The ASUS Zephyrus S is a powerful and thin gaming laptop, but how well does it perform
in different games? I’ve benchmarked 15 different games at all setting levels to show
you how well it runs and help you decide if it’s worth it.
Just quickly before we jump into the benchmark results I’ll cover off the specs in my unit.
There’s an Intel i7-8750H CPU, Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics, and 16GB of memory running
at DDR4-2666 in dual channel. The Zephyrus S is also available with GTX 1070 Max-Q graphics,
so expect better performance with that model. It’s also got a 144Hz screen, so we’ll
see how well the GTX 1060 does at making use of that in the benchmarks.
I was running Windows 10 with these Nvidia drivers, and with ASUS’s Turbo mode enabled.
Turbo mode boosts the fan speeds, raises the CPU TDP to 45 watts, and slightly overclocks
the graphics to increase gaming performance, so let’s see how well it runs!
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, and even at epic settings it was still playing
perfectly fine, able to average 80 FPS with 60 for the 1% low, and then well over 100
FPS at the lower setting levels.
Overwatch was tested playing in the practice range, and again easily playable at epic settings,
with over 100 FPS possible here, so it was playing quite smoothly with a 1% low still
above 60 FPS, and over 200 FPS averages were possible at low settings.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode and not in multiplayer mode, as it’s easier
to consistently reproduce the test run. It played well enough at ultra settings, almost
able to average 60 FPS, but I thought that it played best with medium settings or below.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and this test was
able to average just under 60 FPS at medium settings, and then in the high 80s with the
lowest setting preset.
PUBG was tested using the replay feature, and although this is a less optimized game
it was still quite playable with ultra settings, although for this type of game higher FPS
will be an advantage which is why I always end up playing with very low settings anyway.
CS:GO was tested using the Ulletical benchmark, and with all settings maxed out the test was
still averaging above 100 FPS, and just able to hit 200 FPS with all settings at minimum.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark, and this test always results
in high frame rates with modern hardware. Even at ultra settings we’re getting 130
FPS averages, with over 180 possible at low settings.
Far Cry 5 was also tested with the built in benchmark, and alright results for this test,
still above 60 FPS averages even at ultra settings here, with above 80 seen at low settings.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was another that was tested with the built in benchmark, and
although the frame rates are lower at the higher settings I don’t think this game
needs a high frame rate to play, and still works alright at around high settings.
Dota 2 was tested using a fairly intensive replay, so this should be a worst case scenario,
these results are not the same as actually playing the game which would result in higher
performance. I did play a quick game with ultra settings just for comparison, and it
was averaging around 110 FPS with not much going on.
Watch Dogs 2 is a demanding game, but it doesn’t need a high frame rate to play. As long as
I get over 30 FPS it plays fine, so it was perfectly playable at ultra settings, although
I don’t think you visually get much extra after high settings anyway.
Ghost Recon is another demanding game and was tested using the built in benchmark, and
we’re seeing alright frame rates for this game at very high and below, with 60 FPS averages
possible with high settings in this test.
The Witcher 3 played alright with ultra settings, still able to average 60 FPS, but it did feel
noticeably better at high settings, and still looked great, with medium settings and below
getting us above 100 FPS averages.
DOOM was tested using Vulkan, and as is usually the case in this game it played perfectly
smoothly even at ultra settings, almost averaging 100 FPS maxed out in my test.
Shadow of war was tested with the built in benchmark, and the results here seem pretty
good, almost 60 FPS at very high settings, and although this game doesn’t need a massively
high frame rate still above 100 FPS at low settings.
All of the games tested were easily playable with good settings and decent frame rates,
thanks to the i7-8750H, GTX 1060 and dual channel memory combination. Despite being
a couple of years old now, 1060 graphics are still a great option for 1080p gaming with
decent settings, though if you’re after more power the Zephyrus S is also available
with the GTX 1070 Max-Q as well.
Also expect slightly lower results if you’re running the laptop in the default balanced
profile, I used the built in turbo profile given you can very easily enable it with the
built in software, and figured while gaming it’s likely you would want to use this mode
for best performance.
I haven’t yet tested undervolting or manual overclocking, as this will vary between laptops
based on the hardware, but I’ll cover those in future videos along with detailed temperature
testing, this is just how the laptop performs out of the box in a number of different games,
as this is likely how most people will probably end up using it, but don’t worry though
I’ll definitely cover the more advanced stuff too.
So how do you guys think the ASUS Zephyrus S gaming laptop did in these games? As we’ve
seen the GTX 1060 is still a great choice for 1080p gaming with decent settings, and
we’re able to get pretty nice performance for such a thin laptop.
Let me know what you guys thought down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe
for the full review of the ASUS Zephyrus S gaming laptop as well as future tech videos
like this one.