Laptop for gaming and general use

Mancomb Seepgood

I'm looking for a new laptop to use for general daily tasks (browsing, media, writing the odd document) as well as gaming. Ideally it would have a 15.6" screen and sufficiently good build quality to last a good few years.


Two I was looking at were:


ASUS TUF A15 (with new Ryzen 7 4800): https://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-tuf-gaming-a15-fa506iu-al019t-fortress-gray-144hz-fhd-ryzen-7-16gb-ddr4-1tb-ssd-gtx


ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-rog-zephyrus-g15-ga502iu-al011t-brushed-black-144hz-fhd-ryzen-7-gtx-1660ti-16gb-ddr4


Spec wise they both look similar. The Zephyrus seems to get higher marks for build quality and I prefer the look of it. Downsides are no webcam (not a huge problem) and no numeric keypad (which I'm used to but may be able to live without).


Any thoughts would be welcome, I haven't spent this much on a laptop before and in fairness it's probably shown in how long they've lasted me.

both decent laptops.

the G15 has an aluminium chassis I believe where the TUF won't.

you'd have to look into any differences in the screen quality also.

I wouldn't normally have recommended the RTX cards but this recent development suggests that due to DLSS (the new 2.0 version) that they really may be worth having

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS1vQ8JtbdM

maybe this version of the Tuf?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnvpWsQmn3A

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-tuf-gaming-a15-fa506iv-al032t-fhd-ips-144hz-ryzen-7-4800h-16gb-ddr4-1tb-nvme-6gb-rtx-2060-w

Mancomb Seepgood

Thanks glasso. I had spotted those RTX 2060 models but wasn't sure whether they were worth the extra money. I should have mentioned that I'm not much of an online gamer, I'd be using it to play the likes of RDR 2, GTA V, Witcher 3 and Skyrim. Ideally with high settings on the older games but would be happy with medium on newer ones.

Heat does seem to be an issue with most gaming laptops as well. I had previously considered a Dell G5 but there were some nightmare stories out there regarding overheating.

Mancomb Seepgood

Mancomb Seepgood wrote: »

Thanks glasso. I had spotted those RTX 2060 models but wasn't sure whether they were worth the extra money. I should have mentioned that I'm not much of an online gamer, I'd be using it to play the likes of RDR 2, GTA V, Witcher 3 and Skyrim. Ideally with high settings on the older games but would be happy with medium on newer ones.

Heat does seem to be an issue with most gaming laptops as well. I had previously considered a Dell G5 but there were some nightmare stories out there regarding overheating.

yes you do have to see that the thermals don't result in throttling of performance.

with a gaming laptop you are going to have to deal with fan noise under high gaming load.

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/36108-asus-tuf-gaming-fa506iv-review/

i do think that it's worth getting the RTX card now.

even if you are more focused on existing games if a new one comes out that you want to play and it supports dlss you will be able to get much better performance with it and also have the option of using ray-tracing on for more realistic graphics

Mancomb Seepgood

glasso wrote: »

yes you do have to see that the thermals don't result in throttling of performance.

with a gaming laptop you are going to have to deal with fan noise under high gaming load.

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/36108-asus-tuf-gaming-fa506iv-review/

i do think that it's worth getting the RTX card now.

even if you are more focused on existing games if a new one comes out that you want to play and it supports dlss you will be able to get much better performance with it and also have the option of using ray-tracing on for more realistic graphics

Looks like the TUF A15 is probably better value then (I think this is the model reviewed above: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-tuf-gaming-a15-fa506iv-al032t-fhd-ips-144hz-ryzen-7-4800h-16gb-ddr4-1tb-nvme-6gb-rtx-2060-w).


Screen quality does seem to get a bit of criticism, but I may also have the option of using an external display as well.

the screen doesn't seem to be too bad - 250 nits brigthness is not "amazing" but is servicable and it is high refresh rate and IPS. there have been a lot worse out there....

yes this model I think

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-tuf-gaming-a15-fa506iv-al032t-fhd-ips-144hz-ryzen-7-4800h-16gb-ddr4-1tb-nvme-6gb-rtx-2060-w

(your link diidn't work)

Mancomb Seepgood

Oops..yes, that's the one. Thanks for all your help glasso!

if you haven't bought that already this is a really great deal for £999 (available May)

I would wait for £300 saving to be honest. the 6-core intel cpu in it is plenty strong for gaming and general use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7gyHZEving

if you want to add more ram (altho 8gb enough for gaming) and more storage (second m.2 slot free) you could to both with simple click-ins for 100 euro.

Mancomb Seepgood

My current laptop is an MSI and I have little love for the build quality, particularly of the keyboard but this looks good...I haven't purchased yet. The TUF A15 isn't available until May in any case and I'm keeping an eye on the exchange rate.

take each model on its merits I would advise

Mancomb Seepgood

Mancomb Seepgood wrote: »

My current laptop is an MSI and I have little love for the build quality, particularly of the keyboard but this looks good...I haven't purchased yet. The TUF A15 isn't available until May in any case and I'm keeping an eye on the exchange rate.

use revolut for the market rate.

would not see a huge change in the rate over the next few weeks.

Euro to get worse if anything probably.

_Kaiser_

Lenovo Y540 is one I was looking at as a stop gap for my gaming itch as I've no access to my pc at the moment and it's generally gotten good reviews and seen as better than the DELL G5. It's also not as garish as many others which would put me off. It could quite happily sit in an office actually.

Only reason I didn't pull the trigger was I couldn't justify a grand for what is hopefully only a few more weeks of separation from my 34" ultrawide gaming pc setup

_Kaiser_

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Lenovo Y540 is one I was looking at as a stop gap for my gaming itch as I've no access to my pc at the moment and it's generally gotten good reviews and seen as better than the DELL G5. It's also not as garish as many others which would put me off. It could quite happily sit in an office actually.

Only reason I didn't pull the trigger was I couldn't justify a grand for what is hopefully only a few more weeks of separation from my 34" ultrawide gaming pc setup

really bad value tho - have never seen one offered with decent specs for a decent price.

certainly nothing near the msi with 9750h and 2060 RTX for £1k sterling.

which is not an awful looking machine and pretty thin and light.

sheepsh4gger

Mancomb Seepgood wrote: »

I'm looking for a new laptop to use for general daily tasks (browsing, media, writing the odd document) as well as gaming. Ideally it would have a 15.6" screen and sufficiently good build quality to last a good few years.


Two I was looking at were:


ASUS TUF A15 (with new Ryzen 7 4800): https://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-tuf-gaming-a15-fa506iu-al019t-fortress-gray-144hz-fhd-ryzen-7-16gb-ddr4-1tb-ssd-gtx


ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-rog-zephyrus-g15-ga502iu-al011t-brushed-black-144hz-fhd-ryzen-7-gtx-1660ti-16gb-ddr4


Spec wise they both look similar. The Zephyrus seems to get higher marks for build quality and I prefer the look of it. Downsides are no webcam (not a huge problem) and no numeric keypad (which I'm used to but may be able to live without).


Any thoughts would be welcome, I haven't spent this much on a laptop before and in fairness it's probably shown in how long they've lasted me.

If portability is not a must I would consider getting a desktop computer. It will cost you less and be more reliable.


I own an ROG laptop and hate it with passion. Gaming laptops overheat and sound like an airplane taking off. You also can't upgrade / repair them as easily as desktops.