You've probably heard all the hype around the Eluktronics MAG-15. I've got the Australian
versions of that here, the Vapor 15 Pro from Aftershock which uses the same chassis, so
let’s find out how well it performs in 20 different games at all setting levels and
compare it against other laptops to see the differences.
For the specs there’s an Intel i7-9750H CPU, Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti graphics, 16gb of
memory in dual channel, and a 144Hz 1080p screen. It’s also available with RTX 2070
Max-Q graphics though, I’ll be testing this in the future as well, so if you’re new
to the channel you’ll want to get subscribed for that. Otherwise you can find updated prices
to both configurations linked in the description.
The control center software allows us to swap between different power settings, I’ve tested
with performance mode for best performance and higher fan speed. By default, the i7-9750H
CPU was also undervolted by -0.05v which should help out a bit too.
We’ll only be covering gaming performance in this video, thermal testing and the detailed
full review will be covered in future videos. Let’s start out by going through all 20
games at all setting levels, then afterwards we’ll see how the Vapor 15 compares with
some other laptops.
Control was tested walking through the start of the game, and I found medium settings to
play quite well with above 60 FPS. High settings didn’t go too badly, I don’t think the
game really needs a super high frame rate, but during fights I did find medium to work
better and it still looked good.
Battlefield V was tested in campaign mode, and it was playing alright even with ultra
settings. The 1% low performance didn’t change much between setting presets, but was
always above 60 regardless of which was in use.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and at higher settings
these results are some of the best I’ve seen from a laptop with these specs, we’ll
compare this game with some other laptops soon.
Borderlands 3 was tested with the built in benchmark and DX 11, as DX 12 is still in
beta. In this test high settings was required to hit a 60 FPS average, though we could get
near 100 and above with low settings.
Apex Legends was tested with either all settings at maximum, or all settings on the lowest
possible values, as it doesn’t have predefined setting presets. It was playing fine even
maxed out with above 100 FPS averages, while minimum settings seemed to be hitting a 144
FPS frame cap.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was tested with the game’s built in benchmark, and ultra settings
was still reaching above 60 FPS in this test, with 100 only just reached with the low setting
preset.
Far Cry New Dawn was also tested with the built in benchmark, and as this is more of
a CPU heavy test and we’ve still got an i7, the results weren’t too different compared
to other machines with the same CPU, however despite the default CPU undervolt I didn’t
see much improvement.
I’ve had a few requests to add in a racing game, so I’ve got F1 2019 tested with the
built in benchmark. There wasn’t much difference to the results with ultra low to high settings,
while ultra high took a larger step back in comparison.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature in the new chapter 2 map. This is my first
time testing with the new map so the results probably aren’t too comparable with my previous
results. In any case, 100 FPS averages were still possible even with epic settings.
Overwatch is another game that runs well on pretty much any modern hardware. Even with
epic settings the 1% low is around 110 FPS, with the average close to the refresh rate
of the screen, so again no problem at all with this title.
CS:GO was tested using the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and as a game that depends primarily on CPU
power the results are a little better than most other i7 laptops, likely due to that
small default undervolt.
Dota 2 was tested playing in the middle lane, and as a primarily CPU driven game the results
were good but not really much different compared to a similarly specced machine that isn’t
undervolted. Regardless, absolutely nothing to complain about with these results.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark. At max settings 120 FPS averages
were still possible in this test, while high settings was higher than the refresh rate
of the display with decent 1% low performance too.
Metro Exodus was tested using the built in benchmark, most parts of the game perform
a fair bit better than this, so don’t take these results as a good indication of what
to expect throughout the entire game, it’s more of a worst case.
The Division 2 was also tested with the built in benchmark, and above 60 FPS averages were
possible with the highest ultra setting preset, though we could more than double this with
low settings.
PUBG was tested using the replay feature. With the highest ultra setting preset 90 FPS
was still possible in this test, while low settings and below was capable of delivering
higher frame rates than the screen’s refresh rate of 144Hz.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark, and as a CPU heavy
test we’re seeing 2-4 FPS higher on average at the higher setting presets compared to
the Aorus 7 I recently tested with same specs, likely due to that default CPU undervolt.
Watch Dogs 2 is a resource heavy game, but as I can play it just fine with a solid 30
FPS there weren’t any issues even with ultra settings despite the lower looking frame rates.
The Witcher 3 played just fine even with the ultra setting preset, however it was possible
to significantly improve performance just by stepping down one level. I think high settings
would be better as it still looks good and you’re getting around 100 FPS.
Strange Brigade was tested just so we’ve got a Vulkan title in the mix. The built in
benchmark tool was just able to score 100 FPS even with the highest ultra setting preset,
so it’s all looking good here.
Let’s also take a look at how this config of Aftershock’s Vapor 15 compares with other
laptops, use these results as a rough guide only as they were tested at different times
with different drivers.
In Battlefield 5 I’ve got the Vapor 15 highlighted in red near similarly specced machines. The
results here are quite good, it was less than 1 FPS lower in terms of average compared to
the Helios 300, though to be fair I did test that one months ago now and I think the game
has had some updates since. The 1% low performance is still a fair bit behind the Helios, but
the Helios does also have a higher -0.125v undervolt at stock which will help there.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings in the built in benchmark.
As a CPU heavier test it’s further behind the Helios 300 with same specs this time,
however the performance was a little ahead of the Lenovo Y540 and Aorus 7 with same specs,
so fair results.
These are the results from Shadow of the Tomb raider with the built in benchmark at highest
settings. This time the Vapor 15 was just slightly ahead of the Helios 300, putting
this machine in first place out of all 1660 Ti laptops that I’ve tested, at least for
this game anyway. Granted it was only 1 FPS ahead, however there’s a fair gap compared
to the other machines with the same specs below it.
Overall the performance from the Vapor 15 seems to be above average when compared with
other laptops that have the same GTX 1660 Ti and i7-9750H with dual channel memory.
The small stock CPU undervolt would be giving it a little edge over most other laptops,
the Helios 300 has a higher CPU power limit, undervolts further, and overclocks the GPU
which is why it’s a little ahead with the same hardware, let me know if you’d be interested
in a detailed comparison between the two. The Vapor 15 with these specs is easily able
to play modern games at 1080p even with higher settings without any issues.
Let me know what you thought of the performance from the Vapor 15 gaming laptop from Aftershock
down in the comments. We’ll look at thermals in depth in an upcoming video and the full
review is still to come, so if you’re new to the channel consider getting subscribed
for those as well as future tech videos like this one.