Laptop upgrade?

[aisle9]

My old 2019 HP Envy with an i7-8765U (I think, definitely a Coffee Lake i7-U) and a 10W MX 250 finally took a dump on me, and since I happen to be visiting near a MC, I’m looking at this guy:

 

https://www.microcenter.com/product/678488/lenovo-ideapad-5-14ahp9-14-2-in-1-laptop-computer-cosmic-blue

 

Edit: if the link doesn’t work, the model number for Google is 83DR000TUS

 

i haven’t kept up with laptop tech, but am curious: what kind of performance gain is that, and is it a good deal? Worth the added $100 to go 16” Ryzen 7? I  IPS, by the way. 

[abcdefghivjklmnop]

link doesnt work, says the ID is forbidden or something

[aisle9]

37 minutes ago, abcdefghivjklmnop said:

link doesnt work, says the ID is forbidden or something

Thanks, tried a few things but couldn’t get it to take. The model number is 83DR000TUS

 

 edit: https://www.microcenter.com/product/678488/lenovo-ideapad-5-14ahp9-14-2-in-1-laptop-computer-cosmic-blue

[SpecTre12345]

13 hours ago, aisle9 said:

i haven’t kept up with laptop tech, but am curious: what kind of performance gain is that, and is it a good deal? Worth the added $100 to go 16” Ryzen 7? I  IPS, by the way. 

 

Can you link me to the Ryzen 7 variant?

 

Anyway, the Ryzen 5 alone is looking at over 100% increase in performance compared to your current CPU. On the GPU side comparing FP32 performance with the iGPU you are looking at over 500% increase in performance. 

[aisle9]

On 7/1/2024 at 12:55 AM, BiG StroOnZ said:

 

Can you link me to the Ryzen 7 variant?

 

Anyway, the Ryzen 5 alone is looking at over 100% increase in performance compared to your current CPU. On the GPU side comparing FP32 performance with the iGPU you are looking at over 500% increase in performance. 

Linking to micro center off of my phone has been a PITA, but if you search “Idea Pad 2-in-1 Ryzen 7 16”, you should find it. A lot of the appeal ended with the 10% off using an MC card promo, and even though I am somewhat severely underwhelmed by its cooling, the CPU is kicking ass at the intelligent cooling BIOS setting. At least 3x improvement. I just f*cking wish Lenovo had put a way to assign 4GB to the 760M graphics, allowed me to speed up the RAM, and sacrificed a couple mm of thickness for a slightly beefier cooling system.

 

 Still though, pretty freaking happy. Great value.

[SpecTre12345]

2 hours ago, aisle9 said:

Linking to micro center off of my phone has been a PITA, but if you search “Idea Pad 2-in-1 Ryzen 7 16”, you should find it. A lot of the appeal ended with the 10% off using an MC card promo, and even though I am somewhat severely underwhelmed by its cooling, the CPU is kicking ass at the intelligent cooling BIOS setting. At least 3x improvement. I just f*cking wish Lenovo had put a way to assign 4GB to the 760M graphics, allowed me to speed up the RAM, and sacrificed a couple mm of thickness for a slightly beefier cooling system.

 

 Still though, pretty freaking happy. Great value.

 

Is it this model:

 

Lenovo IdeaPad 5 16AHP9 16" 2-in-1 Laptop Computer - Luna Grey; AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 3.8GHz Processor; 16GB LPDDR5x - Micro Center

 

If that's the case I would say that's a great deal because not only, do you go up in processor power, but you also get a bump on the iGPU/APU with a 780M. 

 

I agree, despite the cooling, and some of the other things you've mentioned; it's still a great value. 

[aisle9]

4 hours ago, BiG StroOnZ said:

 

Is it this model:

 

Lenovo IdeaPad 5 16AHP9 16" 2-in-1 Laptop Computer - Luna Grey; AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 3.8GHz Processor; 16GB LPDDR5x - Micro Center

 

If that's the case I would say that's a great deal because not only, do you go up in processor power, but you also get a bump on the iGPU/APU with a 780M. 

 

I agree, despite the cooling, and some of the other things you've mentioned; it's still a great value. 

