Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 - Design and Features
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is one of the most subtly cool laptops I’ve used. It features a thin and light design, coming in at only 19mm thick and 4.2 lbs, which is slightly lighter than many gaming laptops with similar specs. Its body is made from a blend of magnesium and aluminum for extra rigidity, and the lid has been precision milled with more than eight thousand tiny perforations. This creates an interesting look all by itself, but thin strips of prismatic film lie beneath, creating rainbow stripes when the light catches it just so. It’s an eye catching effect and really lends the Zephyrus a unique look. As expected at this price point, the G15 comes in a range of different configurations that allow you to customize the amount of storage, pre-installed memory, and your choice of GPU between the RTX 3060, 3070, or 3080. It’s also available in two color options: Moonlight White or Eclipse Gray. My unit was the Eclipse Gray GA503QR variant and had the following specs:- Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS (8-core/16-thread)
- Display: 15.6-inch IPS-Level
- Resolution: 2560x1440
- Refresh Rate: 165Hz
- Graphics: RTX 3070 (Mobile Version)
- Memory: 16GB DDR4, 3200 MHz, 32GB Maximum
- Storage: 1TB NVMe
- Networking: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), 1Gbps Ethernet
- I/O Ports: 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support displayport / power delivery / G-SYNC, 1x RJ45 LAN port, 1x card reader (microSD)
This arrangement is as important as it is disappointing. Ideally, memory should be equally matched in speed, capacity and latency. With half the memory soldered to the board, it’s impossible to use a single matching kit for your whole system, increasing the risk of compatibility issues. You also won’t be able to max out the 32 GB of supported memory. You can install a 16 GB chip and have 24 GB total or attempt a 32 GB chip and have some of that memory go unrecognized, should the system decide to support it. It feels like Asus is forcing users toward the 32 GB G15s. Given how well suited the GA503 is to content creation in addition to gaming, that may just be worth considering. The laptop features a full Ryzen 9 5900 HS processor which offers eight cores and sixteen threads of multitask-ready performance and a maximum boost clock of 4.6 GHz. That’s a bit shy of the comparable Intel Core i9-10980HK and its boost clock of 5.3 GHz, but offers more overall cache and a lower power usage in trade. Note that despite its 5000-series naming, it is a Zen 3 CPU, so there’s no PCIe Gen 4.0 support here, which is a bummer. Despite that limitation, the added multithreaded performance means game streaming, as well as 4K video editing are real possibilities. In those use cases, the added memory can certainly come in handy for RAM-hungry creative apps. 
At its core, though, this is a gaming machine and it is purpose-built to accomplish that goal. My model came with an RTX 3070 graphics card, though it can be purchased with lower or higher end GPUs to play on high or ultra settings, depending on your resolution. The 16 GB of pre-installed RAM is also clocked reasonably fast at 3200 MHz to further push frame rates – and if you’re more interested in gaming than content creation, you’ll likely find 16 GB perfectly sufficient for most games available today. It also comes with a fast 1 TB NVMe SSD to keep load times to a minimum. 
The real star of the show is the gorgeous 15.6-inch display. The Zephyrus is one of the new crop of gaming laptops to feature a WQHD (1440p) display. The resolution is the midway point between 1080p and 4K and looks noticeably more crisp than a standard FHD display of the same size. Asus takes that up a notch by clocking it to a fast 165 Hz for added clarity and responsiveness. It also features FreeSync to prevent screen tearing and boasts a 3ms response time to ward off ghosting. Color coverage is also exceptional with 100% of the DCI-P3 color space covered, making it a solid choice for content creation. I was also surprised to see that the ROG Armory suite automatically downloaded a color calibration profile the first time I loaded the software, which is another boon to creators looking for a color-accurate display. On all counts, the G15 impressed and I noticed no tearing or ghosting whatsoever in my testing. 
Often in gaming laptops, users are forced to choose between performance, temperatures, and noise. The G15 balances each of these well. The GPU hit a peak temperature of 82C and usually hovered closed to 77C while gaming. The CPU, on the other hand, was expectedly more warm and hovered closer to 93C. Both of these are within reasonable temperature expectations for a high-performance gaming laptop, but even more impressive was that it achieved this while offering very reasonable acoustics. On Performance mode, it was surprisingly reasonable, but even on Turbo where the fans can ramp up to max, it was never loud enough to interrupt my gameplay. The top of the laptop does get quite hot to the touch above the keyboard, though. I’ve rather liked having the G15 as my companion the last two weeks, even when I’m not gaming. The keyboard is great, albeit limited to a single-color backlight. The keys have more depth than many chiclet-style keyboards and have a nice tactility that helps prevent typos. I could never get used to having the Fn button on the left side, though, and regularly hit the Windows key when trying to Alt+Tab. The touchpad also has its pros and cons. On the plus side, it’s large which makes browsing the web and even doing some light gaming a breeze. On the other hand, the size and under-surface buttons left me clicking multiple times only to realize I needed to move more to the left or right to be in the correct position. Overall, the pros outweigh the cons for each and it offers a very nice browsing experience. 
