Asus TUF Dash F15 Review: Efficient, but Not Excellent

If this is a thin laptop you’re looking for, Asus makes a number, including last year’s excellent ROG Zephyrus G14 and the intriguing ROG Flow x13 2-in-1 we recently reviewed. The TUF Dash F15 is the latest option to join the package, and it’s the one that might grab your attention if you’re looking for a laptop with an Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics chip and an 11th generation Intel Core H-Series processor, in addition to other benefits, such as a Thunderbolt 4 port and a fast refresh rate.

As one of the first machines launched with this processor and GPU, the TUF Dash F15 is a showcase for what you can expect from a thin chassis that costs $ 1,449, Asus’s MSRP for the setup it gives me sent. (This particular model will be released on March 8. A $ 1,699.99 model with a slightly better processor is now available. A $ 1,099.99 model containing the RTX 3060 is available from February 15, 2021. )

Like the other models I mentioned, the TUF Dash F15 is a very solid laptop – except for the fact that, like the Zephyrus G14, it does not have a webcam. For this reason, it is not an ideal machine if you regularly jump on video calls for work, class or leisure. As for the specs, I’m not convinced that it has the chops to tackle the next spate of demanding games in a year or two. I will explain a little why. At least it can currently run most games with their highest graphics settings with relatively smooth frame rates, and it has a great battery life.

The TUF Dash F15 has a new chassis design that looks more refined than Asus’ TUF A15 laptop. This model has a slimmer, more confident look that drops the older version’s faux-brushed metal details and embellished yellow light keys. The lid is shooting gray (Asus also makes a “Moonlight White” variant), while the inside is black and completely plastic.

The keyboard is illuminated in a color I would describe as Mountain Dew Baja Blast. It’s a strange color choice – but I do not hate it. The effect is more subtle than it seems, and can be eliminated or the brightness adjusted. Seeing the light shine through the transparent WASD keys also looks cool (except you can quickly find the most important directional buttons).

I recommend Asus that he designed a good keyboard, both in terms of key feel and usability. All the keys are nicely spaced apart and I could quickly tap on them. It was also smart to separate the volume tests from the row function tests as it is so commonly used.

Continued Asus trend of the Zephyrus G14, this machine also has a fantastic battery life. In my testing, the TUF Dash F15’s battery lasted until the beginning of a second day before it had to be recharged. It’s more than eight hours of use, which is a fantastic longevity for a machine set up as a laptop. When you disconnect the charger, it is automatically put into “silent” mode in the software performance tracking software of Asus’ Armory Crate and the standard 240Hz refresh rate of the screen is cracked to a more efficient 60Hz. In this mode, the system automatically switches to integrated graphics. (The Nvidia graphics chip is turned off when you unplug it.) It’s a compromise, but I like that you do not have to switch to get good results like this.

Out of curiosity, I switched to 240Hz while turning off the battery. It took most, but not all, of my work day. It’s no secret that displaying the high refresh rate can reduce battery life, so I would not suggest it if you keep a charger nearby.

Speaking of chargers, the laptop comes with a large 200W powerhouse, but you have the option to charge it with up to a 100W USB-C charger with its Thunderbolt 4 port. (Thunderbolt 4 does not support wattage over 100W.) Of course, it does not charge as fast; in fact, my experience is that the laptop runs out faster during play than it can charge via USB-C.

The TUF Dash F15’s quad-core Intel Core i7-11730H processor and 16GB of DDR4 RAM did not miss a beat while using 10 tabs in Google Chrome, along with Spotify (streaming music to my headphones via Bluetooth – the laptop’s built-in speakers are terrible), Slack and Affinity Photo. For those apps, this device feels funny enough to use it daily.

However, this does not seem to be the best choice if your job involves performing and executing videos or other projector-related projects. When I performed our video output test (which reduced an Adobe Premiere Pro project to a 4K file of 5 minutes and 33 seconds), it took 6 minutes, 41 seconds, which was slower than I expected . The machine’s quad-core, 35W TDP processor appears to be the bottleneck, as the performance statistics from Windows Task Manager showed that it was full or almost full all the time.

There are a few older mid-range laptops we reviewed that delivered faster Premiere Pro results, thanks to their 45W tenth-generation hexa-core and octa-core processors. Some include Lenovo Legion 5i and the 2020 MSI GS66 Stealth, as well as the maximum Dell XPS 15 we tested. However, I would not recommend opting for it because Intel has 45W 11th Gen processors in development that should leave the older chips in the dust. But none of this helps the case of this laptop.

The TUF Dash F15 was more mediocre with high-end games than I also expected. The RTX 3070 struggled to meet the bar for a smooth 60 frame-per-second game when I ran some demanding titles like Control and Red Dead Redemption 2 at their highest graphics settings in 1080p. Open world titles and games with radiation tracking features were especially good at pushing this laptop to its extreme.

With the games operating at their highest graphical settings, the benchmark is useful in Horizon: Zero Dawn averaged 68fps, while Red Dead Redemption 2‘s average was 58 fps. Death Stranding with 80 fps better performance, with the DLSS settings on the quality mode. Control reached about 50 fps, with all beam detection settings set to maximum and DLSS on, although the performance varies greatly depending on the level of action or environment. These are all very playable frame rates, though the numbers tell me you need to make some graphic adjustments to make these games work smoothly. And possibly games released in the next year or two will not perform as well as these.

I expected better performance from this drive in these tests, as the MSI GP66 Leopard, which also uses the RTX 3070, was tested with higher numbers. However, there is a good reason for these results. Asus explains on its product page that it sets the clock speed and total graphics power of the chip to its lowest possible power requirements, probably due to the slim design of the laptop and to maintain efficient performance. The TUF Dash F15’s GPU is clocked at 1,290Mhz (with a boost of up to 1,390MHz) and has a total graphics power of 85W; it is compared to 1 620 MHz and 130 W in the GP66 Leopard, which is the highest possible configuration.

These kinds of events are not new. But what’s new (and the cause of confusion) is Nvidia’s recently developed Max-Q brand, which previously pointed to the power difference indicated above by attaching ‘Max-Q’ to the name of the graphics chip. It now exists to tell people that a laptop with a specific set of power and efficiency software provides tools, which this one does.

In short, Asus’ new TUF Dash F15 contains a range of specifications that offer considerable power when needed and long-lasting efficiency when not. But while the laptop offers a good balance and a relatively smooth gameplay, I do not think it will be perfect for everyone, especially since it does not really score for many things we use laptops for.

Not only is it useless for video conferencing (but again no webcam), but it probably also will not provide the crossbar for heavier tasks like video production or even a daily amount of programs like the ones I use. And for the game, the RTX 3070 of this slim machine is not as powerful as I would like for a long-term investment like this, especially since I’m not convinced that it has the chops to make the next wave of demanding games in a year. or to dare later. two.

I think there will probably be some machines soon that contain these new components that manage to please everyone. But that’s not it.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge