Which 50 series Gaming laptop?

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
5,160
Location
Pembrokeshire
So it looks like the 50 series gaming laptops will be available next week which I have been waiting for.

What is the best one to go for around £3500 in terms of CPU, Brand etc.

I'm tempted to go for one with an OLED display and I want at least 1440p.

I'm considering Razer as my Asus latest less than 2 years but the Asus laptops still look decent.
 
How does 5090 laptop GPU compare to desktop this time.

Well its basically the 5080 desktop GPU with a severe power limit, slightly less cores and 24GB instead of 16GB RAM (same 256bit memory bus).

Fresh out of the gate reviews suggest its a little quicker than the 4090m, but very laptop spec dependent (i.e. a lower power limit 5090 will lose to a higher power limit 4090).

Other lower tier models look to be cut from the same cloth. A little bit quicker than the previous gen (which isn't great news for the xx70 tier) but otherwise similar with the main benefits being newer CPU/chassis options.
 
Be watching this a bit. On a max tier 4090M but... I kiiiiiinda fancy some Ryzen X3d cpu love. Maybe late in the year once dust settles a bit.
 
I would love to upgrade my Asus Zephyrus g14 to the 5080 variant but I am getting the feeling it will be slower than my 4090 machine which is a bit disappointing after 2 years
 
Been testing out a Vector 16HX with the Ultra 7 255HX and RTX 5070Ti (140w variant). Performance from what I have seen so far is in line with previous gen ~175w 4080M laptops (at 1440/1600p at least).

That said the Vector is beyond loud due to the GPU fan seemingly bugging out and running at the full 6000rpm almost at random. Temps are well in check in the low to mid 70's so it isn't temp triggered. MSI Centre Fan control makes no difference and neither does turning off temp triggers in the bios. Sitting it on a decent laptop cooler (in this case one with dual 120mm Corsair fans blowing cool air over the heatpipes) makes no difference leading more into the conclusion that its bugged. Maybe its just my unit or its just wat they are like. My experience with other MSI laptops (Crosshair 16HX (14700HX/4060) and Stealth 14 AI (155H / 4050) didn't result in the same fan behavior unless the Full speed Cooler Boost option was manually selected. Very odd and is making me ponder on returning it right now.

If it wasn't for what seems like a bug it is an excellent laptop, especially for the price and specs. Great screen, Dual TB5 ports, upgradable RAM / Dual NVME and despite being plastic (bar the lid) it feels extremely well build with little to no deck flex.

From the reviews I have seen so far (mainly 5090) the uplifts are in the ~10% range depending on the Power limits and CPU / RAM spec. The 5070Ti does actually look to be a bit of a "sweet spot" in the 5000 series mobile line up. Bridges the gap between the lacklustre 5070 (5060Ti 8GB basically) and decent but power constrained 5080/5090 (whilst being closer to the latter). Only real downside is 12GB VRAM (192bit bus). Of course it should be called the 5070 and the current 5070 should be the 5060 but that's a whole other argument.
 
Looking at the prices and my requirements, the 5090 is over £4000 so thinking of this one :


Should that run most games at a reasonable FPS etc? not had a Razer laptop before but trying to avoid Asus based on my last laptop.

What happened to your last laptop as I was thinking of getting the 18 scar 5090. I do love the Razer but the warranty support really puts me off. And you can’t extend the warranty past a year in the eu.

It says on the the razer website:

RazerCare for EU locations are currently unavailable​

Updated: 11-Feb-2025 | Answer ID: 14275
RazerCare for EU locations are currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience.
 
What happened to your last laptop as I was thinking of getting the 18 scar 5090. I do love the Razer but the warranty support really puts me off. And you can’t extend the warranty past a year in the eu.

It says on the the razer website:

RazerCare for EU locations are currently unavailable​

Updated: 11-Feb-2025 | Answer ID: 14275
RazerCare for EU locations are currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The monitor died on it in under 2 years having light use.
 
