You've probably heard all the hype around the Eluktronics MAG-15. I've got the Australian
version of that here, the Vapor 15 Pro from Aftershock which uses the same Intel designed
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 RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics, 16gb
of memory in dual channel, and a 144Hz 1080p screen. It’s also available with GTX 1660
Ti, which I’ve tested in the past, 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, I’ll compare game performance,
thermals and more with the 1660 Ti model in a future video. Let’s start out by going
through all 20 games at all setting levels, then afterwards we’ll see how this configuration
of the Vapor 15 compares with some other laptops.
Control was tested walking through the start of the game, and I’ve got RTX on shown by
the green bars, and RTX off in the purple bars. It was playing ok at high settings,
just under a 60 FPS average, and although RTX on does look nice in this game we can
see it reduces the performance quite a bit.
Battlefield V was tested in campaign mode, and it was playing just fine at ultra settings
with RTX off. To get above 60 FPS with RTX on however, medium settings were needed, but
I’d rather stick to ultra with RTX off as to me it looks and runs better anyway.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and at higher settings
these results are pretty much right in line with other 2070 Max-Q laptops, 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 ultra settings was able to hit a 60 FPS average, though we could get
near 100 and above with medium 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 sitting on the 144
FPS frame cap at minimum, and wasn’t that far behind even maxed out where it was still
playing very well.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was tested with the game’s built in benchmark, and even maxed
out at ultimate settings was still reaching above 60 FPS in this test, with 100 hit at
medium and below.
Far Cry New Dawn was also tested with the built in benchmark, although the results weren’t
too much better compared to other laptops with lower specs, I guess the game or at least
this test just has diminishing returns with more GPU power.
F1 2019 was also tested with the game’s built in benchmark. There wasn’t much difference
to the results with ultra low to high settings, at least when compared to ultra high which
took a larger step back, however it was still providing decent results.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature in the new chapter 2 map. Even maxed out at
epic settings the 1% low was around 100 FPS, with 120 for the average, so absolutely no
issues with this one at all.
Overwatch is another game that runs well on pretty much any modern hardware. Even with
epic settings the 1% low is around the refresh rate of the screen, so it was running great
and felt super smooth.
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 machine with lower GPU.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark. At max settings almost 150 FPS
averages were still possible in this test, great results that are higher than the refresh
rate of the screen, with above 200 FPS at low.
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 70 FPS averages were
possible with the highest ultra setting preset, though we could about double this with low
settings.
PUBG was tested using the replay feature, and the highest ultra setting preset was able
to average above 100 FPS, so another with no issues and decent levels of performance.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark, and as a CPU heavy
test we’re not really seeing that much of a difference compared to other laptops with
lower graphics.
Watch Dogs 2 is a resource heavy game, but given I can play it with a stable 30 FPS hitting
almost 60 at ultra was very playable without issue.
The Witcher 3 also played fine even with the ultra setting preset, I don’t think the
game really needs a high frame rate to play, but we should still reach above 100 FPS even
with high settings.
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 an average frame rate above the screen’s refresh rate
even with high settings, with well over 200 seen at low settings.
Let’s also take a look at how this config of Aftershock’s Vapor 15 with the RTX 2070
Max-Q 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 were a little below the other 2070 Max-Q machines I’ve recently tested, but
that’s likely as the power limit here appeared to be capped at 80 watts, granted it never
hit this anyway as the GPU is set to throttle at 75 degrees.
These are the results from Shadow of the Tomb raider with the built in benchmark at highest
settings. This time the Vapor 15 was right in line with most of the other 2070 Max-Q
machines tested, and it was scoring 16% higher average FPS over the 1660 Ti version.
In Far Cry 5 at ultra settings it was now doing quite well. This is more of a CPU driven
test, so it’s likely a result of the default undervolt on the CPU. The Vapor 15 was now
slightly ahead of the Aero 15 and Y740 with same graphics, or 9% faster than the 1660
Ti config.
Overall the performance from the Vapor 15 was quite good, for the most part it’s in
line with other RTX 2070 Max-Q laptops I’ve tested. In some GPU heavy games it’s a little
behind due to the 75 degree cap, while in some CPU heavier games it’s doing better
thanks to the undervolted CPU. So far the RTX 2070 Max-Q doesn’t appear to be too
much faster than the 1660 Ti config I’ve previously tested, but I’ll compare these
two in way more depth in a future video, so if you’re new to the channel consider getting
subscribed for that comparison as well as future tech videos like this one.