Thanks to its AI-powered chip, AMD now offers laptops that can run video games without much compromise, especially without a graphics card.
What if this is the end of graphics cards? AMD is hitting a big one, however. Launched in late July 2024, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is close to the top of the line in terms of performance, and it comes equipped with an integrated graphics component that could revolutionize the use case on an ultra-compact laptop.
Obviously, this chip can make it possible to run the latest commercially released games without the need for a heavy and bulky graphics card, especially for a laptop.
To test this, Tech&Co equipped itself with an Asus Zenbook S16 OLED, a 16-inch ultraportable that includes this popular chip, originally designed for AI. The computer weighs 1.5 kilograms and is 11 millimeters thick. By comparison, the Razer Blade 16, which includes a graphics card, weighs 2.4 kilograms and is 22 millimeters thick.
What interests us about this ultra-portable device is its ability to run games, which according to our tests turned out to be amazing. We finally touched on the possibility of combining the compact and versatile format with video games.
GTA V and Fortnite are very smooth.
To develop our tests, we tested the chip with several popular games with and without FSR, an AMD technology that allows maintaining visual quality while lowering the game resolution. This has several advantages, the most important of which is that it sometimes leads to a significant increase in in-game performance.
Simply put, FSR is only relevant to modern games, thus making them less demanding in terms of performance.
Methodologically, a game is considered “playable” when it combines high frames per second (IPS) and high-quality graphics: 30 FPS is considered “playable” without slowdown, and 60 FPS is ideal.
In our first tests, we focused first on games that do not support FSR. These are usually older but still popular games like Grand Theft Auto V, Fortnite Or even Fate 2.
In Rockstar's title, released in April 2015 on PC, seniority matters a lot. It runs very well at the base screen resolution (2.5K) and with “high” graphics (68IPS)
Fate 2 (Released in 2017) It's also very smooth (68fps), even if the game has benefited from visual improvements over the years. To achieve this performance, however, you'll have to lower the game's “resolution” directly, while keeping the graphics settings at “high”.
As we can see in the chart above, from a performance point of view, and in particular the FPS (on average), the results are particularly impressive, without compromising the graphics and without much compromise in resolution. The same goes for Honkai Star Rail.
Fortnite It also guarantees a very good frame rate (59 fps), even if it is difficult to reach a constant level of fps.
In recent matches, satisfactory results
Secondly, we moved to games with FSR. So we are talking about very modern and graphically impressive productions. So we tested Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Released 2022) Red Dead Redemption 2 (2019), Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) and cyberpunk 2077 (2020).
As we can see, in demanding games it is not possible to achieve the perfect smoothness of 60 FPS. However, all tested games run above 30 FPS, thus ensuring a nice smooth effect, while maintaining more than acceptable visual quality.
on cyberpunk 2077Thus, we can properly enjoy the wonderful lighting effects of the open world with pleasant smoothness, including during some confrontations. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles MoralesIt is the impression of freedom that New York City offers us, accessible through a canvas that we are happy to see. We can distinguish many details, even from a distance, and we see that fluidity is always present.
on Red Dead Redemption 2Even at 39 FPS on average, Rockstar's slower gameplay seems to be more fun than you might think. Concretely, most of the time, the game will maintain a solid fluidity and won't let you down in a penalty shootout.
to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3The game suffers from questionable optimization at times, but once you tweak the graphical parameters (particularly the textures, the displayed resolution, and the light and shadow effects), you can combine smoothness with visual quality.
finally, Baldur's Gate 3With its detailed world, it doesn't do AMD any favors. We have to make more compromises than the rest of our picks, but without spoiling the overall atmosphere of the title.
The result is frankly impressive. It’s clear that AMD’s chip and integrated graphics offer performance that’s not on par with the latest graphics cards, but we can only see progress in a few months. In 2023 alone, it seemed unthinkable to be able to play without a graphics card.
Finally, note that for the latest games, you should also remember to dig into the graphics settings to find options that fit what you want as a result (e.g., favoring visuals over smoothness, and vice versa).
Impressive slice
Could AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 be the end of real graphics? No, that’s not the point. However, it is a real gateway to the future, with miniaturization clearly proven.
By making some concessions in the field of graphics, you can enjoy most of the latest modern games, while still getting a high-quality portable device. For 2,000 euros, we must admit that this is a great achievement. AMD impresses and responds to a need that is ultimately much more present than one might imagine for anyone who does not have space for a large computer tower or for those who want to maintain mobility.
AMD is not the only chip manufacturer interested in this area. Apple, with its in-house chips (M1, M2, M3 or M4), has already shown the way by adapting The Last Assassin's CreedQualcomm and Snapdragon Suffice it to say that the coming months promise to be particularly interesting for video game enthusiasts and hardcore gamers alike.
“Certified gamer. Problem solver. Internet enthusiast. Twitter scholar. Infuriatingly humble alcohol geek. Tv guru.”
