CES 2020 | Dell G5 15 SE Ryzen bets big on AMD Renoir-H and Radeon RX 5600M, but will it pay off?

Dell is throwing plenty of curveballs this year at CES with foldable tablets, dual-screen laptops, and even an Alienware 'UFO' handheld. Its latest announcement of an upcoming G5 15 SE gaming laptop sporting 3rd gen Renoir-H CPUs and a Radeon RX 5600M GPU, however, is just as intriguing because of the mixed results of AMD-only gaming laptops in the past.

AMD-only gaming laptops have always been a dime a dozen for one simple reason: they just don't sell as well as their Intel and Nvidia alternatives. MSI, for example, used to offer AMD-only gaming laptops via its GX series before promptly dropping it one or two years later. Asus also had its own GL702ZC series powered by desktop Ryzen CPUs and Radeon RX GPUs, but these systems were in limited quantities and overall performance was subpar.

With AMD seemingly back at its feet these past couple of years, OEMs are once again ready to dip their toes in AMD-only gaming laptops at a slower and more careful pace. Asus made available the budget TUF FX505DY/FX705DY powered by the mobile Radeon RX 560X GPU and the then new Ryzen 5 3550H CPU in early 2019. MSI would later follow suit with the mid-range Alpha 15 gaming laptop equipped with the Ryzen 7 3750H and much faster Radeon RX 5500M GPU a few months later.

It's clear that major OEMs like Asus, MSI, and Dell are testing the waters with these small initial models first to see if there is renewed consumer interest in AMD-only gaming laptops. If sales are solid, we can certainly expect to see expanded AMD-only SKUs in the future. If not, then the best that the red chipmaker can hope for in the short term will be more AMD-Nvidia hybrid gaming laptops instead like the Asus ROG GA502.