Dell G5 15 SE (2020) review: best gaming laptop under $ 1,000

Dell’s G5 15 SE is in focus. It’s not the most attractive or fastest gaming laptop, but at $ 879.99, its AMD Ryzen processor and RX 5600M graphics chip make it a great tag team. Along with other fast components like fast RAM, an NVMe SSD, and a 144Hz refresh rate display, this Dell gaming laptop undermines and outperforms the competition in its price range.

The G5 doesn’t have a phenomenal battery life like other AMD laptops we’ve recently reviewed, but it’s a great mid-range desktop replacement that can play most modern games at its highest graphics settings without issue. Many gaming laptops can do that, but this one stands out only because it won’t cost you an outrageous amount of cash to get one.

The most powerful setup costs $ 1,199.99, which is the one I’ve been testing. If you spend that much, you’ll get the fast and efficient 7nm AMD Ryzen 7 4800H based on the Zen 2 architecture, along with the Radeon RX 5600M graphics chip. The 4800H is a 45W processor that rivals Intel’s Core i7-10875H with base clock and boost speeds, and also for having eight cores and 16 threads. In particular, AMD’s Ryzen 7 chip has found its way into cheaper gaming laptops like this one. The Core i7-10875H, at least so far, is reserved for much more expensive options.

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However, you don’t have to spend $ 1,200 to get a decent return. The Ryzen 5 CPU that comes standard on the G5 15 SE is sized for the Intel Core i7-10750H processor found in various gaming laptops that might actually cost you a bit more. You’ll get the biggest boost by upgrading to the Ryzen 7, though both are 45W chips. So whether it’s locked into a $ 900 budget or enough to get the updated model I’m using, both configurations outperform the Intel processors commonly found in their respective price ranges. That’s really the bottom line with this machine: AMD has Intel’s top mobile game processors cornered both in terms of value and performance.

To see how capable the processor is in my review unit, I disabled the inconspicuous RX 5600M graphics controller for fun to see if the Ryzen 7 4800H could handle Grand Theft Auto Vbenchmark graphics intensive. It seemed silly when I started, but the benchmark running at the lowest graphics setting at 1080p achieved about 60 frames per second relatively stable without any hands with a GPU. That was twice as fast compared to the statistics I got from a machine running solely on the Intel Core i7-10750H. This test shows that this processor tears and breaks. It also shows how having the 5600M graphics further increases performance.

I tried a lot of other games on this laptop to get an idea of ​​its graphics skills, including Grand Theft Auto online, Ori and the will of the Wisps, Elysium Disc, Rocket league, Controland Apex Legends. Each game recorded nearly 100 frames per second at automatically recommended settings (generally close to its highest available settings) at the screen’s native 1080p resolution, which is exactly what I want from a gaming laptop. Games running at more than 100 frames per second look especially good as this model I’m testing has a 144Hz refresh rate FreeSync display that shows graphics without rips or distortions.

(Note: The base model comes with a 60Hz display, though Dell told me it plans to raise the standard refresh rate in the base configuration from 60Hz to 120Hz later this summer once it runs out, and doesn’t expect the price up increase. The 144Hz option will continue to exist for high-end models, like the one I tested.)

Most games run with some graphics settings set to maximum without falling below, or at least too far below, at 60 frames per second, though mileage varies by title. GTA OnlineFor example, it averaged 55 frames per second with some of the more advanced shading and smoothing options turned on, but the game looks almost as good with those resource-intensive settings turned off. Subway Exodus, Another game that tests the hardware, also averaged 55 frames per second with settings set to high at the benchmark, and that was a bit more shaky in terms of performance.

The Radeon RX 5600M is a mid-range graphics chip that doesn’t work as well in most cases as Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2060, although it’s much better than the experience I had with the GTX 1650 built into the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 that I recently reviewed. On the G5, the performance of the RX 5600M is powered by AMD’s new SmartShift feature, which dynamically pushes power between the CPU and GPU depending on where it is most needed. It’s hard to know when this works in real time, although a Dell spokesperson told me that the feature is built in at the BIOS and driver level, and is always running. Without this tight integration, I’m not sure I’d recommend purchasing any laptop built with the RX 5600M. However, I cannot discuss the results here.

