Hi all. Time has come and her grand grand dad told me he wants to buy her "such a laptop thing". He told me I should choose it, budget is about 500 euros, "but I want her to be happy. So if it costs a bit more that is OK. Just don't choose sh!t." (His words) My daughter is 9 years old and plays Minecraft a lot, watches Youtube a lot and has a Wacom tablet (USB) and some drawing software like Sketchbook. Some browser games on top but that is it. So I thought about a Ryzen with iGPU, as those are very potent in comparision to any Intel and a dGPU would rip the budget completely. So do you gurus have something in mind you could recommend? And what AMD iGPU should be suitable? Do I have to go to Vega 8CU (R7 5700U) or would a smaller version (7CU, like on 5500U) be sufficient? Here are some models I found: https://geizhals.de/?cmp=2660429&cmp=2588308&cmp=2647717&cmp=2570242&cmp=2580525 (German, for the prices I would pay) https://skinflint.co.uk/?cmp=2660429&cmp=2588308&cmp=2647717&cmp=2570242&cmp=2580525 (English, for comparing specs) Any help is welcome.
@anticupidon @fantaskarsef @mbk1969 Sorry for linking you just to get your input, but it seems this part of the forum is visited not so often. @insp1re2600 your thoughts are welcome as well, you know? Come on, it never was THIS easy to make a girl happy.
Sorry my friend, I have literally no experience with running Minecraft or owning this kind of GPU What I can say, I took the lowest spec laptop there was available, with dual core CPU and whatnot, it was horrible. Please don't go 3CU Good that you don't go that low. However, I guess the more the better... Ultimately, just deciding from the guts, I'd go for the medium one hardware wise (7CU), the three versions in the middle seem to only differ in the windows version (or the lack of) when you get them. Installing windows should not be an issue if you happen to have a license, buying a key seems to be really cheap also, cheaper than the almost one hundred € difference. But I guess other people have better info on running Minecraft on laptops. Out of curiosity, what dGPU do you even get in that price range?
@386SX thanks for considering our input, I feel like I am not the best to give advice. But I'll give my best, hope that I manage to clear some things out. Taking in account that a laptop can almost never upgraded on the iGPU, go for the best iGPU budget can afford. Vega 8CU (R7 5700U On the other hand, Minecraft can be run even on a Raspberry Pi (with some limitations). Can you choose to buy the laptop without OS? Just a reminder, you can do all the above mentioned computing easily under Linux. Privacy is a must for kids using computers.
None in that price range. The cheapest dGPU they offer in a 17" laptop is some GTX 1650 for about 1000 euros (a bit less) while some 3060 based laptop would be about 1100 to 1200 (which would make more sense than to buy a 1650 based laptop). But prices would almost double, therefore my question. I would go that route and add 600 on top, but I dont see the need for a 9 year old girl to have a laptop like this. I am surprised the black models listed are all silver btw.
For all kids from family and friends I recommended to parents used Thinkpads While those would not win any gaming contest, having modest iGPU, but they are stellar in robustness and sturdiness. Kids are kids, they have a way of playing with tech we just can't comprehend and all damage done (voluntary or not) ends up paid by parents. So, a used Thinkpad can take a serious beating and little damage is inflicted, spare parts are relatively cheap. Maybe I am too pragmatic and all. But some little girl was so caring and loved so much her virtual cat, that she poured a glass of milk on screen and keyboard. Luckily, her parents took my advice and got her a X220 laptop, so not so much damage was done, if any. That little machine just kept on going even with milk dripping from the keyboard. The keyboard and the motherboard was cleaned and the laptop works to this day. Sorry for the long endorsement, but as a former tech with lots of laptops repaired, I have a duty to say all of the above.
Only some tips: - only models where you can swap all RAM planks (yourself preferably); - only models where you can swap storage drive (yourself preferably); - no models with dual/switchable graphics - only with single iGPU or dGPU; - in case of dGPU preferably models with CPU and GPU sitting on separate heating pipes - for better cooling. And maybe tablet to avoid all of this and to get better portability.
