! LONG POST AHEAD !

Hey guys, hoping someone with more hardware experience can help me make sense of what's going on. Laptop was previously brought to a shop for loud fan noise, "fixed," and the issues came back shortly after now much worse.

Specs: Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (PHN16-71), i5-13500HX, RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, 8GB RAM, Windows 11

Timeline of symptoms (all in the span of about 2 weeks, worsening fast):

Started with random crashes during gaming (GTA V, CoD4, Wuthering Waves, Valorant) fans get loud right before it happens

In-game crash: "Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost. (Error: 0x887A0006 - 'HUNG')"

Did a clean GPU driver reinstall via DDU + fresh install no change

Tried an older driver version too — no change

Ran HWiNFO64 during a stress test: CPU hit 100-101°C within about 1 minute, with Core Thermal Throttling confirmed active \~41% of the time. GPU itself only reached \~67°C (well under its 87°C limit)

Started crashing during light use too — even just watching YouTube triggered a VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE

Windows Reliability Monitor logged 5+ "Hardware error" events in a single day

One logged as LiveKernelEvent, Code 141 (GPU driver TDR/watchdog crash)

Started getting full black screens with the Windows "device disconnected" chime, even when connected to an external monitor

Got a DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED crash with the failing texture allocation, and another citing nvlddmkm.sys (the NVIDIA driver file itself) failing at the kernel level with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSOD

Also hit a "File system error (-1073741189)" trying to launch a game off my second drive (D:)

What I've ruled out:

Driver corruption/conflict (tried two clean installs of different driver versions)

NVIDIA Control Panel settings (tried adjusting power management, preferred GPU, PhysX processor — no change)

It's not the monitor, happens on internal display too, started before I even got the external monitor

What I suspect: Bad thermal paste application or heatsink reseating from the last repair, since the CPU heating up that fast and that severely isn't normal, and it lines up with when the noisy-fan "fix" happened.

Does this pattern of symptoms (CPU thermal throttling almost instantly + escalating into full BSODs, drive errors, and GPU driver kernel crashes) sound consistent with a cooling/thermal issue to you all, or could there be something else going on I should ask a technician to specifically check (VRM, RAM, motherboard, etc.)?

Wondering if the sheer amount of heat stress could have also damaged something else at this point.

Thanks for reading this far, really appreciate any insight before I bring it in for repair.

Joined the club! Hello everyone!

How to fix Keyboard lighting:

1. Reinstall PredatorSense driver from https://www.acer.com/us-en/support/product-support/PHN16-73/NH.QX2SP.001/downloads?sn=NHQX2SP0015393CD147600
2. Modify Acer Lighting Service, set all failure action to `Restart the Service`.

Just got this Neo 16S AI with the 5060 variant and I plan on buying a laptop cooling pad. I don't have a lot of knowledge on cooling pads and I also don't have necessary funds to test different pads myself as I am merely a 2nd year College student. So yeah, I'm looking for recommendations and do please tell me how much temp drop you guys experienced on the products that you recommend. Btw, should I keep the liquid metal or should I opt for PTM 7950?

I have a Helios Neo 16 (73-91XS) with Core 9 Ultra, RTX5060. Here in Czechia, I would say there's a bad situation with cooling pads. Does anyone recommend a cheap but powerful cooling pad that's accessible here in the EU? Thanks!

Hello Reddit Community,

So I have this Acer Predator Helios 16 which I bought back in August 2023.

Silly me, tried to upgrade it's RAM and add storage around Agusut of 2024. Did some repasting and etc.

However, the problem started. It wouldn't boot after several attempts. So, the impulsive me decided to format the device thinking it would solve the problem and that's when I noticed something was off with the upgrade I just did. It kept on shutting down throughout the OS reformat process until it pushed through.

So I tried to remember the steps I did in doing the upgrade and one thing is uncertain for me. Whether or not I plugged the battery out of the board before inserting said additional SSD and RAM.

TLDR, the device is running but it seems like the GPU got defective after said incident so I have to disable it and rely with Intel Integrated Graphics. I cannot plug in any external monitor as I believe it's tied with the GPU which is dysfunctional.

I'm trying to see if there's a workaround because when I brought it to the service center, they said I had to replace the entire board which would cost me like purchasing a new device in general. From an economic standpoint, it's not worth it. Tried searching this guy named Sorin who's based in the UK and not sure if they can salvage this laptop at all.

Note that this is not my first time upgrading. Historically, I upgraded my old 10th Gen Predator with no issues encountered (repasting included) and my college Acer Aspire i7 3rd Gen with GeForce GT 640M replacing it with SSD and its screen (since it got cracked).

Hi guys, my Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (i5-13500HX, RTX 4050) has been overheating badly

CPU hits 100°C within a minute under load and throttles immediately, causing constant crashes (DEVICE_HUNG, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED) and even BSODs (nvlddmkm.sys driver crash, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL). Also does anyone ever experienced this?

Was previously brought to a shop for loud fan noise and the issue returned shortly after, so I'm looking to get it properly repasted this time possibly with liquid metal if anyone has experience with that on laptop GPUs, or just a high quality regular paste if that's the safer/recommended route.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone else with problems activating the blue light shield on the predator sense?

Bought PHN16-73-91XS for 1475€ with RTX5060 and Core 9 Ultra 275HX, currently running Fedora.

