Rumored Razer 14-Inch AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX Gaming Laptop May End Intel Exclusivity
When it comes to OEM system builders, AMD has been a bit like Rodney Dangerfield, in that it sometimes can't "get no respect," to quote the former comedian (RIP). The company's Zen architecture has been a game changer, though, especially its latest generation Zen 3 CPUs. They are so enticing, there is a rumor Razer will launch its first AMD-based gaming laptop.
Up to this point, Razer has exclusively sharpened its Blade laptops with Intel's silicon. Available in 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch variants, each current model sports an Intel Core processor, with Comet Lake, Ice Lake, and Tiger Lake CPU options. But what you won't find among any of Razer's laptop models is an AMD processor. Not yet, anyway.
According to @_rogame, a prominent leaker on Twitter, Razer is preparing to launch a new laptop line with AMD hardware inside. As the claim goes, this will run on AMD's Ryzen 5000 series, including a configuration built around the Ryzen 9 5900HX.
The Ryzen 9 5900H ranks as one of AMD's fastest mobile processors, behind only the Ryzen 9 5980X and Ryzen 9 5980HS. it is an 8-core/16-thread processor with a 3.3GHz base clock, 4.6GHz max boost clock, and 16MB of L3 cache. Just as importantly, it is based on AMD's latest and greatest Zen 3 CPU architecture.
It also wields onboard Radeon graphics, clocked at 2.1GHz, though Razer is rumored to be pairing it with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 mobile GPU. It is not clear how the GeForce RTX 3060 will be configured (NVIDIA gives its hardware partners a bit of flexibility with its mobile Ampere GPUs), but regardless, this is a potentially enticing laptop in the making.
Most other details remain a mystery, including RAM and storage options, and what other features might be offered on the upcoming gaming laptop. However, the leaker did say "this looks like a 14-inch device," which we anticipate being an IPS screen with a 1920x1080 resolution, perhaps with touch support.
All that said, pairing a near-flagship Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU with a lower-end GeForce RTX 3060 seems at first glance like a weird choice, though it's not a lazy GPU by any stretch. NVIDIA's Ampere architecture has proven itself to be a worthy upgrade to Turing, performing better than the model designations might suggest.
Pairing aside, kudos to Razer for expanding into AMD territory, if the rumor proves true. Now let's just cross our fingers that pricing ends up being reasonable.
