Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15IM review

An IdeaPad 3 whose MX130 is starved by its Pentium engine

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15IM (2019) pairs an Intel Pentium Gold 6405U with a GeForce MX130 (2GB) and 32GB of RAM at $222, below the general-class median of about $248. On paper a dedicated card; in practice the pairing fails: the CPU score reads 2.71 against a category median of 58.99 — 95% below — and every game flag fails, with Far Cry 5 and Battlefield 5 far below the playable floor. The card is starved by its engine.

When the GPU outruns the CPU that feeds it

The MX130 is a modest card, but even modest cards need a processor to drive them — and a dual-core Pentium Gold cannot. The measured frame rates (14-16 fps against 30 fps minimum bars) describe exactly that starvation: not a weak GPU alone, but a configuration where neither half can rescue the other. The 32GB of RAM continues the pattern: memory outclassing the silicon around it, unable to make two slow cores quick.

A basic-band machine in every direction

The verdict names CPU performance the leading weakness (2.71, basic band), and the supporting numbers agree: overall performance 17.71 in the low band, reliability 16 against 54. No strength axis survives the delta filter. This is a single-task office and browsing machine; the graphics badge should carry no weight in any purchase decision about it.

A budget-machine curve already absorbed

From a $900 base the IdeaPad 3 has come down to $222, about 9.7% per year, with a projected $181 in two years. The entry price is near the class median; the remaining decline is ordinary.

General-class neighbors

Pricier options include the Dell Inspiron 3585 ($243) and IdeaPad 330-17IKB ($242); cheaper ones include the Pavilion x360 13-a010nr ($192) and HP 15-af130ur ($195). The V340-17 ($222) and V110-17IKB ($212) sit sideways. Nothing in this cluster carries a working gaming configuration — the badge here is no exception.

Bottom line

The IdeaPad 3 15IM at $222 is a basic-band office machine whose MX130 cannot overcome a CPU at 2.71: every game flag fails, and the 32GB of RAM outclasses its engine. Buy it for light single-task duty at a median price — and read the graphics badge as decoration, not capability.