The laptop gaming market is at an interesting turning point right now. On the one hand, the technology used in these devices has become so powerful that it can compete with desktop computers in terms of performance, but at the same time, there is a big difference between a laptop with such advanced performance and affordable devices. If we look at ASUS for example, the Strix Scar series costs a fortune but can deliver massive performance, while some of the systems at TUF Gaming are designed to deliver great performance but at a price that won’t require you to mortgage the house yours. I know this because I’ve been testing the TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition for the past couple of weeks.
This laptop has a number of powerful hardware components, but not the best of the best, which means it won’t be able to play the latest games at maximum visual performance and still deliver a smooth frame rate. However, you can get your hands on one of these laptops for around £1,200 and believe me, considering what this device has to offer, it’s really not bad value for money.
The device I tested was equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor with a clock speed of 4001 MHz distributed among eight cores. In addition, it was equipped with an AMD Radeon RX 7600S GPU and 16 GB DDR5 RAM at 4800 MHz. In addition, it had a QHD panel with a maximum speed of 240 Hz and a battery of 90 Whr. So it’s a very, very capable laptop.
I have found that the TUF Gaming A16 is more than capable of playing most modern games at ultra settings in 2K quality with a frame rate of around 30 fps. But then again, this laptop isn’t primarily designed for this, no, this is a system better suited for 1080p gaming at higher frame rates. And it does so in an excellent way. You can run the latest games at their most demanding with a lower resolution and really push your screen’s refresh rate to the limit. And since this is a pure AMD system, you can take advantage of the FSR technology to get even better performance out of the system without having to push it even harder. The frame rate data below from games in 2K quality shows just that.
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Baldur’s Gate III
Low: 75 frames per second
Ultra: 47 images per second
Ultra with FSR: 88 frames per second
Overwatch 2
Low: 90 frames per second
Ultra: 172 images per second
Ultra med FSR: 155 fps
Rest II
Lav: 41 fps
Ultra: 25 images per second
Ultra with FSR: 53 frames per second
Rollerdrome: Way above screen refresh rate capacity for all three categories.
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The Immortals of Aveum
Low: 63 frames per second
Ultra: 55 images per second
Ultra with FSR: 68 frames per second
F1 23
Low: 146 frames per second
Ultra: 25 images per second
I found that some of the latest games were very demanding of the laptop, which took a toll on performance. For example, Remnant II had major problems at times and gave choppy and ugly gameplay, and F1 23 was almost unplayable when the settings were turned up to max. But this laptop also excels at lower resolution and low graphics quality games, and you can see how well it performs in this area in the data above.
The only area where the TUF Gaming A16 seems to be lacking is cooling. This isn’t a particularly quiet laptop, and even the slightest strain will send the fans whirring, drowning out almost any additional sound emitted. The aggressive fans do keep the laptop cool, but they are by no means subtle and make the Dolby Atmos speakers less effective.
On a more positive note, the build quality of this laptop is excellent. Made from premium metals and plastics, the design is exciting yet understated. I’m not a big fan of gaming laptops that look like something from the year 2050, and while the TUF Gaming A16 has a backlit keyboard and plenty of large vents, it’s not a system that immediately catches the eye when it comes in in a room. However, it is very heavy. There’s a lot of technology under the hood, and that means this isn’t a device you’ll want to carry around all day.
To quickly return to the display: Although it has a 90% screen-to-body ratio, which means there is not much empty space, ASUS has made sure that there is room for a webcam built into the frame. As for the panel, you can’t ask for much more in this price range. It’s a clear and vibrant panel that can achieve QHD quality with a high refresh rate and low response time (3ms). So no, it’s not an OLED screen or anything like that, but you don’t get any of that quality without shelling out a ton of extra cash.
Finally, as I mentioned earlier, it comes with a 90 WHr battery, which provides good usage time, even assuming you’re not gaming. When you put it under stress, as is the case with most gaming laptops today, you need to be connected to a power source or the battery will melt away and you’ll notice a drop in performance.
But all in all, there isn’t much to fault the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition. Admittedly the cooling could be better and everyone would appreciate it being lighter, but for a very reasonable price of £1,200 in this era of the gaming laptop market you get a brilliant screen, loads of powerful components under the hood that deliver premium performance, a sleek chassis and a massive battery. If you’re looking to play in 1080p quality on the go without breaking the bank, there aren’t many better options.
2023-09-23 10:00:59
#ASUS #TUF #Gaming #A16 #Advantage #Edition
