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AMD Portables Hardware

Dell's All-AMD Gaming Laptop Hailed as a 'Budget Blockbuster' (hothardware.com) 63

Posted by EditorDavid from the CPU-and-GPU dept.
AMD "has a potent combination of both CPU and GPU technologies," writes Slashdot reader MojoKid, that "can play well in the laptop market especially, where a tight coupling of the two processing engines can mean both performance and cost efficiencies." One of the first all-AMD laptops to hit the market powered by the company's new Ryzen 4000 mobile processors is the Dell G5 15 SE, it's a 5.5 pound, 14.4-inch machine [with a 15.6-inch display] that sports an understated design for a gaming notebook but with an interesting glittery finish that resists fingerprints well. With a retail price of $1199 (starting at $879), the model tested at HotHardware is powered by an AMD Ryzen 4800H 8-core processor that boosts to 4.2GHz and an AMD Radeon RX 5600M mobile GPU with 6GB of GDDR6 memory...

In the benchmarks, AMD's SmartShift technology load-balances CPU and GPU power supply for optimal performance and very respectable numbers that are competitive with any similar Intel/NVIDIA powered machine. The Dell G5 15 SE put up north of 60 FPS frame rates at maximum image quality in current-gen game titles, but with a significantly better price point, relatively speaking.
The GPU also has 2,304 stream processors across 36 compute units, and "Overall, we think Dell hit it out of the park with the new G5 15 SE," the review concludes.

"This all-AMD budget blockbuster has all of the gaming essentials: a fast processor, a powerful GPU, and a 144 Hz display."
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Dell's All-AMD Gaming Laptop Hailed as a 'Budget Blockbuster' More

Dell's All-AMD Gaming Laptop Hailed as a 'Budget Blockbuster'

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  • I was told on the last AMD/Intel thread that "no one was ever fired for buying Intel", and "intel's reputation will keep them going" and "Dell only sells Intel, see?"

    Okey dokey... didn't take long.

    • > I was told on the last AMD/Intel thread that "no one was ever fired for buying Intel"

      That's a well known saying about IBM. Been that way before I was born. Nobody says that about Intel.

      https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]

      Intel doesn't generally sell to the public... so not much chance one person "chose to call in Intel" (or not Intel) and get fired.

      E

    • Dell hasn't sold only Intel for many years, that's just people who didn't have a clue.

      As for the other two statements, you're absolutely right. Shit man Intel's 1Q20 Revenue is up 23% YoY, and that's despite AMD coming up with truly awesome products in the past 3 years, the most impressive of which came out mid last year.

      So yeah, Intel is doing just fine. ... Sadly.

      • For me the story here is less about killing Intel than saving AMD. Competition in consumer goods is a good thing. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to shit on Intel, but maybe now they'll have to come out with more affordable upper-mid-range options, and focus more on security in their microarchitecture. In the meantime, we have these badass Ryzens to work with. I never though I'd say this but.... Dude. I'm getting a Dell.

    • Re:Intel slipping (Score:4, Insightful)

      by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Saturday May 30, 2020 @08:26PM (#60126718) Journal

      I was told on the last AMD/Intel thread that

      Stop listening to "what you were told." Look it up and see what science says. If you make any decisions based on that, it's your own stupid fault.

  • This is my biggest pet peeve with laptops still. It's 2020 and this machine is still using that big barrel plug they have had for the past 2 decades it seems. I understand that this is likely over the 100W limit for USB-C (which has it's own problems, it's constantly working lose on my Thinkpad) but is there nothing better to be done? Is the Apple mag-safe connector still under patent?

    • My pet peeve is those that want things changed for the sake of change. Better yet, let us all switch to a proprietary plug interface that will be different for each manufacturer.

      -If it ain't broke don't fix it.

      • this one IS broken.

      • Re:Look at the charging port (Score:4, Insightful)

        by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Saturday May 30, 2020 @12:35PM (#60125452)

        At over 100W for laptops we already have no standardization. Dell is different from HP from Lenovo from Asus from MSI etc. Even at the sub 100W level where USB-C should be the standard you have lot's of holdouts. If I trip on that cord it's taking the machine with it and that's a real life annoyance that no spec upgrade can help with. In my opinion mag-safe is the single best usability upgrade Apple brought to laptops and it's a real shame for whatever reason it hasn't become standardized.

        • Surely the patents would have expired by now. But Apple also had a huge class action lawsuit related to those chargers. I think the problem was their refusal to put strain relief on the cables - just like their current phone cords, but maybe the flaw was bigger than that.

