What do i need in a gaming laptop: How to Buy the Right Gaming Laptop: A Guide for 2022

How to Buy the Right Gaming Laptop: A Guide for 2022

While the desktop remains supreme among many PC gamers, sometimes you just need something a bit more portable. A gaming laptop is a rig on the go, with the power to play games in a size you can take with you.

But when you’re buying a gaming laptop, you’re not just looking at specs. You’re looking at a whole computer, including a built-in keyboard and display. Here, we explain all of the decisions you’ll have to make when buying a gaming laptop so you can get the best one for your needs and budget.

Quick Tips

Get a good GPU: Most games are GPU-dependent, and you can’t upgrade these in laptops. A good GPU will ensure your laptop plays games at high settings for a few years.
Consider upgrading later: Many, though not all, gaming laptops let you upgrade your RAM and storage.
Pick resolution or speed: The fastest displays, going up to 360 Hz, only come at 1920 x 1080 resolution right now, so a 4K screen will be slower.
Get a good keyboard: You don’t want to play your games on something mushy or stiff.
Battery life will probably be bad: Very few gaming notebooks get 8 hours or more on a charge, and you need the power supply to get the best performance anyway.

What GPU do you need?

While some games use the CPU, the majority of games are still GPU-bound, so this is one of the biggest decisions you make when buying a gaming notebook. At the moment, the majority of gaming notebooks come with Nvidia GeForce GTX or RTX GPUs.

The latest graphics cards on the Nvidia series are the newest RTX 30-series cards, from the RTX 3050 through the RTX 3080 Ti. On the AMD front, there’s the Radeon RX 6000M series, which consists of the RX 6300M for budget systems, up to the RX 6700M and 6800M for mainstream and premium systems, as well as the top-of-the-line RX 6850M XT. for more performance. We are, however, expecting a new range of AMD discrete GPUs to hit laptops later this year.

A note on Max-Q: It’s not always clear on initial RTX 30-series laptops if they’re using a Max-Q GPU until you buy it. Check how to tell if an RTX 30-series laptop uses a Max-Q GPU. The best way to tell if you’ll get an Nvidia GPU meeting your requirements is to check the specs, with more and more manufacturers have been listing in full.

The RTX models command a premium. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a deal on a current-generation gaming laptop, keep an eye on our Best Tech Deals page.

Entry-level gaming: If you don’t need to play on the highest settings, you can go for a GTX 3050 or RX 5500M, which will let you play most games, albeit on middling settings. An GTX 3060 will give you a bit more power, and we generally think it’s noticeable and worth the investment. A laptop with these cards will roughly cost you between $800 and $1,100, though recently we’ve seen them being slightly more expensive, likely due to the component shortage.
Mainstream Gaming: Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060 is a good middle-of-the-road card that will let you play most games on high settings, though the RTX 3070 or 3070 Ti will give you a meaningfulb ump On the AMD side, the RX 6700M isn’t as strong as a performer, but will get the job done. Expect laptops with these cards to fall between $1,100 and $1,500, but again, the component shortage is still going on.
VR and the Highest Settings: An RTX 3070 will let you play through just about anything on high settings, while the RTX 3080 or RTX 3080 Ti are the most powerful 30-series cards out there and will allow for smoother VR and special effects. These are the cards that will let you start pumping up effects like Nvidia Gameworks. Laptops like this can start around $2,000, and, depending on what other specs you need, go over $3,000. But with the new RTX series, you can play ray-traced video games and get faster frame rates. An RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 Ti may even be enough for you to play games in 4K, depending on the settings that you use.

What other specs should I look for?

While the GPU is important, you’ll also want to be on the lookout for a good CPU, enough RAM and lots of storage space.

CPU: Depending on your budget, you can get a very powerful Core i7 CPU or even one that you can overclock such as the Intel Core i9-12900HK. You can also find laptops with desktop CPUs. However, most games benefit more from a quality GPU than a CPU so you can definitely get by with a Core i5 processor.

If you see something older than the most current Intel 12th Gen Core (model numbers begin with 12) or with less power, consider saving a bit. CPUs usually aren’t upgradeable, so you’re making this choice once. Intel launched its 12th Gen Core parts for mobile this year, so they’re the most recent.

RAM: Gaming can be RAM intensive, and 8GB is what we recommend for even average productivity tasks. If you can, you should go for 16GB on a gaming PC. A laptop with a GTX 3050 or 3050 Ti usually comes with 8GB. Once you get to a GTX 3060 or higher, some will come with 16GB of RAM. If you can’t get your laptop with 16GB of RAM now, consider upgrading it in the near future. Memory is upgradeable in many gaming laptops, so this is an area that you can consider boosting later if you’re handy with a screwdriver.
Storage: Hard drive or SSD? Why not both? Some budget gaming laptops will come with only a hard drive (usually 1TB), but the majority of gaming notebooks also include a small SSD to serve as a boot drive. It’s not uncommon to see a 128GB SSD and 1TB HDD working in tandem. If you can get a larger SSD you may see decreased loading times, but that will also cost you quite a bit more money. Make sure you get a faster, 7,200-rpm HDD as opposed to a 5,400-rpm HDD.

Like memory, storage is often upgradeable in gaming notebooks. So if you need more space, you can toss in a 2TB or larger HDD.

What should I look for in a display?

Displays are often overlooked but are hugely important. If you’re not connecting a laptop to a monitor, the built-in screen will be how you see all of your games.

