Asus ROG Strix G15 Review: Clean Aesthetics And Efficient Performance Overshadow Its Shortcomings

Specification

• Model: ASUS ROG Strix G15 G512LV
• Operating System: Windows 10 (64bit) 
• Processor: Intel Core i7-10750H 
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB 
• Memory: DDR4 2933 MHz SO-DIMM Up to 32GB 
• Storage: PCIe Gen3 512 GB, PCIe Gen3 1TB 3* PCIe Slots (2 with RAID 0, 3rd one for optional upgrade) 
• Display G512: up to 15.6” vIPS-level FHD 240 Hz/3ms 
•  Keyboard: Backlit chiclet keyboard, Aura Sync, Per key RGB Audio 2x 3.5W with Smart AMP Technology 
• I/O Ports: [Left side] 3 x USB3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1 x Audio combo jack: Mic-in and Headphone [Rear side] 1 X USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C (supports DisplayPort, no PD charging) 1x LAN RJ-45 jack 1 x HDMI (HDMI 2.0b support 4K HDR), HDCP SPEC 2.2 
• Battery: 66WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion, 15.4V 
• Wi-Fi/Bluetooth: 802.11AX (2x2) +BT 5.0, support RangeBoost 
• Dimension Strix 15: 36(W) x 27.5(D) x 2.5 (H) cm 
• Weight: Strix 15: 2.39 kg

In-Box Content

• ASUS ROG Strix G15 G512LV
• Full-length Mouse Pad
• ROG Mouse
• AC/DC Adapter

Asus ROG Strix G512LV: Design

Design-wise, the Asus ROG Strix G512LV sets a new benchmark when compared to most of the gaming laptops in the market. Even if you find a better-looking device, the dimensions, weight, and price will set you back by another Rs. 30k-40k. The laptop borrows heavily from its precursor but gets a facelift that makes it feel fresh. Also, the explosive Electro Punk treatment in three color variants on the new model is a breath of fresh air.

The pink variant is what we’ve been playing around with and it can surely turn some heads. However, that’s until when you realize the pink accents on the side of the display, the ROG logo, and the WASD keys are permanently pink. Nonetheless, I don’t hate it and it seldom comes in the way while setting a wallpaper (if you manage to find a wallpaper that matches the pink keys) or playing with Keypad’s RGB.

The RGB LED running along the sides of is quite impressive and something hard to find in this price range. The ROG Strix 512LV leverages the Asus Aurora console to light up the keypad. While it is not a mechanical keypad, it does offer good travel distance and fluid response. The key alignment is conventional, except for a few layout changes on the right and multimedia keys on the top.

The ports and exhaust are placed very thoughtfully. The right side only houses an exhaust, while the left side houses 3 USB ports and a 3.5mm headphone input. All the major gaming ports are placed at the rear side, which consists of 1 USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C (supports DisplayPort, no PD charging), 1 LAN RJ-45 jack, and 1 HDMI (HDMI 2.0b support 4K HDR) with HDCP SPEC 2.2. Also, you will find two exhaust chambers on both sides of these ports. The visible copper insulators inside the exhaust chambers add to the subtlety.

But that’s not it; this beauty also offers an easily-upgradable design, thanks to the removable back panel. This makes it easy to upgrade the memory and storage and all your SO-DIMM and SSD slots are readily accessible beneath the bottom panel.

Asus ROG Strix G512LV: Build Quality

The build quality of the Strix G15 doesn’t qualify as the sturdiest, but it’s still fairly decent. There are tougher gaming machines available, but at this price point and specifications, it does make for an alluring option. The brushed metal finish adds value to its design, but the plastic-quality underneath the lid somehow feels like a missed opportunity to make it better. Also, you can feel the lack of rigidity in the lid’s quality while lifting it with one hand.

The keyboard, mousepad/trackpad, and palm rest are nonetheless sturdy. I really liked the scissor-door hinges that open up from the inside and can’t be seen when the laptop is not unfolded.

Weighing around 2.39 kgs, the Strix G15 deserves a mobile device tag.  Even the dimensions of this laptop stand at 36(W) x 27.5(D) x 2.5 (H) cm, which is not bad. One can carry it as a regular laptop that you carry around.

The biggest concern here is the charging adapter, which is pretty bulky. It’s the same size as a phablet with added thickness and weight. (Ref Image) The charging adapters among gaming laptops somehow need to get a radical change. Brands should do what Microsoft did with the Xbox One’s massive adapter. They removed it and placed it inside the hardware itself, making the Xbox One S smaller and better.

Asus ROG Strix G512LV: Display

In today’s era, you can churn out the most daunting tasks from a gaming laptop. However, when it comes to displays one has to make a compromise. A high refresh rate display will have a lower resolution and vice versa. Understandably, the ROG Strix G512LV chooses to go with a higher refresh rate.

The laptop comes with a 15.6-inch vIPS-level 1920 x 1080p panel with a peak refresh rate of 240Hz and 3ms of pixel response time. The display offers a peak brightness of 300nits, which should be enough indoors, but not so outdoors. However, a 240Hz refresh rate is a treat for competitive gamers who play titles like CS: Go, Dota, and even PUBG.

The ROG Strix G512LV can also come in handy for video editing, thanks to 100 percent sRGB color-space coverage. The display sports a thin-bezel design on three sides and the bottom portion unfolds to create a window, which helps with heat dissipation.

