We’ve tested this year’s new ASUS TUF A15 gaming laptop in 13 different games to help
you see how well it actually performs and compares against other laptops!
I bought a mid-range A15 with AMD’s new Ryzen 7 6800H CPU, Nvidia’s RTX 3060 graphics,
16 gigs of DDR5 memory and a 1080p 144Hz screen,
but you can check out other configurations and updated prices with the links below the video.
Now the RTX 3060 graphics in the A15 can run up to 140 watts with Nvidia’s dynamic boost,
but with the CPU also loaded up, so like in a gaming for example,
the GPU would top out at 115 watts. So basically it’s what I’d consider to be a full powered 3060.
The ASUS Armory Crate software lets us to set different performance modes,
and all testing here has been done with manual mode and the power sliders set to maximum,
and this applies a small overclock to the GPU by default.
We also tested turbo mode, but didn’t find that to make a difference when it
came to gaming. The GPU power limit was the same in both turbo and manual modes,
but we actually found the CPU power limit to go higher in manual which is why it was used.
Now unlike last year, this year ASUS has added a MUX switch to the TUF A15,
and this means we’ve got the option of disabling the integrated graphics to get
a performance boost in games, so all testing has been done like this for best results.
Something important I need to note is that the TUF A15 I bought only came with one 16 gig stick
of DDR5-4800 memory. This wasn’t actually listed on the spec sheet when I bought it,
it just said 16 gigabytes, though this could vary by region.
Now while that might not sound ideal, I’ve already shown in this video here that it
doesn’t make too much of a difference whether you have one or two sticks of DDR5 memory. It
was a much bigger issue when it came to older DDR4. So all testing here has been done with
just that one stick of memory installed, because that’s what my A15 came with when I bought it and
I want to try and best represent what you would actually get if you were to buy this same machine.
I did actually try to install 2 separate 8 gig DDR5 memory sticks to test the difference,
but the laptop just black screened when I turned it on, so I wasn’t able to test it. I don’t know
if it was just a random incompatibility with the two sticks that I happened to have or what.
Alright, so what about the screen though,
given that’s what you’re actually going to be looking at when playing games?
The screen response time of my 144Hz panel isn’t great. Ideally we want to see 6.94ms here for
transitions to occur within the refresh window. Now to be fair, it is still faster compared to
other 144Hz panels in other similarly priced gaming laptops. The TUF is also available with
other screen options though, last year’s 240Hz option for example was quite a bit faster.
Although this wasn’t a great result compared to many other higher tier gaming laptops,
I’m not personally that sensitive to the screen response time unless it's worse than 20ms or so.
So while running some games I didn’t think it was that bad. Now that said, if you are a more
competitive player you’d probably either want to look at a different laptop or try to find
the TUF A15 with a better screen option. For more casual users like me though, it should be fine.
The total system latency is the amount of time between a mouse click and gun shot fire appears
on the screen in CS:GO. The slower screen would contribute to the slower result here,
and while a number of other 144Hz gaming laptops were faster,
there were also a few from last year that were worse off.
Although my A15 came with a 1080p screen, it is also available with a 1440p option,
so we’ve connected an external 1440p screen so that we can test both resolutions.
We’ll start out by seeing how the A15 compares against other laptops,
then afterwards we’ll test it in 13 games at all setting levels with features like DLSS
and ray tracing, so let’s get into the results!
Cyberpunk 2077 was tested the same on all laptops, and I’ve got this year’s TUF A15
shown by the red highlight. In terms of average FPS, this is now the best result we’ve got from
any RTX 3060 gaming laptop. 3060 laptops this year have a higher boost of 140 watts compared
to last year’s 130 watts, but that new CPU would be helping it out too. That said,
the 1% low is a little behind some others, but that could improve with two memory sticks.
Unfortunately we’ve got less data for RTX 3060 gaming laptops at the higher 1440p resolution,
but the A15 is doing well considering it’s basically hitting the same average
FPS compared to the more expensive Legion 5. The 2022 Legion 5 with the same Ryzen 7
6800H CPU should be arriving here soon, make sure you’re subscribed for that!
Control is also a GPU heavy game, and again the RTX 3060 from the TUF A15 was giving us
the highest average frame rate out of any 3060 laptop we’ve tested so far. The new CPU could
be helping here, it’s hard to say as this is the first time I’ve had a 6800H laptop.
It’s probably more likely that it’s the new higher maximum power limit from the 2022 3060 though.
Again we’ve got less 3060 results at 1440p, but it was clearly beating the Legion 5 this time, which
is a decent result considering that was one of the best 3060 results last year. The A15 was actually
ahead of the Zephyrus G15 with RTX 3080 from ASUS, though that had much lower GPU power limits,
so just goes to show that power limits matter, there’s more to it than just the name of your GPU!
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested with the game’s benchmark, and again the TUF A15 was
the best RTX 3060 result we’ve got so far. It’s even ahead of the Acer Helios 300 with
higher tier RTX 3070 due to that having a lower power limit among other issues.
