Is it difficult to choose a gaming laptop? Actually not, as the market offers many great and affordable solutions.
In this review, we want to show you what the ASUS TUF Gaming and Lenovo Legion 5 devices are capable of, and in basic modifications. You will be surprised how much gaming hardware has evolved thanks to the efforts of AMD and Nvidia.
To warm up
ASUS TUF Gaming FX505DT-HN450 and ASUS TUF Gaming FX505GT-HN113 received a plastic case with a brushed aluminum design, a full-size backlit keyboard, a high-speed IPS-matrix with FullHD-resolution, 15.6 ”diagonal and a frequency of up to 144 Hz. Also on the case are HDMI, 3 high-speed USB connectors, a combo 3.5 mm headset jack and a gigabit Ethernet socket.
Both representatives were awarded a 4GB GeForce GTX 1650 graphics accelerator, 512GB NVMe SSD and 8GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM expandable up to 32GB (2 slots). The battery is also the same – 48 Wh and 2500 mAh. Autonomy is not the strongest feature of gaming devices, but laptops will provide you with 4-5 hours of working applications.
The main difference is the processors:
- FX505DT: AMD Ryzen 5 3550H 2.1-3.7 GHz 4/8, 35W;
- FX505GT: Intel Core i5 9300H 2.4-4.1 GHz, 4/8, 45W.
The Intel model is 5-10% faster in games and work applications, all other things being equal due to a higher frequency, but it costs more and heats up more. In addition, it lives 1-1.5 hours less from the battery. The choice is yours.
Optimal middle
In this category, we are fighting Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH05 82B500AHPB and ASUS TUF Gaming A15 BX506II-HN222. And both are interesting in their own way. Especially within your budget.
Lenovo laptop – value for money, is built on the basis of the fresh AMD Ryzen 5 4600H platform with a powerful integrated video core Radeon Vega 6. The graphics here are also impressive – Nvidia GTX 1650 6GB, and with GDDR6 memory. The discrete adapter only connects during gaming to conserve battery power. The RAM is 8 GB expandable up to 32 GB, and the drive is a 512 GB NVMe SSD.
The picture is completed by a matte WVA-screen 15.6 “with a frequency of 120 Hz and a cool picture. What is remarkable is that the design is as restrained and austere as possible.
A competitor from the ASUS camp will offer even more impressive hardware, namely a bundle of AMD Ryzen 7 4800H and GTX 1650 Ti for 4 GB. Already in the basic version, 16 GB of RAM is installed in dual-channel mode. The cooling system is more powerful, the keyboard has a bright backlight. The display and the set of connectors are about the same, except that there is an IPS-matrix at 144 Hz. The drive is still the same 512 GB NVMe SSD, although you can put in 2 TB M.2 format if the base is not enough.
Is there a big difference between processors? In games – no more than 10%, but in working applications, the Ryzen 7 4800H has a huge advantage due to 8 cores and 16 threads.
When you need the most for a reasonable price
Finally, we left the most powerful and affordable laptop Lenovo Legion 5 17IMH05H 81Y8004GPB. This device comes with a 60Hz IPS screen, which is sometimes lacking for a gaming system. Want to get 144Hz? Pay attention to the modification 81Y8004LBP.
The presented model immediately surprises with a huge 17.3 ”screen, on which you will see all the beauty of graphics instantly. Whatever one may say, but this diagonal is more suitable than 15.6 inches.
But the main thing is performance. And the Intel Core i7-10750H with 6 cores and 12 threads with a frequency from 2.6 to 5 GHz is responsible for this aspect. It is paired with a powerful 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU with real-time ray tracing support. This model has 8 GB of RAM, but the design offers 2 slots for RAM, so you can expand the volume up to 32 GB if needed.
But a 512 NVMe SSD will definitely not be superfluous. A bandwidth of up to 2.5 Gbps will allow you to instantly launch any game and load textures. Playing on such a laptop is sheer pleasure. However, it remains quiet under heavy load.
