discussion Acer Timeline Ultra M3 & NVIDIA GT 640M Review

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Battery Life

Battery Life

Battery longevity is one of (if not THE) most important aspect of any mobile device which is why we are breaking this section down into three distinct tests. The “Standard Workload” represents relatively light usage with a Flash-enabled web page being refreshed every 30 seconds. Our “Heavy Workload” runs a looped 10 minute automatic script that reflects a professional usage pattern of photo manipulation (Photoshop CS5), word processing (Microsoft Word), drafting (AutoCAD 2011) and file compression (WinRAR). Finally, the “Gaming” test runs a timedemo loop of Far Cry 2 DX9.

All tests are run until the battery reaches 5% with the Balanced battery mode enabled and the screen at 75% brightness. Wireless is also turned on but any backlit keyboard functionality is turned off.

The Acer Timeline Ultra’s battery life is nothing short of incredible for an ultra slim notebook that also includes a discrete graphics card. Its Standard Workload time of just under six hours was among the best we’ve ever seen and it wasn’t until we got to the heavier workloads that battery life dropped like a stone.

However, as we will see on the next page, there is one major caveat with these numbers.

 

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Battery Powered Performance Goes Bust

Battery Powered Performance Goes Bust

One of the primary uses for a notebook or in this case an “Ultrabook” is its ability to deliver the performance you need, when you need it. Since the M3 incorporates a GT 640M GPU, we had some high hopes that it would become a portable gaming powerhouse while offering GPU-accelerated HD video playback. As such, we decided to test how it performed when running off of battery power alone.

These results are self explanatory: when running off of its battery, the M3 becomes a shadow of its former self. Forget about playing games at anything approaching reasonable detail settings and GPU accelerated applications slow to a crawl. Even the CPU gets throttled to a certain extent.

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Now before you post in our forums crying foul, let’s explain what is going on here. In order to conserve as much power as possible when running on the battery, the GT 640M gets brutally throttled down into a lower power state and there isn’t a thing you can do about it. We can’t tell whether Acer or NVIDIA is responsible for this but from what we can tell, the memory controller’s output gets dynamically reduced even though the core itself is operating at full speed. The result is of course massively lowered performance for no reason whatsoever. While the M3 does have a GPU (and you WILL pay for it), it certainly won’t be working to its fullest potential all of the time.

To make matters worse, these power saving algorithms are hard wired into the M3’s BIOS and they can’t be overridden. It doesn’t matter if you specify Widows to run in High Performance mode when running off of the battery since whatever program is responsible for this will still grab the system by its nuts and point it in a predetermined direction. NVIDIA’s control panel even includes a handy toggle which can ensure the GPU stays on in every conceivable instance but the draconian power plan overrides even this setting. To us, this is simply unacceptable, especially considering the high core clocks mean it doesn’t actually translate to significant additional battery longevity.

 

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Temperatures & Acoustical Testing

Temperatures

Temperature testing is quite straightforward: we load the system with a loop of Far Cry 2 in order to stress the dedicated GPU (if there is one) while the CPU load is handled by a loop of WPrime 32M. Battery power is used during these tests. Temperatures are recorded with HWInfo and GPU-Z. Remember that this is a worst case scenario test so typical usage patterns will result in slightly lower temperatures.

Meanwhile, exterior temperatures are taken with a calibrated Fluke infrared thermometer at various locations on the notebook chassis. For comparison’s sake, we consider exterior readings of under 85°F to be perfectly suitable for on-lap usage while temperatures between 85°F and 95°F will start to feel a bit toasty. Anything above 95°F is uncomfortable and care should be given before placing it on your lap.

While the GT 640M and ULV CPU are supposed to run at relatively low levels, the M3’s cooling system just can’t keep up. Both processors get dangerously close to their thermal envelopes. It looks like Acer’s design team needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.

For the most part, Acer did a good job of distributing the heat on the upper side of this Ultrabook; surfaces were cool to the touch and the few hot spots were kept within comfort levels.

The underside is something else altogether though: areas directly over the CPU/Memory and GPU became ludicrously hot. Acer’s design team obviously didn’t get a handle on thermal management and the result a chassis that is dangerously hot in certain areas. We cannot emphasize this enough: never, EVER put an M3 on your lap when gaming or stressing the processor.

Acoustical Testing

No one likes a loud laptop so in order to objectively determine acoustical properties, we use a calibrated decibel meter which is placed 16” away from the keyboard. A loop of WPrime is used to load the system and replicate a high usage scenario.

Any result under 35dB can be considered no louder than general background noise and usually won’t be noticed. Between 35dB and 45dB is still perfectly acceptable for notebooks yet will be much more noticeable than lower frequencies and likely won’t be heard over the noise of typing. Finally, we consider any result above 45dB to be unacceptable for a mobile device.

