We’ve tested the new Zephyrus G15 in 14 different games to show you how well it performs
and compares against other laptops!
Maybe we should have tested 15 games, because 15 games, G15, sounds cooler, but I’m sure
14 games will be enough!
My G15 has AMD’s Ryzen 9 6900HS CPU, Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti graphics, 32 gigs of DDR5 memory
and a 15.6” 1440p 240Hz screen, so some nice sounding specs for gaming.
There are both lower and higher specced configurations for less or money respectively, and you can
check all of the options out with those links below the video.
Now the RTX 3070 Ti graphics in the G15 can run up to 120 watts with Nvidia’s dynamic
boost, but with the CPU also loaded up, so in most games for example, I found that the
GPU would top out at 100 watts, and this is a welcome change from last year’s G15 which
had a lower GPU power limit range of 75 to 100 watts.
The ASUS Armory Crate software lets us 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 CPU and GPU power limits were the same in both turbo and manual modes, so game performance
didn’t change.
Now unlike last year, this year ASUS have added a MUX switch to the Zephyrus G15, which
means we’ve got the option of disabling the integrated graphics to get a speed boost
in games, so all testing has been done like this for best results.
Like previous Zephyrus designs, there’s some memory soldered to the motherboard.
You’ll want to have a stick installed as well for best performance like I’ve got,
but as I’ve already shown in this video here, you’re not actually losing that much
performance without the stick installed when it comes to new DDR5 memory.
Alright, so what about the screen though, given that’s what you’re actually going
to be looking at when playing games?
We’re looking at an average grey-to-grey response time under 4ms with the 1440p 240Hz
panel, an excellent result.
It’s only slightly faster compared to last year’s 165Hz version, but hey I’ll take
an improvement over getting worse.
Last year’s G15 screen was already quite good in this regard.
The total system latency is the amount of time between a mouse click and when a gunshot
fire appears on the screen in CS:GO.
Unfortunately I added this test a little after testing out last year’s G15, so I can’t
compare with that, but this year’s still offers a decent result compared to other models.
Alright let’s get into the game benchmarks.
We’ll start out by seeing how the Zephyrus G15 actually compares against other laptops
in games, and then after that we’ll test out even more titles with features like DLSS,
FSR and ray tracing.
So let’s get into the benchmarks!
Cyberpunk 2077 was tested the same on all laptops, and I’ve got this year’s Zephyrus
G15 shown by the red highlight.
This year’s G15 is reaching a 13% higher average FPS compared to last year’s version,
despite last year’s version having a higher tier RTX 3080 GPU.
I’m sure the CPU difference is having an effect at this lower 1080p resolution, but
still, it really goes to show what gains you can get from a higher GPU power limit.
There’s a similar 11% boost to average FPS at the higher 1440p resolution, which is the
native resolution of the screen in both of my G15 laptops.
I found it interesting that the Zephyrus G15 was performing a little better compared to
the Zephyrus M16.
Both laptops have RTX 3070 Ti graphics with the same power limit range and a MUX switch,
the key difference is the CPU change.
I’ll compare the G15 and M16 in a dedicated comparison video soon, make sure you’re
subscribed.
Control is a GPU heavy game, so although this year’s G15 is around 10% ahead of last years
in average FPS, I’d say most of this is due to the GPU power limit difference rather
than the fact that this year’s G15 added a MUX switch.
We’d expect the MUX switch to help more in eSports titles, or any game that is capable
of hitting super high frame rates.
The difference is usually quite small in GPU heavy games like this though.
I was quite surprised to see this year’s Zephyrus G15 coming out slightly ahead of
a couple of RTX 3080 Ti laptops at the higher 1440p resolution.
Sure it’s an extremely minor difference and definitely not one you’d notice while
playing, the point is you’d expect the 3080 Ti machines to do better.
The Aero 16 doesn’t have a MUX switch while the Blade 15 does.
The GPU power limits aren’t all that different between those two 3080 Ti’s and the 3070
Ti in the G15, so yeah at similar power limits it shows that it’s not worth spending more
money on the 3080 Ti.
