AMD released the Radeon RX 7900M graphics chip last month, exclusively for laptops, and early testing shows that it holds the slightest of leads on performance over Nvidia’s RTX 4080 laptop alternative. The battle between Team Red and Team Green is always evolving, but the portable gaming battlefield is where the intensity is really heating up.
While the best gaming laptops have to bring more than just a powerful graphics chip to the table, AMD has ensured that the quality of its latest GPU can’t be questioned.
Testing done by GizmoSlipTech paired AMD’s most powerful laptop GPU with a Ryzen 9 7945HX in the new Alienware M18 laptop, which has a 1920 x 1200 resolution and 480Hz display.
On 3DMark TimeSpy, the Radeon RX 7900M clocked an impressive graphics score of 19,743, which Gizmo points out beats the typical performance scale for the Nvidia RTX 4080 laptop GPUs, which range from 18-19,000 points.
While TimeSpy is a great tool for base testing, it will be interesting to see how real game performance holds up in direct comparisons over the coming months.
AMD’s own pre-release benchmarks indicated that in 1440p max settings tests, the Radeon RX 7900M is, on average, 7% faster than the RTX 4080. Despite this, on the same test results, AMD notes that game performance with ray tracing enabled still falls massively in favor of Team Green.
It’s worth noting that the configuration of the Alienware M18 used for testing retails at $2,799. This is cheaper than the Intel Core i9 13900HX, Nvidia RTX 4080 model which is $2,999. Given that the CPU choices are very similar in power, it seems like the AMD model is far better value for money, especially when it costs $200 less.
On the hunt for your next gaming laptop but not sure where the start, then check out our list of the best Razer gaming laptops or the best HP gaming laptops for inspiration. With Black Friday gaming laptop deals right around the corner, there’s never been a better time to search the market for your next portable powerhouse.