Size: Most gaming laptops have 15 or 17-inch screens, though there are a few huge systems that have 18-inch panels and a handful of 14-inch systems. What size you like is matter of personal preference, but remember that the larger the screen, the bigger and heavier the laptop.
Resolution: Never get anything less than a 1920 x 1080 display. It’s rare to find one with a lesser resolution, but if you do, run. 4K (3840 x 2160) screens are an option on some gaming laptops, but you still may need to turn down some settings, especially if you enable ray tracing. More and more laptops are shipping with a 1440p middle ground, which is an excellent choice.
Refresh rate: Most laptops you’ll see will have 1080p resolution and a 60Hz display. And for many gamers, that’s absolutely enough. Higher resolution displays (2560 x 1440, 3840 x 2160) are pretty, but often top out at 60Hz. That’s why for some gamers, 1080p may be the best option. Some vendors offer FHD displays with a faster, 144 Hz, 240 Hz or even 360 Hz refresh rate for smoother gaming. Of course, you need a great GPU and to play on settings that emphasize frame rate over graphical fidelity to take advantage.
Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync: Some gaming notebooks, particularly on the high-end, support technologies that sync the display with the graphics cards, which eliminates screen tearing and ghosting.
Avoid touch screens: While not inherently bad, touch screens are unnecessary on gaming notebooks (some 2-in-1 models notwithstanding). They kill battery life and can make the display overly glossy.
OLED: An increasing number of gaming laptops are shipping with OLED display options. These often have slower refresh rates than LED displays, but with deeper blacks and more vibrant colors. Some gamers, however, worry about the possibility of burn-in on these panels.

What should I look for in a keyboard?

If you get an entry-level gaming keyboard, you’re going to get chiclet keys with LED backlighting. But there’s so much more to consider:

Key Travel: This is how far down you can press a key. In general, we prefer keys with over 1.5 millimeters of key travel, and if you hit 2mm, that’s even better. This can keep you from “bottoming out,” or hitting the keyboard’s frame. When you get to some really expensive laptops, you can even find mechanical keys.
Actuation: This is how much force you need to apply to a key to press it down. We usually like it between 65 and 70 grams, which is enough to provide resistance without feeling soft.
Macro Keys: It’s more difficult to find macro keys on gaming notebooks than on desktop keyboards, but it’s not impossible. A good set of programmable macro keys will let you easily complete the most common tasks you complete in games. There’s usually custom software by the laptop manufacturer for this.
Anti-ghosting and n-key rollover: These are two features that will keep you performing at your best in games. Anti-ghosting means that when you mash on several keys for combos or perform several actions, they will all register. Additionally, n-key rollover means that each key is independent of the others and will be registered no matter which other keys are being pressed.
Backlighting: While budget gaming laptops will provide backlighting, it’s either just red or white. The best keyboards have RGB backlighting. Some do it by zone (or section of the keyboard), while others allow customization on a per key basis. Some even let you change the lighting depending on the game.

What do specific brands offer?

Each gaming laptop brand has a bit of special sauce. Some have specific hardware designs that stand out while others focus on custom software.

Here are a few to note:

Alienware (Dell) — Alienware has gotten into the thin-and-light game with the Alienware m17, but also made its own desktop-class powerhouse wit the Alienware Area-51m. Dell also makes its own entry-levle machines.

Asus — Asus’s Republic of Gamers brand has some slick designs. Its ROG Gaming Center software shares device information including temperature, storage and RAM usage, while the Armoury Crate program allows you to customize RGB backlighting. Asus also makes the Zephyrus G14, the best AMD laptop we’ve seen.

Acer — Acer is known for having affordable hardware, though it has wowed us with innovation like its ridiculous Predator 21X featuring a curved display and mechanical keyboard. The PredatorSense app lets you monitor your CPU and GPU usage and customize fan speeds.

HP — HP’s Omen lineup has a classier design as of late, but maintains a gamer aesthetic. Its app is the Omen Command Center, which details GPU and CPU use, RAM utilization and a network booster that lets you prioritize bandwidth.

Gigabyte & Aorus — Gigabyte and its sub-brand, Aorus, offer some variety. Gigabytes tend to be lower-end with more color options, while the Aorus models are sleek and thin. Whichever one you go with, you’ll get Fusion software for RGB customization. Aorus machines have Command and Control for easy overclocking.

Lenovo — Lenovo’s gaming lineup is called Legion, and has been recently redesigned to be more minimalist. Rather than creating new software, the company altered its Vantage app to focus on CPU, GPU, RAM and HDD info, as well as a button to boost fan speeds.

MSI — MSI’s gaming laptops are often big, black and red, though the company’s recent Stealth Thin showed it can do something more subdued as well. Of course, you’ll always notice the trademark dragon logo. MSI includes its Dragon Center software, which recently went through a redesign. It allows for system monitoring, multiple performance profiles, controlling the fans and customizing keyboard backlighting.

Razer — Did someone say Chroma? Razer’s design is some of the best in the business, and it’s known for its RGB lighting. Razer Synapse lets you record macros and set lighting on both laptops and accessories.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

How About Battery Life?

The short answer is not to count on your gaming notebook being super portable.

If you’re using your laptop to play games, you need to keep your laptop plugged in to get the full performance out of your GPU. And if you don’t, you’ll be lucky if your laptop lasts an hour gaming. In our testing experience, most gaming laptops last only a few hours on a charge when performing other tasks, but never as long as ultraportables without discrete GPUs. If you need something to last 8 hours while you work, it won’t be a gaming notebook.

Some do last long, but that’s often at the expense of the display, and you don’t want to play all your games on a dark, dim or inaccurate screen.

Thankfully, an increasing number of gaming laptops work with both barrel chargers and USB Type-C. The latter won’t deliver enough power for gaming, but can top you off if you’re doing productivity work.

Saving Money on a Gaming Laptop

When you’re shopping for a gaming laptop, you may find savings by checking out the latest Best Buy promo codes, Newegg promo codes, Corsair coupon codes, Dell coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes or Razer promo codes.

We also maintain a list of the best gaming PC and laptop deals.

When buying a gaming notebook, get one that will last you for a few years. If you can afford it, get a mid-range to high-end GPU, though obviously a better card will offer better performance. That choice is more important than RAM and the CPU, though you should pay attention to those as well. Storage is the most likely to be upgradeable, but more is better, as games take up a lot of space. Decide if you prefer high resolutions or faster displays and consider what software will be helpful to you, but realize that you won’t get great battery life. How all of those work together determines just how well a gaming notebook does on the Tom’s Hardware test bench.

Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom’s Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom’s Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Twitter: @FreedmanAE

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Review: AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS Tested

Tom’s Hardware Verdict

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and its AMD Ryzen 4900HS CPU deliver epic battery life and strong performance in a light and attractive package.

Pros

+
Good looks
+
AMD Ryzen 4900HS offers strong performance
+
Stellar battery life
+
Comfortable keyboard

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Editor’s Note July 28, 2020: After the initial publication of this review, Asus loaned Tom’s Hardware a version of the Zephyrus G14 with its AniMe Matrix display. It’s identical to our previous version, except that it also has a 2560 x 1440 display. We’ve updated performance on that display, as well as battery life numbers and, of course, hands on with the light show on the lid.

AMD Ryzen 4000 for mobile is here, bringing a new line of chips and laptops to go with it. The Asus Zephyrus G14 ($1,049.99 to start; $1,449.99 as tested) is the gaming flagship, armed with AMD’s Ryzen 4900HS, a 35-watt, 8-core/16-thread CPU, paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q graphics. That’s all in a slim, stylish chassis with an excellent keyboard and surprisingly good battery life for a gaming notebook. It’s the best gaming laptop with AMD’s CPUs we’ve ever seen.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 at Best Buy for $849.99

As far as gaming laptops go, the Zephyrus G14 is refined. Our review unit came in moonlight white, though Asus also offers it in eclipse gray. The whole thing is made from magnesium alloy, but feels built solid.

The lid is distinct, with a diagonal slash separating two portions. Most of the lid features a series of small holes (6,536, Asus claims, though I kept losing count), while the rest is solid white (or gray, depending on your model’s color) It’s a neat look despite not having any functionality on our review unit. On the bottom left of the lid is a Republic of Gamers badge, including the logo and the words “Republic of Gamers, Est 2006.” On the back, there are a bunch of vents on either side of the word “Zephyrus.”

The Zephyrus G14 starts to look more like a traditional gaming laptop when you open it up. The 14-inch display is surrounded by a thin bezel for a gaming notebook, except on the bottom where it is quite thick and noticeable. The deck is silver with white backlighting on the keyboard, which uses a blocky font, and the space bar is bulkier than on most keyboards. There are also speaker grills on each side of the deck.

When you open the laptop up, the Zephyrus uses the same “ErgoLift” hinge as some of Asus’ ZenBooks. The lid is slightly longer than the rest of the chassis to lift it up at a slight angle. This should, in theory, help for both ergonomics and possibly heat.

The Zephyrus is well outfitted with ports. On the right side are the power jack, HDMI port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and headphone jack. This time around, you can actually charge the laptop with a 65W Type-C charger, though it won’t give you enough power for gaming. For that you’ll want the full-size power brick that comes with it.

On the right side is another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, as well as a pair of USB 3. 1 Gen Gen 1 Type-A ports and a Kensington lock slot. What it doesn’t have is Thunderbolt 3, which Intel has been integrating more tightly into its chips as of late.

At 3.5 pounds and 12.8 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches, the Zephyrus is fairly light for a gaming notebook. The Acer Predator Triton 500, for instance, is 4.7 pounds and 14.1 x 10 x 0.7 inches. Dell’s G7 15 is heavier at 5.5 pounds and 14.4 x 10.8 x 0.7 inches.

Some more expensive configurations of this laptop (see Configurations below), will use the dots on the lid for what Asus calls an AniMe Matrix display. It uses LED lights to put a picture or message of your choosing on the rear of the case. Our review unit didn’t have this functionality.

Specifications

CPU	AMD Ryzen 4900HS
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 with ROG Boost
Memory	16GB DDR4-3200 (8GB on-board, 8GB SODIMM)
SSD	1TB PCIe 3. 0 M.2 NVMe
Display	14 inches, 1920 x 1080, 120 Hz
Networking	Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) 2×2, Bluetooth 5.0
Video Ports	HDMI 2.0b
USB Ports	2x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, 2x USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1
Audio	2x 2.85W speakers, 2x 0.7W tweeters
Camera	N/A
Battery	76 WHrs
Power Adapter	180W
Operating System	Windows 10 Home
Dimensions (WxDxH)	12.8 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches (32.5 x 22.1 x 1.8cm)
Weight	3.5 pounds (1.6kg)
Price (as configured)	$1,449.99

Gaming, Graphics and VR (Updated)

The Ryzen 9 4900HS is paired with an RTX 2060 Max-Q, which should play most games well at high settings and even allows for some ray tracing in supported games. I played Control at 1080p resolution with high settings and medium ray-tracing. The game ran between 35 and 60 frames per second (fps), though generally towards the lower end. Those higher frame rates occurred in the Astral Plane, an area of the game with an all-white background.

Beyond some Intel/Nvidia competitors, we’re also tossing in the MSI Alpha 15. It’s not a fair comparison, as it’s a budget machine, but it does demonstrate the types of machines AMD has been in versus what it’s in now.

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On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark (highest, 1920 x 1080), the Zephyrus ran at 49 fps, tying it with both the Acer Predator Triton 500 (i7-8750H, RTX 2060) and Dell G7 15 (i7-9750H, RTX 2060). On the version with an AniMe Matrix display, at 2560 x 1440, the game ran at 31 fps.

Asus’ laptop ran Hitman (ultra, 1920 x 1080) at 89 fps, two frames ahead of the Predator and one frame ahead of the Dell.

The Zephyrus outperformed on Grand Theft Auto V’s benchmark (very high, 1920 x 1080) at 115 fps, easily beating all its competitors here.

We also ran our gaming stress test, in which we ran Metro Exodus 15 times on a loop to simulate half an hour of gaming. In this case, we ran the game at the ultra preset at 1080p. The game ran at an average of 40.5 fps, and with RTX on it dropped to 37.8 fps. The average CPU clock speed was 3.1 GHz, and it had an average temperature of 78.4 degrees Celsius (173.1 degrees Fahrenheit). The GPU ran at an average of 425.1 MHz and a temperature of 64.8 degrees Celsius (148.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Productivity Performance

So here it is: the Ryzen 9 4900HS is an 8-core/16-thread CPU. It’s a 35W chip that, at the moment, is exclusive to Asus’ products (though AMD has said others may get it later in the year). Asus matched it with 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. We’ve compared the Zephyrus to a variety of laptops, including current machines based on Intel’s Ice Lake and Comet Lake CPU architectures, one of AMD’s old CPUs, similar gaming laptops for the pricing range and a computer with an Intel Core i9-9980HK to go core-for-core and thread-for-thread.

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On Geekbench 4.3, it earned a score of 30,181, beating the premium gaming average of 25,027. The Dell G7 15, with an RTX 2060 and i7-9750H, notched a score of 23,863. The Acer Predator Triton 500, a gaming laptop with an RTX 2060 and i7-8750H, earned a score of 20,485.

The Zephyrus G14 beat the Dell XPS 15 with an i9-9980HK (28,882) and GTX 1650, but that’s in a configuration that costs $2,650 and also has 32GB of RAM. That score also beat the Razer Blade Stealth 13 with a 25W Intel Core i7-1065G7 Ice Lake CPU (18,370) and a Dell XPS 13 with a 6-core/12-thread Intel Core i7-10710U CPU (22,492). We’re still waiting on the latest H-series Intel CPUs, which would allow for a better comparison. The budget-based AMD Ryzen 7 3750H-based laptop, the MSI Alpha 15, came in last, providing us a generation-over-generation performance comparison.

It took the Zephyrus 4 seconds to copy 4.97GB of files, a rate of 1,272.3 MBps, which was faster than the rest of the field.

On our Handbrake video editing test, the Zephyrus transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 6 minute and 59 seconds. The Predator took 9:58, and the Dell G7 15 took 8:05 (the rest of the field, with the exception of the budget MSI, don’t use discrete GPUs).

Since this is a new CPU, we also ran our Cinebench R20 stress test, which runs the benchmark 20 times in a row. The machine took a dive after its initial score of 4,215.9, but stabilized in the 3,600s by run 3. During the test, the processor ran at an average clock speed of 3.1 GHz and at an average temperature of 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit).

Display (Updated)

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Asus put a 14-inch, IPS-level display running at a 120 Hz refresh rate at FHD resolution in the Zephyrus G14. In short, it’s fast and colorful. Although, some panels in this price range have gone up to 144 Hz. On the AniMe Matrix model, there’s a 2560 x 1440p screen at 60 Hz.

When I watched a 1080p trailer for Black Widow, the titular hero got caught in a fiery orange explosion that glowed bright against a dark background. The display is matte, which helps avoid glare, though some colors didn’t look as vivid as they might on a glossier screen.

When I played Control, the first scene in which Jesse encounters the hiss looked incredible. They were black silhouettes on a stark red background, and an indigo shadow encapsulated Jesse.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The Zephyrus’ panel covers 117% of the sRGB color gamut, putting it just ahead of the Predator (116%), Dell G7 (114%), Razer Blade Stealth (106%) and budget-focused MSI Alpha 15 (107%).

It offers an average brightness of 323 nits, which is brighter than the Dell (303 nits) and Predator (275 nits), but dimmer than the Stealth (396 nits).

AniMe Matrix Display (New)

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On the top-end model, the lid is adorned with Asus’ AnMe Matrix, a “display” of sorts. Half of the lid is covered in dots, which can be lit up by white LEDs.

It’s a fun novelty, but considering it’s on the back of the screen, it’s not like I spent a lot of time looking at it.

All of the lights are controlled in a special section in the Asus Armoury Crate software, with options to use your own art, show information based on your system, or display effects based on music that you’re playing. As far as OEM software tends to go (especially gaming software), it’s decently intuitive for the basics.

The gallery comes packaged with some Republic of Gamers-based effects, but you can go get any image from the internet and make it work. As I played with it, I found that images that were already 8 or 16-bit sprites tended to look the best on the screen. GIFs work just by uploading them, and I had Sonic the Hedgehog running on the back of my screen, as well as a dancing banana. You can also choose your own text in a variety of fonts.