          • Curious I have been looking it up, seems the answer is conflicting. Many people see prior art as disqualifiying it but the actual Apple patent seems to be valid for at least a few more years. Chances are no other manufacturers see the upside in risk to poke the bear.

            And yeah, when I had a MacBook you could tell the charger suffered from the other Apple quality control issues, their soft rubber insulation and lack of strain relief. It's classic style over substance Apple design but for those 6 months it h

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • I understand that this is likely over the 100W limit for USB-C

      I thought the USB-C charging limit was more like 120W [amazon.com], or is that specialty hardware?

      Is the Apple mag-safe connector still under patent?

      Even if it were not, it seems unlikely other computer makers would adopt it and lose the universality of the USB-C charging port. Then again, if you are going to have as you say that giant proprietary barrel plug why not a mag-safe connector.

      • See how it says 120W 90W on it? It can only push out 90W on USB-C, but that charger is advertising that it can additionally push out 15W to both of the other USB plugs at the same time.

        It is rated for 20V 4.5A, which is less than the max 20V 5A spec for USB-PD

        As for magsafe, I'm much happier knowing I could plug my previous Dell charger into my new Dell. There's something to say about not changing things just for changes sake.

        • It can only push out 90W on USB-C, but that charger is advertising that it can additionally push out 15W to both of the other USB plugs at the same time.

          Thanks, I was wondering why the 90/120 split and under what conditions that mattered.

          As for magsafe, I'm much happier knowing I could plug my previous Dell charger into my new Dell.

          It probably is way better that people could use older power adaptors than shifting to a new, non-USB-C standard.... can those older power adaptors handle this more beefy new lap

          • Some of them can, some of them can't. You have to check the wattage on the actual power supply. Many times you'll either get a BIOS message about insufficient power or it won't work at all if it doesn't line up (And I have had connectors with the same outer barrel size but smaller internal pin, so it fits but never does anything, and vice versa, the internal pin is too big and does not fit at all)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by RMingin ( 985478 )

            On every Dell laptop I've ever owned where the connector physically fit, it would deliver power to the laptop. Worst case scenario, it would charge the battery (slowly) while the laptop was off. On my Precision M4800, Dell rolled out a firmware change that castrated CPU and GPU clocks if a sub-100W adapter was connected, which previously worked perfectly. These days if I have my M4800 and somehow only 65W or 90W Dell adapters, I'll put it to sleep, plug it in, let it charge a while, then unplug and wake. Wo

      • I had to double check but according to the USB Power delivery specs the max is 5.0A @ 20V, so 100W, i imagine some vendors are using the port with out of spec numbers, which is probably USB-C biggest pitfall now (look at the Nintendo Switch in dock mode, out of PD spec, can kill it with a non-Nintendo charger)

    • It's 2020 and this machine is still using that big barrel plug they have had for the past 2 decades it seems.

      Translation: Your previous charger still works and you are compatible with most chargers that say Dell on the side. How horrible!

    • Is the Apple mag-safe connector still under patent?

      According to this [google.com], it looks like the patent is expected to expire in 2025. However, the patent has 57 claims and if I understand patent law correctly, an implementation must violate all 57 claims to be considered infringing, so it seems possible that someone could develop a connector without violating every single one of these claims. The important question is whether or not Apple would go after that company anyway. As everyone here likely knows, patent

      • Agree 100%, would be great to have a standard mag connector. Laptops, phones and a few peripherals could really benefit from it. Like you said, not everything but it'd be great to have the option.

        • Please no. I don't want ANOTHER connector that disconnects easily. The only benefit over other connectors of "Mag" connector is it unlikely to break the socket on the device it connects to. While that is sorta useful, it doesn't solve the problem that needs solved.

          I want to be able to have my latptop sitting in my lap, and I want to move it from in my lap, to a chair-side table and back without the power disconnecting or breaking the socket on the device. What is needed is the following:

          • What I was suggesting was not meant to be mutually exclusive with non-magnetic connectors. The ideal situation would be having six or more USB ports on a laptop with half of them connecting via magnet and the other half using a firm, non-magnetic port. Both sets of ports could provide the ability to charge as well as connect drives, a keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc. Then you can choose which type of port to use for each situation. If one of the ports breaks, you still have plenty of options to charge and

    • This is my biggest pet peeve with laptops still. It's 2020 and this machine is still using that big barrel plug they have had for the past 2 decades it seems. I understand that this is likely over the 100W limit for USB-C (which has it's own problems, it's constantly working lose on my Thinkpad) but is there nothing better to be done? Is the Apple mag-safe connector still under patent?