In addition to the game, performance in daily tasks is also exemplary for the price. The G5 15 SE doesn’t slow down with more than 30 open Microsoft Edge tabs, along with Spotify, Affinity Photo, and Slack. I also liked how fast you can export videos in Adobe Premiere Pro. It produced a five minute and 33 second 4K export in seven and a half minutes. That’s not a bad result, although I wouldn’t recommend this machine to someone who specializes in creative work. To his credit, he remained relatively calm throughout the export process, though it roasted to around 100 degrees Celsius while plugged in.

In addition to the powerful processor, my review unit has 16GB of DDR4 RAM with a 3,200MHz clock speed aided by fast NVMe M.2 storage (both configurable at the time of purchase or yourself if you’re comfortable opening it) . I didn’t experience a lot of general performance issues, but there was a persistent issue that I couldn’t escape from. Every 20 minutes or so, the computer freezes for about 10 seconds. Background operations continue, but the mouse pointer mysteriously disappears and my current app freezes. A Dell spokesperson told me that this issue is not widespread and could be the result of a recent Windows update that threw something out of control. But when I uninstalled as many recent updates as I could, the problem persisted.

With its gaming focus on productivity, unsurprisingly, the G5 doesn’t perform as well in the battery department as other recent machines with AMD. I averaged approximately three hours of battery life on the “Best Battery” energy profile with the screen attenuated to around 75 percent of its full 300 nit potential. That’s not a surprising number for a gaming laptop with a 51Wh battery and a 144Hz FreeSync display, but it’s definitely not great compared to the long-lasting performance of more expensive options like the Asus Zephyrus G14, another gaming laptop. with a Ryzen processor. The G5 15 SE came with McAfee LiveSafe installed, which I suspected was to blame for the rapid battery drain. Although, even without that, I averaged the same life. Dell says it is always looking for ways to optimize battery life, and is in constant communication with AMD about it. So it could get a little better in the future, but for now you will need to keep the large 240W rectangular power block close.

Performance aside, there is unfortunately a lot of room for improvement in some key areas of its design. In the photos, this laptop looks relatively thin, standing out with a shiny, iridescent case and its eye-catching angled fan jacks, though it’s a tired in-person look reminiscent of an older Alienware chassis. Having an all-plastic construction at this price isn’t a surprise, but it creaks when you move the screen, and it generally feels bulky to carry around, it doesn’t help at 5.5 pounds.

Its 15.6-inch, 1080p VA display looks sharp and has excellent viewing angles (Dell refers to it as WVA, or wide vertical alignment), though it’s surrounded by thick bezels. The unit I used for the review had slight bleeding at the bottom of the screen, although it is most noticeable when loading screens with dark backgrounds. There are side speakers located near the back of the keyboard, and surprisingly, they’re not great. Sometimes its location can lead to sound that has a broader presence than what is generally output from laptop speakers, but still better listening through headphones.

You can immediately plug in your own favorite keyboard and mouse on this machine, but the backlit chiclet keyboard here is useful and I don’t make many mistakes when typing on it. If you prefer clicky keys with a fair amount of travel, you won’t find that here. The trackpad, while compatible with Windows Precision drivers for intuitive scrolling and gestures, is too small. There’s a lot of unused space in the palm rest, so I’d love to see Dell do something with it.

The G5 15 SE ports are complete for the cost. This laptop has a power plug, an SD card reader, a 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI 2.0, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, Ethernet, and a USB port- C with DisplayPort for Compatible Monitors.

The Dell G5 15 SE is a winner if you’re trying to get the most power for the least amount of money. This isn’t the thinnest, most well-built laptop out there, and I look forward to seeing Dell refine its edge in future releases. But as it stands, I recommend opting for this over most other gaming laptops close to $ 1,000. Its fast components provide a frankly enjoyable gaming experience with minimal compromises, and it includes some high-end features such as a fast refresh rate display and a quick combination of RAM and NVMe M.2 SSD that keeps it fast on its feet for most tasks. At this price, Dell runs the program.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge