Intel or AMD? Its an age old question! Should you go with the 10th generation Intel Core-i5 processor or should you pick Ryzen 5 4500u for your next laptop?
So one of my favorite 2-in-1 convertible thin and light laptop is the
Lenovo Flex 5 also known as 14 inch
IdeaPad Flex 5. This laptop comes in both
Intel and
AMD configuration. Both these laptops
are in high demand, so please checkout the links at the bottom of the page to
find their current price and availability. In today's video I will pit Intel
and AMD version of Lenovo Flex 5 against each other in a knockout cage match.
By the end of this video you will know which CPU gives the best bang for
bucks. So without further ado, let's get started!
1 Build-Quality
Before we get into the differences between Intel and AMD versions of Lenovo Flex 5, let's talk about what they share in common. Both these laptops share the same chassis, which means they have identical build quality. The keyboard, the trackpad, the 1080p IPS display panel and the port selection is identical. They both come in Graphite Grey color and sport a clean minimalist look.
There are no gaudy flourishes or distractions except for a small silver
colored “Lenovo” logo on the top right corner. The exterior body is identical
sporting a grainy metallic finish which feels very grippy and secure while
holding the laptop. Both laptops share the same sturdy metallic hinge which
provides ample resistance when pressing the touchscreen with either your
fingers or Lenovo active pen. You can tap the screen and scroll pages with
your fingers without experiencing any screen wobbling.
I really
love Lenovo’s Active Pen. It offers great palm rejection, high accuracy and
low latency which makes it perfect for taking notes, making sketches and
diagrams. This is something both students and working professionals will
appreciate. I have already
reviewed
the Lenovo Active Pen in my previous
video which you can find below.
BTW, Lenovo includes an active stylus pen with AMD configuration of Flex 5 but unfortunately the intel configuration doesnt come with this pen, which sucks. Lenovo’s Active Pen is available for purchase as a separate accessory item
2 CPU
OK, now let's get into the
meat of this video. The Intel version of Lenovo Flex 5 is powered by Core
i5-1035G1 processor while AMD version is powered by Ryzen 5 4500U processor.
This Intel chip was released in the 3rd quarter of 2019 and it comes from the
Ice Lake family of CPUs. AMD chip on the other hand was released in the 1st
quarter of 2020, so it's relatively new. Here is a chart showing the key
differences between these CPUs. The biggest difference is in the core count.
Core-i5 is a quadcore CPU while Ryzen 5 is a hexacore CPU. So that means AMD
is offering 2 extra cores which is awesome. But unfortunately AMD has disabled
Hyperthreading because of thermal constraints. So you only get 6 execution
threads in Ryzen 5 as opposed to 8 threads in Intel. Intel cores are clocked
at 1 GHz but they can reach speeds up to 3.6 GHz if needed. Ryzen 5 cores on
the other hand are clocked at a higher 2.3 GHz and they can reach upto 4 GHz.
So how does all this translate to real world performance? Let's first take a
look at the Geekbench 5 Single-Core score. Both Intel and AMD are essentially
tied in this benchmark, scoring around 1080 points. So when it comes to
single-core raw horsepower, the 10th gen Intel core i5-1035G1 matches AMD
Ryzen 5 4500u.
But what about the overall performance when we
include all the cores and all the threads? Let's take a look at the Geekbench
5 Multi-Core score which measures performance of all available cores and
threads.This will be interesting because while AMD Ryzen 5 offers 2 extra
cores, Intel Core-i5 offers 2 extra threads, thanks to hyperthreading. In
Geekbench 5 Multi-Core benchmark, AMD scored 4097 points completely trouncing
Intel which managed to get only 2065 points. So when it comes to raw
performance, there is really a no contest. AMD absolutely demolishes Intel in
overall CPU performance. Historically intel chips have offered better thermal
efficiency resulting in longer battery life. But with Ryzen 5, AMD has caught
up with the battery life as well. Both Core i5-1035G1 and Ryzen 5 4500U
deliver the same battery life. Lenovo claims that both these laptops are rated
for about 10 hours of battery life, but in real world use, expect around 8
hours of battery life doing day to day tasks. Now in my experience I have
noticed that Ryzen does run little hotter than intel, especially during gaming
and other CPU intensive tasks. So I think Intel still has an edge when it
comes to thermals
3 GPU
OK, now let's talk about the integrated GPU
performance. Ryzen 5 4500U version of Lenovo Flex 5 is using Radeon 6
integrated Graphics while Core i5-1035G1 is running on Intel UHD gen 11
graphics. To measure the graphics performance of these laptops, let's take a
look at the FP32 Performance benchmark. This benchmark measures the computing
performance of GPUs in GFLOPS. AMD GPU comes ahead scoring 1152 points while
intel is slightly behind scoring a respectable 1075. The performance of both
these GPUs is fairly close which means Lenovo Flex 5 laptop powered by either
of these two chips will have no trouble playing 4k streaming videos, casual
gaming and editing pictures and videos. So if you are wondering about
fortinite, yes you will be able to play it at HD resolution and get at around
30 to 45 fps on both Intel and AMD configuration
4 System RAM & SSD
Your laptop's
performance does not rely solely on CPU and GPU. System RAM and on board
storage also play an important role. And surprisingly Lenovo is offering a far
better RAM and SSD configuration with AMD than with Intel. AMD configuration
has twice the amount of system RAM and doubles the SSD storage. So that's 16
GB RAM and 256 GB of PCIe NVMe SSD in AMD model, as opposed to 8 GB RAM and
128 GB SSD storage in Intel model. So that means the AMD version of Lenovo
Flex 5 not only comes with a faster CPU and GPU, it also offers double the RAM
and SSD storage making it a far better value for your money.
5 Bottomline
So here is the bottomline. I think the Ryzen 5 4500u model
of Lenovo Flex 5 is the best 14” thin and light 2-in-1 convertible laptop in
the market. It has class leading CPU performance which wipes the floor with
other laptops running on intel chips. The keyboard, the trackpad and the
overall build quality is excellent. I love using this laptop in tablet mode,
especially for taking notes with the included lenovo active pen. I think this
pen is a great accessory for students and working professionals, because
Lenovo Flex 5’s screen digitizer works really well with this active Pen. It’s
low latency coupled with great palm rejection results in a very natural
writing experience. Overall, if you are in the market for a 14” 2-in-1 laptop,
I would highly recommend Lenovo Flex 5. Links to quad-core Intel configuration
as well as the 6 & 8 core Ryzen configuration of this laptop can be found
in the video description below.
Purchase Links
👉 Buy Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14
👉 Buy recommended PCIe NVMe SSD upgrades
👉 Buy 1080p webcam
👉 Buy 3TB USB HDD
👉 Buy Active Stylus Pen
👉 Buy M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure Adapter
👉 Macrium reflect free for SSD cloning
Disclosure: Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases