Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 Packs a Punch

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In a recent episode of Windows Weekly, hosts Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell dove into an unexpected topic: the surprising gaming capabilities of budget AMD laptops. The discussion centered around Paul Thurrott's experience with a Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1, which has dramatically shifted his perspective on what affordable laptops can do.

Paul, traditionally a console gamer, was amazed at the performance of this $600 machine. Equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor and Radeon 780 graphics, the IdeaPad defied expectations by running modern games smoothly at 1920x1200 resolution.

Key highlights from Paul's experience:

• The laptop ran Call of Duty at native resolution and 60 fps
• Doom (2016) ran at ultra settings with consistent 60 fps performance
• Overall gaming performance was described as "incredible" for the price point

Richard Campbell provided context, explaining that AMD's acquisition of Radeon has led to significant improvements in integrated graphics performance. He noted that while these may not match top-tier NVIDIA GPUs, they offer legitimate gaming capabilities at a fraction of the cost.

The hosts debated whether the Radeon 780 graphics should be considered "integrated" or "dedicated." They concluded that it likely uses shared memory, similar to Apple Silicon, which can offer performance benefits despite not being a separate GPU.

Leo Laporte, surprised by Paul's enthusiasm, joked that Richard might be turning Paul into a "PC Master Race" convert. Paul clarified that while gaming isn't his primary focus, the versatility of having strong gaming performance in an everyday laptop is appealing.

The conversation touched on broader industry trends, including the improving performance of budget laptops, the rising costs of game development for high-end consoles, and the historical parallels to early PC gaming, when hardware capabilities outpaced developers' budgets

This discussion highlights a potential shift in the gaming landscape, where affordable, versatile devices might become increasingly attractive to casual gamers and multi-purpose users alike.

Want to hear the full conversation and more insights from the Windows Weekly team? Listen to the complete episode for in-depth analysis of the latest in Windows, gaming, and PC hardware.