Comparison Acer Extensa 215-51 [EX215-51-53W6] vs Lenovo IdeaPad L340 15 [L340-15IWL 81LG00YGRA]

The maximum brightness that a laptop screen can provide.

The brighter the ambient light, the brighter the laptop screen should be, otherwise the image on it may be difficult to read. And vice versa: in dim ambient light, high brightness is unnecessary — it greatly burdens the eyes (however, in this case, modern laptops provide brightness control). Thus, the higher this indicator, the more versatile the screen is, the wider the range of conditions in which it can be effectively used. The downside of these benefits is an increase in price and energy consumption.

As for specific values, many modern laptops have a brightness of 250 – 300 cd / m2 and even lower. This is quite enough for working under artificial lighting of medium intensity, but in bright natural light, visibility may already be a problem. For use in sunny weather (especially outdoors), it is desirable to have a brightness margin of at least 300 – 350 cd / m2. And in the most advanced models, this parameter can be 350 – 400 cd / m2 and even more.

The result shown by the laptop processor in the Passmark CPU Mark test.

Passmark CPU Mark is a comprehensive test that is more detailed and reliable than the popular 3DMark06 (see above). It checks not only the gaming capabilities of the CPU, but also its performance in other modes, based on which it displays the overall score; this score can be used to fairly reliably evaluate the processor as a whole (the more points, the higher the performance).

The maximum amount of RAM that can be installed on a laptop. It depends, in particular, on the type of memory modules used, as well as on the number of slots for them. Paying attention to this parameter makes sense, first of all, if the laptop is bought with the expectation of and the amount of actually installed memory in it is noticeably less than the maximum available. So laptops can be upgraded in RAM to 16 GB, 24 GB a>, 32 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB and even more - 128 GB.

The clock speed of the RAM installed in the laptop.

The higher the frequency (with the same type and amount of memory) — the higher the performance of RAM in general and the faster the laptop will cope with resource-intensive tasks. However modules with the same frequency may differ somewhat in actual performance due to differences in other characteristics; but this difference becomes significant only in very specific cases, for the average user it is not critical. As for specific values, the most popular modules on the modern market are 2400 MHz, 2666 MHz, 2933 MHz and 3200 MHz. Memory at 2133 MHz or less is found mainly in outdated and low-cost devices, and in high-performance configurations this parameter is 2933 MHz, 3200 MHz, 4266 MHz, 4800 MHz, 5200 MHz, 5500 MHz, 5600 MHz and more.

The total number of slots for RAM modules provided in the laptop; in fact — the maximum number of slats that can be installed simultaneously in this model.

Features for upgrading RAM directly depend on this indicator. So, in low-cost models, there is often only 1 slot, and the only upgrade option is to replace the "native" bar. In more advanced devices, two or even four slots may be provided, while some of them may be free in the initial configuration.

A special case is embedded RAM; it is more compact and cheaper than removable modules, but does not imply replacement at all. At the same time, in some laptops, the “RAM” is only built-in, in others it can be supplemented with one or even two slots for interchangeable strips.

— Integrated(built-in). Video cards that do not have their own memory and use the general system RAM during operation. In modern laptops, such video cards are usually part of the processor. Their main advantages are low cost and power consumption, as well as low heat generation. However, the performance of integrated graphics is noticeably lower than that of discrete graphics, and besides, at high loads it “eats” a significant part of the RAM, which negatively affects the overall system performance. Integrated graphics will be perfect for lighter tasks like document work, web surfing, and light gaming, but for more serious applications, more advanced solutions are worth choosing (see below).

— Discrete. Graphics card as a separate module with its own processor and specialized memory dedicated exclusively to video processing. Such graphics are more expensive than integrated ones, but they significantly outperform them in terms of performance. In addition, even at high loads, it does not take up the total RAM, and some laptops are even able to allocate part of the video memory in addition to RAM if the graphics card is idle. So if you want to play modern games at least at medium settings, or plan to use a laptop for "heavy" graphic tasks like video editing or 3D design, you should definitely choose a model with discrete graphics (or one of its advanced options — Dual Graphics or SLI/Crossfire, see bel...ow).
It is worth noting that most models with such video cards also have a built-in graphics core in the processor. So discrete graphics in modern laptops most often work in hybrid mode: an integrated module is used for simple tasks, and when the load increases, the system switches to discrete graphics.

— Dual Graphics. AMD proprietary technology used in systems equipped with Fusion integrated graphics processors and discrete Radeon graphics cards (originally stated to be compatible with the Radeon 6000 series). The difference between this mode and discrete graphics with automatic switching (see above) is that both video adapters are used not in turn, but simultaneously. Thus, their capacities are combined, which provides a significant increase in video performance. At the same time, Dual Graphics provides ample features for choosing a combination of processors and video cards, because. allows you to combine video cores with different operating frequencies without sacrificing a faster one. The main disadvantage of this technology is the inability to work with Direct X below version 10.

