Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 review: an AMD gaming powerhouse…

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 review: an AMD gaming powerhouse

The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 gives you an AMD CPU and an AMD GPU working in perfect harmony, and the benefits of that combination are plain to see. It’s not quite perfect, but for the price you’re paying it’s one of the best gaming laptops around.

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The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 is quite a mouthful but in short this is a mid-range contender for our best gaming laptop list, and it’s packed with top-end AMD technology in an attempt to show gamers that there are options beyond Intel and Nvidia.

With an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU and an AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU, it succeeds too – you get a lot of performance for the price if you go for this particular model for your next laptop, and there’s the extra peace of mind that comes with a respected brand like Asus.

In our Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 review we’ll take you through everything you need to know about this model, from its gaming performance to the sort of battery life you can expect between charges. Read on for the full story of this laptop.

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 review: screen and design

We very much like what Asus has done with the design and build of the G513: it’s chunky but in a stylish way, with a large flash of colour under the hinge and above one of the cooling vents. There’s nothing subtle about these four fan vents but again they’re well designed and in keeping with the overall aesthetic, and other touches like the metallic Republic Of Gamers logo on the lid and the dotted textures at the side of the keyboard add to the visual appeal of the laptop. It weighs in at 2.5 kilograms.

There’s RGB lighting control for the keyboard and the light bars underneath, all controlled with software preinstalled on the laptop. This of course is compatible with any other Asus gaming gear that supports Aura Sync, and it’s possible to create some dazzling effects if you want to – or just turn everything off. The W, A, S and D keys are translucent to help you find them more easily while gaming, which may or may not be to your tastes, and there are a couple of other unconventional layout choices – like media playback keys down the right-hand side of the laptop.

As for the 15.6-inch IPS LCD display, it runs at a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution, with a 300 Hz refresh rate and a 3 ms response time – another set of impressive specs that show the laptop can hold its own against its competitors (a 1440p alternative is also available). We found the screen to be great at showing off games, though it could use just a touch more brightness and vibrancy to really stand out from the crowd. It’s still a great display panel, but it’s perhaps one area where the G513 isn’t quite top notch.

In terms of ports and connectivity, we’ve got a 3.5mm audio jack, an HDMI 2.0b port, one USB-C port, three USB-A ports, and an Ethernet port, spread around the sides and the back of the laptop (the power cable also connects around the back). The latest Wi-Fi 6 standard is supported – very handy if you have a Wi-Fi 6 router at home – but there’s no webcam, which is an odd choice in an age where we’re all doing so much video calling. You don’t get a fingerprint sensor either, which is a shame as it makes logging into Windows a much simpler process.

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 review: performance and features

Our Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 review unit came with an AMD Ryzen 9 59H00HX CPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of NVMe SSD storage and an AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU – the best mobile graphics card AMD offers right now. In short, you won’t have any complaints about the performance of this gaming laptop, and it should run the very best PC games of the day without any issue. The AMD SmartShift technology is on board as well, which optimises CPU and GPU load depending on the current task, and FreeSync support ensures gameplay stays smooth and fluid.

In the well-known Time Spy benchmark in 3DMark, the G513 scored an impressive 10,569 in our testgs, which is better than 89 percent of results – it’s very close to the 11,085 average for high-end gaming PCs, and well above the 5,730 average for gaming laptops. We got a good 50-70 frames per second in Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 at a 1080p resolution with most graphics settings ramped up, though enabling ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 knocked that figure in half – it still looked fine, but not super-smooth.

Even AAA games run without a hitch then, and the laptop stays impressively cool too – the big vents around the side and the back of the main chassis ensure the underside of the laptop remains okay to touch, even if the vents themselves do warm up very quickly. Keyboard and trackpad responsiveness was good in our testing, and there was no problem with the audio output from the two 4W speakers (with Dolby Atmos), which was surprisingly decent for gaming, music and video.

Speaking of sound, the laptop does get reasonably loud under heavy load, but doesn’t get to distracting or annoying levels. As for battery life, no one’s usually going to buy a gaming laptop for the time it lasts away from a mains plug, but the G513 does well for a high-powered portable computer like this: an hour of streaming video at maximum brightness and a low volume knocks the battery down by about 7 percent an hour. That’s with the power-saving mode enabled though – Intensive tasks and gaming will of course accelerate that battery drain very quickly.

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 review: price and verdict

The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513 has been put together to demonstrate what a full AMD CPU and GPU combination can do, and it ends up being a pretty fantastic showcase for the tech. First and foremost you want your gaming laptop to run the best games well, and here the G513 passes with flying colours. Not only does it game well, it manages to stay relatively cool and relatively quiet while doing it, which is just about all you can ask for from a gaming laptop.

You may or may not like the design of the laptop, but in our eyes it’s definitely well done. The typing and touchpad experience are first rate, you’ve got plenty of ports and Wi-Fi 6 on board, and it’ll do just fine when you’re not playing games as well – other laptops perhaps hit that creativity/gaming sweet spot a bit better than this, but really it’s a great all-round computer (remember that it’s particularly good at streaming video without running down the battery particularly quickly).