There are options to adjust the brightness and contrast of any image you put up in lights, and I recommend you play with it, as it can have a major effect on the quality. There’s also the option to loop between different images or pieces of information, but I found this more difficult than it was worth.

From the system, you can use the back to show the date, time, your battery life or how many emails you have. Having the time might make life easier for people in the same coffee shop as you, but you can see all of that information from the front of the screen, and I doubt anyone else cares that you have 80% charge left.

The music effects are neat, but I can’t imagine anyone using them unless they’re making the Zephyrus G14 a DJ machine.

As far as designs go, this definitely makes the Zephyrus stand out, no doubt. You can show a bunch of personality with this thing (though it does make the laptop a few millimeters thicker), just note that whatever information it shows, you won’t see it.

When the laptop is closed and connected to power, the AniMe Matrix display shows a shooting star pattern. By default, when the laptop is on battery, whether open or closed, the lighting doesn’t work at all, though that can be changed in settings.

Keyboard, Touchpad and Fingerprint Reader

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The chiclet keyboard on the Zephyrus feels excellent. Asus claims 1.7 mm of travel, and it does indeed feel deeper than many laptops. When I took it for a spin on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, it was super-comfortable as I blazed along at 114 words per minute. It’s a bit louder than some laptop keyboards, but as someone who likes using mechanical keyboards on the desktop, that didn’t bother me much. There are also dedicated keys to open the Asus Armoury Crate software, mute/unmute the microphone and adjust the volume.

The 4.1 x 2.4-inch glass touchpad is just big enough. It’s fine for gaming, as you’ll likely use a gaming mouse anyway. But I wouldn’t mind a bit more vertical space for productivity use. Still, with Windows precision drivers, it was always accurate and responsive as I navigated the OS and used gestures to switch between applications.

Perhaps the best hidden feature here is the fingerprint reader. It’s built into the power button, though there is no indication there. Generally, I only test these to make sure if they work, but this is the best fingerprint reader I’ve ever used on a notebook. Not only is it accurate, but it can log you straight into your account if you use a fingerprint registered to boot the computer up. It basically removes the lock screen, which made using it feel totally seamless, with the exception that I needed to hold my finger there for about a second to ensure it worked. If I just pressed the button, it tended to register an error.

Audio

Between the top-firing tweeters and the speakers on the bottom of the laptop, the Zephyrus can get loud. When I fired up, Post Malone’s “Circles,” it immediately filled my New York City apartment. The vocals were crisp and clear, as were drums guitars. The bass was present, but could have been a bit stronger. When I played Control, the gunshots rang out and Jesse’s narration was clear, but the background music didn’t stand out from the action.

In the included Dolby Atmos app, there are a number of pre-tuned qualizers offered. For music, I found the Detailed equalizer added a bit of snap to the drums, but was otherwise not a huge difference.

Upgradeability

It requires more screws than I would like to open the Zephyrus, but other than that it’s a fairly easy upgrade.

Specifically, there are 14 Phillips head screws on the bottom of the laptop. Asus recommends starting from the top left and ending on the bottom right, which is a screw that you loosen but don’t remove. That popped up a small bit of the cover, and I was able to fit a spudger in to remove the rest of it. All but three of the screws are the same size: the rest are shorter and go underneath the palmrest.

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One SODIMM slot is immediately accessible, but 8GB of the RAM is soldered to the board. The slot has an 8GB SODIMM inside, but you can change it to a 16GB stick for up to 24GB total. Additionally, the PCIe NVMe slot with the 1TB SSD was also immediately accessible.

Battery Life (Updated)

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It’s truly incredible how long the Zephyrus lasted on our battery test. Generally, only the best ultraportables last between eight and 10 hours on our test, which continuously browses the web, streams video and runs OpenGL tests, all while connected to Wi-Fi with the display at 150 nits brightness.

The Zephyrus endured for 11 hours and 32 minutes. That’s incredible for a gaming notebook and even for some ultrabooks. The premium gaming average is just under 4 hours. This means the Zephyrus is suitable to use as your everyday system in addition to being your gaming machine.

With the AniMe Matrix display and a higher 2560 x 1440 resolution, the laptop ran for 8 hours and 51 minutes. (Also note that there is a different version of the Microsoft Edge browser since we last ran the test). That is a far lesser score than the FHD version of the laptop, but still extremely good for a gaming laptop. By default, the AniMe Matrix turns off when you unplug the laptop, so that lighting didn’t contribute to the test time.

For comparison, the Acer Predator Triton 500, with an i7-8750H and RTX 2060, ran for 4:24 and the Dell G7 15, with an i7-9750H and RTX 2060, died after 3:12. The Razer Blade Stealth 13, with a 25W Ice Lake processor ( i7-1065G7) lasted 8:53. The Dell XPS 13, with a 6-core/12-thread i7-10710U Comet Lake CPU ran for 7:56, albeit with a more taxing 4K display.

And while it’s not quite the best comparison, the MSI Alpha 15, a budget all-AMD gaming laptop with an AMD Ryzen 7 3750H and a Radeon RX 5500M graphics lasted only 3:53.

Heat

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

We measured skin temperatures while running the Metro Exodus stress test to get an idea of how hot the Zephyrus G14 gets while gaming. Towards the end of the test, the center of the keyboard, between the G and H keys, measured 43.4 degrees Celsius (110.1 degrees Fahrenheit), but the touchpad was cooler at 27.2 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit). While playing Control, I found that the keys around ASDF got quite hot and were sometimes uncomfortable. The hottest point on the bottom of the notebook measured 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

While the fans never seemed too loud while playing games, they had a tendency to whir a bit even when idle, which was, in some ways, more noticeable and more annoying.

