r/AcerOfficial

Hoping someone here has seen this or can point me to the right person at Acer.

Bought an Acer Certified Refurbished Predator Neo 16s (PHN16S-71, Intel Ultra 9) through the official Acer listing (ebay). $1,300 out the door with tax. Purchased directly from Acer's official refurbished listing, not a 3rd party seller. It was supposed to be my work machine for content creation and editing.

Unit is PHN16S-71, BIOS v1.21 at the time, now flashed to v1.26. Temps didn't change.

First boot, sitting in the BIOS screen, it was already at 96C. Figured maybe a fluke, booted into Windows, idle was 68C. Warm but livable. Then I actually started using it and temps sat in the 70s just browsing Chrome with nothing else open.

Went to update BIOS thinking that might be it. BIOS was also laggy as hell while it was cooking itself, which is weird because BIOS shouldn't be doing anything.

What Ive tried so far:

• F9 reset to BIOS defaults
• Disabled overclocking and MSR locks in the hidden advanced BIOS menu
• ThrottleStop with PL1/PL2 at 80W, PROCHOT offset adjusted, Sync MMIO
• Disabled Processor Performance Boost in Windows power options
• Toggled PredatorSense between modes
• Turned off fast boot
• Full clean install of Windows 11 (this was its own nightmare. Drive showed up as MBR with only 200GB visible during setup, had to extract Acer IRST drivers to my install USB and load them manually because every other option was greyed out. Wifi driver didnt install on first boot so I couldnt even finish OOBE without plugging in ethernet)
• Multiple reboots, all the standard stuff

Current state after all of that:

• BIOS still hits 99C at idle with fans screaming
• Windows idle sits at 75-80C doing literally nothing
• Chrome with a few tabs pushes it past 70C
• Fans do eventually kick in hard, so cooling isnt dead, but clearly somethings off

At this point its gotta be hardware. Dried thermal paste from the refurb process, a sensor reading wrong, a heatsink thats not seated right, something. No software fix should matter at this point, Ive tried all of them.

Where Acer support is at:

Called the main number and it told me Im out of warranty. Its a Certified Refurbished unit sold directly by Acer OFFICIAL (ebay) so it has its own warranty, this shouldnt apply. Then it transferred me to a 3rd party line (956-405-6456). By the time I got transferred the line said no agents were available and to contact them through "marketplace," whatever that means.

Why this matters:

I bought this specifically to record and edit gaming footage for a project I have May 1-3. I create content full time and had contracted work lined up specifically around this machine. A 7-14 business day depot repair window means I miss the shoot. Ive already spent an entire day on this.

What Im asking:

1. Anyone dealt with a certified refurb Acer unit doing this exact thing? Did they actually repair it or did you have to fight for a replacement?
2. Is there a real Acer support channel Im missing? The phone tree is a dead end.
3. If anyone from Acer sees this, I want the unit repaired, not refunded. Its sold out at the price I got it for and I actually want the laptop, I just need it to work. Willing to ship it in immediately if theres a fast-track option.

Happy to DM SNID, purchase confirmation, logs and photos of the BIOS temp readout to anyone official. Not trying to stir drama, Im just exhausted and out of options.

TL;DR: Acer Certified Refurbished Neo 16s idles at 75-80C in Windows and 99C in BIOS out of the box. Tried every software fix including a full Windows reinstall. Its hardware. Acer support phone line dead ends and claims Im out of warranty on a certified refurb. Need a real support channel, not a refund.

**TL;DR:** My Acer Nitro 5 started flickering LEDs and beeping on boot after 2 years. Turned out the stock 230W adapter was degraded. Replaced it with the 280W OEM unit. Problem gone. But here's the thing — it probably shouldn't have been 230W in the first place.

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## The symptom

One day my laptop started doing something weird on startup: both LEDs would flicker, a short beep would sound (like the charger got unplugged), and the network card wouldn't initialize. Unplugging the adapter from the wall and plugging it back in usually fixed it — but not always on the first try.

During actual use? Perfectly fine. Games, heavy loads, long sessions — no issues whatsoever. Only on cold boot.

Wiggling the DC jack did nothing. The click-lock connector felt solid. No signs of physical damage.

