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Good used gaming laptops for gaming under ~400

Pipet
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Posted
2 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

400 USD is basically impossible

Courtesy of Ryzen 3/Vega 8, it's really not. eBay says "used" to me, and there are R3/V8 laptops there for under $400. If you're after a modern dedicated GPU, then yeah, probably not happening. Even a lowly MX150 carries the NVIDIA premium.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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Just now, aisle9 said:

Courtesy of Ryzen 3/Vega 8, it's really not. eBay says "used" to me, and there are R3/V8 laptops there for under $400. If you're after a modern dedicated GPU, then yeah, probably not happening. Even a lowly MX150 carries the NVIDIA premium.

Ryzen 3 mobile comes with Vega 3, not Vega 8. So expect performance on the level of Intel UHD 630

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Just now, 5x5 said:

Ryzen 3 mobile comes with Vega 3, not Vega 8. So expect performance on the level of Intel UHD 630

Derp, meant Ryzen 5. And yes, it's still doable.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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1 minute ago, 5x5 said:

Assuming proper power targets and cooling, you're still looking at 500$ minimum

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiron-15-5000-5575-Laptop-15-6-AMD-Ryzen-5-2500U-with-Radeon-Vega8/274008084093?epid=11027889852&hash=item3fcc278e7d%3Ag%3A2MwAAOSwMSldfgLp%3Asc%3AUSPSFirstClass!32309!US!-1&LH_BIN=1

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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Just now, aisle9 said:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiron-15-5000-5575-Laptop-15-6-AMD-Ryzen-5-2500U-with-Radeon-Vega8/274008084093?epid=11027889852&hash=item3fcc278e7d%3Ag%3A2MwAAOSwMSldfgLp%3Asc%3AUSPSFirstClass!32309!US!-1&LH_BIN=1

15W power target. You only have 25W Ryzens in Spectre and Business devices

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1 minute ago, Pipet said:

older games and maybe like csgo. this laptop is for like vacation. nothing too serious for gaming. maybe like a 1 gig dedicated card

 

You don't need a dedicated card for that. Vega 8 will more than do it.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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1 minute ago, 5x5 said:

15W power target. You only have 25W Ryzens in Spectre and Business devices

And those 25W Ryzens are dumpster fires right now. Literally. Nothing cools them. Vega 10 is weaker than Vega 8 because nothing can adequately cool it at full load.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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Just now, aisle9 said:

And those 25W Ryzens are dumpster fires right now. Literally. Nothing cools them. Vega 10 is weaker than Vega 8 because nothing can adequately cool it at full load.

Not really. The only dupster fire is HP's horrible Spectre design. Business laptops like the T495 fair very well - performance is high, temps and noise are low. Same for the EliteBook 755 G5

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1 minute ago, 5x5 said:

Not really. The only dupster fire is HP's horrible Spectre design. Business laptops like the T495 fair very well - performance is high, temps and noise are low. Same for the EliteBook 755 G5

Can't speak to the EliteBook. I can speak to the T495 after borrowing one for a few days to test it out and decide if R7 or R5 was right for me. You could've roasted marshmallows over the thing while engaged in 3D gaming (Skyrim, Cities: Skylines). I'm a huge ThinkPad evangelist, and even I couldn't justify a Ryzen 7 with Vega 10 graphics that were an infinite stutter when Vega 8 graphics are out there that, while not as powerful in short bursts, also don't thermal out if you have the laptop resting properly on a hard surface when using it. When I do pick up my X395 or T495 in the not too distant future, it will be the Ryzen 5 variant.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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2 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Can't speak to the EliteBook. I can speak to the T495 after borrowing one for a few days to test it out and decide if R7 or R5 was right for me. You could've roasted marshmallows over the thing while engaged in 3D gaming (Skyrim, Cities: Skylines). I'm a huge ThinkPad evangelist, and even I couldn't justify a Ryzen 7 with Vega 10 graphics that were an infinite stutter when Vega 8 graphics are out there that, while not as powerful in short bursts, also don't thermal out if you have the laptop resting properly on a hard surface when using it. When I do pick up my X395 or T495 in the not too distant future, it will be the Ryzen 5 variant.

Interesting. Cause both we at our office with our 3 T495s (2 Ryzen 7 and 1 Ryzen 5 model) and NBC came to the completely opposite conclusion

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T495-Review-business-laptop-with-AMD-processor-long-battery-life-and-good-display.434716.0.html

 

" Overall temperatures remained far from critical. When idle, the device remained cool and unnoticeable. Under load, we found no more than two hotspots with more than 47 °C (116.6 °F). Nevertheless, we would not advise anyone to use this laptop on their lap under load. Compared with the ThinkPad T490 the AMD-powered T495 does get a little bit warmer than the T490 with iGPU but nowhere near as hot as the T490 with dedicated GeForce MX250 GPU. "

 

I can basically confirm the above - the Intel iGPU is weaker and slightly cooler but both are ice-cold when compared to the MX250 model

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2 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Interesting. Cause both we at our office with our 3 T495s (2 Ryzen 7 and 1 Ryzen 5 model) and NBC came to the completely opposite conclusion

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T495-Review-business-laptop-with-AMD-processor-long-battery-life-and-good-display.434716.0.html

 

" Overall temperatures remained far from critical. When idle, the device remained cool and unnoticeable. Under load, we found no more than two hotspots with more than 47 °C (116.6 °F). Nevertheless, we would not advise anyone to use this laptop on their lap under load. Compared with the ThinkPad T490 the AMD-powered T495 does get a little bit warmer than the T490 with iGPU but nowhere near as hot as the T490 with dedicated GeForce MX250 GPU. "

 

I can basically confirm the above - the Intel iGPU is weaker and slightly cooler but both are ice-cold when compared to the MX250 model

The MX250...I mean, there are dumpster fires, and then there are forest fires. Honestly, outside of the X1 Extreme, the history of ThinkPads sporting non-Quadro GPUs in the last 10 years or so is pretty bad.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

The MX250...I mean, there are dumpster fires, and then there are forest fires. Honestly, outside of the X1 Extreme, the history of ThinkPads sporting non-Quadro GPUs in the last 10 years or so is pretty bad.

Again...not really. The P50, P51 and P52 were all fine. The T470, 470p, 480, 480p were also fine. The E580, E590 and E490 are also fine. Most of them are fine. I'm REALLY not sure what you're talking about to be honest

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2 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Again...not really. The P50, P51 and P52 were all fine. The T470, 470p, 480, 480p were also fine. The E580, E590 and E490 are also fine. Most of them are fine. I'm REALLY not sure what you're talking about to be honest

As far as I know, the P-series all use Quadros. The T470 family used the dreadful 940MX, which did nothing but make the laptop hotter. Maybe we should be more clear here: I'm referring specifically to thermals and performance while gaming, because that's what this thread is about. As a daily driver/all-purpose machine that's not going to play anything more intense than Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, Reigns and Headliner, I'd take any of the above.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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11 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

As far as I know, the P-series all use Quadros. The T470 family used the dreadful 940MX, which did nothing but make the laptop hotter. Maybe we should be more clear here: I'm referring specifically to thermals and performance while gaming, because that's what this thread is about. As a daily driver/all-purpose machine that's not going to play anything more intense than Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, Reigns and Headliner, I'd take any of the above.

Exactly - we use T-series for 3D rendering and run them at 100% load almost all the time. The only one that gets uncomfortable is the MX250-equipped T490. Literally everything else is fine. Well, the E480 is also not good I guess. So there's those two. The rest are fine. Can't speak for anything pre-Skylake, though. Earliest I have expeirence with is the T460

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