Webcam

Asus doesn’t include a webcam on the Zephyrus, so if you want to stream or even video chat with friends, you’ll need to buy an external camera (we’re keeping track of the best webcams you can still buy). In some regions, the Zephyrus G14 may be sold bundled with a webcam.

Software and Warranty

The ROG Zephyrus comes with a bunch of Asus’ own software. Perhaps the most useful is Armoury Crate, which serves as a dashboard for CPU and GPU statistics, fan speeds and other performance details. It also is where Aura Sync for RGB lighting goes and where you can turn off the laptop’s annoying boot up sound.

Then there’s GameVisual, which lets you change the color temperature for different games or manually and GameFirst VI, which lets you assign priority apps accessing your network. There’s asp MyAsus. which provides warranty information and access to customer support.

Of course, like many Windows 10 laptops, it comes with preinstalled bloatware from the Windows Store, including Netflix, Spotify, Farm Heroes Saga, Candy Crush Friends, Hulu and Disney Magic Kingdoms.

Asus supports its notebooks with a 1-year warranty.

Configurations (Updated)

The Zephyrus G14 we reviewed, with a Ryzen 9 4900HS, RTX 2060 Max-Q, 16GB of RAM, an FHD, 120 Hz display, 1TB of SSD storage and a white chassis costs $1,449.99.

There are other models, including a $1,049.99 base model with a Ryzen 7 4800HS, 8GB of RAM, a GTX 1650 and a 60 Hz FHD display in a gray chassis. A bump up to the 120 Hz display and a 1660 Ti will run you $1,299.99.

If you want the head-turning AniMe Matrix display, with a series of LEDs on the chassis to customize its look, as well as a 2560 x 1440 screen. you’ll need to pay a premium. That one costs $1,999.99.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 doesn’t have a top-end GPU inside, but it punches above its weight class for an affordable price. It has comparable performance to the 45W, 6-core, 12 thread Intel CPUs in a similar price point.

Asus’ design is the nicest I’ve seen for a laptop with an AMD mobile CPU. For once, we have a system that doesn’t feel like it skimped on anything to cut costs. The screen is good, the battery life is strong and the keyboard is clicky. Only the whirring fan and some heat reduce the experience.

If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that looks great, lasts a long time on a charge and can blast through your favorite games at a reasonable price, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 could be your best choice. However, If you want Thunderbolt 3 or a faster, 144 Hz display, the Dell G7 15 or Acer Predator Triton 500 are alternatives you should consider.

We have more testing to do across the Ryzen 4000 series lineup, but both the Zephyrus and Ryzen 9 4900HS inside give us hope for AMD’s potential success in gaming laptops at this price point. The Zephyrus is proof of it. We’re especially eager to see how Ryzen 4000 chips perform when paired with a high-end GPU.

MORE: Best Gaming Laptops

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what to look for when choosing

Consultants in stores usually advise choosing a laptop like this: for games, take more, if for work, then the average price tag. I think this is the perfect way to take the wrong thing.

Dmitry Kuzmin

figured out how to choose the perfect laptop

Author profile

For me, a laptop is a typewriter on the road. We picked up a game monster for a comrade, with whom he travels on business trips. Relatives have a large substitute for a desktop computer, on which it is convenient to watch movies and read articles.

How to choose the laptop you really need and not overpay.

Notebook type

Notebooks are conditionally divided according to the shape of the device.

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The Classic Notebook is a portable computer that can work offline without being connected to a network. It looks like a «book»: one part is the screen, the other is the keyboard. When they say “laptop”, most often they mean the classic form.

Transformer is a laptop with a swivel touch screen. Such a device can be folded in both directions and turned into a tablet. Usually transformers are small, with a screen up to 14 inches, and thinner than classic laptops.

The tablet notebooks are another type that’s great for on the go. The screen detaches from the keyboard and can work as a tablet. There are very few such laptops now — perhaps it is easier to buy a tablet and a Bluetooth keyboard than to spend money on such a solution.

Acer convertible laptop looks like This is a Dell laptop-tablet

For example:
? Classic laptop — Acer for 57,370 R
? Transformer — Acer for 31,990 R
? Laptop-tablet — Dell for 30 0134

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that help a computer run and run other programs. There are currently three OS families in use.

Windows is the most popular operating system on the market. The current version in November 2020 is Windows 10, with a new browser, voice assistant and the ability to create multiple desktops.

Linux is the code name for operating systems, of which there are more than 850 at the end of 2020. Linux is mainly used for system administration, there are builds for supercomputers and industrial devices.

Manufacturers release special assemblies for laptops: such operating systems are free, unlike Windows. For example, Asus has a popular Linux-based Endless OS.

Linux and Windows interfaces are similar, the main package of office and home programs is available everywhere. Difficulties can arise if something breaks: finding a wizard on Windows is much easier than finding a specific build of Linux.

This is what the desktop looks like Endless OS

MacOS is an operating system for Apple laptops, MacBooks. Such devices stand apart from others.

Apple laptops are built on their own architecture, although they use similar components. They have their own operating system, which cannot be controlled by other laptops. Moreover, the opposite is also true: working on a MacBook using Windows without additional crutch programs will not work either.

Apple does not have budget solutions — cheap models start from 70,000 R. On Windows, you can find a solution that is not so powerful, but also three times cheaper. If we compare similar models in terms of power and speed, then the price tag will be approximately the same. I don’t have any specific and objective criteria when it is worth choosing a platform on macOS, and when on another OS: it seems to be a matter of taste.