Heat isn’t the only problem here since the single fan housed with the chassis struggles with all of its might to keep things under control. As we saw above, regardless of its efforts and slightly high noise production, the situation really can’t be saved. While the amount of noise produced by the M3 running at full tilt isn’t offensive, it is certainly noticeable.

 

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GTX 640M Conclusion; Great Things Come in Small Packages

GTX 640M Conclusion; Great things come in small packages

This review was a bit of a mashup since we were looking at two items –NVIDIA’s GT 640M and Acer’s Timeline Ultra M3- that were morphed into one not quite so cohesive package. Since our opinion of each is completely different, splitting the conclusion in two was necessary. So let’s kick things off with a few brief words about the GT 640M.

From a technological standpoint NVIDIA seems to have done everything right throughout the process of translating the Kepler architecture over into the mobile market. By optimizing rendering efficiency and leveraging the 28nm manufacturing processes’ benefits, performance per watt has taken a quantum leap forward without sacrificing battery life, heat production or acoustics. As a result, higher performance cores like the GT 640M can be installed into thin Ultrabook-like systems, making portable gaming a reality without the sacrifices normally associated with high performance notebooks. Or at least we would assume so since Acer’s efforts in this department seemed rushed and didn’t quite succeed.

This process isn’t all architecture-centric either since technologies like Optimus have a large role to play as well. Like it or not, adding a discrete GPU to any system will have a negative effect upon battery life but with Optimus working in the background, most of those concerns can be pushed aside. Instead of having the graphics card chewing through battery capacity with wild abandon, higher performance modes will only be enabled when they are absolutely needed. Otherwise, the GPU will sit idle while letting the more efficient CPU handle the lion’s share of workloads.

Unfortunately, due to the M3’lackluster design, ass-backwards power profiles and insufficient cooling setup, we can’t fairly judge the GT 640M at this point. From what we have seen though, this graphics core is everything notebook users could possibly want within their slim and light systems. Expect additional Ultrabooks to incorporate the GT 640M once Ivy Bridge launches so don’t worry about buying the M3 just to get access to excellent Kepler-based systems.

Regardless of the Acer-inspired limitations, we’re still going to give the GT 640M our Dam Innovative Award. In games, this chip impressed us by allowing the M3 and its energy sipping i5 processor to compete on a nearly level footing with full sized notebooks equipped with i7 CPUs and GT 555M graphics cards. While we couldn’t evaluate this whole system as objectively as we may have wanted to, we’re willing to bet here and now that mobile Ivy Bridge processors will really allow NVIDIA’s new architecture to shine.

 

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Acer Timeline U M3 Conclusion

Acer Timeline U M3 Conclusion

The Timeline Ultra M3 gave Acer the perfect opportunity to show the world how Ultrabooks should perform but without the GT 640M, it would be an absolute failure. Instead of being the success we had hoped it would be, this notebook feels rushed and incomplete in nearly every way imaginable. It almost pains us to see a new graphics architecture showcased within a product that gets so many things wrong.

NVIDIA’s GT 640M is a revelation for the Ultrabook product space but the M3 is certainly not the best platform to showcase it. Sure, the combination of a discrete graphics card's compute power coupled with an Ultrabook’s svelte dimensions allows for high performance without sacrificing weight. It is also amazing to see games being played at high detail levels on such a thin platform. However, a ghastly trackpad, an unnecessary space consuming optical drive, testicle-searing exterior temperatures, a poor keyboard layout, a low resolution screen, ….hold on while we take a breath here….lackluster build quality, a horribly located power button and dreadfully placed I/O ports seriously detract from what could have been a great overall experience.

We've seen some misguided comments about how the Acer M3 achieves a great balance of performance and battery life but that isn't the case at all. While our standard battery tests did show flashes of brilliance, the situation rapidly fell apart when we realized how some of the long runtimes were achieved. To extend battery life, the GT 640M's performance in key applications has been nerfed when the system is running unplugged. Instead of allowing Optimus to kick in when it sees fit, the M3 throttles the GT 640M in EVERY scenario, from gaming to video transcoding. So basically you'll be paying a premium for a feature that can't be used in the situations where an Ultrabook’s portability will actually come in handy.

The main problem here is the M3’s ability to take several fundamental aspects of notebook design and essentially throw them out the window. Being first to market with a new technology doesn’t mean that so many core principles can be arbitrarily compromised. We would have been able to give Acer a bit of a pass had the M3 been a test mule but as it stands; this system is actually being sold in several key markets around the world.

The M3 could have redefined the way we look at Ultrabooks. It also could have provided an effective launch platform for NVIDIA new mobile GPUs and should have pushed the envelope on efficient performance. Unfortunately, “should haves” and “could haves” don’t add up to a success and this “Ultrabook” has the hallmarks of poorly planned engineering rig rather than a well thought out product.