36 PCWorld MARCH 2021REVIEWS APPLE M1 VS. RYZEN^5000
results from respected workstation builder
Puget Systems (go.pcworld.com/pstm), to
see just where the CPUs and laptops land up
in that comparison.
For our previous comparisons we featured
these laptops:- MSI’s Prestige 14 Evo (go.pcworld.
com/prs4): 4-core, 11th-gen Core i7-1185G7
with Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of LPDDR4X/4267
memory, 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, 14-inch
FHD screen. It weighs 2.7 pounds. - MSI’s older Prestige 14 (go.pcworld.
com/oldr): 6-core, 10th-gen Core i7-10710U,
GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics, 16GB of
LPDDR3/2133 memory, 1TB PCIe 3.0 SSD,
14-inch 4K screen. It weighs 2.8 pounds. - Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 (go.pcworld.
com/lsl7): 8-core Ryzen 4800U with Radeon
graphics, 16GB of LPDDR4X/4267 memory,
512GB PCIe 3.0 SSD, 14-inch FHD screen,
lap weight of 3.1 pounds. - The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (go.
pcworld.com/zph4): 8-core Ryzen 9
4800HS, GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q
graphics, 16GB of DDR4/3200 memory, 1TB
PCIe 3.0 SSD, 14-inch FHD screen, and a
weight of 3.6 pounds.
In addition to those laptops, we also have: - Acer Predator Triton 500: 6-core Core
i7-10750H, GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q,
32GB of DDR4/2933, 1TB SSD, 15.6-inch
FHD 300Hz screen. The laptop weighs 4.8
pounds. (We reviewed a very similar Acer
Predator Triton 500 last year [go.pcworld.
com/trev].)- Gigabyte Aorus 17: 8-core Core
i7-108750H, GeForce RTX 3080 with 105-watt
TGP GPU, 32GB of DDR4/2933 RAM, 1TB
SSD, 17.3-inch FHD 300Hz screen. It weighs 6
pounds. (Note: This laptop is mistitled
“Gigabyte Aero 17” in the performance charts.
PCWorld regrets the errors.)
Our last entry to list is the Ryzen 5000–
packing laptop of the hour: - Asus ROG Flow X13 (go.pcworld.
com/fl13): 8-core Ryzen 9 5980HS, GeForce
GTX 1650 Max-Q, 32GB of LPDDR4X RAM,
1TB SSD. It features a 14-inch, 16:10 aspect-
ratio touch panel with a 4K HDR+ screen and
weighs 2.9 pounds.
The Flow X13 does offer one thing the
MacBook Pro doesn’t: external GPU support.
In fact, it can’t be purchased without the
custom-designed GeForce RTX 3080-based
XG Mobile that’s connected using a
proprietary x8 PCIe connection. We didn’t
have access to an XG Mobile for our review,
as it was stuck in customs.
We understand the sample set is diverse.
We don’t really think anyone would put the
five-pound Acer Predator Triton 500 in the
same class as any of the three-pound laptops.
The same goes for the even heavier (and
more powerful) Gigabyte Aorus 17. We did
want to include the results for reference, as
some may wonder what you get if you’re
willing to carry the extra pounds.
One final word before we get too far