      I for one don't mind this.. It means that the fleet of Dell chargers I have from past laptops that will work great.

  • What sort of budget? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Stormwatch ( 703920 ) <rodrigogirao@POL ... om minus painter> on Saturday May 30, 2020 @11:54AM (#60125292) Homepage

    Search for 'budget gaming PC 2020' on YouTube, and you'll find good machines for ~$300. I know laptops are more expensive, but calling $1200 a "budget" machine is quite absurd.

    • Re:What sort of budget? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by StarWreck ( 695075 ) on Saturday May 30, 2020 @12:15PM (#60125358) Homepage Journal
      High-end Gaming, Desktop replacement that doesn't cost a completely absurd amount might be a better description.

    • Re:What sort of budget? (Score:4, Informative)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Saturday May 30, 2020 @12:23PM (#60125396)

      and you'll find good machines for ~$300.

      No you won't. Not unless you consider competitive solitaire the extent of your "gaming" experience. $300 barely gets you a shit-tier graphics card, let along anything that even remotely qualifies as a gaming PC.

      A $300 "budget gaming PC" is to an actual "real budget gaming PC" as a cardboard box is to an apartment. Shit man $300 barely gets you an actual budget PC even if you are just after something capable of posting crap on Slashdot.

      Is this a no true Scotsman fallacy? Maybe, but at least I know what a Scotsman is and I'm not confusing them with an Irishman.

      • Three hundred bucks is really stretching it but a $100 i5 Optiplex/Thinkcentre corporate special + $300 RTX 2060 is totally doable and will probably be as good as this unless you want to churn out 300 fps.

        • But then you've got the problem of the power supply, right? Or have bog standard PSUs improved since I last looked?

        • Firstly you're going to have to provide a link to a $100 Optiplex. I couldn't even find a $100 Optiplex with an i3 in it let alone an i5.
          Secondly you can't fit an RTX2060 into an Optiplex, not unless you cut a hole in the side of the case.
          Thirdly having a computer is good and all, just don't forget keyboard, mouse and monitor, which even as a piece of a shit would set you back close to $100 again.

          • Admittedly you have to go used but it should be easy enough to get one in a normal tower case in the US: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Custo... [ebay.com]

            There are 2060 Mini cards, I have a Zotac 1070 in this form factor in my Optiplex 7010 and it fits easily: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Ge... [amazon.com]

            As for peipherals, yeah you have to either already have a monitor (which most people here already do I imagine) or factor it into the price. $300 gets you a pretty good monitor nowadays.

      • You haven't built anything recently it seems.

        $320 on Newegg will get you a EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 KO Ultra Gaming with 6GB GDDR6 which is hardly a "shit-tier" card. There's very few games on the market that can push that card and generally it's because of shit code not great graphic quality.

        I'll give you buying a pre-build for $300 isn't going be a gaming anything computer. General anyone that quotes $300 is a Facebook candy crush gamer.

        • Well not sure why you're disagreeing with me while proving my point.

          That GPU is more than $300 and very much entry level. The only thing lower is the shit tier GTX1660 /1650 and the former is about $275 on newegg, so let me quote myself: "$300 barely gets you a shit-tier graphics card".

          There's very few games on the market that can push that card

          Sure, if you like to play solitaire or crappy console ports. In the meantime there are plenty of games on the market that can push a 2060. There are many titles that won't even sustain a basic 60fps at 1080p on that card.

          Actu

          • I wasn't disagreeing on your overall statement $300 is not doable for a fully built gaming computer outside of Facebook games. The people that make that argument are buying pre-build's so there never going to get the point.

            What I was disagreeing with is the fact that you think a brand new RTX 2060 *KO* is a shit-ter card. I'm also going to disagree with you on that line about how it can not play games at 60hz/1080p that's absurd. Name a game that a RTX 2060 *KO* can't play at 60hz/1080p on medium/hi sett

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:What sort of budget? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Saturday May 30, 2020 @12:56PM (#60125532) Homepage Journal

      I'm glad gaming laptops are a thing now. The people paying thousands for one are helping push laptops forward faster than they have for maybe a decade now. Better screens, better performance, even better webcams for streaming.

      Also means that workstation grade laptops are getting cheaper too as the market expands.

      • Gaming laptops are not in any way a new concept. Not even for Dell.

        Maybe you heard of this little company called Alienware Dell bought years ago?

        https://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/from-miami-to-area-51-the-20-year-history-of-alienware-1321359

        You aren't a gamer, are you?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I could have phrased it better. They were pretty niche but now they have got good enough to run modern AAA games at good frame rates without being complete bricks. In other words people see them as an alternative to a gaming PC, not a compromise they take because they need a portable.

