An Honest Review: Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 (RTX 2050)

Today, I'm revisiting the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 (AMD) a year after its release in 2021. I purchased this new gaming laptop from the AMD-powered IdeaPad Gaming series on January 7, 2024. It's one of the best budget gaming laptops available, priced at only IDR 9,999,000 (equivalent to $699), making it more affordable than many others. I unboxed the laptop and powered it on to the boot screen logo for the first time. I went to benchmark of laptop will go fast or not? Let's find out. Let's begin with my standard disclaimer: I am neither a Lenovo employee nor a professional reviewer. I will include some benchmark tests for those particularly interested in this AMD CPU. Apart from that, you'll receive some initial thoughts from a fellow computer user. My work in professional audio involves writing and producing various projects. I rely on a computer that can withstand my intense typing (a habit developed from using an Underwood manual typewriter) and can edit and process audio and video immediately when needed. While I'm not an avid gamer, I'm willing to try one out if requested. I welcome any questions or specific tests you'd like me to conduct and will update this review with the results. Now, let's proceed with the unboxing.

    Laptop designs typically feature PC-ABS (Polycarbonate-Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) for both the top and bottom parts, with polycarbonate being the material of choice for its remarkable design qualities. Both the top and bottom sections are made of plastic.

    The specifications and ports of the IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 (AMD) are detailed on psref.lenovo.com, where documentation typically includes such information.

TECHINICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Processor

AMD Ryzen™ 5 5500H (4C / 8T, 3.3 / 4.2GHz, 2MB L2 / 8MB L3)

Graphics NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2050 4GB GDDR6 Chipset AMD SoC Platform Memory 1x 8GB SO-DIMM DDR4-3200 Memory Slots Two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, dual-channel capable Max Memory Up to 16GB DDR4-3200 offering Storage 512GB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe® 4.0x4 NVMe® Storage Support Non-RTX 3060 models: up to two drives, 2x M.2 SSD or 1x 2.5" HDD + 1x M.2 SSD • 2.5" HDD up to 1TB • M.2 2242 SSD up to 512GB • M.2 2280 SSD up to 1TB Storage Slot Non-RTX 3060 models: one 2.5" drive slot + two M.2 slots • One 2.5" SATA HDD slot • One M.2 2242 PCIe® 3.0 x4 slot • One M.2 2280 PCIe® 3.0 x2 slot HDD slot and M.2 2280 slot are used exclusively

Camera HD 720p with Privacy Shutter Microphone 2x, Array Battery Integrated Li-Polymer 45Wh battery, supports Rapid Charge Pro (charge up to 50% in 30min)

Display 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS 300nits Anti-glare, 45% NTSC, 144Hz

PORTS AND CONNECTIVITY

1. USB 3.2 Gen 1	6. HDMI® 2.0
2. USB-C® 3.2 Gen 1 (support data transfer only)	7. Power connector
3. USB 3.2 Gen 1
4. Headphone / microphone combo jack (3.5mm)
5. Ethernet (RJ-45)

    Right out of the box, I conducted a benchmark test on the IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 (AMD), which displays the benchmark image here:

Novabench

CrystalDiskMark

LatencyMon

    Overall, the test-based benchmark results indicate superior performance compared to other business and consumer laptops. The Novabench ratings are as follows: CPU scored 384, GPU scored 348, RAM scored 260, and Disk scored 37. The CrystalDiskMark results demonstrate that the disk performance is exceptionally high. LatencyMon has shown higher readings than other audio checkers I've tested.

    Alright, let's delve into the battery details. I've opened Lenovo Vantage, which displays the full charge capacity from four months ago and compares it to today's capacity.

    For the first runtime test I tried to give the IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 quite a lot to do. The idea was to mimic a normal user’s typical heavy-on-the-battery session. Your mileage may vary. So, I tested the battery life was up to 5-6 battery life on real-time.

    So, in my conclusion, the rating of Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 (AMD) review is 86% good. Pros and cons are listed:

Pros:

• Faster charging battery with Rapid Charge Pro
• More powerful of the iGPU and discrete GPUs
• More upgradeability and repairability

Cons:

• Lack of Thunderbolt 4 and charging ports on USB-C
• Shorter battery runtimes
• Poor screen colors

    As computers get thinner, it becomes more difficult to dissipate heat. Some precautions may be in order, here. It appears the fan in this computer exhausts downward. While on a lap, that's not an issue, but sitting on a hard surface, the 3-4mm rubber feet give the bare minimum for clearance. Plugged in, the charging circuitry generates more heat. I've always and will continue to recommend cooling pads for any laptop used on a desk for extended periods of time, especially if you're in the habit of just shutting the lid and putting the laptop to sleep for a while. I do not recommend putting the laptop to sleep for extended periods of time. Use hibernate or shut it off, instead. In my experience, the longer a computer sleeps, the more likely it won't wake up properly or overheat in the process. Sleep is good for changing meeting rooms or planes. Anything longer than that, use hibernate. 

Another heat dissipation tip: As I write this, I have the IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 downloading a movie from my NAS. It's set to never sleep when plugged in, but the display does turn off after 3 minutes. The computer's getting warm doing this. The only nearby spot to set the computer is a cloth-covered table which will block the bottom vent. Instead, I've opened the lid about six inches and placed the computer on the table in a sort of reverse tent mode. Maybe it's overkill, but having cooked a few computers in my time, I feel it's better safe than sorry.