She already owns a tablet and a desktop computer. Tablet is some quadcore Lenovo with Android 7 or 8 and her computer is an i7-2600 on some OEM board and 4x 2GB DDR3-1600 I previously used in my x79 build. GPU is an ASUS GTX980 Strix. I thought about upgrading her rig instead, but her grand granddad told me otherwise ... well ... I agree with you @mbk1969 , therefore if you look closely, all your recommendations are fulfilled by every single model I picked. And 500GB disk space should be enough, we have a NAS.
AMD's iGPU is a lot faster than any Intel while saving more energy than a dGPU. Reviews show decent numbers in any game with 1080p resolution. What AMD CPU did you own which overheated so much? Some Ryzen?
Amd cpus runs alot cooler and gpu drivers are miles ahead of intel. If he owned ryzen system he would knew that.
buying vega now,I don't know about that.how long until it goes legacy like the rest of gcn ? seems like it's the only option though. btw all those vega7 laptops you posted are unavailable,according to the page you posted.
Its gonna be replaced with rdna2 very soon and left behind but for now it is the only option and a good one compared to intel offerings.
how is it a good option if it's gonna be left behind soon. it's the only option,but not a good one imo. doesn't xss play minecraft ? you can get her this for 260eur https://geizhals.de/microsoft-xbox-series-s-512gb-weiss-a2378114.html or an oled switch https://geizhals.de/nintendo-switch-oled-schwarz-weiss-a2557669.html
She owns a Switch and I hate Xbox, but thanks. I found these: https://geizhals.de/?cmp=2588489&cmp=2580525&cmp=2670617&cmp=2528942 They seem to differ just by runtime on battery. I would take the cheapest I can get out of these. Or can someone tell me what differs on the hardware side so the otherwise same models have such a wide range on the battery side? 5.5 hours versus 8.25 hours with the same battery sounds like some GPS module or something like that. A comparable r5-5500u laptop would cost 50 to 100 bucks less, so I get 2 more cores and a better iGPU which means faster gameplay and a longer cycle until the device is too slow. Sadly all silver, besides listed as black. Anyway ....
This is inaccurate. https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Iris-Xe-vs-AMD-RX-Vega-8-Ryzen-iGPU/m1268515vsm441833 there are no available comparisons for Rembrandt yet, lets not say anything that could be proven false until the chips are out.
Oh well ... I must confess I did not read any XE reviews yet. Thanks for the knowledge. Anyway, if I filter to just show models with XE graphics, I just get 14 inch models. https://geizhals.de/?cat=nb&xf=17552_13+-+Intel+Iris+Xe&sort=p&hloc=at&hloc=de&v=e And I am no fanboy of any maker. My AMD preference is resulting out of my previous believe that AMD iGPUs are faster than Intel ones. Well, except XE ... I would take a comparable laptop with Intel CPU/iGPU instead. Is anything else from Intel conparable to Vega7/8 or is XE the first gen to archieve that?
Actually, i should also be careful here because theres 2 different Iris Xe's!, the Iris Xe and Iris Xe Max, one on the cpu and the other integrated on the motherboard, and i am honestly not sure which of them is in that vega 8 comparison. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Xe-MA...is-Xe-G7-80EUs_9956_10364_10395.247598.0.html
Thanks for the explanation. But I guess because of (non-)availability I stay at the Ryzen route for now. But I'll keep my eyes open ...
@Astyanax I searched again, seems somehow I missed a few. So I chose some models, those are the last 3 in this list: https://geizhals.de/?cmp=2588489&cm...p=2528942&cmp=2477540&cmp=2641004&cmp=2513592 The first one is the cheapest I could find at that config, but with 15 inches. The second one is the same as the first but black. The third is the cheapest 17 inch model. :O For 100 euros more I get a laptop with RTX3060 ... And I still dont know if that is the one iGPU from your comparision neither, to be bloody honest.
I finally went with this one: https://www.alternate.de/HP/17-cp0178ng-Notebook/html/product/1797393 17 inch fullhd display, Ryzen 7 with 8CU, 16gb ram, 512gb ssd.