Yeah, it was tough. Came down to 2 things: size and relative GPU performance. I hate 15” or bigger laptops. If I want something portable, I want it portable. I also really don’t need a Ryzen 7, and the 760M and 780M are really close. Like, 1050 vs 1050 Ti close. I’m 100% good with the laptop I got, just need to find time to put Windows 10 on it.

[SpecTre12345]

2 hours ago, aisle9 said:

Yeah, it was tough. Came down to 2 things: size and relative GPU performance. I hate 15” or bigger laptops. If I want something portable, I want it portable. I also really don’t need a Ryzen 7, and the 760M and 780M are really close. Like, 1050 vs 1050 Ti close. I’m 100% good with the laptop I got, just need to find time to put Windows 10 on it.

 

As far as portability is concerned, 14" definitely will maintain that. It's interesting you say they are close, from what I'm looking at it seems the 780M is nearly 50% faster than the 760M. Even in the case of the 1050, the 1050 Ti is around 25% faster. So, I'm wondering what benchmarks you were looking at. Even some videos comparing 760m vs 780m are showing the 780m over 20% faster. 

 

Also, I'm assuming it came with Windows 11? Any reason going to Windows 10?

 

Regardless, the Ryzen 5 variation is still really nice. But you do get a lot more for that extra $100, IMO.

[aisle9]

2 hours ago, BiG StroOnZ said:

 

As far as portability is concerned, 14" definitely will maintain that. It's interesting you say they are close, from what I'm looking at it seems the 780M is nearly 50% faster than the 760M. Even in the case of the 1050, the 1050 Ti is around 25% faster. So, I'm wondering what benchmarks you were looking at. Even some videos comparing 760m vs 780m are showing the 780m over 20% faster. 

 

Also, I'm assuming it came with Windows 11? Any reason going to Windows 10?

 

Regardless, the Ryzen 5 variation is still really nice. But you do get a lot more for that extra $100, IMO.

Because f*ck Windows 11, that’s why

 

(I’ll respond to the rest when I’m no longer in an altered state of mind. Easy answer to all of it is that I don’t like big laptops, and anything 15.6” or bigger is too big. If the R7 variant were 14”, I’d have been all over it at $699 - 10%. Damn, that is a lot of swiping to answer questions I said I’d get to later.)

[aisle9]

On 7/3/2024 at 7:27 PM, BiG StroOnZ said:

 

As far as portability is concerned, 14" definitely will maintain that. It's interesting you say they are close, from what I'm looking at it seems the 780M is nearly 50% faster than the 760M. Even in the case of the 1050, the 1050 Ti is around 25% faster. So, I'm wondering what benchmarks you were looking at. Even some videos comparing 760m vs 780m are showing the 780m over 20% faster. 

 

Also, I'm assuming it came with Windows 11? Any reason going to Windows 10?

 

Regardless, the Ryzen 5 variation is still really nice. But you do get a lot more for that extra $100, IMO.

So, about that promised reply: I did end up calling Micro Center, and they only had the 16” Ryzen 7/780M. I am so averse to big laptops (even 14” is pushing it for me) that a 16” screen is just totally out of the question. Aside from some software weirdness (stuck with a clean install of W11), I’m very happy with it so far. The battery is a bit lackluster, but I do recall there being a “break-in” period on past versions of Windows, so I’m not annoyed with it yet.

 

Won’t lie, a Ryzen 7 would be nice, but I don’t really need a 780M to play Skyrim at 1080p high, and battery life does suffer. A 1050-ish, maybe more like full power 950, equivalent card is good for what I do…but I might still poke into the Denver MC since it’s on my way home and see if they have a 14” Ryzen 7 there.

 

 Side note: you’d be amazed how hard it is to find drivers for this thing, even on Lenovo’s site. Must be a very new design.

[SpecTre12345]

17 hours ago, aisle9 said:

So, about that promised reply: I did end up calling Micro Center, and they only had the 16” Ryzen 7/780M. I am so averse to big laptops (even 14” is pushing it for me) that a 16” screen is just totally out of the question. Aside from some software weirdness (stuck with a clean install of W11), I’m very happy with it so far. The battery is a bit lackluster, but I do recall there being a “break-in” period on past versions of Windows, so I’m not annoyed with it yet.

