Budget Gaming Laptop - Performance & Value

[bjcheung77]

Hey y'all.  AMD came out with a few Ryzen CPU offerings that are pretty budget friendly yet perform very well.
I'm interested in upgrading my collection of laptops (and donating the old PC/laptops that I replace them with).

I'm interested in the ASUS TUF Gaming A15, I've viewed some Youtube video's of this AMD Ryzen 4800H CPU.
The performance for the price is pretty much the sweet spot I am looking at or looking out for...

I'm also into the Lenovo Ideapad 5 it uses a slightly lower end CPU Ryzen 5 4500U that still packs a great punch.
For the brand/quality perspective, they're about the same, I really love Lenovo laptop quality and feel...

Which one would you use?  My cousin has the MSI Gaming laptop he purchased earlier in the year, from looking
at the reviews, both of these should trump the MSI Gaming laptop that will cost almost twice as much as these two!

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

I'm late here, but what sort of gaming would you be aiming for? The 1650/1660ti could be overkill depending on your goals.

[MrBossmanJr]

You trying to hop on that warzone?

[jsd]

For gaming, I never need anything more powerful than what can run Zelda: A Link to the Past, when video games peaked. All downhill since then.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

For gaming, I never need anything more powerful than what can run Zelda: A Link to the Past, when video games peaked. All downhill since then.

I feel you. I built a PC and still found myself playing things like Chrono Trigger. Do you enjoy ALttP: Randomizer? The game design really lends itself to being randomized, like Ocarina of Time.

FYI to the original poster, I even had a 1.3kg ultraportable with an entry-level MX250 GPU running GTAV at 1080p med-high at ~60fps. Just going to depend on what sort of gaming experience you're looking for.

[ARhead]

I own the model: ASUS TUF FX505DT-UB52

I'm not really a fan of laptops at all. The reason that I bought it was that the Microsoft Store was dumping them for a ridiculous price, and I mean ridiculous. I bought it mid-July last year and it cost me $529 CAD which at the exchange rate of the time would have been right about $400 USD. So maybe if you aren't in a hurry you can snag one really cheap if you keep your eye out.
For best bang for your buck gaming, I think one is best to buy a used desktop that supports a dedicated graphics card, buy a new GPU and hard drive you are good to go. I don't think CPU's really matter too much at all for gaming. Or just build a new desktop. I built the one I'm typing on 10 years ago and it's still great. As for the TUF it works fine and plays new games, but I bet it will break within a few years and that will be that. Desktops are much more fixable. E-waste makes me sick.

[rachel83az]

I bought a decent new-ish gaming laptop for something like $300 or $400 at the local pawn shop. I was actually planning on getting a different computer but they happened to have a gaming laptop when I went in that day. It runs all but the bleeding edge of games on high or ultra settings and was only a couple of months old when I got it. I forget what it is exactly (haven't got it here with me), but I think it's an ACER Nitro 5. If you're set on a laptop on a budget, definitely check out your local pawn shop(s).

[EvilSandman]

Just my 2 cents, i've had much better luck with MSI than ASUS lately. Also I have a 4 year old MSI Apache GE72 laptop that still rocks it. I travel with it and its beat up but still performs very well. no issues.