Most of the laptops will either have bottom-firing or side-mounted speakers. The ROG Strix G512LV’s speaker setup is right under the display that throws the sound directly at the user. The sound quality is great and amplifies the gaming and streaming experience.

Asus ROG Strix G512LV: CPU Performance

Just like its flashy design and RGB lighting, the Asus ROG Strix G521LV is tuned to get the most out of the modern AAA titles and power-hungry tasks like video rendering or graphic designing. The laptop packs the 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H CPU along with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB graphics card. 

This model has two 8GB 2933MHz SO-DIMM DDR4 RAM that fully utilizes the dual-channel memory technology for gaming and other computational tasks. Similarly, the laptop offers 512GB NVMe PCIe 3.0 based storage solution along with two additional NVMe slots, making enough room for upgrades in the future. Both RAM and storage are user-upgradable and they are easily accessible as well.

Asus has incorporated the Intel Core i7-10750H with 45W TDP, a high-performance mobile CPU based on 14nm fabrication. Though it is one of the most powerful six-core mobile processors that we have seen, especially with the peak CPU clock speed of 5.0GHz, it is not as efficient as the Ryzen 7 4800H or the Ryzen 9 4900H seen on similarly-priced laptops. 

As for benchmark tests, the Asus ROG Strix G521LV scores 1114 points on single-core CPU performance and 5107 points on multi-core CPU performance on Geekbench 5. In comparison, the ROG G14based on the Ryzen 9 4900HS with lower TDP (35W) scored 1179 points on single-core and 7332 points on multi-core CPU performance.

Though the single-core performance difference between the two models is very insignificant, the Ryzen 9 4800HS is slightly ahead despite having lower TDP. The Cinebench R20 test further reiterates our claim as the device scores 3049 points, whereas the G14 scored 3832 points, making the Ryzen 9 4900HS almost 35 percent faster in terms of multi-core CPU rendering tasks. 

Since most of the games rely on single-core CPU performance, the Intel Core i7-10750H should be able to offer similar if not identical gaming performance as the ROG G14.

Asus ROG Strix G512LV: GPU Performance

The ROG Strix G512LV comes with the popular NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics card with 6GB GDDR6 video memory. This is the GPU to consider if you are planning to game with ray-tracking enabled. With DLSS turned on, the GPU should be able to offer an average 60fps at least on select titles with ray-tracing settings set to medium.

On the Superposition benchmark with graphics set to high, we got an average FPS of 66.68 with a total score of 8914 points. In this case, the ROG Strix G512LV outperforms the ROG G14, as it uses a regular-powered GPU instead of the RTX 2060 Max-Q that offers an average FPS of 56.80 with a total score of 7594 points.

GTA: V is a game that represents both modern and classic titles and we ran the built-in benchmark tool to get an idea about its real-world gaming performance. We learned that the computer can offer an average fps 111 at 1080p resolution and it outperforms the ROG G14 by 5 percent.

If we go by these numbers, the laptop should be able to handle modern games, especially at 1080p without breaking a sweat. Games like CS: Go, which requires lower processing power can offer high-fps gameplay. However, I am not sure if any modern games can fully utilize the 240Hz refresh rate unless the graphics settings are pretty low.

Asus ROG Strix G512LV: 3DMark And DLSS Test

3DMark runs many simulations at various graphics settings and even though the benchmarks might not represent the real-world performance, it does come close as the simulations are based on the standardized features.

On the 3DMark TimeSpy module test, the ROG Strix G512LV scores 6223 points with an average FPS of 40.21. This test indicates that even the most demanding games set to the highest possible graphics settings will deliver an average fps of at least 40.

We also ran the NVIDIA DLSS feature test that significantly improves the performance without compromising the graphics quality.

According to the result, with DLSS turned off, the laptop posted an average fps of 26.99, while it significantly improved the fps to 38.43 when the DLSS was turned on. So, if you have a game that supports DLSS, then enabling the same will get you 30 percent more frames per second, resulting in a smooth gaming experience.

Asus ROG Strix G512LV: Verdict

The Asus ROG Strix G512LV is one of the most unique looking gaming laptops that money can buy. From the Electro Punk color scheme to the complete RGB lighting, there is nothing in the market that can quite match the fashion sense of the Strix G512LV.

The guts of this laptop (GPU and CPU) are pretty powerful and the fans do get loud during lasting gaming sessions. However, thanks to the well-engineered vapor chamber cooling technology, the device quickly dissipates the heat, allowing the laptop to operate at a comfortable temperature even with a whole night game-jam. One of the things I liked about this laptop is that unlike most others, it doesn’t transfer heat to the palm-rest or the trackpad.

The 66Whr battery is again not the best in the business and the backup is pretty average. If the Strix G512LV is used for regular tasks like browsing the web, working on Microsoft Office Suite, or even watching movies, it can last up to 5 hours on a single charge. Gaming on the laptop without connecting to a power source will consume power a lot quicker and even the performance will take a hit, so it is not advisable at all.

The built-in Armoury Crate gives users enough options to tweak and customize CPU and GPU performance, depending on the task. Similarly, the Aura Creator will give a lot of headroom to tweak the entire RGB lighting system on the computer, including the keyboard. The addition of the Electro Punk color scheme with completely customizable RGB treatment is something, which you don’t see very often within this price range.

All in all, the ROG Strix G512LV is a great gaming and utility (video editing) device if you have a budget of around Rs. 150,000. It could be an overkill for amateur gamers but for advanced gamers, it will get the work done. However, I would say, this could be a perfect fit for video editors and advanced gamers in certain titles.