— SLI/CrossFire. Initially, SLI and CrossFire are proprietary technologies used by nVidia and AMD, respectively, to combine the power of several discrete graphics cards. This allows for very high graphics performance. On the other hand, installing several video adapters (even compact ones) in a laptop is associated with serious difficulties: such equipment significantly increases the dimensions of the case and significantly increases power consumption, not to mention the cost. As a result, there are very few laptops with SLI / Crossfire nowadays, and they all belong to the top gaming solutions.

A series of video cards installed in a laptop. Different models of video cards within the same series can vary significantly in performance, but their key features are usually the same.

— Intel HD Graphics. Integrated graphics cards, the first solution in the Intel line to be built directly into the processor (before that, integrated graphics were part of the motherboard).

— Intel Iris Graphics. Integrated graphics cards introduced in 2013 at the same time as some Haswell microarchitecture processors. In fact, this series is an advanced version of the Intel HD Graphics described above, with increased performance.

— Intel Arc. Graphics accelerators based on the Xe HPG architecture, produced since 2022. The Intel Arc series is aimed at providing high performance graphics rendering (including gaming). Mobile video adapters of the line are supplied with hardware modules Matrix Engines (XMX) - they support the Intel XeSS image reconstruction method based on artificial intelligence algorithms.

— nVIDIA GeForce. A series of graphics cards that includes exclusively discrete solutions (see "Graphics card type"). At the same time, such models are quite capable of operating in hybrid graphics mode, in combination with a video chip built into the processor.

— nVIDIA Quadro. The latest generation o...f graphics adapters from nVIDIA are positioned by the developer as professional solutions primarily for 3D graphics.

— NVIDIA RTX A. A high-performance line of graphics cards for graphics, video processing, scientific discoveries and projects in VR. Maximally accelerates the execution of graphic and computational tasks when operating with large data arrays.

— AMD FirePro. Discrete graphics cards originally designed as high-end workstation solutions. Among laptops, they are found in premium-level models that focus on increased performance.

— AMD Radeon. A family of video cards from AMD, used primarily in laptops with processors from the same brand. Includes solutions of various types (integrated and discrete) and level (from low-cost to high-end).

— Qualcomm Adreno. Integrated graphics found in Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors (see "Processor Series"). It is primarily a solution for mobile gadgets, so it does not differ in performance, but it is very efficient in terms of power consumption.

— Apple. Usually, in this case, it means the graphics core built into the Apple M1 processor (see "Processor series"). The first generation of these processors used eight-core (rarely seven-core) integrated GPUs with support for up to 25,000 threads simultaneously.

GeForce graphics cards from NVIDIA: RTX represented by RTX 2060, RTX 2060 Max-Q, RTX 2070, RTX 2070 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Super, RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, RTX 2080, RTX 2080 Max-Q, RTX 2080 Super, RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, RTX 3050, RTX 3050 Ti, RTX 3060, RTX 3060 Max-Q, RTX 3070, RTX 3070 Max-Q, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti, RTX 4050, RTX 4060, R TX 4070, RTX 4080, RTX 4090 ; MX1xx represented by MX110, MX130 and MX150, MX2xx(MX230 and MX250), MX3xx(MX330 and MX350), MX450, GTX which represent GTX 1050, GTX 1060, GTX 1060 Max-Q, GTX 1070, GTX 1070 Max-Q, GTX 1080, GTX 1080 Max-Q, GTX 1650, GTX 1650 Max-Q, GTX 1650 Ti, GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q and. AMD also offers video cards Radeon 520, Radeon 530(535), Radeon 540X, Radeon 610(625, 630), Radeon RX 550 (550X, 560), Radeon RX 640, Radeon RX 5500M, Radeon RX 6800M and Radeon Pro.

Note that all the above models are discrete. Actually, for a configuration with discrete graphics, it is the model of a separate video adapter that is indicated; if it is supplemented by an integrated module, the name of this module can be clarified by the official characteristics of the processor.

It is also worth mentioning that this paragraph does not give the full name of the model, but only its name within the series (the series itself is given separately - see above). However, knowing the series and model, one can easily find detailed information about the graphics card.

The amount of native video memory installed in the laptop's graphics card. Only discrete video adapters and their advanced varieties like SLI or Dual Graphics have such memory (see "Video card type").

The more memory, the more powerful the graphics card and the better it can handle complex graphics. Of course, the specific capabilities of the adapter depend on a number of other parameters (primarily the characteristics of the graphics processor); however, the difference in the amount of memory, as a rule, is quite consistent with the difference in the overall level. In terms of specific numbers, solutions with 2 GB are entry-level, 4 GB and 6 GB are intermediate, and 8 GB - to advanced, and 12 GB and 16 GB can be found in top-end gaming laptops and high-end workstations.