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The XMG Apex 15 Max is one of the few laptops with support for desktop processors. Earlier this year XMG announced that the system could be configured with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X desktop processor configured to run at 88 watts.
Now the company has added support for AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor, which AMD called the “world’s fastest gaming processor” when it launched earlier this year.
That’s because, among other things, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is one of the first chips to feature AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology, which the chip maker says brings up to 15% better performance through improved interconnect density and efficiency.
XMG says support for the processor comes courtesy of a new BIOS update for the Apex 15 Max (E22 laptop). There’s no need for a new motherboard, as the laptop already has a B550 mainboard with a desktop AM4 socket.
Theoretically you might be able to get better performance with a Ryzen 9 5950X chip, and XMG will sell you one if you really want it. But the company says that processor “does not receive an official recommendation” because performance may vary depending on the quality of the individual processor you receive.
The company says that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor, meanwhile, offers higher gaming performance than the Ryzen 9 5900X or Ryzen 7 5700X in at least for some titles. According to XMG’s own benchmarks though, other processors may offer better non-gaming performance.
| Ryzen 7 5700X | Ryzen 7 5800X3D | Ryzen 9 5900X | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CineBench R20 Single | 584 | 556 | 583 |
| CineBench R20 Multi | 4757 | 4623 | 6350 |
| CineBench R23 Multi | 12061 | 11647 | 15697 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Preset: High) | 117 | 152 | 133 |
XMG’s 15.6 inch laptop with support for desktop processors is available from Bestware for €1,379 and up, although the starting price is for a modal with a Ryzen 5 5600X processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics, 16GB of RAM and a 500GB SSD. You’ll have to pay substantially more to upgrade the processor or other specs.
