The Acer Nitro 5 17 is good for general use, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
7.7/10
6.5/10
7.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
5.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Acer Nitro 5 17 is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
8.0/10
6.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.0/10
7.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
5.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Acer Nitro 5 17 is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
7.8/10
6.9/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.0/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Acer Nitro 5 17 is good for content creation, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.4/10
6.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Acer Nitro 5 17 is good for software development, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
8.2/10
6.8/10
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
307.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
292.0 nits
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has a better screen than the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Portability
Fair
Good
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
4.9 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 has good portability, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
"The Acer Nitro 5 17 is a solid mid-range gamer. The Nitro 5 does not belong to the top group of RTX 3070 notebooks: Compared with the RTX 3070 notebooks tested so far, the computer delivers below-average frame rates - this is due to the 100-watt TGP. The GPU performance can be increased a bit with a firmware update. The device scores with a high level of CPU performance. Throttling is not a concern. CPU and GPU can produce their performance constantly. The laptop heats up moderately under load. The noise development is on the usual class level."
"The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is one of the most powerful RTX 3050 Ti laptops. If you disregard the mediocre quality of the case in terms of the material and workmanship, Lenovo has created a successful budget gaming laptop with the IdeaPad Gaming. Thanks to high TDPs and constant performance development, the Core i5-12500H and GeForce RTX 3050 Ti are able to show their full power, while in contrast, the (mostly slower) competitors deliver a better battery life. However, hardly any of the alternative laptops are able to reach the image quality of the Gaming 3. Most of the competitors are left behind in terms of the color space and brightness."
Get a great deal on the Acer Nitro 5 17 or the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.