While there are more powerful gaming laptops out there – which probably have a webcam as well, unlike this one – for the price you’re paying, we think the G513 gives you value for money and then some. Areas like the display could be improved, but for a price around the £1,900 mark (with 1TB of storage rather than 512GB) you get plenty of return on your investment in terms of gaming performance.

As we say at the end of many a gaming laptop review, the competition continues to get fiercer when it comes to the best gaming laptops: there are some genuinely fantastic options out there now, which means you’re really spoilt for choice as a buyer. Picking out the best one for you is a lot about the design choices and the brand names you like, and this is an obvious contender for AMD fans. There is room for improvement with the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition G513, but it’s still a great piece of gaming hardware.

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition review: This all-AMD laptop is affordable and very fast

At a Glance

Pros

• Outclasses every CPU in competing laptops
• Radeon RX GPU outclasses similarly-priced GeForce GPUs in conventional gaming.
• Surprisingly good audio quality

Cons

• No webcam
• Very bulky 280-watt power brick
• Nvidia GPUs outclass Radeon in ray tracing and content creation.

Our Verdict

Asus’ ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition offers all AMD components and an incredible price-to-performance ratio.

The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition gets all A’s: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, AMD Radeon RX 6800M, and AMD ‘Advantage,’ meaning it’s the first machine to meet AMD guidelines designed to make mid-range gaming laptops better. And yes, it’s made by Asus, too.

We’ll say this as a public service announcement right now: If you’re on the hunt for an affordable yet stupidly fast laptop on a medium budget, you may want to skip the rest of this and simply buy the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition right now (1,650 at Best Buy) because of its stunning price-to-performance ratio.

If you want to be a little more cautious and actually finish this review, we’ll first break down what’s inside.

This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best laptops. Go there for information on competing products and how we tested them.

ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition Specifications

Asus doesn’t skimp with the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition. Considering the price, the 16GB of DDR4/3200 RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD are solid components, actually very typical of this price range. If they’re not enough for you, both could be upgraded at a later date. Heck, the laptop even comes with Windows 10 Professional, which can cost 60 to 70 or more on most laptops. Here’s the longer spec list:

CPU: 8-core AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800M with 12GB of GDDR6

RAM: 16GB DDR4/3200

Display: 15.6-inch, FHD (1920×1080) IPS-level 300Hz panel with FreeSync

Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD

Dimensions: 14 x 10.25 x 0.8 inches

Weight: 5.1 pounds, add 2.1 pounds for the 280-watt AC adapter

OS: Windows 10 Pro

Connectivity

The ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition locates most of its ports at the rear (see image above), including:

• One USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
• One USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
• One HDMI 2.0b
• Gigabit ethernet running off of a Realtek controller

Like every AMD laptop we’ve seen, USB-C port doesn’t include Thunderbolt support, but it does have DisplayPort as well as USB-Power Delivery up to 100 watts.

The right side of the laptop doesn’t feature any ports, which makes sense for the majority of gamers who are right-handed (sorry, southpaws). Asus does integrate another pair of USB-A ports on the left side (see image below), along with an analog combo jack.

Design and build quality

We should warn you that if you’re looking for an thin gaming laptop with an all-aluminum body—the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition isn’t it. The lid and keyboard deck are aluminum, but the bottom and sides are unabashedly plastic.

It’s also relatively chunky, at about 28mm (1.1 inches) at its thickest point (not including the feet). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as thicker laptops tend to allow more room for cooling. We’ve seen many thinner laptops struggle with thermal throttling as their components heat up.

The 280-watt AC adapter can justifiably be called a ‘power brick’ considering its 2.1-pound weight. You could also power the ROG Strix G15 on a 100-watt USB-C charger, but don’t expect the same experience compared to the full-fat charger.

In the case of the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition, Asus puts the thicker, plus-sized body to work in cooling. In a “first,” the company said it has actually used the more efficient liquid-metal thermal interface material on both the CPU and the GPU. Laptops with more efficient liquid metal on the CPU have been available for a few years now, but no one until now has used it on the GPU. Vendors have always told us it made more sense to use it on the heat-intensive CPU.

Keyboard and trackpad

The trackpad on the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is fairly smooth, with Microsoft Precision driver support. Our unit had a slight trackpad “bounce” to it, which we’ve seen occasionally when the trackpad isn’t firmly mounted, resulting in a slight rattle. We think it’s an anomaly of our unit but are obligated to mention it.

The keyboard is a standard rubber-dome keyboard with decent travel and no major layout issues. The backlighting of the keyboard is RGB, but zone-lit, rather than per key. Asus does such a wonderful job with the rainbow unicorn vomit that most people won’t know the difference. There’s also perimeter RGB lighting around the base of the laptop.

Webcam and speakers

We first want to compliment Asus for its pair of four-watt speakers. Compared to many 15.6-inch gaming laptops we’ve tested, they offer far more bass, mid-range and presence than most smaller gaming laptops do. You can again thank the larger body for that, because more space for speakers typically means better audio.

One problem we found was with the laptop’s webcam, which you can see compared to MSI’s GE76 Raider’s 1080p webcam (upper left) and the 720p webcam of an HP Elite Dragonfly (upper right.) As you can see, the webcam in the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition (bottom left) offers impressive OLED-like deep black levels.

We’re kidding! The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition—a new laptop being offered in the year 2021—does not have a webcam. We could understand, if not agree with, the company’s rationale for omitting a webcam from the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Real gamers, Asus suggested, would buy their own high-res webcam. Consider that the ROG Zephyrus G14 was introduced at CES in January, 2020, in those last innocent days before the pandemic began a wave of lockdowns, remote working, and social distancing. We barely cared about webcams before then. Now, nearly 18 months on, omitting a webcam from a laptop seems ridiculous.

CPU Performance

We’ve already tested Ryzen 5000 and specifically the Ryzen 9 5900HX, as well as the Radeon RX 6800M that are featured in the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition. To see how they all work together in this laptop, we’ll start with some CPU tests.

The score from Maxon’s older Cinebench R15 pretty much says it all. This 3D modelling test favors high-performance cores. The ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition wins big even against laptops that weigh more or use desktop CPUs.

The vast majority of software does not use all of those cores, though, so it’s important to get a feel for just how fast the CPUs are at single-core or single-threaded tasks. The ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition again shows very well—only the Asus ROG Flow X13 and its Ryzen 9 5980HS surpass it. We haven’t yet completed a formal review of Intel’s Tiger Lake H laptops, but based on our review of the Core i9-11980HK we expect that Intel’s 11th-gen CPUs will make this fight more interesting.

Our final CPU test uses an older version of HandBrake to convert a 30GB, 1080p movie file using the Android Tablet preset. You can again see the red bar takes slightly less time to convert the file than a desktop Core i9-9900K CPU mounted in a much larger laptop. Ryzen 5000 is the real deal.

Graphics Performance

Moving on to graphics performance, the big question is how does AMD’s Radeon RX 6800M do against what has largely been an all-Nvidia show for years now?

Pretty good, actually. The Radeon RX 6800M doesn’t outpace the higher-wattage RTX 3080 Laptop GPUs, but it’s a worthy competitor for conventional gaming tasks, as you can see from the results of the graphics subscore of 3DMark.

Moving on to gaming, we first run Rise of the Tomb Raider at 1920×1080 resolution set to Very High and in DX11 mode. You can see the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition’s performance doesn’t rank quite as high, but it’s in the neighborhood of the Asus ROG Flow X13 with the external GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop at 150 watts, and not too far behind the Gigabyte Aorus 17G with its GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU at 105 watts.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is fairly old at this point, though. Once you move to more modern and strenuous games, the gaps close up more. As you can see below, using Metro Exodus with the Extreme Preset, the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is right in the ballpark with a lower-wattage GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop part, as well as a midrange-wattage GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop part.

We again recommend that you read our review of the Radeon RX 6800M for more in-depth testing of the ROG Strix G15’s GPU, but we can summarize it as a very worthy competitor for the vast majority of games people play. If, however, you move to games that use Microsoft’s DirectX Raytracing, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU has a clear advantage. Nvidia also has an advantage in many content creation applications. But for most gaming situations, Radeon RX 6800M stands quite well.

Battery Life

Our last test looks the battery life of a laptop by measuring how long it can loop a 4K video while in airplane mode, with earbuds connected at medium volume and the screen set to a relatively bright 250 to 260 nits. For gaming laptops, we also shut off the RGB while looping the video.

Most gaming-focused laptops tend to have lackluster battery life. We’d say the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition performs adequately at just over six hours of playback.

Conclusion

The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition offers top-notch CPU performance, very competitive gaming performance, and a solid value for the price. In that price range, we could find only a single GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop-based gaming laptop–the vast majority used GeForce RTX 3060 or Nvidia’s last-generation GPUs. Most of those gaming laptops are also built around Intel’s older 10th-gen or even 9th-gen CPUs, which are massively outclassed by the Ryzen 9 5900HX inside of the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition.

You’re basically getting the one of the fastest laptop CPUs available, with a GPU that can run with Nvidia’s best in conventional gaming, all for an affordable price. It’s simply the best deal in town right now.

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage G513QY review (AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU review)

Review by: Andrei Girbea Andrei Girbea, Editor-in-Chief. I’ve a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering and I’ve been covering mobile technology since the 2000s. You’ll mostly find reviews and thorough guides written by me here on the site, as well as some occasional first-impression articles.

19 Комментарии и мнения владельцев

“DRAM chipmakers have shifted production” Maybe it would make a great article if you could investigate this topic more. Why would chipmakers decide to produce inferior products in an industry that strives to constantly progress and break the performance barier. This seems like such a stupid move that will break the trust between producers and consumers.