A 10% or so FPS difference compared to last year’s G15 that had a higher tier GPU is
a decent result.
Of course it’s absolutely not worth upgrading from last year’s G15 if you’ve already
got one.
It’s just good to see things improve over time.
Alright now that we know how the G15 compares against other laptops, let’s test it out
in way more games.
Apex Legends was tested in the latest Season 13 in the World’s Edge map.
This game doesn’t have any built in setting presets, so I’ve tested it with either all
settings maxed out or at minimum.
It still played great at max settings on this laptop, but low settings were able to boost
average FPS by 49%.
Call of Duty Warzone was also tested at either maximum or minimum setting levels for the
same reason - no presets.
The differences are much closer together in this one, so might as well turn on some graphical
effects to get the eye candy.
Forza Horizon 5 was tested with the game’s benchmark.
Even max settings was above 60 FPS while very low settings was significantly higher, so
there’s definitely room to find a good mixture between performance and having the game looking
good.
God of war was still above 60 FPS even at max settings, however the 1% lows were a fair
bit behind, even with DLSS enabled.
Max settings don’t really make sense for most people anyway, high typically offers
a better mix of performance while still looking great.
Fortnite on the other hand is a competitive title, so higher frame rates would be helpful
here.
100 FPS was possible at max settings with DLSS on quality mode at the screen’s native
1440p resolution.
We could of course lower DLSS to further boost performance, but quality mode offers a nice
mixture of FPS boost without degrading visual quality.
Dying Light 2 was also tested with DLSS enabled, but even with it on the two ray tracing presets
up the top weren’t doing super well.
It seems like RT at 1440p even with DLSS can still be a struggle for a 3070 Ti with mid-range
GPU power limit.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested with the game’s benchmark with DLSS on quality mode.
Max settings were still above 60 FPS, but there’s a fairly big improvement lowering
down just one level to high settings, while medium and low didn’t offer too much additional
benefit.
Microsoft Flight Simulator doesn’t need a high frame rate to play.
High settings was close to 60 FPS, so like other games, a decent mixture of performance
and visual quality.
This game is meant to be adding FSR support in future, so higher FPS will hopefully be
possible soon.
Far Cry 6 on the other hand already has FSR support, and this was tested on quality mode
with the game’s benchmark tool.
This game generally doesn’t see that big of a difference between the different setting
presets.
Rainbow Six Siege on the other hand is the champion of no difference between different
setting presets, because the top three have always given us the same results for years.
Anyway this is one of the few games where we can fully take advantage of the 240Hz screen,
even at the higher 1440p resolution.
Of course that’s not to say the other games don’t look amazing, it’s just that eSports
titles at lower settings are the only games that stand a chance of hitting high FPS at
1440p.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on the other hand was much lower comparatively, but at 60 FPS
max settings, well I think that’s plenty to run this game without any problems.
I’d probably settle for high settings though, again for the good mixture of performance
while also still looking quite nice.
Does anyone even play Watch Dogs Legion anymore?
I was a bit disappointed with the ending after what Watch Dogs 2 offered.
Anyway let me know, because we’re probably going to stop testing this one soon.
Control was tested earlier in the comparison section, but now we’ve got ray tracing enabled
in the green bars.
RT isn’t performing too badly at all with DLSS enabled, it’s a PowerPoint slideshow
with DLSS off which is why we don’t bother testing it.
Cyberpunk 2077 was also tested earlier, but again now we’ve got some ray tracing results.
Like Dying Light 2 earlier, the RT presets aren’t looking great even with DLSS on.
The RT Low setting looks good in terms of average FPS, but the 1% low is pathetic, so
lots of dips in performance.
If you really want ray tracing here you’ll need to lower the DLSS mode from quality to
something else like balanced.
I’ll cover things like thermals, battery life and everything else on the Zephyrus G15
in the upcoming full review video, so make sure you’re subscribed to the channel for
that, and of course for that upcoming comparison between the G15 and Zephyrus M16.
For now though you can see how the M16 performs in these same games in this video next, I’ll
see you over in that one.