Device without OS is a way to save money if you already have a purchased system and are ready to install it yourself.

For example:
? Windows-based — Lenovo for R40990
? Linux-based — Acer for R38900
? MacOS — MacBook Pro 13 for R175990 ? Lenovo OS ?

Screen size

I think the screen size should be chosen depending on the way you use it. If the computer will be mainly at home, then it is better to take more. If you need to constantly carry a laptop with you, then it will be more convenient with a compact one.

Conventionally, laptops are divided into several categories.

Small — 10-11″ tiny netbooks and 13-14″ thin laptops. Ideal if you need to travel a lot.

Standard — 15.6″ laptops. This is the size that most laptops you will see in the store will be. When I had to wear one every day to the office, it was inconvenient: after all, this is already a large device. These laptops are ideal for the «occasionally take home from work» format.

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Large — screen 17 inches or more. They are several thousand more expensive than standard devices. On such a screen, you can already comfortably watch a movie, but it’s hard to carry it around with you. If you plan to use a laptop only at home or in the office, consider what will be more profitable: buy a large laptop or an additional monitor of at least 21 inches — in November 2020, these cost from 5000 RUR.

Comparison of screen diagonals

For example:
? Small 14″ — Asus for R47990
? Standard 15.6″ — Acer for R69990
? Large 17.3″ — Lenovo9 for R63590

4

Resolution is the number of pixels on the screen. Usually they indicate the ratio of pixels in width and height: for example, for the Full HD format, this is 1920 by 1080 px. The larger the screen, the higher the resolution should be so that the image does not “break up” into squares.

The resolution setting is relevant mainly for large monitors and TVs. In the case of a laptop, even on a 17-inch device, the picture in just Full HD will look great.

It is worth adhering to these parameters.

HD resolution, or 1366 × 768 px, suitable for short sessions: find something on the Internet, play solitaire, watch a series. It is better if the diagonal is a maximum of 15.6 inches. Laptops with this resolution are cheaper, but the image on them may be fuzzy.

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How to choose a TV and not overpay

Full HD resolution, or 1920 by 1080 px, enough for comfortable continuous work or play on laptops up to 17 inches.

4K resolution is suitable for any laptop, including those with a diagonal of 17 inches, which will watch videos or run games.

For example:
? 1366 × 768 PX and 15.6 inches — HP for 31 890 R
? 1920 × 1080 PX and 15.6 inches — Lenovo for 40 920 p
? 3840 × 2160 PX and 17 inch — HP for 119,590 R

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Processor

The CPU is the «brain» of the laptop. With its help, all data is processed, the startup speed and smoothness of programs depend on it. Processors have a lot of technical characteristics that should be evaluated in aggregate.

Two parameters are usually distinguished: the number of cores and the frequency of the processor. The cores are responsible for the number of simultaneously launched and processed processes, and the frequency is for the processing speed. But these two data are not enough to build an explicit performance rating, so it is better to focus on the results of comparative tests.

You will most likely find laptops with Intel or AMD processors in stores. Each manufacturer has several lines of devices.

Budget: for Intel — Pentium and Celeron, for AMD — Athlon and A. Usually they can run only the simplest office programs.

Medium: Intel Core i3 and AMD Ryzen 3. Suitable for most light games and programs.

Powerful: Intel Core i5 and i7 and AMD Ryzen 5.7. Needed by gamers and those who process heavy photos or videos.

Heavy Duty: Intel Core i9, AMD Ryzen 9 and AMD Ryzen Threadripper. Rulers for working in complex industrial or engineering programs, procedural 3D or the latest games at maximum settings.

The division is conditional: in tests it often turns out that some i5 model performs better than i7. If you select a computer for undemanding programs, then there will not be much difference between the same i5 or i7. If you need to choose the most powerful processor within a specific budget, then it is better to compare models using independent benchmark ratings, or, as they are also called, benchmarks. You can look at Technical City, PassMark or UserBenchmark.

For example:
? Budget laptop on Intel Celeron — Asus for 19,990 R
? Average on AMD Ryzen 3 — Asus for 43,990 R
? Average on Intel i5 — Lenovo on R 53 03 1907 Powerful — Xiaomi for R124,990
? Powerful on AMD Ryzen 5 — Asus for R53,990
? Very powerful on Intel i9 — Lenovo Yoga for R154,990

Discrete graphics card

a core in a processor, or an integrated graphics card. This is enough for office tasks, watching videos, the Internet and old undemanding games.

If you plan to play something modern or process video, then you need additional power — a separate board for such calculations, or a discrete video card.

Discrete graphics cards have two main characteristics: memory and frequency. The amount of memory is responsible for the amount of information that the video card can download for processing. Frequency affects the speed of this processing. If you need a powerful laptop, then the higher each of these parameters, the better.

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There are two main manufacturers of discrete graphics cards these days: Nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon. Each has several series for different purposes.

GeForce M and MX series and Radeon 520-630 and R series are medium power models. As a rule, such cards have a low frequency and 2 GB of memory — this is enough for games at medium settings that came out 5-10 years ago.

GeForce GTX 1050 and Radeon RX are advanced series, they have 2-4 GB of memory, but the frequency is higher. These cards are enough to run modern games at minimum settings.

GeForce RTX 2050 and up are gaming cards for running games at medium to high settings. The higher the number after RTX, the better for the gamer.