The Razer will perform very much like previous Razer laptops with the 4080 Tier GPU. From memory they don't run Max TGP variants of any of the GPU's thus end up somewhat middle of the pack (in the game GPU tier). 5090 model will likely be completely pointless for purely gaming as it will be heavily power limited (The 5080 and 5090 already seem power limited at max TGP already). This was generally the case with the 40xx models and nothing has really changed efficiency wise in the 50xx models.

Ideally unless you specifically want the thinner design of the Razer models (same for things like the Asus Zephyrus as well), I would try and find a model with the X3D chips from AMD (9955HX3D IIRC).

Following on from my post above the MSI has been returned. Could not get the GPU fan to not run above 6000 fan after around 5 mins of gameplay with the TGP @ anything over 120w. Ignoring noise levels though and the 5070Ti was very impressive. Performance is very much in line with the previous max TGP 4080M and likely only a few % shy of the 5080M. It should be noted that this is more down to the 5080 being power limited (well voltage limited) at Max TGP rather than it being "bad in anyway.

Only issue seems to be price for most of the models available.

I recall paying £1900 for a max TGP 3080 16GB specced Legion 7 whereas the equivalent now (with at least a 5080) is waaaaaaay more than that (like £1500+ more.... w.t.a.f?!).
 
Last edited:
That wouldn’t put me off to be fair. Plus you can easily get an extended warranty with Asus unlike Razer.

OK, I will look into that but want to order ASAP as will want it for my travels over the coming months.

Also one other thing I didn't like with the previous strix was the screen, it was fine for gaming as colour accuracy didn't matter but was terrible for anything else even when calibrated the colours did not feel acurate.
This time around I was hoping to get a better display and the OLED on the Razer did look good. Mainly for times that I don't want to carry my MacBook Pro with me too.

Edit: Just been looking at the new Strix and it appears to have a better screen so this is now an option if that's the case
 
Last edited:
The Razer will perform very much like previous Razer laptops with the 4080 Tier GPU. From memory they don't run Max TGP variants of any of the GPU's thus end up somewhat middle of the pack (in the game GPU tier). 5090 model will likely be completely pointless for purely gaming as it will be heavily power limited (The 5080 and 5090 already seem power limited at max TGP already). This was generally the case with the 40xx models and nothing has really changed efficiency wise in the 50xx models.

Ideally unless you specifically want the thinner design of the Razer models (same for things like the Asus Zephyrus as well), I would try and find a model with the X3D chips from AMD (9955HX3D IIRC).

Following on from my post above the MSI has been returned. Could not get the GPU fan to not run above 6000 fan after around 5 mins of gameplay with the TGP @ anything over 120w. Ignoring noise levels though and the 5070Ti was very impressive. Performance is very much in line with the previous max TGP 4080M and likely only a few % shy of the 5080M. It should be noted that this is more down to the 5080 being power limited (well voltage limited) at Max TGP rather than it being "bad in anyway.

Only issue seems to be price for most of the models available.

I recall paying £1900 for a max TGP 3080 16GB specced Legion 7 whereas the equivalent now (with at least a 5080) is waaaaaaay more than that (like £1500+ more.... w.t.a.f?!).

Having a quick Look around and your pretty limited with choices with the 9955HX3D. I’d never consider a MSI as that’s dead on arrival with no Gysync. Only logical choise for me is:

XMG NEO 16 (A25)

The One
› max. 16" Mini LED | 2560×1600 px | 1000 nits | 300 Hz
› max. AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D | up to 5.4 GHz
› max. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | DLSS 4
› max. 96 GB DDR5 RAM | 5600 MHz

which has caught my eye for sometime 9955HX3D and 5090 in a nice metal chassis and the bonus of adding the external water cooling which is pretty cool. Only thing is kinda want a 18” for a more immersive gaming experience and don’t need much portability. Really need to make a 18” Neo.
 
Last edited:
Yeah I hope we aren't seeing AMD once again having the best mobile gaming CPU and not getting any material design wins. Was the last in the last generation with the 7945HX3D (might not have that 100% correct in terms of numbering). From memory if you wanted it and a 4090 you had like 1 or 2 options.
 
Back
Top Bottom