Budget 41-50k Thin form factor laptop with a decent iGPU

RadarHz

RadarHz

Disciple
Checking out laptops with the titled description, preferably in the under 55k bracket. Ryzen APUs would fit my needs sufficiently, but if there's a decent Intel Xe model out there, I'm looking. Extra nice if there's a possibility of a RAM/SSD upgrade down the line.
 
HP 14 - Ryzen 5500U, 8GB RAM and 512 GB SSD (both upgradeable)
Lenovo Ideapad Slim 5 - same basic specs as above but with a 15.6" screen. Not sure about upgradeability, RAM seems non upgradeable tho. Check teardowns/upgrade guide of this laptop online for that.
 
Are the Ryzen 3 models often a big step down from a Ryzen 5 model? Some of the Ryzen 3 models appear to be dual core which isn't in itself a problem unless its also not hyperthreaded. Would a 3500U based laptop do a lot worse than a 5500U, in terms of iGPU performance?
 
RadarHz said:
Are the Ryzen 3 models often a big step down from a Ryzen 5 model? Some of the Ryzen 3 models appear to be dual core which isn't in itself a problem unless its also not hyperthreaded. Would a 3500U based laptop do a lot worse than a 5500U, in terms of iGPU performance?
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Yep, since the Ryzen 3 model have 2 or 3 Vega cores only. Ryzen 5 have 6 or 7 Vega cores, and ryzen 7 has 7 or 8. So the delta in igpu performance between ryzen 3 and 5 is much larger than 5 and 7.
Both Ryzen laptops above are 5500U btw, which means they are 6 cores and hyperthreaded. So they are a big step up in performance from 3rd gen ryzen 3 which have only 2 cores 4 threads with 3 Vega cores, and 5th and 4th gen ryzen 3 as well which have 4cores and 8 threads (and again with 3 Vega cores)
 
What about the realmebook slim i5 variant?
Although the CPU is not as powerful as ryzen based counterparts, the display seems to be pretty good for those who prefer it
 
The i5 variant looks to be priced higher than the HP models listed above. The Xe graphics do interest me, but will it hold up against the iGPU of, say, the 3500U or 5500U?
 
The 3D performance of both (vega 7 and iris Xe) should be pretty comparable though I haven't explicitly compared them

Video decoding/encoding performance and software support (especially Quick sync) should be better for the Xe counterpart (also supporting AV1 decoding)

About it being more expensive compared to HP counterpart, it depends on how much premium you are willing to pay for a better display (100% sRGB, 400 nits, 2160*1440(50% higher pixel count than 1080p))
Though it has non upgradable ram which is a bummer
 
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