Don’t get me started on the 3070 in last year’s TUF Dash F15, all our 3060 laptops beat that one,
but I can’t wait to see how well this year’s version does with new 12th gen CPU.
Again the A15 was ahead of last year’s Legion 5 at 1440p, but otherwise all the other higher
tier GPUs were able to beat it. This game generally favors AMD’s Radeon graphics
over Nvidia’s GeForce, which is why the smaller Zephyrus G14 from ASUS with 6800S was now quite
a bit higher than the A15. In the two games previously, the A15 had nice a lead over it.
So this year’s TUF A15 is doing pretty well compared to other gaming laptops last year
that also had RTX 3060 graphics. Which makes sense considering we’ve got the MUX switch and
full powered 3060 which does have a higher power limit compared to 3060s that came out last year.
And like I suspected, having just that one stick of DDR5 memory didn’t seem to negatively impact
it too much. At least compared to those other 3060 laptops. It would have been great if we
could have tested it with two memory sticks to see what the differences are, but unfortunately
it just didn’t boot. But assuming we were able to get that to work, I’d expect it to give us
maybe a bit more of a boost in 1% lows or eSports titles that aren’t as GPU heavy.
Alright now that we know how the A15 fits against other laptops, let’s test it in way more games!
Forza Horizon 5 was tested with the game’s benchmark. Ultra settings or
lower were needed to reach above 60 FPS in this one, though to take advantage of
the 144Hz screen you’d be looking at lower setting levels to boost up the frame rate.
God of war on the other hand was just able to hit 60 FPS with the highest setting preset,
while low settings was needed to reach 100 FPS. Honestly for this one it probably makes
more sense to have the game looking nicer without a super high frame rate.
Fortnite on the other hand would benefit more from higher FPS as it’s a competitive title.
We haven’t tested with DLSS in most of the games at 1080p because this level
of hardware should be capable without it, it’s generally recommended for 1440p
or higher. The average FPS with high settings wasn’t too far off the screen’s refresh rate,
while low settings could get even the 1% low higher than this.
Call of Duty Warzone also performs well regardless of the setting level,
and even if you plan on playing at the higher 1440p resolution, well this game has
DLSS built in too so you’ll be able to take advantage of that to boost the frame rate.
Dying Light 2 was tested with DLSS on quality mode, but only for the top two
ray tracing presets. This is because ray tracing is so intensive that it makes
sense to use features like DLSS here. Anyway with RT plus DLSS, above 60 FPS was possible,
similar to just using high settings without RT or DLSS.
Microsoft Flight Simulator was another that wasn’t able to hit 60 FPS at max settings,
but it also doesn’t really need a super high frame rate to play. That said,
this game should be getting FSR support in future which could be used to boost performance higher.
Far Cry 6 was tested with the game’s benchmark
and this one was able to surpass 60 FPS at max settings, though this one
does already have FSR support which could also be used to boost performance higher.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was tested with the game’s benchmark too,
and again more than 60 FPS even at max settings here, which is a great result speaking as someone
who played the entire game the first time at like 40 FPS for more than 100 hours.
Watch Dogs Legion wasn’t quite able to hit the magic 60 FPS sweet spot at max settings,
but at the same time max settings are by no means a requirement to have games looking good.
High or very high settings offer a much better mixture of performance and eye candy.
Rainbow Six Siege basically runs on a potato. Even the 1% lows at max
settings were higher than the screen’s refresh rate, so no issues at all here.
Control was tested earlier in the comparison section,
but now we’ve got ray tracing with DLSS enabled shown in the green bars.
At high settings it’s basically the same with these two features on compared to not on,
and given the frame rate is good, you might as well use DLSS and RT to have things looking shiny.
Cyberpunk 2077 was also tested earlier, but again now we’ve got some ray tracing presets with DLSS
only enabled on those RT options. Even with DLSS the RT settings weren’t doing too well,
the 1% lows in particular had big dips. I’d love to say this is due to the single memory stick,
but I can’t because the laptop didn’t boot with my 2 sticks installed.
Red Dead Redemption 2 wasn’t doing that much differently between low and high settings,
so might as well just stick to high to again get that good mixture of FPS and
looks, as ultra settings lowers the performance quite a bit.
All things considered, this year’s TUF A15 is a decent performer in games.
Sure it’s not that far ahead of a bunch of other gaming laptops, but if you asked me just
last year if an ASUS TUF A15 would be the best 3060 laptop I’ve tested halfway through 2022?
I probably would have just laughed. The only thing I didn’t personally like was the 144Hz
screen’s slow response time. But if you’re a more casual player like me, it’s probably not
going to be a problem. But fortunately that is an issue that can be fixed by paying more money,
as the TUF A15 is available with higher refresh rate options and even 1440p.
That single stick of DDR5 memory didn’t really seem to negatively affect performance,
and you can find out why that’s the case in this video over here next. We’ve compared a
bunch of games in both dual channel and quad channel DDR5 memory configurations to see
what sort of a difference it makes in modern gaming laptops. Otherwise I’ll cover thermals,
battery life and everything else about the TUF A15 in the upcoming full review video,
so make sure you’re subscribed for that one!