The ASUS TUF A15 gaming laptop uses AMD’s new Ryzen 4000 processors, let’s find out
just how well it performs in 20 different games at all setting levels, and compare it
against some other laptops to help you decide if it’s worth it.
I’ve got the FA506IV model here, which means there’s an 8 core AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor,
Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics, 16gb of memory in dual channel, and a 144Hz 1080p screen, I’ll
test the response time too.
The TUF A15 is also available with different specs, I’ve also got the Ryzen 5 4600H with
1650 Ti model here too so make sure you’re subscribed for that one too, otherwise you
can find updated prices linked in the description.
The ASUS Armoury Crate software lets you select between different performance modes.
I’ve done all testing with turbo mode enabled for best performance, and this raises the
fan speed and applies the following overclock to the GPU.
We’ll only be covering gaming performance in this video, so look out for the upcoming
full review and thermal testing videos.
Let’s start out by going through all games at all setting levels, then afterwards we’ll
see how the ASUS TUF A15 gaming laptop compares with some other laptops.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark tool, and this
test is tough on pretty much any laptop regardless of specs with max settings, though for an
RTX 2060 machine generally we see higher FPS with an Intel processor, particularly at lower
settings.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode, I didn’t bother testing RTX like I usually
do, as it honestly doesn’t seem worthwhile in this title, but let me know if you still
want to see it.
The performance at ultra settings was fair for an RTX 2060 laptop, but we’ll see how
this title compares with other machines soon.
Control was tested with and without RTX enabled as it’s much more useful in this title.
I’ve got the results with RTX off in purple, RTX on in the green bars which is much worse,
then RTX on with DLSS enabled as shown by the red bars.
At max settings the DLSS result is pretty similar to RTX off while also gaining some
of the benefits of ray tracing.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and the results were
again fair for a 2060 based laptop, but we’ll check out how other laptops compare with the
A15 in this game shortly.
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.
Even with all settings maxed out above 100 FPS was possible and it was playing without
issue.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare was tested in campaign mode, and I’ve also tested it with
the settings either maxed out or at minimum.
Max settings were still playing well, though minimum was hitting 1% lows that were similar
to the average at max if you prefer frame rate.
Borderlands 3 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark, and it was still possible
to surpass 60 FPS with the high setting preset in this test, though we could hit above 100
FPS at very low settings.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also tested with the benchmark tool, and although this is another
resource heavy game, we’re still able to reach above 60 FPS at ultra settings.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, and as a less demanding title it was still
running very well with the highest epic setting preset.
High settings allowed us to hit average FPS above the 144Hz refresh rate of the screen,
while even the 1% low was above this at medium.
Overwatch is another less demanding game and was tested in the practice range.
Once more at the highest epic setting preset the frame rates were excellent, the averages
were higher than the screen’s refresh rate in all cases.
CS:GO was tested using the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and as a game that prefers CPU clock speed,
the results were noticeably lower when compared to an Intel i7 laptop with the same GPU.
For brief comparison, the Acer Triton 500 with 90 watt 2060 and 8th gen i7 got very
similar 1% lows, but was 20-30 FPS higher in the averages.
Dota 2 was tested playing in the middle lane, and a similar pattern was observed here too.
Generally with an i7 based laptop we’re hitting higher average FPS than this, though
in practice these are still great results for the game and it’s playing without any
issue.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark using Vulkan, and high settings
were needed to hit average FPS above the screen’s refresh rate.
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, the highest ultra setting preset
was still capable of reaching the magic 60 FPS number, though we could more than double
it at low settings.
This is only my second time testing Monster Hunter World, however even at max settings
the 1% low is right on 60 FPS, not too far behind the average, so quite a smooth and
consistent experience, while 100 FPS could be hit at low if you need more.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark, and the performance
was fair in this one, again for brief comparison that Triton 500 with same GPU but 8th gen
i7 was performing within 1-2 FPS of this both in average FPS and 1% low.
The MSI GE65 with 9th gen i7 was ahead though, however it also has a more aggressive GPU
overclock.
Far Cry New Dawn was also tested with the games benchmark, and tends to be more CPU
heavy, we’ll check out how the older Far Cry 5 compares with some other machines very
soon.
The Witcher 3 was playing well enough at max settings, though the 1% low was on the lower
side, at least compared to high settings which offers a nice performance boost without too
much loss to visual fidelity in my opinion.
F1 2019 was tested using the game’s benchmark tool, and it generally sees a similar pattern
of much lower results at max settings when compared to dropping back just one level.
Let’s also take a look at how this configuration of the ASUS TUF A15 gaming laptop 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 A15 highlighted in red.
The average FPS is very close to the Triton 500 with 8th gen i7 which is just below it,
however the A15’s 1% low is down a little comparatively.
It’s also behind the MSI GE65 with the same 90 watt RTX 2060, though that does apply a
higher GPU overclock by default.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings in the built in benchmark.
This is more of a CPU sensitive test, however this time the A15 is a little lower on the
graph when compared to the same selection of laptops.
That’s in terms of average FPS at least, to be fair the 1% low is still in line with
many of the i7 based machines.
These are the results from Shadow of the Tomb raider with the built in benchmark at highest
settings.
In this more GPU demanding test the A15 is back in the same position as we saw in Battlefield
5.
It’s ahead of some 2060 laptops like the Triton 500 again, though the GE65 is a few
frames ahead once more.
Overall the gaming performance isn’t amazing, but it’s definitely respectable.
Despite the Ryzen 7 4800H coming out ahead in CPU heavy workloads like Blender, it seems
that Intel mobile processors have an edge in gaming.
I will investigate this in depth in future comparisons once I’ve got machines to do
it fairly.
This was clearer when looking at the results at lower setting levels that are less GPU
bound, that said it of course depends on the specific game, and the 4800H is still definitely
delivering a good experience in all of these titles.
While testing these 20 games out, I honestly cannot say I had any issues with the panel,
but I don’t think I’m personally that sensitive to the slower response times, which
is why I recently invested in the tools needed to measure response time.
So far the A15 is the slowest laptop panel I’ve ever tested by a fair amount, granted
I’ve only tested about 5 laptops with this so far.
You can check the link in the description if you need an explanation of what all of
these numbers mean, but the key takeaway is on average the grey-to-grey response time
is 20ms.
I’ll cover thermals in depth in the next video, so make sure you’re subscribed for
that one as well as the upcoming full review, but for now let me know what you thought of
the A15’s gaming performance down in the comments, I’ll also be testing some other
A15 configurations with different specs over the coming weeks too.