The weight of the laptop is 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds), as mentioned on the Asus website. Heavier than the Nvidia Strix. Please update this. Very solid laptop, but for me the best laptop at the sub 2k mark remains the Asus Strix Scar 15 with 130W 8 GB RTX 3080 for 1999 in the US. I would also like to know if the CPU and GPU wattage can be capped manually for better thermals. Bob of all trades showed this was possible on the Zephyrus G14/15 for gaming at mid 60s temperatures with fans on silent. That’s a lovely feature.

Hello, en 2021 même pas de l’HDMI 2.1 pour le brancher sur un écran TV.1. Merci pour les tests qui renseignent bien.

Really nice and detailed review. Can you specify the model of the dual-rank ram you are using? And is it also available in 8×2 GB form?

I JUST PURCHASED THIS LAPTOP, AND IM SUPER IMPRESSED, I CHANGED OUT THE RAM AND ADDED A EXTRA SSD DRIVE, AND WOW WHAT A BEAST OF A LAPTOP. I GOT MINE ON SALE FOR 1499 US DOLLARS.

First of all, great review, just the information I needed. I have a question regarding the USB-c port though. Now if I am not mistaken it allows for directly transfering video signals from GPU to monitor and regarding the USB 3.1 gen 2 specification it should be capped at 10 Gbit/s. However, that would not be enough for driving my WQHD 144hz monitor. So do I have to use the HDMI port and does that come with a perfomance penalty bc it isn’t directly hooked to the GPU?

Hi. As far as I remember, DP 1.4 can do 1440p at 144Hz, so you should be able to drive that monitor via the USB-C port here. The USB gen bandwidth is not important in this case.

Hi Andrei, I’m stuck deciding between this and the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. I mostly play AAA titles, not much of esports and generally use my laptops for atleast 5 years. What would be your pick? (In India, the L5Pro 3060 is about 200 cheaper than this Asus and the 3070 model is about 100 more.)

I’d consider either the 3070 L5Pro or this, with the 6800M. However, you’ll want to upgrade the RAM to dual-rank dual-channel on both to take full advantage of the hardware, so consider that as well (if not at the beginning, then at least later on). I rather lean towards the L5Pro for gaming because I’m not happy with the high CPU/GPU temperatures on this G15. Are they also the same screens? That would also play a role in the decision.

Thanks Andrei. Yes the screens are the same (both are selling the QHD model here). I see from your reviews that the L5Pro ones are better, so will go with that one itself.

I’m in the same dilemma as Thyagarajan. Legion 5 pro vs this one. Even I will be using it for 4 years. I have one more question. Since I will be using it for another 4 years, wont the ryzen 9 be more “future proof” since its the next generation ??

Glad you shared this. Returned my Zephyrus G15 (Intel) and got this. Night and day performance difference while the Zephyrus was built a little better. I got lucky and due to a pricing error actually got money back and got a late model G513QY with an MA Serial Number. Also by some odd fate had two Crucial 3200 16GB Dual Rank sticks lying around. Have you seen this memory boost with any other machines or is it a unique phenomenon? Did you by any chance calibrate the display or just measure? If you calibrated, would you be willing to share (I know no two screens are the same)?

The DDR4 SR to DR memory boost is noticeable on most laptops, but especially on the AMD platforms. I’ll send you the profile via email.

Great review, I went ahead and bought this little beast, I’m impressed! In my unit with MA serial, the FHD 300hz version seems to have a different panel, TL156VDXP01 which after some digging turned out to be the one used in the 2022 SCAR, I didn’t find much info on the manufacturer although it seems to have lower GTG response times than the Sharp panel. I’m also interested in your calibration if you care to share it. Thank you for this awesome review.

Great review, only thing I would still love to know is if this laptop sports VR? It should as the USB c can output directly to the dGPU but none of the reviewers I have seen test VR these days.

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Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition review

Despite some bugs and a dated design, the Asus ROG Strix G15 might be one of the best value gaming laptops in its class. If you’re after some seriously powerful gaming performance, you should keep an eye on this one – but only if you’re comfy being an early adopter.

Pros

• Excellent performance
• Jaw-dropping battery life
• Good build quality
• Plenty of ports

Cons

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The best gaming laptops, for years, have been dominated by Intel and Nvidia hardware, something that only really started to change in 2020 when AMD launched its Ryzen 4000 laptop processors. The Asus ROG Strix G15 is the next step in that direction, launching with not only Ryzen 5000 series processors, but paired with the latest high-end Radeon graphics announced at Computex 2021.

So, admittedly, there’s a lot riding on this gaming laptop, as it is going so against the grain of the hardware we typically see in devices like this, especially in its price range. We’re not sure yet exactly how much the Asus ROG Strix G15 is going to cost when it hits the streets, but we have been told that it will cost around 1,650 (about £1,160, AU2,130). That’s a pretty high price, and puts it in between the Razer Blade and Asus’ own Zephyrus G14, both of which are some of the best gaming laptops in the world right now.

And for the most part, this gaming laptop does hold its own against its competitors. You can get some pretty solid performance out of it, and battery life is straight-up incredible. But there are definitely some issues with this laptop that makes it hard to give it a solid recommendation. At the same time, though, it does show just how close AMD and Nvidia are right now when it comes to laptop graphics.

