Do you really need the latest greatest computer hardware?

This article is written in the context of “share some fun facts about yourself”.

TL;DR I’m an upgrade geek.

One of the notions I’m playing around with is that idea that 90% of what we want to do with computers can be done with the most basic ones, which translates to lower cost. In other words, you don’t need the latest M3 Max creation from Apple or a Windows PC with an Intel Core 7 Ultra to meet your everyday computing needs. There will be specialized use cases that may require the latest and greatest, but even then, I question whether this is really the case.

This all started off last year when I found a $399 Windows laptop at Target. It was a Lenovo IdeaPad running a 12th generation Intel i5. At that time, Intel was already on its 13th generation (the Core 7 Ultra mentioned above is 14th generation). Incredibly (in this day and age of non-upgradable Apple hardware), the IdeaPad was very upgradable (as long as you have the right tools and delicate fingers). Pop in a memory module and/or a bigger/faster NVMe SSD drive and you bring the Intel Iris Xe GPU online and a bunch of other performance improvements. So, for ~$500, I ended up with a laptop with more memory and more disk storage than Apple’s cheapest MacBook at that time.

Since then, I have experimented with a $200 HP laptop (with an AMD Ryzen 3 that is 3 generations old, and a second IdeaPad (which I’m using right now to write this) with a 12th generation Intel i3. All of which were heavily discounted and also have had their memory upgraded to 16GB post-purchase.

Now, here’s where we talk about the 90%.

The 90% refers to the tasks that most people perform on their computers - browsing the internet, checking emails, watching videos, or using office applications. These activities don't require the most advanced tech. In fact, my upgraded IdeaPad handles them with ease.

AI? No problemo! The above paragraph was added by Notion.so ’s AI. AI-tools, like almost everything you consume on your computer today, are delivered as-a-service, generally through your web browser: you don’t need a local NPU (neural processing unit).

What about games?

This is where we talk about where the 90% line should be drawn. Do these slightly older, but still sold-as-new computers, have the hardware performance to run the other 10% of applications that you might need?

In terms of gaming, can I play the latest AAA first-person-shooter on my i3-powered IdeaPad? The answer is “probably not”, because it doesn’t have the graphics processing power to handle the performance requirements. But if you are fine with running the games at a lower resolution with lower framerates, you can very likely get away with still having fun with slightly older AAA games.

Forza Horizon 4 is a AAA game released in 2018. It runs great with the UHD graphics on the i3-powered IdeaPad at a 720p resolution with the lowest graphics settings. This can’t even be said for a few new-for-2024 laptops that I tested recently, that were equipped with the latest Intel Core Ultra 7 + ARC GPU, and where the game simply crashed after less than 5 minutes of gameplay! Asus and Acer, I’m looking at you!

If you are a creator and work with video, you may need more powerful hardware (with a GPU thrown in there somewhere). It doesn’t mean that Adobe Premiere Pro won’t work at all, it may mean that you are limited to lighter tasks or that certain tasks may take more time.

What does this all mean?

I own both a maxed out M3 MacBook and an Nvidia 4050 creator laptop (no prizes for guessing that it’s a Lenovo). The only things I do with them that I can’t do on the IdeaPad or the HP are (respectively) (a) run Logic Pro to power my synths because Logic Pro is a Mac-only application, (b) play Doom Eternal. The latter is only because of the lack of trying…

It looks like for me, the line is probably closer to 99%: I can do 99% of everything that I want to do with a computer using older, cheaper hardware. Your own mileage may vary.

TODO: download and install Doom Eternal on the IdeaPad…