When it comes to added features, the G15 has the goods. A fingerprint reader comes installed in the power button for biometric login. Interestingly, there is no built-in webcam but instead it ships with a separate 1080p60 webcam that’s perfect for live streaming (this wasn’t included with my sample). It also offers the best sound I’ve ever heard from a laptop thanks to its six speaker array and included Dolby Atmos license. Unlike most gaming laptops, the G15 is actually able to sound big and features decent bass despite its thin construction. Asus has also included its AI noise-cancelling tech to make sure your teammates and co-workers can hear you clearly, even when there’s background noise. In addition, the laptop even supports fast charging. Plugging in for 30 minutes will restore the battery to 50%, so downtime is kept to a minimum. The laptop also has wide compatibility with the fastest networking and wireless codecs. It features WiFi 6 for high-speed wireless internet access and gigabit ethernet for wired connections. It also supports Bluetooth 5.1 to quickly pair with wireless keyboards and mice, as well as lifestyle tech like true wireless earbuds. The connections were universally fast to connect, offered reliably fast speeds, and maintained their connections well. Lastly, when it comes to ports, the G15 features two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports (with DisplayPort, power delivery, and G-Sync support), a microSD card reader, a dedicated RJ45 ethernet port, an HDMI 2.0b video output for use with external displays, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. The arrangement is a little odd, however, with only one USB Type-A port and the microSD card reader on the right and everything else compressed on the left, including the AC adapter. 
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 – Software
When it comes to included software, the Zephyrus GA503 is delightfully light. There isn’t any bloatware to slow down your mobile battlestation. Instead, it’s a relatively stock Windows installation with the only addition of Asus’s management suite, ROG Armoury Crate. Helpfully, this tool has its own dedicated button above the keyboard to easily call it forward to make adjustments. Armoury Crate has come a long way since its inception, and the suite here is full-featured and intuitive.The Home screen allows you to set the performance mode between Windows to Turbo and even a Manual option for overclocking and creating custom fan curves. With the exception of the last, each of these has a helpful graphic to explain the trade-offs at each level of performance. This screen also offers a performance overview for the whole system, which is nice for getting a quick eye on your temperatures and memory usage.
The System tab houses some of the most interesting settings in the suite. It features a Memory tab which displays active processes and allows you to disable them whenever you start a game. The GPU power saving tab allows you to enable iGPU mode and use the integrated graphics on the R9 5900HS to save on battery when not gaming. Like Nvidia’s Optimus, this can be set to Auto to intelligently switch between both GPUs as needed. It also has a very useful process monitor so you can quickly see which apps are using the dedicated GPU and draining the battery. Other sections allow you to customize display settings, as well as the keyboard’s lighting effects. The GameVisual tab allows you to choose from a number of presets for the screen. The usual suspects are all present – Racing, FPS, RTS, Cinema – as well as Vivid, Scenery, and EyeCare settings. This tab also houses a color temperature slider and a sub-tab to go through manual screen calibration if you own an X-Rite colorimeter. AuraSync works similarly, allowing you to choose from a number of presets for the keyboard’s lighting or to create your own, but since it only sports a single-color backlight, there’s not much customizing to be had. It does offer the ability to quickly sync with other ROG AuraSync devices, should those also be connected to the PC. 
Additionally, Armoury Crate allows users to create their own scenario profiles. When activated, these scenarios automatically apply collections of settings to match the activity. These settings include volume, display overdrive, disabling the Windows and ROG keys or the touchpad, applying different fan settings when plugged in or on battery, and what lighting should be applied when the profile is active. These can also be tied to specific apps to automatically engage whenever they’re opened. Perhaps best of all, this software doesn’t really need to be opened again after you’re happy with your settings. The most common parameter to change is the performance mode, which also has its own function row key to change on the fly. Between that, automatic iGPU switching, and custom profiles, the benefits of the program are available without needing to open it every time. 