---

## The diagnosis

The cold boot behavior was the key clue. When a laptop powers on, it draws a spike of current during POST. If the adapter can't handle that spike — voltage drops, and the system interprets it as "charger disconnected."

Why would a 2-year-old OEM adapter suddenly struggle? Because electrolytic capacitors inside power bricks degrade over time, especially if the unit runs hot regularly. And mine ran hot. A lot.

Which brings us to the real problem.

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## Why the stock 230W adapter was always the wrong choice

My colleague has a Nitro 5 too — i5 10th gen, RTX 3050. Same 230W adapter. His runs fine.

Mine has an i7-12650H and RTX 4050. Also 230W.

The i7-12650H has a higher TDP than the i5 10th gen. The RTX 4050 draws more than the 3050. Combined peak consumption on my config can approach — and briefly exceed — 200W under full load. That leaves the 230W adapter with almost no headroom.

Running a power supply near its maximum rated output continuously causes two things:

- It runs hotter

- Its capacitors age faster

Acer's service manual actually lists 280W as an official adapter option for the AN515-58. The part exists. They just didn't ship it with i7/RTX 4050 configurations. Whether that's a cost-cutting decision or an oversight in the product spec sheet — you decide.

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## The fix

Replaced the stock Delta ADP-230JB D (230W) with the OEM Chicony A21-280P1A (280W).

Part numbers to look for: **KP.28001.001** or **KP.2800H.001**

Same 19.5V, same 5.5×1.7mm locking connector with the click. Drop-in replacement.

Result:

- Zero boot issues since

- Adapter runs at ~40°C under load vs noticeably hotter before

- Working well within its rated capacity now (~65-70% load instead of 85-90%)

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## What you should check

If you have an **AN515-58 with i7-12650H** (or any higher-TDP variant of this laptop):

1. Check your adapter model — if it's 230W, it's undersized for your config

2. If you're experiencing intermittent boot issues, LED flickering, or single beep on startup — your adapter is likely degrading

3. Don't just replace it with another 230W unit. You'll be back in the same situation in 12-18 months

4. Get the 280W OEM (KP.28001.001) — it's the right spec for this hardware

The 230W might work fine for lighter Nitro 5 configs (i5, RTX 3050). But if you're running the heavier silicon, your charger has been quietly suffering since day one.

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*Laptop: Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58 | i7-12650H | RTX 4050 | 32GB DDR5 | owned ~2.5 years*

P.S. I apologize, English is not my native language, so I used technical means to be understandable and more people could solve their similar problem to mine.

I'm a student in Hyderabad. After months of saving, I bought an Acer Nitro V 15 (i7 variant, ₹85,000) on April 1st for my studies and Valorant.

It's been less than 3 weeks and the laptop is already failing. I’ve reached out multiple times, filed Grievance #9089323, but they keep pushing for "repairs." Why should I accept a repaired "refurbished" unit when I paid 85k for a BRAND NEW machine?

I have my entrance exams (EAMCET/CUET) coming up and I’m stuck without a PC. This is pure mental harassment.

Has anyone successfully forced Acer India to refund? I am ready to go to the District Consumer Commission in Hyderabad.

Finally did it – Noctua NH-U9S in an Acer Nitro N50 (i5-1440F, RTX 4060, 2-slot RAM) and it works great!

So I’ve been wanting to swap out the stock cooler on my Nitro N50 for a while now and I finally pulled the trigger. Couldn’t find a single video or post about doing this on the 2 RAM slot variant of this board so figured I’d share in case anyone else is in the same boat.

What you need:

1.	Noctua NH-U9S (comes with everything except the M3 screws)

2.	M3 10mm screws – don’t waste money on those $19+ 500-piece kits on Amazon. Just walk into your local hardware store. I grabbed a pack of 5 from HomeHardware for $3.99, that’s all you need

3.	Phillips head screwdriver

Steps:

1.	Unplug your PC completely before touching anything – don’t be lazy about this

2.	Unscrew the two black screws on the side panel and take it off

3.	Remove the 4 Phillips head screws holding the stock Intel cooler, unplug its fan header from the motherboard, and pull it out

