Introduction
Based on the Zen 2 architecture, the AMD Ryzen™ 4000 Series Mobile Processors have a place on the market today. They definitely have a functionally sound position as a desktop replacement, which we covered in this article here which discusses the democratization of multicore CPUs thanks to AMD Ryzen featuring the Lenovo Yoga 6 and its workforce benefit, but what about the gamers?
Well, to fully realize the gaming experience with the AMD Ryzen™ 4000 Series Mobile Processor, we need a discrete GPU. In this article, we’ll take a look at just how the AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processor from last-gen helps assist an enduring GPU from NVIDIA, with also last-gen’s GeForce RTX™ 2060. This combo would be popular for midrange gaming laptops which is why we’re focusing on it for 2 reasons: it’s an accessible gaming laptop and it’s curiously the first time we’re covering an AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processor.
So without further ado, we have the Lenovo Legion 5 featuring an AMD Ryzen™ 4600H Mobile Processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 2060 GPU on the table to see if it actually keeps up with games we have today. Our gaming benchmark has now included many popular esports titles as well as heavy AAA games so it’s going to be nice to see the summary and to know if we’re getting those sweet fluid FPS scores we’re looking for.
AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processors for Gaming
As mentioned, the AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processors provide an excellent boost in productivity thanks to its large number of cores. This has also opened up the floodgates for gaming laptops to become more accessible to gamers who prefer the mobile form factor. Back then, AMD was still seen as a secondary option for laptop gaming but that has changed significantly in recent years.
Aside from the significant advancements in core counts and IPC performance uplift in AMD CPUs, their more efficient silicon also presents a competitive CPU when battery life is concerned.
Lenovo Legion 5 featuring AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processors
We’ve taken a look at the Lenovo Legion 5 before, even its predecessor from the Y series, but we’ve never looked at an AMD variant of this product. This actually gives me the same kind of perspective as an average joe in the store looking for a gaming laptop: I am aware the laptop exists but I have not pursued information regarding the AMD models. Thus, such as with many of you, this is the first time I am seeing performance numbers from an AMD system. So, let’s see some numbers.
Performance Testing
Our sample unit used for this testing is a Lenovo Legion 5 featuring an AMD Ryzen™ 4600H Mobile Processor with 6 cores and 12 threads. We also have 8GB of DDR4-3200 memory and our GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 2060. Our comparison model is an equally specced laptop with the only difference is that the RAM on our comparative system is 16GB DDR4-2933.
All our benchmarks follow our GPU Benchmarking Methodology. Let’s take a look at the score:
By themselves, these numbers look decent. But in further detailing these numbers, let’s take a look at CSGO wherein a peak desktop-class NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 2060 GPU would run an average of 397 FPS in our benchmark, which is around a 40% difference in performance. That is of course on a desktop GPU. Comparing it with our comparison system with the same GPU, we’ve taken some sample data below:
The games above are easily some of the most played games today, especially CSGO and Valorant, and we can see that our AMD Ryzen™ 4600H Mobile Processor is pulling ahead by a decent amount. At this rate though, some people may scoff at just lusting for unneeded performance, but competitive gamers would appreciate any increase they get. The Legion 5 AMD laptop we have has a 120Hz 1080p display and as a guide, it is best to get twice your screen’s refresh rate to realize the best response from your display. For anyone playing competitively and even more so, professionally, these numbers are excellent for esports games.
Here’s a framerate-over-time look at our system compared to an equally specced system. As you can see, there’s about a 12% average difference in performance in this game and the AMD Ryzen™ 4600H Mobile Processor is managing to gain a performance lead in this benchmark.
It’s not always a lead for the AMD system but the main takeaway here is that in equal grounds, there are only a few instances where it will be crippled against a competing CPU.
User Experience & Conclusion
Many users today are currently under the impression that more is better and that’s always true if you got cash to burn but with gaming systems, the point of diminishing returns is when your CPU can’t cope up with the GPU. This is best exemplified in our FPS games like Valorant and CSGO where we’re getting more from our system compared to an 8-core CPU. This doesn’t mean that the 8-core system is bad, it just means for this specific scenario, it just doesn’t give anything more to the system.
Today, AMD systems are now more abundant than ever but the crux remains: are last-gen AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processors still worth it or should I go with the newer models? We’ve already answered the question in a similar vein in our work laptop article about the AMD Ryzen™ 7 4700U Mobile Processor with Radeon Graphics featuring the Lenovo Yoga 6, and now we end this one with the answer for gaming: the simple answer is yes. The long answer is that if you’re shopping last year’s models hoping to find a great deal, our findings show that an AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processor is definitely capable of gaming. Built for the most demanding gaming and content creation workloads, AMD Ryzen™ 4000 H-Series Mobile Processors are the new standard for performance in innovative, thin, and light laptops.
As a bonus for those choosing to play with AMD Ryzen™ Mobile Processors on the Legion 5, the laptop also comes with Lenovo’s 3-Year Premium Care warranty solution. The service comes with nifty solutions that deliver a premium user experience and enables you to do more. Premium Care’s services include a 24/7 direct hotline to technicians, comprehensive hardware and software support, and an Annual PC Health Check that’s vital for device maintenance in the long run.
If you’re still unsure which one to buy, let me know down in the comments and I’d be happy to share my insights. You can also follow and message me on Facebook to stay updated on great deals and announcements as well as the latest news from brands like Lenovo and AMD. Moreover, follow Lenovo Legion on Facebook and Instagram for updates on their new products and promos.
The Legion 5 starts at PHP 52,995 and is available at Legion Exclusive Stores and Lenovo Authorized Resellers nationwide. Contact them now by visiting lenovo.com/ph/en/where-to-buy. There’s also an option to get it online through Lenovo Legion’s Flagship Store at Lazada.
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DISCLAIMER
The prices mentioned are exclusive of all taxes & octroi.
Availability: Offers, prices, specifications and availability may change without notice. Lenovo is not responsible for photographic or typographic errors. Other models are available. Find out more in Lenovo Authorized Retailers Shop.
Trademarks: Lenovo, ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, and the Lenovo logo are trademarks of Lenovo. AMD, AMD Ryzen Series, AMD Radeon, the AMD Arrow logo, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. in the United States and/or other markets. NVIDIA, GEFORCE, GEFORCE RTX, BATTERY BOOST, and G-SYNC are trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