Price and availability

Here is the Asus ROG Strix G15 configuration sent to TechRadar for review: CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800M RAM: 16GB RAM Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1080pp), 300Hz Storage: 512GB SSD Ports: 1 x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (with DisplayPort 1.4), 3 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 1 x RJ45 Ethernet Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth Camera: None Weight: 5.25lbs (2.38kg) Size (W x D x H): 13.94 x 10.23 x 0.95 ins (354 x 259.9 x 24.2 mm)

At the time of writing we don’t have a solid price tag for the Asus ROG Strix G15, but we have been given an estimated price of 1,650 (about £1,160, AU2,130) for the AMD Advantage Edition. which is the configuration listed to the right.

This configuration, with the AMD Radeon RX 6800M is meant to go head to head with laptops featuring the RTX 3070, which typically cost around the same as the Asus ROG Strix G15. In fact, we recently reviewed the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15, which has a very similar configuration, with a Ryzen 9 5900HS and an RTX 3070, but with a slower 165Hz display at 1,499 (£1,599, AU2,599).

This new AMD Radeon RX 6800M laptop does have better gaming performance. at least on paper. and a much faster screen. But you’ll have to weigh those options against the extra 150 and see if that’s worth it. With this level of hardware, we don’t think a 300Hz display is going to be necessary for a vast majority of people, but if you’re looking for a portable esports machine that won’t break the bank, this might be it.

Design

If you were to close your eyes and imagine a gaming laptop, you probably wouldn’t come up with something too far off from the Asus ROG Strix G15. This is as traditional a gaming laptop as you’ll find today, even though it is on the nicer end of the gamer aesthetic.

This gaming laptop is has an all-black colorway with red accents, both at the back of the laptop, and one that serves as a rubber foot for the laptop – which means you’ll only see it when the laptop is upside down. That rubber foot also has some text engraved on it that says “Back on Top” next to the Asus ROG logo. So, yeah, this is very much a gaming laptop. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if you don’t want everyone thinking you’re grinding away in World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic every time you break out your laptop, this might not be for you.

But while it does have a bit of a dated design aesthetic, don’t go thinking that it’s cheaply put together. The top of the laptop and the keyboard deck are aluminum, and while the keyboard deck does have a little bit of give, you really have to push down on it to make it flex.

However, while the top of the laptop is aluminum, the bottom of the laptop still seems to be plastic, but it’s at least of high quality. And then because it’s a gaming laptop in 2021, there’s a strip of RGB lighting that runs along the front of the laptop.

There’s also RGB lighting in the keyboard, and all of this lighting can be controlled through the the Asus Armoury Crate app, just like any other Asus gaming laptop.

The keyboard itself is a delight. Nice, deep travel makes it great for playing games, including long grinding sessions in World of Warcraft Classic, getting ready for the new (old) expansion that comes out on June 1. It’s not quite as good for long-form typing as many Ultrabooks, but it’s perfect for gaming, and really, that’s all you can ask for.

The trackpad is also huge for a gaming laptop, more akin to what you’d find on an XPS 15 than a gaming laptop like this. And, what’s more, is that it feels incredibly solid. A lot of gaming laptops will half-ass the trackpad, with clickers that feel squishy or wobbly, but everything about this trackpad feels premium. Kind of a waste in a laptop most people will be pairing with one of the best gaming mice, but we love that the trackpad feels good to use when we just want to get some light web browsing done.

One of the biggest crimes of this laptop, especially considering its size, is the placement of the speakers. Despite the fact that there’s plenty of space both on the sides and above the keyboard, the speakers instead fire out the bottom. This isn’t that big of a deal if you’re going to be playing games on a table like a normal person, but if you want to play some games or stream some Netflix while lying in bed, the sound will be extremely muffled.

Although, if you ware using it on a table, the speakers themselves are actually fine. Like most laptop speakers, they lack bass, so you might want to use headphones if you’re listening to music or playing a game with a lot of explosions.

But that’s not a big deal, because you’re going to be wanting to use a gaming headset when you’re gaming anyways, because when this laptop gets pushed, the fans can get pretty loud. It’s definitely not enough that you’re going to annoy everyone you live with, but they’re definitely noticeable when under load.

Luckily, when you unplug the laptop, it’ll immediately shift into Silent mode, which cuts performance, but makes it much more tolerable to just sit and enjoy some content.

As for ports, there’s plenty to offer with the Asus ROG Strix G15. On the right side of the laptop, there are two USB-A ports and a combo 3.5mm audio jack. However, most of the ports are hiding on the back of the laptop, exactly where we like to see them in a gaming laptop. Back there you’ll find another USB-A port, a USB-C Gen 3.2 port, HDMI, Ethernet and a dedicated charging port.

Speaking of charging, wow is the brick charger heavy. Like, we pretty much expect every laptop in this class to have one, and luckily we’ve started moving away from laptops having two, but we were not ready for how heavy the Asus ROG Strix G15 charging adapter was. It could be that the months of lockdown have atrophied our muscles to the point where it seems heavier than it is, but even still, if you plan on traveling with this laptop, the heavy charger is definitely something you’ll want to take into consideration.

