Acer Aspire 3 (A315-53)

A315-53 · A315-53G · N17C4 · 2018 · laptop

Specifications

Cpu: Intel Celeron 3867U, Pentium Gold 4417U, Core i3-7020U, Core i3-8130U, Core i5-8250U or Core i7-8550U; A315-53G SKUs add Nvidia GeForce MX130 (2 GB GDDR5) discrete graphics
Ram: max: 12 GB official (4 GB soldered plus 8 GB SO-DIMM); the single SO-DIMM slot accepts a 16 GB module for 20 GB in practice · base: 4 GB DDR4 (soldered)
Ports: USB 3.0 Type-A · USB 2.0 Type-A (2) · HDMI · RJ-45 gigabit ethernet · SD card reader · 3.5mm combo audio jack · Kensington lock slot
Battery: 2-cell Li-Po, 4810 mAh, rated up to 7 hours
Display: 15.6" TN, HD (1366x768) on most SKUs, FHD (1920x1080) on higher configs
Storage: base: 500 GB or 1 TB 2.5" SATA HDD on most SKUs · options: 128 GB M.2 2280 SSD · 16 GB Intel Optane cache module paired with a 1 TB HDD on some SKUs · M.2 2280 slot accepts SATA and NVMe SSDs, alongside the 2.5" SATA bay
Weight: 2.1 kg
Os Support: latest: Windows 11 on 8th gen Core SKUs; Celeron, Pentium and 7th gen Core SKUs top out at Windows 10 · shipped: Windows 10 Home (some regional SKUs shipped with Linux or no OS)
Release Price: Budget positioning: a reviewed i3-8130U FHD unit was about 400 Euro; Celeron configs launched around 21,000 INR in India

Variants

Revisions

Celeron 3867UEntry CPU (2c/2t, 1.8 GHz), Intel HD 610 graphics, typically 4 GB RAM and 500 GB HDD

Pentium Gold 4417UBudget dual-core CPU, Intel HD 610 graphics

Core i3-7020U7th gen dual-core CPU, Intel HD 620 graphics

Core i3-8130U8th gen dual-core CPU (2c/4t, 2.2-3.4 GHz), Intel UHD 620 graphics; common config, often paired with 16 GB Optane plus 1 TB HDD

Core i5-8250U8th gen quad-core CPU, Intel UHD 620 graphics

Core i7-8550UTop CPU option, 8th gen quad-core, Intel UHD 620 graphics

A315-53GAdds discrete Nvidia GeForce MX130 (2 GB GDDR5) alongside the Intel CPU

Storage

500 GB HDD

1 TB HDDSome SKUs pair the HDD with a 16 GB Intel Optane cache module in the M.2 slot

128 GB M.2 SSD

Upgrade paths

RAM

12 GB official; 20 GB in practice (4 GB soldered plus one SO-DIMM slot up to 16 GB) · No maintenance hatch: remove 11 Phillips screws and pry off the whole bottom panel to reach the single SO-DIMM slot. Acer officially lists 12 GB max but 16 GB modules are widely reported working.

~$25-60

MODERATE

storage

M.2 2280 SSD (SATA or NVMe) plus 2.5" SATA bay · Same bottom-panel removal as the RAM. Dual-drive setups are easy: SSD in the M.2 slot as boot drive, keep the HDD for bulk storage. HDD-only SKUs include the 2.5" bay hardware.

~$30-100

MODERATE