 

Won’t lie, a Ryzen 7 would be nice, but I don’t really need a 780M to play Skyrim at 1080p high, and battery life does suffer. A 1050-ish, maybe more like full power 950, equivalent card is good for what I do…but I might still poke into the Denver MC since it’s on my way home and see if they have a 14” Ryzen 7 there.

 

 Side note: you’d be amazed how hard it is to find drivers for this thing, even on Lenovo’s site. Must be a very new design.

 

Well hats off too you for replying. Personally, for a Ryzen 7 and 780M I would probably tough it out with the 16" and build some extra muscle hauling it around. However, I get it for some people that is a hassle.

 

Honestly though, try to give Windows 11 a chance. I know in your previous reply you were pretty opinionated on it. It's a brilliant OS, download ShutUp10, apply all settings and enjoy.

 

I know with my laptop there was a break-in period, so that might also be the case for yours.

 

To be fair, my 3060 destroys Skyrim at 1080p so I get what you're saying. But if you ever want to get into mods, it's nice to have the 780M. I know Special Edition looks pretty good stock but it can get it even better. 

 

Well, I checked the Denver Micro and look at this beast: Lenovo Yoga 7 14AHP9 14" 2-in-1 Laptop Computer - Arctic Grey; AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS 3.3GHz Processor; 16GB LPDDR5x-6400 - Micro Center

 

I couldn't find drivers worth a damn with my HP either when I first got it. Navigating these OEM/ODM websites is terrible. You think they would have better website design by now. I learned these basics in high school. 

[aisle9]

10 hours ago, BiG StroOnZ said:

 

Well hats off too you for replying. Personally, for a Ryzen 7 and 780M I would probably tough it out with the 16" and build some extra muscle hauling it around. However, I get it for some people that is a hassle.

 

Honestly though, try to give Windows 11 a chance. I know in your previous reply you were pretty opinionated on it. It's a brilliant OS, download ShutUp10, apply all settings and enjoy.

 

I know with my laptop there was a break-in period, so that might also be the case for yours.

 

To be fair, my 3060 destroys Skyrim at 1080p so I get what you're saying. But if you ever want to get into mods, it's nice to have the 780M. I know Special Edition looks pretty good stock but it can get it even better. 

 

Well, I checked the Denver Micro and look at this beast: Lenovo Yoga 7 14AHP9 14" 2-in-1 Laptop Computer - Arctic Grey; AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS 3.3GHz Processor; 16GB LPDDR5x-6400 - Micro Center

 

I couldn't find drivers worth a damn with my HP either when I first got it. Navigating these OEM/ODM websites is terrible. You think they would have better website design by now. I learned these basics in high school. 

It's not really weight on 16" laptops. It's size. I like the added desk space and don't need a numpad for my laptop tasks, and the thought of a 16" 2-in-1 terrifies me lol. I did see that Yoga laptop, but $900 is a little out of my range. Ok, way out of my range. The $600 I spent is out of my range, but I needed a laptop and mine doesn't have a reliable battery anymore so...yep. I'd almost preferred to have waited, but my hand has been forced.

 

I stuck with W11, purely because a W11 key can't be used to activate W10. I'm good with playing Skyrim SE without visual mods on my laptop, because my desktop can stomp it at 4K with the mods I use (RX 6700). And yeah, finding drivers for newer machines is a beast..as I'm experiencing now.

 

I'm happy with this guy, especially for the price. $540 is lower than an equivalent 2-in-1 will go for on Prime Day, and now that the battery's dialing itself in, life is good. A R7 with the 780M would be spectacular future-proofing, but only for gaming, and I just don't do enough of that anymore to justify bumping the price of a laptop by 33%. Thanks for the help steering me around here. Maybe a wild hair will catch me and I'll exchange this guy for a faster laptop if one hits MC this week, but $540 for a Ryzen 5 8000 and a 760M (which more than a few reviewers have said is solid for the gaming I do) was just way too good to pass up.