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 – Performance
With that background out of the way, it’s time to look at how the system performs. I ran the G15 through a series of synthetic and real-world gaming benchmarks to simulate the kind of performance you can expect in games, and then positioned it against some competitive alternative options to demonstrate how it stacks up. The laptop was set to Turbo performance mode and set to use the RTX 3070 exclusively. All games are tested on ultra settings with ray tracing and DLSS enabled wherever available. Two things to note in the data below. First, Hitman 3 is the new game to our test rotation. The MSI GS66 Stealth had to be returned before I was able to run this test, so that data point is missing from the chart below. We are also in the process of validating the results we found on the Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC. So those results are noted with an asterisk and will be updated once concluded.|
Benchmarks |
MSI GS66 Stealth |
MSI GS66 Stealth (1440p) |
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 |
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 (1440p) |
MSI GP66 Leopard |
Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC |
|
Price as tested |
TBA |
TBA |
$1,799 |
$1,799 |
$1,799 |
$1,799 |
|
CPU |
Intel Core i7-10870H |
Intel Core i7-10870H |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS |
Intel Core i7-10870H |
Intel Core i7-10870H |
|
GPU |
Nvidia RTX 3080 |
Nvidia RTX 3080 |
Nvidia RTX 3070 |
Nvidia RTX 3070 |
Nvidia RTX 3070 |
Nvidia RTX 3070 |
|
3DMark Time Spy |
9623 |
N/A |
9417 |
N/A |
10266 |
8851 |
|
3DMark Fire Strike |
19725 |
N/A |
20947 |
N/A |
21626 |
19229 |
|
3DMark Night Raid |
40996 |
N/A |
35633 |
N/A |
47377 |
44820 |
|
Total War: Three Kingdoms |
83 |
53 |
71 |
46 |
84 |
113* |
|
Borderlands 3 |
89 |
65 |
110 |
81 |
87 |
77 |
|
Metro Exodus |
64 |
56 |
57 |
49 |
69 |
52 |
|
Hitman 3 |
NA |
NA |
113.9 |
94.3 |
158 |
129.9 |
|
Unigine Heaven 4.0 |
124 |
78 |
123 |
80 |
126 |
116 |
|
PCMark 10 |
5892 |
N/A |
7016 |
N/A |
6499 |
6403 |
|
PCMark 10 Battery Test |
5:44 |
N/A |
5:01 |
N/A |
2:20 |
4:41 |
I also ran the internal NVMe SSD through a quick speed test. The drive included here is from SK Hynix, which is a good brand, but used an obscure model number. CrystalDiskMark confirmed its high performance capability. Maximum read speed topped out at 3.6 GB/s and 2.9 GB/s for writes. As a PCIe Gen 3.0 drive, these are very good speeds and will minimize load times in games. Outside of benchmarks, the Zephyrus was an absolute joy to game with. I turned down to high settings once the benchmarks were done and it was a worthy tradeoff. Games look immediately more crisp at 1440p and dropping to “high” made sure I could take better advantage of the high refresh rate screen. FreeSync also made sure games felt consistently smooth, so tearing around in Doom Eternal felt fluid and entirely satisfying. I also spent some time working in Premiere Pro, editing a 4K video I’m working on. The G15 performed flawlessly. I was extremely impressed at how well it handled these difficult files while still maintaining mostly smooth playback. It did stutter at times, especially once I added transition effects, but it was entirely usable even for this level of video editing. 
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 – Battery Life
The G15 features a large 90 watt hour battery. For the cost of the laptop, this is large but falls short of some of the competition in this price range. Thanks to iGPU power management, however, it can offer extended battery life. I tested the battery using the PCMark 10’s Modern Office battery life test. The PC was set to Battery Saver mode and the Armoury Crate preset to Windows mode. IGPU Mode was set to “auto,” allowing the RTX 3070 to be utilized. External radios were disabled, screen brightness was set to 50%, and the keyboard reduced to its lowest backlight setting. In this scenario, the battery lasted 5 hours and 1 minute. I note “this scenario,” however, because this could be extended simply by changing a few settings. Swapping to the integrated GPU exclusively would absolutely yield better battery life, as would dropping the screen resolution to 1080p. The versatility here is very good and allows the user to decide what trade-offs they would like to make. The impact of a dead battery is also less thanks to the 30-minutes-for-half-battery fast charging ability. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-gaming-laptops&captions=true"]Purchasing Guide
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503QR is available for $1799.99 as configured for this review. At the time of this writing, it is currently sold out but is listed for purchase at Best Buy. Alternative configurations are also available at the Asus Official Store,from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3stE15S
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