For example:
? With built-in card — Dell for R31,590
? For work and light gaming with Radeon 530 — HP for R37,990
? For modern games with GeForce RTX 2080 Super9 GBO5 958 R

RAM

This is a board that contains information that the processor and video card need at a particular moment. This memory is called RAM — Random Access Memory.

When we load the operating system, information from utility programs is placed in RAM. We turn on the browser — each tab takes up space in RAM. The more such memory, the faster the laptop will work.

The required minimum for a laptop is 4 GB. This is enough for the operating system, browser, player and a couple of undemanding programs. If you have a lot of tabs open, you plan to play or use programs heavier than Word, such as large spreadsheets in Excel, or process photos, then look for at least 6 GB, and preferably 8. If you plan to play, then 16 GB will come in handy.

For example:
? Budget laptop with 4 GB of RAM — ASUS for 29 990 P
? for office tasks with 8 GB of RAM — Lenovo for 43 390 R
? game with 16 GB — Acer for 89 9903

Drumber

This is the main storage of any information that is on the computer. I have already talked about how to choose a hard drive for a computer.

There are two types of hard drives for laptops.

SSD — solid state drives. In fact, this is a microcircuit with a high data transfer rate. Such devices are convenient to use for tasks where you need to constantly record and give information: for the operation of the operating system, programs, games. For example, only the installed Windows OS will be able to boot in just 2-3 seconds.

HDD — rotating magnetic platters, they are also called a hard disk. These drives are cheaper, but slower. They should be used as file storage, for example, for a collection of movies and TV shows. When I put Windows on the HDD, even without unnecessary programs it turned on for a long time: 15-30 seconds.

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How to choose a hard drive to fit exactly

The ideal option is to combine both drives. For example, buying 256 GB SDD and 1 TB HDD is enough to run medium games and store movies. If there is no need to store something, just a 256 GB SSD is enough. If you plan to download modern heavy games, then it is better to find an SSD with at least 512 GB.

For example:
? HDD storage 500 GB — HP 29290 R
? Office software 256 GB SSD — Acer 42 310 R
? Game and HD movie storage 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HP for 66 250 R

Remember

If you plan to take a laptop with you, look at transformers or a device with a screen up to 14 inches. The average size is 15.6 inches. For regular work at home or in the office, choose laptops with a diagonal of 17 inches or more.

If the laptop is small, HD 1366 × 768 px resolution is acceptable. But better watch 1920 × 1080 px. For fans of movies and games, you can use 4K, but you will have to fork out.

To just watch movies and surf the Internet, an inexpensive laptop with a weak processor and an integrated graphics card is enough. For gaming, see discrete graphics card and at least Intel i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 series processor.

Minimum RAM requirement is 4 GB. If you want the laptop to work without brakes, choose 6 or 8 GB, for games — 16 GB.

Laptops with SSDs are faster, but they have less memory and are more expensive. If you need both quickly and a lot, it is better to look at SSD + HDD bundles.

5 tips from a technology expert

Most computer users have become a favorite pastime in their free time, and if for “simple” games it is enough to have an ordinary office computer of average power, then most of the “advanced” versions with high-quality graphics, powerful sound effects and The possibility of immersion in virtual reality requires powerful systems with characteristics specially “sharpened” for games.

Considering the performance of new laptop models, which has caught up with the parameters of many desktop systems, we can conclude that it is more profitable to purchase a new gaming laptop. Moreover, it has additional advantages — it practically does not take up space in the house, it is easily transported from place to place and can become a useful companion on long trips.

The main parameters and available functionality of the gaming laptop depends on the games you plan to enjoy. If these are turn-based strategies, RPG versions or quests running in «old» modes, then standard cars with average performance values will do. But if you play top games and test the latest versions of games with elements of virtual reality, you need a modern laptop model with “gaming” characteristics.

In order for the gaming laptop to fully meet the expectations of the gamer, when choosing a specific model, you must consider some features:

The cost of the laptop. A good gaming laptop can’t be cheap. However, the high price does not guarantee its suitability for resource-intensive games, since the high price may be due to the use of better materials for the manufacture of the case, the installation of the maximum capacity of the battery or exquisite finishes, as well as advanced functionality that does not affect the performance during the game. . Therefore, when choosing, you should not focus solely on the price parameters of the model.

Video card parameters. First of all, laptops with integrated graphics should definitely be deleted from the list of compared models. To play «without brakes» and lags from the system, you need to pay attention to models with a discrete video card of the «game» GeForce GTX lines from NVIDIA or Radeon from AMD. In this case, the amount of video memory should be more than 2, and even better — from 4 to 8 GB. Preference should be given to DDR5 memory. Good results were shown by the video cards GeForce GTX 1050 and Radeon RX 460.

Processor performance. Since the performance of the entire system depends on the characteristics of the processor, you should not save on the performance of the processor chip: it must have at least two cores with four computational threads, and the clock speed should be in the range from 2.8 to 3.5 GHz. Given the current trends in the new «gaming» software, it is best to focus on four or eight-core models. The best solutions for gaming laptops are chips of the new generation i5 — i7 from Intel or A8-A10 from AMD.

Display settings. This is probably the only parameter in which laptops lose to desktop gaming systems. However, you can always connect larger monitors to your laptop. Typically, gamers prefer laptops with screen sizes of 15-18 inches, as the entertainment of game plots depends on this. At the same time, you should not choose models with a resolution of less than 1920 × 1080, since new games may not work in more “simple” modes. The type of matrix can be either TN — with a short response time, good viewing angles and natural color reproduction, or IPS — with maximum viewing angles.