Performance

Here is how the Asus ROG Strix G15 performed in our suite of benchmark tests: GeekBench 5: 1,438 (single-core); 7,421 (multi-core) CineBenchR23: 13,061 PCMark10 Home: 7,421 3DMark Night Raid: 41,959; Firestrike: 24,367; Time Spy: 10,098 Total War: Three Kingdoms (1080p): 135 fps (Low); 83 fps (Ultra) Metro: Exodus (1080p): 164 fps (Low); 78 fps (Ultra) Battery Life (PCMark10 test): 11 hours 23 minutes Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 9 hours 22 minutes

Packed with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, 16GB of RAM and an AMD Radeon RX 6800M, it’s no surprise that the Asus ROG Strix G15 is an absolute powerhouse of a gaming laptop.

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage. The all AMD laptop with high end performance

In its keynote debuting the Radeon RX 6800M, AMD specifically targeted the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, and, well, the 6800M crushes it. In pretty much every benchmark we throw at this laptop, it passes up Nvidia’s GPU. In Metro Exodus, the Strix G15 passes the 73 fps that the 3070-equipped Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 manages, with 78 fps. That’s just a 7% difference, but that’s still a win for AMD.

This happens in the synthetic benchmarks, too. In 3DMark Time Spy, the Strix G15 beats the the Zephyrus with 10,098 points to 9,333. It goes even further in Fire Strike, where it manages to beat the RTX 3080-equipped MSI GE76 Raider by 5%.

It sounds like a dream machine, and in a lot of ways it is. However, either AMD or Asus has some kinks to work out here. Halfway through our testing, we started getting drastically reduced performance, we’re talking 18 fps in Metro – much lower than the 78 fps it usually manages. We were thankfully able to get it back to normal with a simple reboot, but expect some growing pains.

Battery life

Earlier we talked about the absolutely massive power supply, but unless you’re going to be out literally all day, because this is one of the longest lasting gaming laptops we’ve ever tested.

The Asus ROG Strix G15 manages 11 hours and 23 minutes of battery life in the PCMark 10 benchmark, which simulates various real-world workloads you might encounter while doing office work. It falls a little under that in our video streaming test, where it manages just 9 hours and 22 minutes, but that’s still a full 8-hour day and change.

In years past gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Strix G15 would last just a couple hours, and it was just something you accepted due to the power of the hardware on offer. But with more and more gaming laptops breaking the 8 hour threshold, it’s not unreasonable to expect all-day battery life out of a gaming laptop.

Camera

Just like many other Asus gaming laptops over the last year or so, there’s no webcam on the ROG Strix G15. If all you’re after is a laptop to play the best PC games and nothing else, this probably won’t be a big deal. However, if you’re looking to stream or even just use this laptop for work and play, you’ll have to spend extra to get an external webcam.

Buy it if.

You want solid performance for the money The Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition is an absolute beast for the money, beating out other gaming laptops in its class.

A gamer aesthetic doesn’t turn you off The Asus ROG Strix G15 is a black and red gaming laptop with a lot of angles and RGB lighting. If you’re still into having a laptop that looks like a gaming laptop, the Strix has that in spades.

You want long battery life in your gaming laptop A lot of gaming laptops don’t have great battery life, but the Asus ROG Strix G15 has some of the best battery life we’ve ever seen in a gaming laptop.

Don’t buy it if.

You have no tolerance for bugs We did run into some bugs while testing the Asus ROG Strix G15, so we can only recommend the laptop to folks that are comfortable being an early adopter, and with all the potential headaches that brings.

You’re not into the gamer aesthetic If you want a gaming laptop you can easily bring to the office without making it look like you’re raiding in the middle of a meeting, maybe look at a different laptop – like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 or the Razer Blade.

• This year, Computex is going virtual, but we’ll still be bringing you all the breaking computing news and launches as they happen, so make sure you check out all of TechRadar’sComputex 2021coverage.

This all AMD-powered Asus gaming laptop is a sight to behold

AMD’s Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards are here, and gamers will be able to get their hands on a few laptops with the new GPU starting in June—including this one. With an excellent combination of performance and price, the Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition (available at Best Buy for 1,099.99) sets a high bar that will be tough for other AMD machines to match.

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

• About the Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition
• What We Like
• What We Don’t Like
• Should You Buy It?
• Related content

Cons

These new mobile GPUs, which include the RX 6800M, RX 6700M, and RX 6600M, are built on the same RDNA2 architecture as AMD’s 6000-series desktop GPUs. That architecture allows those cards to generally output higher frame rates in non-ray traced games compared to Nvidia’s RTX 30-series GPUs. (Or equal to, but that does vary by game.) AMD’s previous generation of discrete laptop graphics cards were fine, but these newest ones inject some needed competition into the gaming laptop space.

