acer is equipped with a 512 GB m.2 2280 Intel NVMe SSD. Out of the box, roughly 440 GB is available, and the rest is used up by the Windows installation and a recovery partition. Overall and even though we have seen faster models, the SSD performed fairly well. A free 2.5-inch SATA slot is available as well, but it is only accessible after the case has been opened.
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J Intel SSD 600p SSDPEKKW512G7 | Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793G-52XN SK Hynix HFS256G39TND-N210A | HP Pavilion 17t-ab200 UHD Intel SSD 600p SSDPEKKW256G7 | Gigabyte P57X v7 Transcend MTS800 256GB M.2 (TS256GMTS800) | MSI GE72VR-6RF16H21 Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256G8NY | HP Omen 17-w100ng SanDisk Z400s SD8SNAT-128G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrystalDiskMark 3.0 | -16% | 0% | -17% | -25% | -39% | |
| Read Seq | 880 | 493.1 -44% | 1076 22% | 517 -41% | 510 -42% | 495 -44% |
| Write Seq | 581 | 270.2 -53% | 263.2 -55% | 305.7 -47% | 274.6 -53% | 180.2 -69% |
| Read 512 | 725 | 325.8 -55% | 695 -4% | 315 -57% | 427.2 -41% | 315.5 -56% |
| Write 512 | 429.3 | 267.8 -38% | 472.3 10% | 306.1 -29% | 247.2 -42% | 172.4 -60% |
| Read 4k | 10.46 | 28.4 172% | 20.09 92% | 26.04 149% | 21.23 103% | 20.25 94% |
| Write 4k | 123.4 | 76.2 -38% | 116.2 -6% | 82.3 -33% | 86.8 -30% | 76.1 -38% |
| Read 4k QD32 | 459.2 | 344.6 -25% | 282.7 -38% | 281.3 -39% | 335.4 -27% | 141.6 -69% |
| Write 4k QD32 | 496.9 | 267 -46% | 405.2 -18% | 296 -40% | 178.1 -64% | 170.8 -66% |
Graphics Card
The Pascal-based GeForce GTX 1060 GPU represents Nvidia’s latest entry-level high-performance model. It supports DirectX 12, runs at clock speeds of up to 1,671 MHz, and has 6144 MB of GDDR5 VRAM at its disposal. Accordingly, the 3DMark benchmark scores were at a level expected of this GPU. GPU switching between the Nvidia GPU and Intel’s HD Graphics 630 is supported.
| 3DMark 06 Standard Score | 27081 points | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 12613 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 9575 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme Score | 5090 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 3615 points | |
Help | ||
Gaming Performance
The Aspire is capable of running all current games on FHD on high details quite smoothly. More often than not this is also true for maximum details, and our games database only lists one game – “X-Plane” – that requires reduced resolution/details in order to run smoothly. Unfortunately, the panel’s native 4k resolution of 3840x2160 is too much for most current games, but it works well on older and less demanding games.
| low | med. | high | ultra | 4K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BioShock Infinite (2013) | 247 | 227.9 | 210.5 | 108 | |
| Far Cry Primal (2016) | 116 | 84 | 76 | 58 | 24 |
| For Honor (2017) | 220.3 | 103.5 | 98.2 | 71.3 | 29 |
| Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017) | 145.1 | 70.4 | 63.8 | 36.2 | 21.5 |
| Prey (2017) | 141.8 | 136.7 | 117.3 | 99.1 | 35.1 |
| Rocket League (2017) | 247.1 | 233.5 | 169.4 | 63.4 | |
| Dirt 4 (2017) | 214.4 | 162.3 | 90.2 | 51.8 | 31.5 |
| BioShock Infinite - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset, DX11 (DDOF) | |
| Gigabyte P57X v7 | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J | |
| HP Omen 17-w110ng | |
| Lenovo Lenovo Legion Y720 80VR002XGE | |
| HP Omen 17-w100ng | |
| MSI GE72VR-6RF16H21 | |
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793G-52XN | |
| Acer Aspire Nitro BE VN7-793G-5811 | |
Emissions
System Noise
When idle, both fans are on and run at very low speeds. Still, they emit a quiet hum even then. Under load, they quickly rev up, and we have measured a sound pressure level of 44.3 dB(A) during our stress test. In real world gaming scenarios, the notebook remains a bit quieter and settles down at around 40 dB(A).
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 31.4 / 31.4 / 31.4 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 38.6 / 44.3 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Audix TM1, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 30.8 dB(A) | ||
Temperature
Our stress test (running Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously for at least one full hour) returned different results on battery and on mains. On battery, the CPU remained mostly at 800 MHz, but boosted up to 3.5 GHz every now and then. The GPU remained between 800 and 1100 MHz. When plugged in, the CPU at first starts out at between 2.8 and 3.5 GHz, but eventually settles down at 2.8 GHz after around 10 minutes. The GPU runs at clock speeds of between 1.4 and 1.7 GHz.
Temperatures during the stress test were at a level expected of a modern gaming notebook: pretty high. However, since our stress test is an extreme load scenario that rarely ever occurs outside of our lab, real-world temperatures should not be too much of a problem.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 56 °C / 133 F, compared to the average of 40.5 °C / 105 F, ranging from 21.2 to 68.8 °C for the class Gaming.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 48.7 °C / 120 F, compared to the average of 43.2 °C / 110 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 27.8 °C / 82 F, compared to the device average of 33.9 °C / 93 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 31.5 °C / 88.7 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.9 °C / 84 F (-2.6 °C / -4.7 F).
Speakers
Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (72 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 5.7% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 3% away from median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (12.5% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 14% of all tested devices in this class were better, 3% similar, 82% worse
» The best had a delta of 6%, average was 18%, worst was 132%
Compared to all devices tested
» 9% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 89% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 6% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 92% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 4% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 95% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Frequency diagram (checkboxes selectable/deselectable!)
Energy Management
Power Consumption
The Aspire behaved as expected in terms of power consumption. When idle, we found it to draw around 22 W – quite normal for a 4k gaming notebook. During our stress test, power consumption shot up to 166 W. The 180-W charger is thus amply dimensioned.
| Off / Standby | 0.3 / 0.85 Watt |
| Idle | 10.5 / 20.5 / 22 Watt |
| Load |
91 / 155 Watt |
   
| |
Key:
min: ,
med: ,
max: Metrahit Energy | |
Battery Life
Our real-world Wi-Fi test simulates a load typical for browsing the web. The energy profile is set to “Balanced”, energy saving features are disabled, and display brightness is normalized to 150 nits. With these settings, the Aspire only lasted for a mediocre 4:37 hours.
Verdict
Pros
Cons
Acer’s 4k gaming notebook is capable of running all current games smoothly. However, the full 4k resolution is all but unplayable with most games because of its entry-level high-performance GPU. However, settling for FHD resolution results in a smooth and very pleasant gaming experience. Furthermore, Tobii’s eye-tracking module allows you to control games with the movement of your eyes.
The Aspire VN7-793G-738J is a perfectly balanced gaming notebook.
In everyday use, the notebook remained quiet and cool, and performed very well thanks to its NVMe SSD. And, if more storage space is required, the notebook also features a free 2.5-inch SATA slot.
The matte 4k display offers decent viewing angles, a very crisp image quality, and last but not least high levels of brightness and contrast ratio. Battery life is mediocre at best, but not too shabby for a 4k gaming notebook. The Thunderbolt 3 port is a very welcome benefit.
Acer Aspire V17 Nitro BE VN7-793-738J
- 06/12/2017 v6 (old)
Sascha Mölck
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