Lenovo has simply up to date its current-gen Legion 7a 16-inch gaming laptop computer with a brand new GPU config: the 12GB model of the RTX 5070 cell. Previously, the laptop computer 5070 was restricted to only 8GB of VRAM, however Nvidia lately overhauled it, splitting the 5070 SKU into two distinct variants. Lenovo is among the first distributors to function the 12GB 5070 in a retail system, but it surely would not come low cost — this new Legion 7a is listed for a whopping $3,375 on Best Buy proper now.
Now, that RTX 5060 variant was almost $600 cheaper than this new 5070-equipped model, but it’s actually expanded to a $1,000 delta right now because the 5060 SKU is on sale at the moment. When Nvidia first announced RTX 50-series laptops, it said RTX 5070 devices would start at $1,299; even if you consider the upgraded VRAM, you’re paying just about double of what was initially promised to you.
In all seriousness, the Legion 7a is a premium gaming laptop with all the bells and whistles so it naturally commands a higher price, AI boom or not. The RTX 5070 in here is also rated at a 115W TGP instead of the 100W baseline Nvidia has set for the GPU. Regardless, you can still find cheaper laptops kitted with the new 12GB RTX 5070, such as Lenovo’s own Legion 7i with a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor.
The further 4GB of VRAM in these units, gained by swapping from 2GB GDDR7 modules to 3GB ones, ought to assist enhance efficiency in trendy titles and AI workloads, particularly the place ray tracing is concerned. Customers have already complained about Nvidia’s insistence on packing 8GB video reminiscence swimming pools with numerous GPUs for years, and at this level, in case you’re shopping for a brand new GPU (or laptop computer) with that spec, you are killing any probabilities of future-proofing.
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