Asus’ ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition is one of, if not the best, gaming laptop for performance per dollar.

over, the RX 6800M in this ROG Strix G15 is paired with an AMD processor, and the two combined can take full advantage of AMD’s Smart Access Memory (SAM)—a special feature that when enabled increases framerates in certain games, sometimes by as much as 20 fps. But this Asus ROG Strix doesn’t just get it right with its hardware configuration; Its battery lasts for nearly nine hours on a single charge (a borderline impossible-to-find feature for any gaming laptop), it has ports for days, and the RGB lighting is actually not as garish-looking or obnoxious as some other gaming laptops.

About the Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition

Image that glowing across your dimly lit room.

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
• Memory: 16GB 3200Mhz (Up to 32GB 3200Mhz available)
• Storage: 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD (Dual M.2 SSD slots with up to 1TB in Raid 0 also available)
• Display: 15.6-inch IPS FHD 1080p 300Hz 100% sRGB with FreeSync Premium (a QHD 1440p 165Hz 100% PCI-P3 with FreeSync Premium is also available)
• Ports: 3x USB3.2 Gen1 Type-A; 1x USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C; 1x 3.5mm audio combo jack; Ethernet; 1x HDMI 2.0b
• Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800M
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 6
• Battery: 90Whr
• Weight: 6.61 pounds
• Dimensions: 10.22 x 13.94 x 1.07 inches
• Warranty: 12-month limited hardware warranty on parts and service

The ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition should start around 1,650 as configured here, per AMD’s recommendation. It has a bit more flair than other Strix models, mainly a red accent stripe along the back of the unit. If you want to knock some dollars off that price, the Strix has different configuration options for less powerful processors and graphics cards.

What We Like

An AMD CPU and GPU together is a chef’s kiss

The clamshell hinges have serious sports car vibes.

AMD led the way with implementing SAM on its desktop processors and graphics cards, so it makes sense it would enable the feature on its laptop components too. The name itself (Smart Access Memory) is a very AMD-way of saying Resizable BAR, which is what the PCI-Express feature is actually called. Nvidia and Intel use the standard term, and both do the same thing.

When enabled, the feature allows the CPU and GPU to talk directly to one another, which saves on processing time since information doesn’t need to go through the RAM first. Games load faster, and output higher frame rates. Nvidia and Intel were the first to use the feature on gaming laptops, but AMD has the most robust implementation of it, with a wider range of compatible games than what Nvidia/Intel currently offer.

That said, you don’t need to turn on SAM to get outstanding performance from Asus’ ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition. The Ryzen 9 5900HX and Radeon RX 6800M take care of all the work. Graphically demanding games like Control and Metro Exodus output 96 fps and 76 fps, respectively, at 1080p on ultra graphics settings (or the high preset in Control’s case) with the laptop in Turbo mode. Shadow of the Tomb Raider cranked out 105 fps, Total War: Warhammer II 75 fps, and Far Cry 5 89 fps, all at the highest graphical settings at the same resolution. “Lighter” games like Overwatch can reach up to 159 fps, but if you want to take full advantage of this Strix’s 300Hz display, turn down the graphics settings.

Compared to a gaming laptop with a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 and an Nvidia RTX 3070, this Ryzen 9 5900HX and RX 6800M combo is admittedly in an interesting spot; Basically, a gaming desktop with an AMD/AMD combo wins, but an Nvidia/Intel combo wins in mobile. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of those games that performs the best in a desktop AMD/AMD combo, but in the laptop world likes an Nvidia/Intel combo better. However, there are some games, like Metro Exodus, which have equal performance with either configuration on both desktop and mobile, but that seems to be only the more graphically demanding games.

What’s more, since the RTX 3070 mobile version is the most direct competitor to the RX 6800M, there’s a chance the performance gap could widen between the two with new Intel 11th-gen gaming CPUs coming out soon for laptops.

Are you getting a bad deal with this laptop? Absolutely not. For the price tag and all the other features, the Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition is still a great value. If you’re someone who shrugs your shoulders at a small difference in frame rates, the unexpected lower performance shouldn’t be a big deal. And we haven’t even talked about battery life yet.

Long battery life for a gaming laptop

You won’t need a USB dock with this many ports.

If you’re fine with lugging a six-and-a-half pound laptop to the local coffee shop (and don’t mind the inevitable stares at your sports car-like gaming laptop), this ROG Strix G15 has enough battery life to last your entire workday: nine hours compared to something like the Razer Blade 15, which nets a little over seven. That’s nine hours of watching videos, emails, browsing the internet, and filling out spreadsheets. You can confidently leave the bulky, AC charging cable at home.

Don’t expect to game on battery power, though. With performance mode on, you’ll easily drain the battery of roughly 65-70% of life within 45 minutes. Laptop makers may not have perfected PC gaming on battery power, but this one carries enough of a charge to compete with the MSI Prestige 14 Evo, or any other non-gaming laptop that’s Intel Evo certified to have a battery life over 10 hours.

Of course this battery lasts a few hours shy of those laptops, but this Strix shouts loud and clear: gaming laptops with long battery lives can exist. You’ll need to set your screen brightness to 200 nits, turn on silent mode, and set the battery saver mode to kick in when there’s 10% juice left, but that goes for extending any battery charge. If this is your only laptop and you need to make it through a long flight or an entire day of college classes, it can manage.

