Like many other HP laptops, the HP Spectre x360 is a great ultrabook, which means it's great for work on the go. It also has the benefit of being a 2-in-1, so it's very versatile. But gaming is a different beast entirely, and you're probably going to want a laptop with a discrete GPU. Does the HP Spectre x360 have dedicated graphics? Yes it does, as long as you're looking at the right models.

What is a GPU?

A GPU, short for graphics processing unit, is a special kind of processor that focuses on rendering images. While the CPU handles all general computer tasks, a powerful GPU is important if you want to play more modern and intensive games, as well as content creation. Most laptop processors nowadays include both a CPU and an integrated GPU that's good enough for day-to-day use.

But if you're more of an avid gamer, having a discrete GPU might be the way to go. A discrete GPU is one that's separate from the CPU, which means it has its own separate power limits. These are typically larger and consume more power, but they can get you much better performance in most games. That means you're exchanging battery life and portability for performance. And that's why the best gaming laptops tend to be very big. Likewise, a powerful GPU can also really help with image and video editing.

Do I need dedicated graphics?

A dedicated GPU is the way to go if you're always looking to play the latest games from the largest studios out there. Some modern games might run slowly on integrated graphics on your laptop. However, you might still be able to play many of them if you turn down the quality settings in the game.

As technology keeps evolving, companies have been cramming more powerful integrated GPUs in their processors. The latest Intel processors come with Iris Xe Graphics built-in, which might be good enough to run a lot of games at lower quality settings, or even some older titles without big sacrifices. AMD also makes very powerful laptop processors for gaming and productivity. If you're mostly using your laptop for work but you like to play some games every now and then, an integrated GPU might still be a good option.

Another aspect that can take advantage of a powerful GPU is media creation. If you spend a lot of time editing images and video, you'll notice that having a dedicated GPU can help a lot with performance. Video editing especially can require a lot of power, especially if you work with 4K footage or higher resolutions. Likewise, professional image editing that uses a lot of layers can be tricky without a dedicated GPU. However, if you mostly do simple edits and work with lower-resolution video, an ultrabook processor can be good enough. You may have to wait a little longer for things to render, but it's perfectly usable.

Does the HP Spectre x360 have dedicated graphics?

Being that it's an ultrabook designed to be very portable, the smaller variants of the Spectre x360 don't have dedicated graphics. There used to be versions of the HP Spectre x360 15 that included discrete graphics, but that's no longer an option. However, HP recently launched the Spectre x360 16, and that includes an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti as an option, so you can go that route. It's a modern and fairly powerful GPU, so you can run most modern games without much of an issue.

All that comes in the same 2-in-1 form factor as the rest of the Spectre x360 family. That means you can spin the screen around and use the touchscreen with a finger or a pen. It's a 4K panel too, so you can also use it for watching movies in the best quality possible. It's a bit heavier than your average ultrabook at 4.23lbs, but that's to be expected. You can but it below:

If you mostly use your laptops for office work, one of the other Spectre x360 models might be a better option. The latest versions come with Intel processors with Iris Xe Graphics that's already good for light gaming. The HP Spectre x360 14 is one of the best laptops you can buy right now, and in addition to the powerful processor, it has a tall 3:2 display that lets you see more content on the screen at once. You can also get it with a 3K2K resolution. You can configure it with up to 16GB of RAM and 2TB of storage as well. All that comes in a package that's just under 3lbs, so it's easier to carry around.

Whether or not you need a dedicated GPU depends on what you do with your laptop. Whatever your needs though, the Spectre x360 has options for you. For avid gamers, you can get a powerful dedicated GPU with the Spectre x360 15. Or you can get a smaller and lighter model with Intel Iris Xe Graphics if you're mostly working on it. It'll still be able to handle some light gaming.