Legion 7a: Lenovo releases 16-inch gaming laptop with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 and 12 GB VRAM

[Redaktion]

Lenovo has updated one of its recent 16-inch gaming laptops. Arriving only a few months after its initial release, the new Legion 7a can now be configured with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, which was missing at launch. Lenovo has opted for Nvidia's newer variant, which brings 12 GB VRAM to the table too.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Legion-7a-Lenovo-releases-16-inch-gaming-laptop-with-Nvidia-GeForce-RTX-5070-and-12-GB-VRAM.1339833.0.html

[Just give us a Ryzen 7840]

Nvidia's new laptop GPU will can only be paired with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, though.

This is a bit disappointing since it makes it more expensive than it needs to be.

I see a pattern: On notebookchat.com/index.php?topic=314711.0 it's a overkill 9955HX (16C / 32T). And on this one it's still a rather expensive HX 470. All that would be needed is a Ryzen 7840 (later renamed to Ryzen 8840 and later renamed to Ryzen 250: notebookcheck.net/AMD-Ryzen-7-250-Processor-Benchmarks-and-Specs.945901.0.html). 8 Zen4 cores for gaming are enough (Zen5 didn't improve much, it only got much worse price-to-performance).

If it doesn't have to be a gaming laptop: Getting a 12 GB VRAM desktop PC is much cheaper and the GPU would be upgradable too.

[Just give us a Ryzen 7840]

And if there are no more Zen4 left, and since Ryzen AI 400 is literally a rename of Ryzen AI 300, how about a Ryzen AI 350?

[Just give us a Ryzen 7840]

By contrast, Lenovo restricts the Ryzen AI 7 450 to the lesser GeForce RTX 5060.

Ok, so a more affordable Ryzen 450 is only available with a 8 GB VRAM RTX 5060..bummer. Even a RTX 5060 would profit from 12 GB VRAM tho.

[Just give us a Ryzen 7840]

Pricing is set at $3,374.99, which is $575 more than the MSRP of a GeForce RTX 5060-powered equivalent. A current sale for the latter means that new GeForce RTX 5070 options cost $950 more than GeForce RTX 5060 models.

And of course the prices are completely ridiculous. My recommendation to get a desktop PC and saying "much cheaper" was an understatement.

[Just give us a Ryzen 7840]

Oh, and don't forget:
5060 Laptop/Mobile = 5050 desktop
5070 Laptop/Mobile = 5060 desktop
5080 Laptop/Mobile = 5070 desktop
even if it's the same GB206 chip, because they differ in -subname: GB206-250 vs GB206-300; or even worse: GB203-200-A1 vs GB203-300-A1 vs GB203-400-A1. Maybe a trick to hide or reuse bad binned chips.

See Consumer table: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwell_(microarchitecture)#Blackwell_dies)