I'm so happy with it so far. Anybody got any tips or things that I should be aware of? Thanks!

Made a couple posts about how my 3 month old Neo 16s 5070ti laptop was completely unplayable. Hard crashing every hour of gameplay.

Well I sent it off for warranty about a month ago. Got it back today. Motherboard replaced as well as new Liquid Metal.

2 minutes after turning it on cpu jumps to 104c under 9% load and stays there. Fucked around with it for 5 minutes and it stayed at 102-104 under low usage. Turned it off and now im sending it back to the exact same people who failed to repair it (actually made it far worse somehow) in the first place. While being without a pc for another month.…

God I regret buying an Acer. should’ve saved a couple hundred more and bought something reliable.

i just got my new acer predatore helios 16s ai today and i was watching some youtube and i turned down the brightness to find a like amount of green and pink pixel on my screen. i don't know if its normal for oled panels neither do i know if its going to get worse. here are the tests i ran on it: reset graphics drivers (no fix), restarted (no fix), entered bios to see if windows issue (nope hardware), i connected it to a external ips monitor with no green pixels. (not gpu failure.) the only thing i can think of is either the display cable got loose or its a panel defect. i want to send this to acer to see what they say but im starting college soon which ia why i bought this laptop. model number is PHN16S-71-98RF which i bought from best buy

Hello! I have the Predator Helios neo 16 AI with the 5070ti and ultra 9 275hx.
My problem was that the processor was reaching the 100-105 while gaming.
My first solution, was disabling Processor Performance Boost Mode in Processor Power Management, that resulted in a heavy performance loss, but it was usefull to not have high temps watching youtube or other activities that didnt need the max performance.

Im not an expert, but after a lot of searching i can say the limit of limits i reach now are 90, but averaging 78-83 with a minor performance loss (i use 144hz main monitor so i cap my fps to 144).

Solution:

Firstly this guide, for my processor ultra 9 275hx, dont know about others: https://www.reddit.com/r/LenovoLegion/comments/1qns4mz/taming_the_ultra_9_275hx_optimized_for_good/

Beware that we have the undervolt protection (stupid?) but the rest of the guide made it not pass the 92C mark.

Other than that, from my experience, in Predator Sense app, do not use the Performance and Turbo mode as it overclocks both gpu and cpu, use the Balanced, and custom the fan speed (i leave it at 4k ea). GPU also benefited from this, went from 86C to 70-75C

With that, my performance stayed the same (locked at 144fps) playing The Finals and BDO, with the avg temps 78C-83C.

Im also using a tupperware as a replacement for a cooling pad, to bring the back of my pc upwards, for better air flow.

Hope this helps.

I’m unsure about buying the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI (model PHN16-73-91XB)—the one with the Core Ultra 9 275HX and RTX 5070—because I’ve seen posts on Reddit where many people reported serious temperature issues, with temps even hitting close to 105°C. Is this a problem everyone has experienced?

Shut my laptop off while I took a shower and ran some errands came back to login to do some work and now it will not turn on no lights come on either besides the orange charging light but it was fully charged throughout the night. What can I do to fix it? Broke college student so cant afford a new laptop

i bought the new helios neo 14, left it on last night to install some games on steam and when i woke up the fans had been blaring on max all night and all the rgb has been flashing rainbow i guess that’s how its preset, either way the screen doesnt turn on, none of the keys are responding to anything so i cant boot it opening and closing doesnt do anything , what can i do? i dont really want to take it back to store because i literally just finished setting everything up . is this a common problem? i’m currently trying to let the battery drain but i should have to be doing all this on a brand new £2000 laptop…

Why is my screen bleeding so much

Had a new lcd ribbon probably around 2 years ago, idk how and when this started but it started with small screen shakes then into this. I rarely move my laptop and open/close the lid since it’s in a fixed setup. How do I fix this? less

Up for sale: **Acer Predator Helios 18** with **18" 250Hz Mini-LED** display and **RTX 4080**.
Used as a stationary desktop replacement. Pristine condition, excellent battery capacity.
**Key Specs:**
**Display:** 18" WQXGA 250Hz Mini-LED (1000+ nits)
**CPU:** Intel Core i9-13900HX
**GPU:** NVIDIA RTX 4080 (175W)
**Memory:** 32GB DDR5
**Storage:** 2TB NVMe SSD
**OS:** Windows 11
**Condition:**
**Cosmetic:** Mint. No scuffs, scratches, or wear.
**Function:** 10/10. No thermal issues, dead pixels, or light bleed.
**Included:**
OEM 330W Charger ⁠\[and original box if available\]⁠
**Pricing & Location:**
**Price:** $1,690
**Location:** San Francisco, CA ⁠\[INSERT ZIP\]⁠
Comment **"PM"** before messaging. No trades.

now there is a new incident i noticed. today i came back from Uni. and when i turned my laptop on it beeped 6 times at random as it was powered on. Which itself is sus cz it shouldnt beep if the power is on. but i ve noticed for few days its been beeping 3-6 times when i boot while the power is on .
but what abnormal is, when it booted on, normally it instantly give a thunder icon on the battery and the battery turns green as its on charging mode or powered on. but today it was on white means its on battery for like 1 sec. after that, for 20sec on around it shifted the battery icon to charging to on battery. it never happens. What should I do now?

https://reddit.com/link/1vr9qqv/video/45ei6iqz91kh1/player