The Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR is one of the first gaming laptops with an RTX 3070 mobile GPU. Not only that, it is also one of the first machines to feature the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H. This CPU and GPU combination should be a good match, as both are the latest mainstream technology, and Asus is offering this machine at a more reasonable price, and there is a lot to be interested in here, at least on paper.

Asus has incorporated these two components into the TUF Gaming chassis, slightly updated for 2021. Asus has also improved the laptop's stamina with a 90Wh battery.

The refresh also offers exciting options on the display front, with the model I'm looking at here featuring a 240Hz 1080p panel with 100% sRGB color gamut coverage. It's bright, vibrant, and fast. It's perfect for gaming, and while the RTX 3070 may have trouble achieving 240 fps in modern single-player games, it has a good chance of achieving such frame rates in esports games like Vaolrant and CS:GO.

As with desktops, the mobile version of the RTX 3070 is where the money is wise; while it is true that the RTX 3080 is a more powerful GPU, it is also quite expensive. As this machine proves, the RTX 3070 can be had for considerably less than that. As this machine proves, the RTX 3070 can be had for considerably less than that.

With this generation of mobile GPUs, Nvidia has given mobile manufacturers more choices regarding heat and power. This means that this machine has an RTX 3070, for example, and not just the 95W version of this model, for example. Faster models are available up to 125W, but they require serious cooling to keep the heat down.

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800H is a similarly high-performance chip that won't threaten the top of performance benchmarks, but offers more than enough power for most tasks. This 8-core, 16-thread processor has a stock clock speed of 3.2 GHz and a maximum boost of 4.4 GHz. It can handle serious number crunching at the same time without interfering with gaming. If you do video editing or rendering in between games, you need not worry.

Other specs are pretty much what you would expect from a well-designed mid-range gaming laptop: 16GB of RAM can still cover your games for a while, and the 1TB PCIe SSD is fast and large enough to store most of your Steam library has.

Perhaps we've been spoiled by many high-end builds lately, but this chassis feels a bit budget. The main surface is clean with a brushed steel effect, but the plastic bottom doesn't look so good when flipped over. The cut hexagonal motif helps airflow, but the plastic grille looks like it could easily break. The TUF design on the lid at least works well enough and looks modern.

The right side has one large vent and a USB Type-A port. There are two more vents on the back, but none on the left side, leaving more room for connecting peripherals. The microphone/headphone jack is located next to one USB 3.2 Type-C port and two USB 3.2 Type-A ports; the HDMI connector, Ethernet port, and power connector are also located here. The included 200W power brick is moderately sized and textured for a modern look.

Some gaming laptops have mechanical keyboards pressed into the chassis, but a keyboard that is responsive and easy to type on is not a must for every system; luckily for Asus, the TUF Gaming A15 offers a quality high quality typing experience.

The keys have RGB lighting, and the WASD keys stand out from the rest of the keyboard thanks to their transparent design. The keyboard has three brightness levels to choose from, and the lighting can be turned off completely.

The touchpad is neither too large nor too small, and the left and right buttons of the mouse can actually be pressed, so there is no guesswork involved as with those with integrated clickpads. Still, this is first and foremost a gaming laptop, and a mouse will be required for use.

Gaming Performance

Ultimately, it is performance that decides the fate of a gaming laptop, and this latest edition of the TUF Gaming brand can head high enough. It's not the fastest machine, the quietest machine, or the most beautiful looking machine, but it packs a punch there at 1080p.

Basically, it will be able to handle any game you can throw at it. Since this is an Nvidia RTX GPU, it can also take advantage of ray tracing and DLSS; with RTX and DLSS turned on, the Metro Exodus frame rate is 57 fps, with a minimum of 32 fps. Compared to the Ultra setting of 65 fps, one can see that ray tracing is not as costly as it once was.

System Performance

A look at CPU-specific benchmarks will quickly show why AMD has made so many inroads against Intel in laptops. The multi-core Cinebench R20 3D rendering and X264 video encoding results are so far behind Intel that they are embarrassing. The machine is almost twice as fast as the Asus TUF Gaming Dash 15 in video encoding and significantly faster than the otherwise more capable Gigabyte Aorus 15G.

However, this performance comes at a price.

Fan profiles are important for modern laptops and have a significant impact on the usefulness of the machine; the TUF Gaming A15 is one example, which is a bit too loud for my taste in the "Performance" profile, and the "Turbo" profile and noise level and performance is not much different. In fact, if Asus had adjusted the default profile to be a bit quieter, it would have made for a better overall experience, even if it meant losing a few frames.

However, when dropped to "Silent" mode, one can enjoy a whisper-quiet game without the usual jet engine backtracking. Performance, however, is significantly reduced. For example, F1 2020 dropped from over 100 fps to 60 fps. Metro Exodus drops from 65 fps on the Ultra setting to 45 fps, which is a bit more problematic. If you play newer, more demanding games, you will probably have to get used to the noise.

Truth be told, this is a somewhat unattractive chassis, but it has a lot of new mobile technology at a reasonable price there. It runs a little hot and can be noisy due to an overworked fan. Realistically, the RTX 3060 might be a better option, which is a shame because the RTX 3070 is a bit of a monster. Because RTX 3070 is a bit of a monster. There is an option to turn on silent mode, but doing so feels like you're paying a lot of money to artificially cap and run everything.

Asus has made some nice upgrades to the machine as a whole, notably the 240Hz screen. It simply looks great and is perfect for high frame rate gaming. The fact that it has a GPU that can actually deliver surprisingly high frame rates should not be overlooked; the CPU is powerful enough for more serious gaming, and the 1TB NVMe SSD makes for a speedy all-around experience.

In terms of value for money, Asus has set the bar pretty high for the TUF Gaming A15: $1,799 (£1,600) for an RTX 3070-powered gaming machine is a pretty decent price today, and the fact that it has such a high-performance CPU The fact that it is equipped with such a powerful CPU is commendable. It just needs to be cooler and quieter, and if Asus can somehow fight the laws of thermodynamics to make that happen, it could be a worthy entry in our guide to the best gaming laptops. As it is now, it's just a really good gaming laptop.