Where's the best place to buy an Acer Nitro 5?

Who is the Acer Nitro 5 intended for?

The Acer Nitro 5, with its low price and baseline graphics (GPU) options, is best suited for anyone who's looking to get into portable PC gaming without breaking the bank. You'll be able to enjoy a lot of modern AAA games with the settings turned down, plus popular esports titles (and Fortnite) will run smoothly at 1080p.

Longtime PC gamers will likely search out a laptop with more power and a somewhat more refined design, but the Nitro 5 will please those who keep their expectations from growing too large. The fact that it starts at just $600 will no doubt play a huge part in a final selection.

Should you choose Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA hardware?

Best Buy includes Acer Nitro 5 models with Intel and AMD processors (CPU), as well as AMD and NVIDIA GPUs. Choosing between hardware options really comes down to price and personal preference.

There are a couple of exclusive configurations at Best Buy that include Intel and NVIDIA hardware, so you're likely going to get the best deal there. The current cheapest option at $600 (regular $720) includes an 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a 1 TB hard-disk drive (HDD), and a NVIDIA GTX 1050 GPU.

Fans of AMD can pay about $660 and get a Ryzen 5 2500U CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a 256 GB solid-state drive (SSD), and an AMD Radeon RX 560X GPU. You're going to get four cores in either CPU, but the Ryzen option will suck up far less power — 15 W compared to 45 W — while offering a slightly slower clock speed. As for the GPUs, both have 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM and will deliver quite similar performance.

Those who want the best performance possible should check out the other Best Buy exclusive model at $720, which has inside an 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and a NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti GPU that can outperform both the standard GTX 1050 and the Radeon RX 560X GPUs.

Bottom line? If you have the extra money to spend, the $720 model with Intel CPU and NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti GPU will deliver the best performance. If you're a fan of AMD hardware, the $660 model will still make a fine budget gaming laptop.

Can this laptop be upgraded after purchase?

Thanks to a couple of easy-access panels on the bottom of the laptop, pretty much anyone can upgrade the 2.5-inch storage and RAM here by simply removing one or two screws. This makes it ideal for those who are still getting their PC legs under them.

All configurations come with a single 8 GB stick of RAM, leaving a second slot free for additional RAM. Those who opt for the cheaper 2.5-inch HDD could technically swap it out for a faster 2.5-inch SATA SSD, though you would have to likely clone over your data, including Windows 10.

Taking it a step further, the entire bottom panel of the laptop can be removed, giving access to all internal hardware, including an extra slot that takes an M.2 SSD. Adding an SSD here would leave the 2.5-inch HDD in its place and would give you a faster place to store your game data.

Get free delivery or pick it up in-store

Best Buy offers free shipping (usually two-day) on all Acer Nitro 5 models, but if you'd like to get your hands on it as soon as possible, you can also arrange to pick it up in the nearest brick-and-mortar store.

If you happen to find an identical Nitro 5 model cheaper somewhere else, Best Buy does have a price-match guarantee, and if you can't justify dropping a lump sum all at once, there is 18-month and 6-month financing available through the My Best Buy credit card.

Rounding out the additional services are some decent accidental damage plans that can protect your Nitro 5 for up to three years after purchase.

Get your Acer Nitro 5 at Best Buy

With plenty of configurations — including a couple of exclusive options — as well as cheap prices, financing options, price-match guarantees, and additional damage protection, Best Buy makes it easy to get the Nitro 5 you want.