4.	Clean off the old thermal paste from the CPU properly

5.	From the Noctua Intel kit, press in the 4 black standoff risers where the stock cooler screws were

6.	Attach the mounting brackets using slot #2 on the brackets, secured with your M3 10mm screws

7.	Apply a pea-sized dot of thermal paste (the one included with the cooler is fine)

8.	Slide the fan off the cooler with your fingers – it just clips off, easy

9.	Before mounting, check orientation – I have the fan facing towards the RAM. Check my picture

10.	Place the cooler and tighten the spring-loaded bolts with the included Allen key, alternate sides evenly

11.	Clip the fan back on – make sure the sticker side faces inward (not visible) and airflow is going into the heatsink, not exhausting from the ram side

12.	Plug the fan cable into the CPU fan header on the motherboard

13.	Put the side panel back and screw it in

Results so far:

CPU temps dropped somewhere between 25°C–30°C and GPU temps are down around 10°C as well which was a nice bonus. Still need to do more testing but first impressions are solid.

One thing – don’t overtighten anything, go slow and easy. You don’t want to crack the motherboard or strip a screw. And seriously, keep the system fully unplugged the whole time.

I haven’t added any front intake fans yet, honestly doesn’t feel necessary right now.

Hope this helps someone – like I said there was nothing out there specifically for the 2 RAM slot board version of this case. Happy to answer questions!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Has someone experienced this laptop? Overall opinion on it?

I don't know who needs to hear this, but I finally figured out fan control for the Acer Swift X 14 (SFX14-71G) and wanted to share the script.

I've been running Arch for a few months, and the most annoying part was the lack of fan control because Acer isn't exactly "Linux friendly." I managed to reverse-engineer the ACPI calls that Windows uses to switch between Quiet, Normal, Performance, and Turbo modes.

THIS IS NOT FOR EVERY LAPTOP. This script sends raw HEX values to your hardware. If your BIOS or Model is different, you could theoretically cause hardware issues. Also I'm a dumbass that doesn't really know what he's doing so proceed with caution.

Details:

• Verified Model: SFX14-71G-72Q7
• Requires: acpi_call kernel module.
• Features: Script-based switching + Waybar integration (icons/colors).

Here is the GitHub if you want to check it out: https://github.com/LukazBadazz/acer-swift-thermal-control

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! I vibecoded a lot of this, so if you're an ACPI expert and see something weird, let me know.

help me fix my acer predator helios 300 ph315 52

it was the “Install Windows” screen at first it keeps looping and i search how to fix it, but after i follow the tutorial where i go to the regedit and change the value from 1 to 3 my screen then turns black and shutdown itself.

at first i thought it was normal since the laptop hast been used in 2y but none of the people in the comments of any of the tutorial didn’t mentioned their laptop shutting down by itself and it automatically solve their problem. so i’m stuck but i can still access the bios setting tho.

so plz help on what to do next🙏🙏

I want to perform its first maintenance (I bought it about 8 months ago). I've already removed the screws, but the casing doesn't come off easily and I don't know how to open it correctly.

Brand new Nitro V 15 is a brick. Acer support is worse.

TL;DR: Bought a Nitro V 15 (i7) on April 1st. It failed almost immediately. Acer is refusing a refund/replacement, so I've officially filed a National Consumer Helpline grievance (#9089323).

The Issue: Major hardware failure within days of purchase.

The Struggle: Infinite emails, tweets, and zero help from support.

The Status: Currently fighting for a refund while my "pro setup" sits useless.

Hoy estaba revisando mis ajustes de cuenta en configuración, me puse a ver algunas opciones y en el apartado de "Reiniciar de fabrica" me apareció que tenia sesión iniciada en varias cuentas, pero vi 2 que no reconocí, alguien sabe que pueden ser?? No sé si es algo del celular, de android, o de un malware.

Can someone help me? This error always shows if I'm using my laptop battery.
"The speed of processor 19 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 71 seconds since the last report."
And then. after 5 minutes my laptop will freeze and crash. Its always like this if I'm only using the battery. But if I'm plugged in the outlet, no issue. This is kinda annoying since even in a short black out, it causes my laptop to freeze.

Solution I tried:
-Edit the powerplan to Performance
-Restore BIOS to its original setup
-Edit Nvidia App Power Management to Performance

It's still usable, but I hate that I can't use this laptop without a wall outlet.

Laptop Description:
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16
BIOS v1.18 (latest)
i5 13500HX, RTX 4050
32GB RAM