The performance gap between the new and old laptop is minimal.
The performance gap between the new and old laptop is minimal.
I recently purchased a new Legion 5i Pro laptop for editing purposes, yet despite the significant price increase, the performance gap compared to my previous Dell Latitude E7450 remains minimal. For routine activities such as browsing the internet and watching videos, there’s no apparent difference. Even when working with DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere Pro to render and edit 1080p or 4K videos, the time difference is only a few seconds.
Starting up, copying files, compressing data, browsing, or watching videos shows almost identical performance. I’m wondering why this is the case and if others have noticed similar results.
Here are the specifications of my new laptop:
- Legion 5i Pro
- 12th Gen i9-12900H processor
- RTX 3070 Ti with 8GB GDDR6 graphics card
- 32GB DDR5 RAM at 4800MHz
- 2TB SSD storage
- Windows 11 operating system
And the details for my old laptop:
- Dell Latitude E7450
- 5th Gen i7-5600U processor
- Nvidia GeForce 840m
- 16GB DDR3L RAM at 1600MHz
- 512GB SSD storage
- Windows 10 Pro
Any feedback would be helpful!
verify if any software from the maker is present that might be hindering your device's performance.
The web has been made easy for browsing, allowing even basic smartphones to handle it well. Plus, the internet is probably the slowest part of your setup, meaning your computer often has to wait for it. When watching videos online, streaming sites usually only download a short distance before you start, and if you're scrolling, the internet remains slow while your computer processes it. For videos played locally, if your device can't handle high-quality 1080p at 60 frames per second, something seems very off.
Three key issues might be slowing you down.
#1. Power settings:
The system could be running in a low-power mode instead of the high-performance setting, which often happens with laptops when they're not connected to a power source and are using battery.
#2. Pre-installed software:
Most built-in systems come with a lot of unnecessary features and background processes that consume resources. You can clean them up or perform a fresh install to remove the excess, and telemetry data can be managed using scripts available from developers like Chris Titus.
#3. Heat management:
It might also be due to the laptop overheating because of too much heat. Keep it on a flat surface so the feet can lift it slightly for better airflow, avoid placing it on any fabric, and try to keep it in a well-ventilated area, especially if the room is warm.
For the tasks you mention...
"Starting up, handling big files, compressing, surfing or streaming videos" would not stress your graphics card, processor, or memory. I’d wager a ten-year-old machine would run almost the same as today’s setup. The main slowdown here would likely come from your Ethernet connection. Even an older laptop with a spinning drive is probably using SATA III, which is six times slower than a 1Gb Ethernet port. If you’re copying files within the system, you’ll need to choose a sufficiently large file—especially if it’s an SSD—to be clearly noticeable between the two storage types. Copying numerous small files adds more load that depends heavily on your chipset, and while there will be some variation, it won’t be as pronounced as with larger files.
Compression might show minor differences depending on your CPU, but noticeable results would require compressing several gigabytes at once. If you have especially large XML documents, you could try archiving them with tools like 7zip and then convert them to MP4 using handbrake. You could compare the two methods and probably see a clear distinction.
I recently upgraded from an I7-5820k to an I9-13900 at the end of last year, and similar results occurred here—no change in everyday use. However, my build times, 3D slicing, and rendering tasks became significantly slower.
Hope this is useful -
T
Thank you to all who assisted. I fully concur with @ttheobald's observations.
In the last couple of days, I carried out multiple benchmark evaluations such as Cinebench, PCMark, CrystalDiskMark, and 3DMark. I also tested renders in Blender, DaVinci Resolve, and Premiere Pro. Furthermore, I experimented with several free Steam titles, even though gaming isn't my main interest.
The benchmark data showed a notable variation in both single-core and multi-core metrics. The new Lenovo laptop delivered outstanding results across all tests, even during the rendering of the Blender BMW demo file.
Nevertheless, when it came to editing and rendering 6K BRAW footage, I anticipated smoother operation. Particularly after color correction, adding effects, and compositing. I adjusted project previews to "smart" and the lowest quality to "quarter," but still needed to generate proxies and optimize media for seamless 6K playback during editing.
Occasionally, managing 6K raw footage proved extremely challenging, forcing me to revert to 4K, which undermined the value of purchasing a new laptop.
In terms of gaming, the gap between the older Dell and the newer Lenovo is striking. The performance gains are clear, though gaming remains a secondary priority because of time limitations.
In truth, I acknowledge that my expectations were somewhat high. While there are clear differences on paper—such as 2 cores versus 14 cores, 1600MHz DDR3 versus 4800MHz DDR5, and 840M versus RTX 3070 Ti—I was hoping for a major leap in workflow and speed.
Maybe I imagined upgrading from a modest Toyota Corolla to a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, but in reality, it didn’t significantly improve my actual workflow. Now I see that technological advancements and performance boosts don’t always lead to such dramatic changes. It’s important to recognize how specific tasks and applications leverage these improvements to truly grasp their significance.
Thank you once again for your support.