Laptop decisions...

[cory21391]

So I need a laptop for school, and was looking into AMD's Ryzen mobile offerings.  It seems to me that the 2700U doesn't offer much improvement over the 2500U on the CPU side, and it's main advantage is a stronger GPU.  So I was looking at laptops with the 2500U, as they are cheaper.  I have narrowed things down to 2 choices at my price point ($600-$700):  The Acer Nitro 5 ( AN515-42-R5GT) and the Acer Swift 3 ( SF315-41-R8PP ).  They are both ~ $700.  I'm leaning towards the Nitro 5, since it has a dedicated GPU (RX 560X), which you can switch off and use the integrated graphics to save power when not gaming.  This seems like the best of both worlds:  light gaming/more power when wanted vs. lower power and better battery life when needed.  Other than the GPU, spec wise they are the same (8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Ryzen 2500U).  The only thing bothering me is the weight and thickness.  The swift is .7", 4.85 lbs and the nitro is a full 1" and 5.95 lbs.  Will this extra ~.3" and 1 lb be noticeably cumbersome/problematic or is it not worth worrying about?  Which would you guys recommend?

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, cory21391 said:

So I need a laptop for school, and was looking into AMD's Ryzen mobile offerings.  It seems to me that the 2700U doesn't offer much improvement over the 2500U on the CPU side, and it's main advantage is a stronger GPU.  So I was looking at laptops with the 2500U, as they are cheaper.  I have narrowed things down to 2 choices at my price point ($600-$700):  The Acer Nitro 5 ( AN515-42-R5GT) and the Acer Swift 3 ( SF315-41-R8PP ).  They are both ~ $700.  I'm leaning towards the Nitro 5, since it has a dedicated GPU (RX 560X), which you can switch off and use the integrated graphics to save power when not gaming.  This seems like the best of both worlds:  light gaming/more power when wanted vs. lower power and better battery life when needed.  Other than the GPU, spec wise they are the same (8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Ryzen 2500U).  The only thing bothering me is the weight and thickness.  The swift is .7", 4.85 lbs and the nitro is a full 1" and 5.95 lbs.  Will this extra ~.3" and 1 lb be noticeably cumbersome/problematic or is it not worth worrying about?  Which would you guys recommend?

The extra .3" and 1lb is noticeable(depending on what bag you have and how heavy your other stuff is), but for me it's worth it if I get a dedicated GPU for it. I'd take the Nitro 5.

[genexis_x]

Do you really need that GPU power? Do you need less weight and more battery life?

 

Are you open to Intel offerings?

[cory21391]

That's the thing that would bug me:  missing the way better GPU for essentially the same price.  Paying the same amount of money for lesser hardware never feels good.  Should I expect lower battery life on the nitro 5, even with the GPU "off"?  They both have the same battery capacity (3320 mAh), but I haven't found any official battery life claims.  A review I saw of the nitro 5 claimed around 5 hours when not gaming.  Not sure if this is reasonable or not for the average laptop.

[gbergeron]

1 minute ago, cory21391 said:

That's the thing that would bug me:  missing the way better GPU for essentially the same price.  Paying the same amount of money for lesser hardware never feels good.  Should I expect lower battery life on the nitro 5, even with the GPU "off"?  They both have the same battery capacity (3320 mAh), but I haven't found any official battery life claims.  A review I saw of the nitro 5 claimed around 5 hours when not gaming.  Not sure if this is reasonable or not for the average laptop.

Looks resoneable, for the firs year, first 2 year, then after bye bye battery

[cory21391]

Just now, GeneXiS_X said:

Do you really need that GPU power? Do you need less weight and more battery life?

 

Are you open to Intel offerings?

I don't necessarily NEED the gpu power, but I feel like paying the same price for the swift and not getting it would be less bang for the buck so to speak.  I suppose it would be nice to game a bit between studying while at school if I have nothing to do for extended periods of time.  I have a gaming desktop at home already though.

[genexis_x]

15 hours ago, cory21391 said:

They both have the same battery capacity

More powerful GPU will consume more power, even while idling.

Nitro 5 - ~5 hrs

Swift 3 - ~8 hrs

Expect AMD variants to have at least 25% less battery life

16 hours ago, cory21391 said:

That's the thing that would bug me:  missing the way better GPU for essentially the same price.  Paying the same amount of money for lesser hardware never feels good.

There are other things that matters as well. Battery life, weight, display quality etc. Not to mention that putting a powerful GPU will result in higher temps+fan noise under load compared to those with less powerful GPU/iGPU only.