Often times you’d see us review gaming laptops with top-notch hardware. In most cases, they do feel great to run but you can’t help but think, “how much would this cost?” With price tag in mind, such great laptops disappear in one’s list of must-haves and more affordable alternatives come into mind. In this review, we get to get our hands on one such laptop, the ASUS TUF Gaming F15. It’s a two year old laptop but still has decent hardware to run most modern games. It is worth the money though? Let’s find out in this review.
| Model |
FX507ZC4-HN081W TUF Gaming F15 (Mecha Gray)
|
| Operating System |
Windows 11 Home
|
| Processor |
12th Gen, Intel Core i5-12500H Processor 2.5 GHz (18M Cache, up to 4.5 GHz Turbo Boost, 12 cores: 4 P-cores and 8 E-cores)
|
| Graphics |
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Laptop GPU
1790MHz* at 95W (1740MHz Boost Clock + 50MHz OC, 80W + 15W Dynamic Boost)
4GB GDDR6
|
| Display |
9.62 cms (15.6) Anti-glare FHD (1920 x 1080) display having 16:09 Aspect Ratio
144Hz Refresh Rate 250nits Brightness |
| Memory |
8GB DDR4 (8GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM) RAM expandable upto 32GB using 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM slots || Support dual channel memory
|
| Storage |
512GB PCIe® 3.0 NVMe™ M.2 SSD
|
| I/O Ports |
1x RJ45 LAN port, 1x Thunderbolt 4 support DisplayPort, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort / G-SYNC, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
|
| Keyboard and Touchpad |
Backlit Chiclet Keyboard 1-Zone RGB
Touchpad
|
| Camera |
720P HD camera
|
| Audio |
AI noise-canceling technology
Dolby Atmos Hi-Res certification 2-speaker system 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack |
| Network and Communication |
Wi-Fi 6(802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth® 5.2 Wireless Card (*Bluetooth® version may change with OS version different.)
|
| Battery |
90WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion
|
| Power Supply |
ø6.0, 200W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 10A, 200W, Input: 100~240C AC 50/60Hz universal
|
| Weight |
2.20 Kg (4.85 lbs)
|
| Dimensions (W x D x H) |
35.4 x 25.1 x 2.24 ~ 2.49 cm (13.94″ x 9.88″ x 0.88″ ~ 0.98″)
|
| Xbox Game Pass |
Xbox Game Pass for PC – 3 months
|
| Included in the Box |
TUF Gaming Backpack (Shipped Separately)
|
| Games | Preset | Average | 1% | 0.1% | Notes (Score, etc.) |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | Ultra High | 28 | 17 | 14 | 100% Render Scaling |
| Dota 2 | Best Looking | 99 | 55 | 8 | – |
| Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker | Maximum | 76 | 21 | 14 | – |
| Rainbow Six: Siege | Ultra | 192 | 130 | 102 | 100% Render Scaling |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | Highest | 62 | 28 | 9 | DX11, DLSS OFF |
| Warzone | Ultra | 93 | 62 | 21 | – |
| Watch Dogs Legion | Ultra | 36 | 20 | 13 | DX12, DLSS OFF |
| Total War: Warhammer 3 | Ultra | 58 | 46 | 44 | – |
Seeing the graph above, you might have noticed the mixed numbers in terms of performance. Games made for a wider audience and have had a number of years in them, such as Rainbow Six: Siege and Dota 2, perform significantly well compared to more modern titles such as AC: Valhalla and Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition. However, it should be noted that the TUF Gaming F15 can still run these games at a more acceptable frame rate if you lower the graphics settings.
These benchmarks are meant to measure the device’s performance relative to other peoples’ machines. We plugged in a mix of CPU & GPU-intensive tests and other ones that measure the performance of both at the same time.
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme is designed for multi-GPU systems and future hardware generations. In addition to raising the rendering resolution, additional visual quality improvements increase the rendering load to ensure accurate performance measurements for truly extreme hardware setups.
3DMark Firestrike Extreme but more demanding. Incredibly taxing to the system as the benchmark tests how your PC can render in 4K (3840 x 2160).
3DMark Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs. Time Spy is one of the first DirectX 12 apps to be built the right way from the ground up to fully realize the performance gains that the new API offers.
Benchmark Score: 4,384
Cinebench leverages the same powerful 3D engine found in the award-winning animation software Cinema 4D Release 20 to accurately evaluate CPU rendering performance capabilities across various systems and platforms.
Extreme performance and stability test for PC hardware: video card, power supply, cooling system.
Despite its small and thin build, the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 still hosts a full-sized keyboard complete with numpad. While not that much of a game changer, this gaming laptop may be used for productivity and work tasks as the additional keys require no extra input to activate.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F15 comes with a 15.6-inch, 144Hz refresh rate, Adaptive Sync-compatible display. Experience-wise, there’s nothing to complain or be impressed about the screen. It’s pretty standard nowadays that gaming laptops have either 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rate so this feature is expected.
Despite not having the latest and the best hardware on it, the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 plays popular titles without a hitch. Games such as Dota 2 and Fallout 4 are run in acceptable frame rates and if you fancy those kinds of games, the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 is more than adequate to run them. However, as shown in the benchmark table above for games, this gaming laptop suffers when pushed to the very limits. The Nvidia RTX 3050 is a great chip but, in its mobile form, is a bit inadequate when running triple-A games at their highest possible settings.
When shown the hardware and what you get as a whole, the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (FX507ZC-HN081W) is still a decent choice if you consider the price tag. Although a bit aged in comparison to modern gaming laptops, it is still on par with a lot of available alternatives in the market. The mobile Nvidia RTX 3050 is still being used nowadays and the Intel Core i5-12500H is also a robust hardware even in 2024.
Despite its age, the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 is definitely a laptop made to last. TUF is a line of ASUS products that concentrates more on durability and reliability. While ASUS moved forward with their marketing strategy on the TUF brand, the commitment to the logo and name still remains. ASUS TUF products, like this one, are made with high-quality materials built and produced to last a long time. Personally, I’ve used a lot of TUF gaming products and even after half a decade or so, they still run like they were on Day 1. They also back this up with a generous warranty so overall, the package is made to make you not regret your purchase. And again, all that guarantee for a very tempting price tag.
Suffice to say, the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (FX507ZC-HN081W) is still a great choice if you’re looking for a dependable, budget-friendly gaming laptop. It has all the bells and whistles that are expected of from a decent gaming laptop in the market and it delivers. While you may find cheaper alternatives to the ASUS TUF Gaming F15, it is also wise to consider things such as warranty, durability, and what you can get out of the box. It is also worth noting that ASUS continuously sells this laptop for a reason: they are extremely popular and well-made. Again, if you’re looking to get a lot with the limits of your wallet, you can never go wrong with the ASUS TUF Gaming F15.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F15 is available in the Philippines and can be purchased in both online and retail stores. SRP is around PhP 56,995. A more expensive but better hardware option is the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition. If money is not a concern, you can check out the compact ROG Flow Z13 2023.
For the official product page of the ASUS TUF Gaming F15, you can find it here.
ASUS backs up the quality of the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 with a two-year international warranty. This includes one-time preventive maintenance, one-time accidental damage protection for one year. For more information on ASUS warranty policy, check out their official page for it here.
You can purchase the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (FX507ZC-HN081W) via this official link.