          The rise of esports games that don't have such high requirements has helped too, even mid spec machines can get solid frame rates. Yeah there was always Counterstrike but it's exploded in the last few years with things like For

          • I'm going to get beat up for this one but here goes: most games going back several years (for arbitrary definition of several) are way more gpu dependent than cpu dependent. But in most of the high end laptops the cpu/gpu is a single unit. Yes, you can get a separate mobile based discrete video card but then you're talking the most expensive machines around and good luck convincing IT you need that for your business travels. So laptops will always be more expensive to get less and as more people move to

    • $300 is a budget laptop. A budget GAMING laptop is more like $600-700, bare minimum - and those are other Ryzen 4000 models, which are sold out, and have integrated graphics. Meaning you WILL be on minimum graphics settings and you WILL have low framerates, probably low enough to affect playability on many games.

      It looks like you're spending $800+ for anything with a discrete GPU. The new Dell model starts at a bit under $800, so it does fit in that range.

      After reading the article, it looks like the one the

    • The problem with laptops is that you have to move pretty far up the line to find models with a discrete GPU. Which drives the cost up as you're also buying higher end CPU's, more memory, etc. You can't do the budget gaming desktop build-it-yourself thing where you figure out the absolute minimum CPU, memory, etc. you can get away with, then spend the rest of your budget on the best GPU you can afford. Even then $300 is really pushing it unless you're counting on reusing components from a previous PC.

    • 1200$ for a laptop that plays Current Gen games at 1080p on Max details at over 60fps is pretty solid. It also depends what you call "gaming". My 450$ Ryzen 5 3500u laptop plays most games too, but you may have to use lowest settings and 720p, and that gets you 30 fps if you're lucky with the machine running rather hot. Games like The Witcher 3 you'll be lucky to hit 20 fps.
      Personally I think "gaming" laptops are a bit of an oxymoron. Cooling is never really optimal and space in a laptop is very limited to

  • I've been mulling over a gaming PC, but I had just been looking at mini towers and the like...

    These days, why would someone be wanting a laptop that was suited for gaming?

    It seems like even a laptop with a pretty large screen would still be smaller than you'd want for gaming.

    Also unlike the days when we had to lug towers over to other people's houses to play LAN games, now everyone just plays online with headsets so portability is not as important...

    So what is It that keeps the gaming laptop a viable market

    • Portability. I remember I built a pretty high-end desktop PC in December 2006 but then my job started sending me on the road in January 2007 so I never even got to use it. Sometime in 2008, I gave in and bought a Dell XPS 1530 for like $1600, at the time this was one of the highest-end gaming machines you could get without it being a $2000+, 20 pound desktop replacement beasts. It was thin and light and powerful by 2008 standards, not today's standards. I used it in probably 500 different hotel rooms to

    • Some of us like the ability to play games when we're not in our parent's basement.

    • College and usb-c docks for multiple 144hz monitors.

      My son's $1500 Dell gaming laptop is only beat by his $2000 custom built (by me) desktop which stays at home and he games/homework's with the laptop at school.

    • If you need a new laptop anyway (for non-gaming uses), you might as well get one with a decent GPU, instead of buying a laptop and a separate gaming desktop.

      You still pay a penalty in price/performance ratio, but you will end up paying less in total than buying 2 systems. And there are reasons maximum performance at all times isn't quite as important as it used to be. The PC upgrade treadmill isn't rolling as fast as it used to. Most games now are console ports that are designed to run on lower-spec hardwar

      • Unless you actually need that kind of power in a laptop, in the long run you're going to be better off investing in a gaming desktop and a cheaper laptop. The gaming desktop is going to have a much longer useful life because you can upgrade it - especially the GPU, and the laptop will likely last longer too because gaming laptops tend to run hot which shortens the life of the components.

  • Where can I get a laptop with a touchpad on the right?

  • Not everyone games with their GPUs. Nvidia had a lock in the ML because of CUDA for a while and I haven't payed attention to the backends in a few years.

  • Intel's favourite OEM would not dare upset the mighty chipzilla by offering a nice product now that AMD has the edge in every segment. Good old Dell

    • Dell actually sells some systems with AMD processors, though my guess is they are a tiny fraction of Dell's sales.

      If anything, Intel's favorite OEM is Apple given that Apple has been 100% Intel since switching from PPC, and Intel has even gone far as creating special models that they sell only to Apple.

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