Thermals are true to AMD’s claims

An Ethernet port is a must-have for any desktop replacement.

One of the big things AMD touted in its Computex keynote is how this system keeps its chassis temperature so cool. Without getting into the weeds about the thermal compound or new fan design, Asus’ ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition is supposed to have a maximum chassis temperature of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), which is cold for a gaming laptop.

Aside from the odd spot around the edges of the chassis that briefly rose up to 43 Celsius (109.4 Fahrenheit), the entire keyboard area never got warmer than 40.3 Celsius, even after hours of gaming. It felt a little warmer than the average body temperature, but not by much.

What We Don’t Like

But the CPU still runs hot

The internal thermals are a different story, however. While the CPU temperature averaged around 70 Celsius while gaming, the processor easily peaked at 95 Celsius, which is not great. That maximum temperature is within the thermal threshold AMD set for the Ryzen 9 5900HX, but anytime a hardware component runs that hot there’s a risk of damage.

It’s not damage you’ll see right away, but over a longer period of time that amount of heat could decrease performance and shorten the lifespan of the CPU.

Mushy keys

Select from pre-made RGB profiles or create a custom one.

Out of the box, the keyboard is a morphing kaleidoscope of colors. The low profile keys and clear WASD keys enhance the beauty of it, and with the outer RGB lighting strip synced with the keyboard, it feels like a Siren’s call across a dimly lit or dark room. But pressing down on those keys feels a little mushy for a high-end gaming laptop.

They snap back up quickly, and they’re super quiet, but pressing them down feels similar to the ROG Zephyrus G14—responsive enough, but more of a membrane feel than a mechanical feel, and not the best if you play competitive esports. If you’re not picky about keyboards, then this might not even be an issue to you, but for how striking and well-designed this laptop is, the keyboard feels like either an oversight or a cost-saving decision.

ASUS ROG G15 Advantage Edition Test Fazit nach einer Woche

Ray tracing is still disappointing

The RGB strip is pretty darn cool.

If running against the eye-popping neon backdrop of Night City in Cyberpunk 2077 is your thing, this is not the laptop you’re looking for. While AMD’s desktop 6000-series GPUs don’t have the best performance when it comes to realistic lighting effects, especially compared to Nvidia’s GPUs, the RX 6800M is worse.

In this ROG Strix, the RX 6800M nets 40 fps in Control with ray tracing on high at 1080p and 56 fps in Metro Exodus, compared to 55 and 77 fps the desktop version can get in each of those games, respectively. In Cyberpunk 2077, the desktop GPU gets 29 fps while the mobile version gets 21. All mobile GPUs have compromised performance, so naturally we’re not at the point of desktop-class ray tracing yet.

AMD did announce it’s AI resolution upscaler would be available June 22 (FidelityFX Super Resolution). While it will boost frame rates with ray tracing either off or on, it’s not clear how well it will compete with Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) which does the same thing: upscale the graphics from a lower resolution to a higher one with AI, while sharpening the image at the same time so the graphics card can output a higher frame rate.

AMD says its tech will be, on average, twice as fast compared to native 4K gaming, but we’ll have to test that to find out.

Should You Buy It?

Yes, it’s one of the best gaming laptops money can buy right now

The all-Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition’s comes with a Radeon RX 6800M, Ryzen 9 5900HX, and a red, chunky stripe on the back.

The Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition is a wonderful gaming desktop replacement with incredible battery life if you need to work on the go. It’s lightweight enough and small enough that transporting it won’t be a big hassle, especially since you can leave the charging cord behind, but it has more than enough power under the chassis to handle any game you throw at it—as long as ray tracing isn’t enabled.

Many upcoming Nvidia/Intel combo competitors aren’t on shelves yet, but if you want a gaming laptop now with a higher resolution or better ray tracing capabilities, the Razer Blade 15 base model has the better RTX 3070 and a QHD display, albeit with a lower refresh rate of 165Hz. But that laptop starts at 2,199.99 which is obviously more expensive than the 1,650 ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition. not to mention this laptop also comes with a QHD option. MSI’s GS66 Stealth, with a 10th-gen Intel Core i9 and an RTX 2080 Super, is a better alternative in terms of price and performance even though you’d be getting last-gen parts.

But the appeal with an all-AMD system is the overall value. It’s a highly adaptable laptop with a fast screen for esports, nine hours of battery life if you need it for work tasks, and high-end components for playing the latest, graphically demanding games. Ray tracing and other cons aside, the Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage Edition is an amazing first showing from both AMD and Asus, and I expect this laptop will lead the push for AMD to nab a greater share of the gaming laptop market. As for consumers, this ROG Strix G15 deserves a thorough and honest consideration the next time you’re shopping for a gaming laptop. It’s that outstanding.

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were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

Meet the tester

Senior Editor, Electronics

Joanna specializes in anything and everything gaming-related and loves nerding out over graphics cards, processors, and chip architecture. Previously she was a staff writer for Gizmodo, PC Gamer, and Maximum PC.

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