AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU is a great chip for your gaming rig and it seems that it is now powering XMG's Apex 15 Max laptop. This notebook is already one of the few mobile chassis that can support AMD's standard Ryzen 5000 desktop parts, but thanks to a BIOS update to AGESA 1.2.0.7, the 3D V-cache variant of the 5800X is now supported.
The XMG Apex 15 Max, is a ultra-thick 15.6 inch gaming laptop, that features the unique characteristic of supporting AMD desktop-grade Ryzen 5000 series processors, thanks to a integrated B550 motherboard housed in the system. As a result, the system is capable of supporting CPUs all the way up to the Ryzen 9 5950X, with 105W chips operating in ECO mode.
Thanks to a AGESA code 1.2.0.7 supported BIOS update, the XMG Apex 15 can now support AMD's gaming jewel - the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. According to XMPG's benchmarks, the 5800X3D operating inside the Apex 15 is up to 14% faster than the Ryzen 9 5900X, and 30% faster than the 5700X in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Unfortunately that is the only advantage the 5800X3D offers in the XMG Apex 15 chassis. In Cinebench R20 and R23 the 3D-VCache chip lost to both the Ryzen 7 5700X and 5900X XMG in both the single and multi-core tests, due to the reduce clock speed headroom on the 3D VCache model.
As a result, the 5800X3D should only be considered if you're focused on gaming exclusively. Any other workloads will benefit greater from the other 8 core or higher core count Ryzen chips, which can boost to much higher frequencies compared to the 5800X3D model.
The laptop is incredibly thick, with a thickness of 32.5mm, this is anything but a thin and light. However, if you need desktop-grade CPU horsepower in a laptop chassis the Apex 15 max is one of the few notebooks that can sport AMD's Ryzen 5000 series desktop chips.
The system can be configured with either a RTX 3060 or RTX 3070 laptop GPU, and can support up to 64GB of 3200Mhz DDR4 SODIMM memory. For storage, the laptop comes with three storage slots, comprising of dual M.2 slots and a single 2.5 inch drive mount for SSDs or small 7mm tall hard drives.
The display features a 240Hz IPS display operating at a 1080P resolution, there are no other options available via the configurator. Powering and charging the system is handled via a 230W power brick.
For gaming, the Apex 15 will offer one of the best gaming experiences possible in CPU bound games thanks to 5800X3D support. XMG now offers the Ryzen 7 5800X3D as a option in its Apex 15 Max configuration tool, but it can also be a upgrade solution for current owners as well.
For an AMD 7 5800X3D based system with an RTX 3060, 16GB DDR4-3200 Samsung RAM and 500GB Samsung 980 SSD you'll be paying €1,720.99 (including a 19% sales tax, but postage is extra). Converting that to USD we subtract the 19% tax and see the price come in at $1379. Of course this will be liable for taxes and import duties in your home country.
