First Asus convertible with AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS Phoenix and no dGPU listed for US$1,249.99 at Best Buy

With the introduction of AMD’s powerful Ryzen 7040 Phoenix processor featuring RDNA 3 iGPUs, laptops do not require a dedicated GPU for a decent 1080p gaming experience anymore. Unfortunately, most laptop OEMs include an entry level dGPU anyway so that external monitors can be handled properly, but this also raises the overall cost by 200-300 US$. Budget gamers are hoping to see US$700-800 laptops with a decent IPS screen and no dGPU. Up until now, the lowest price for an AMD Ryzen Phoenix system was recorded last week when Lenovo had a sale for the LOQ 15 model with Ryzen 7 7840HS and RTX 4050 dGPU priced at US$1,019.99, but it is already out of stock. Meanwhile Best Buy is listing a Ryzen 9 7940HS convertible from Asus without a dGPU.

This year’s Asus ROG Flow X13 2-in-1 model is currently out of stock as Best Buy lists it at US$1,249.99 (stock notification is available). Provided the price stays the same when it becomes available, this seems to be the most affordable Ryzen 9 7940HS laptop featuring the fastest version of the Radeon 780M iGPU, and with added discounts, it could very well drop close to US$1,000 in the coming months. Still not exactly the price points that budget gamers are hoping for, but the ROG Flow X13 does come with some above average features that justify the price.

First of all this is a slim and light convertible with a 1.87 cm (0.66-inch) profile and 1.3 kg (2.87 lbs) weight. It offers increased versatility as it can be used in tablet mode. The display is smaller, at 13.4-inch, yet it has a higher quality 1200p IPS panel with glossy finish for touch operation, 120 Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB color gamut and Pantone validation plus Dolby Vision HDR certificate. Additionally, the 16 GB of RAM offer superior performance via the LPDDR5-6400 speeds. The storage side is populated with a 512 GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

Port selection is also quite robust and integrates the Asus proprietary XG mobile interface that allows users to connect an external Asus dGPU. There is also a USB4 connector, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1 video out and an audio combo jack. Internet access is offered through a Wi-Fi 6E + BT 5.3 card. Other features include Dolby Atmos audio with Hi-Res decoder, 1080p webcam with IR sensors for Windows Hello, and a 75 Wh battery.

Buy the Asus ROG Flow X13 convertible with AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS and Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti from Best Buy