Acer Aspire TimelineX 3830TG-2628G12nbb: The hardware upgrade to a Core i7, SSD and 8 GB of RAM costs 1100€
The first time we took a closer look at the TimelineX 3830TG was in May 2011. A seemingly high quality design, good input devices, a strong battery life and a very good application performance impressed us for the time being. We noticed the color weak screen, the fairly instable case and the Core i5-2410M's throttling (2.3 GHz) negatively. The latter fueled many discussions among the readers and likely was also reason for many claims sent to the manufacturer.
Now Acer opens a new chapter in its 3830TG and installs an even stronger processor. But how can a Core i7 2620M (2.7 GHz) prove itself if the Core i5 already overburdened the cooling system? Have Acer's engineers become active and installed a second fan? The combination with an SSD will doubtlessly ensure a performance boost, but does it also reduce waste heat during load?
All answers can be found in this review update of the Aspire TimelineX 3830TG. Details about workmanship, interfaces, connectivity and input devices can be found in the first review of the 3830TG (i5, May 2011).
Case
The flat case with the homogeneous base plate is an eye catcher - nothing's changed about that. The silk-matt blue with the superimposed Acer logo looks like a subtle understatement in view of the strong components. The weak point is the low torsional stiffness of the case. The base unit warps evidently when carrying or handling the 13.3 inch device. In return, the lid, as well as its surface, is agreeably rigid for its low thickness.
Display
A glare LED screen, model AUO B133XW03 V2, reproduces the colorful picture elements in a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. The screen is the same as in the 3830TG-2414G75nbb test device from May 2011. Consequently, the test rates are just as poor - the lowest contrast of 163:1, the low brightness (~186 cd/m2) and the minute color spectrum. Hopes that Acer has perhaps built in a high quality screen in this premium TimelineX are thus shattered.
Performance
The dual Core i7-2620M (2x2.70 GHz, 32nm) is the strongest configuration of the Aspire 3830TG. It replaces the Core i5-2410M from the less expensive version, respectively the test device of May 2011. A Core i7 may seem to be oversized for a subnotebook, but Toshiba's Portégé R830-10V, Dell's Vostro 3350, Sony's Vaio VPC-Z21Q9E and Fujitsu's Lifebook S761 show the 35 watt 2620M to be a tested subnotebook CPU.
The processor can overclock up to 3.4 GHz via Turbo Boost 2.0. The so-called "Dynamic Range @ Turbo Frequency Limits" can even increase the clock a few notches providing the cooling is good. That's the theory. How the Aspire 3830TG deals with this in practical use will be seen in a moment.
The tried and tested Geforce GT 540M, including Optimus (deactivation of GPU in favor of the IGP, Intel HD Graphics 3000), is used as the graphics card. It is the strongest, gaming capable GPU that is currently installed into 13.3 inch devices. Additionally, there are 8 GB of RAM and an SSD that bids a memory capacity of 120 GB.
Is the cooling system strong enough to allow the i7-2620M to develop its standard performance (like in larger laptops)? According to the CPU benchmarks, it is. The 2620M reaps very good 3.11 points in the Cinebench R11.5 CPU test (multi core). That is the same score as the 15.6 inch Latitude E6520 or the Dell Vostro 3550 managed to achieve. 13.3 inch devices with this CPU are all below this. Examples are the Fujitsu Lifebook S761 or the Sony Vaio VPC-SA2Z9E (both 3.0 points). The MacBook Pro 13 2011-02 only managed 2.6 points due to its massive throttling.
Positive: We repeated the Cinebench assessment several times and repeatedly achieved the same result. After Prime95 (CPU 100%), after Furmark (GPU) and after both stress tests were executed simultaneously: It remained at 3.11 points. In the meantime, the clock rate was stable at 3.2 GHz (in Turbo). Verdict: The i7-2620M computes at the expected level during CPU-only performance. The cooling is sufficient for this.
We check what happens when 3D performance, so GPU load, is added at the same time with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (BFBC2). Cinebench R10 single/multi and R11.5 multi can now only count with 1.2 GHz. That lessens the scores considerably. It takes about 60 seconds for the clock to again reach 3.3 GHz after the game is finished.
What does the performance look like in the overall performance of CPU, graphics, RAM and SSD? PCMark Vantage and PCMark 7 render information. The total scores of 12371, respectively 3928 points are very strong. The Sony Vaio VPC-SA2Z9E/B (same CPU) also "only" achieves 10833, respectively 3448 points with an SSD. The Asus U36SD (SSD, i5) is even a bit weaker with 9431, respectively 2861 points, which is due to the slower processor and the weaker GPU.
Strange: Even gaming laptops or workstations equipped with quad cores (2630QM or 2920XM) don't manage a significantly higher score, and partly even show lower scores. Examples would be the Alienware M18x (PCMark 7: 4579), the Fujitsu Celsius H710 WXP11DE (3695) and the XMG P501 PRO (4208). Normal 2620M laptops, without SSD, only reach about 2000 points (Vostro 3350). The named devices also have strong graphic cards. Thus, it's remarkable that a small 13.3 inch device closes in on the performance machines with help from an SSD.
The strong result of the application performance has a concrete reason: The Intel SSD X25-M. It thrusts the PCMark Vantage HDD score to 21965 points. Although that isn't the SSD top range (30-40 thousand; e. g. Schenker XMG A501), gamers such as the Alienware M11x R3 (17701, Samsung SSD PM800 2) or the subnotebook Vaio SA2Z9E (15599, Samsung MZRPA128HMCD RAID0) lag behind. The recently tested Asus U36SD (21410, Intel SSD 320 series) can keep up owing to its SSD. Laptops with a rotating hard disk (7200 rpm) at most reach 7000 points (e. g. Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid HDD, Toshiba Qosmio X770-10J).
The GeForce GT 540M's 3D performance (1024 MB DDR3) is barely ever just below the usual level. The clock of 672/900 MHz (core/memory) corresponds to the standard specs. 3DMark 2006 (1280x1024) finishes with 7806 points - a typical score for this CPU-GPU configuration. The 3DMark Vantage score of P3829 is however below most GT 540M test devices with the same CPU (~P4150). Unigine Heaven (CPU independent) finishes with 13 fps, which in turn is a very typical score for a GT 540M.
Gaming Performance
The games partly confirm the good to very good gaming performance of the Geforce GT 540M. Nevertheless, the results aren't better than with a Core i5. Consequently, the Core i7 isn't absolutely necessary in gaming matters. 32 fps are possible in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in high details. But an Asus X43SV-VX084V with an i5-2410M also achieves that.
In games, such as Dirt 3, where the CPU is apparently put under more demand, the frame rates cave-in evidently due to the CPU's throttling to 1.2 GHz. Only 18 fps are possible in high details (multiple tests). 30 to 40 fps would be standard for a GT 540M. Deus Ex Human Revolution runs much smoother. But a Packard Bell NX69 with an i5 CPU also manages 37 fps in high details.
So generally, the GT 540M is suitable for a smooth game play in high details providing the resolution doesn't surpass 1366x768 pixels. The CPU's thermal throttling can however cause losses in CPU intensive games. Inasmuch, nothing has improved since the first 3830TG test device with an i5 and hard disk. The tester noticed throttling and drops in frame rates in a few games back then. The BIOS (version 1.02) doesn't offer any option to change the limits for thermal throttling.
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