It took some time to get here, but I have finally got my hands on the all-AMD Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage, which is one of the best-value gaming and performance laptops available in stores today.
This goes for around $1600 to $1700 in the US right now and is entirely based on AMD hardware, with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and an AMD Radeon RX 6800M graphics chip, tucked inside a Strix G15 chassis and paired with some uncompromised screen options. AMD promises RTX 3080 levels of performance with this notebook, for a much more affordable price, so I was looking forward to testing their claims and see how this fares in real use.
We’ll get in-depth in the review down below, but in just a few words, this is an outstanding mid-range laptop. The 6800M is not really a 3080 alternative, especially at higher resolutions, but is very competitive at FHD and definitely a challenger for the 3070 options out there, which are also more expensive in most products. Furthermore, this laptop is not just about performance. Still, it is also a showcase of the AMD Advantage platform and what an AMD CPU and GPU offer in terms of efficiency and versatility when bundled together.
Specs as reviewed – ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage G513QY
2021 ASUS ROG Strix G15 G513QY
Screen 15.6-inch, 16:9, non-touch, matte,FreeSync orFreeSync
Processor AMD Cezanne, up to Ryzen 7 5900HX, 8C/16T (up to 90W)
Video AMD Radeon Vega +Radeon RX 6800M 12GB (145W, up to 160W with Smartshift)
Memory 2x DIMMs, up to 32 GB DDR4-3200
Storage 2x M.2 PCI x4 slots
Connectivity WiFi 6 (Intel AX201) 2×2 with Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit LAN (Realtek RTL8168/8111)
Ports 3x USB-A 3.2 gen1, 1x USB-C gen2 with video, data and charging, HDMI 2.0b, LAN, headphone&mic
Battery 90Wh, 280 W power adapter + USB-C charging up to 100W
Size 354 mm or 13.94” (w) x 259 mm or 10.2 (d) x 27.2 mm or 1.07” (h)
Weight 2.28 kg (5.05 lbs), .73 kg (1.6 lbs) power brick and cables, EU version
Extras rubber-dome 4-zone RGB backlit keyboard, dual speakers, no included webcam
Our test model was provided by Asus and came with 16 GB of RAM, 512 GB of SSD storage, and the FHD 300 Hz screen.
The retail models are shipping with rather slow single-bank RAM chips (Jarrod’s doing a great job explaining this here on another laptop ), and it looks they’re the same on my unit. I’ve tested the laptop with the included RAM and swapped it with faster RAM so we can document the significant differences. See the performance section for more details.
Update: Our review of the updated 2022 ROG Strix G15 generation is available over here .
Update2: Here’s our coverage of the updated 2023 Asus ROG Strix G16 and Strix G18 lineups , and here are our reviews of the ROG Strix G16 model and of the larger ROG Strix G18.
As for newer AMD Advantage designs, the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage is the only all-AMD platform in Asus’s 2023 lineup.
Design and construction On the outside, this is identical to the standard 2021 Strix G15s launched earlier in the year, and you’ll find plenty of articles and clips about them online. I haven’t tested the G15, but I did review the 17-inch G17 model and you can read all about it here .
The Strix G15 is the more affordable full-size ROG laptop, so don’t expect an ultralight chassis, exquisite materials, or fancy features here. At the same time, this is well built, nicely polished, and fairly practical overall.
The front lip sits a bit high to my taste as this is a thicker laptop than what I’m normally used to, and the screen only goes back to about 140 degrees. Asus also still place the status LEDs right under the screen and put an always-on red light into the power button, both annoying at night, but other than that, no major complaints.
As a particularity for this Advantage variant, the lid is matte-black, and the ROG cap is bright red, a color scheme that I like and perfectly matches an all-AMD device. The cap can be replaced with a different color if that red is too much for you.
Not a fan of how easy the matte black lid smudge, but that shouldn’t be a surprise on a black laptop, and the interior materials are actually friendlier than you might think.
Asus also implement an RGB light strip on this series, customizable in the settings, and an RGB keyboard, but for some reason, that’s not per-key, just 4-zone. The standard Strix G15 offers per-key control, so they cheaped out a little bit here. Oh, and there’s still an annoying panel-lit ROG logo on the lid, but it’s fairly dim and you’ll only noticed it in a dark environment.
The IO is smartly placed on the back edge, behind the screen, and on the left side, but there’s no card-reader, which would have made a lot to sense on this product.
No biometrics or camera either, as on most of the other ROG laptops of recent years.
Keyboard and trackpad The inputs are excellent on this laptop. Again, nothing fancy, but they just work well.
The keyboard is a standard rubber-dome implementation and a standard layout, without a NumPad section, but with a set of media keys at the right and top-left. I would have preferred to see Home/End/PgUp/PgDn instead of those media controls in the column and the very right, but you can rebin them in software if you want to.
Other than that, this is a solid typer with proper feedback, travel distance, and smooth keycaps.
The illumination is RGB, on three intensity levels. As mentioned earlier, this is different than the keyboard implemented in the standard Strix G models, with 4-zone control and not per-key-RGB. However, the secondary functionality is also backlit on the keyboard, and the keycaps have translucent sides that nicely emphasize the lighting. The WASD keys are transparent as well, like on the older Asus ROG models.
The clickpad is glass and spacious, and nearly perfect. It tracks well, doesn’t rattle with taps and the integrated clicks are fairly smooth and quiet, so I doubt you’re not going to like it.
As for biometrics, there are still none on this 2021 ROG Strix G15 Advantage.
Screen The G15 Advantage is available with a choice of two panels: an FHD 300 Hz with 100% sRGB colors or a QHD 165 Hz with 100% DCI-P3 colors.
Our unit comes with the FHD option, but if given a choice, I would undoubtedly recommend going with the QHD variant, which I’ve tested on several laptops, including the ROG Scar 15 . That’s a brighter and richer display with vivid colors, not to mention that it’s a better match for the AMD 6800M mobile chipset, which ends up being bottlenecked at FHD in some titles.
Nonetheless, the FHD option is not that bad either; here’s what to expect based on our X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor :
Panel HardwareID: Sharp SHP152C (LQ156M1JW25);
Coverage: 96.8% sRGB, 68.0% AdobeRGB, 71.0% DCI-P3;
Measured gamma: 1.89;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 284.29 cd/m2 on power;
Min brightness in the middle of the screen: 12.89 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 965:1;
White point: 8800 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.29 cd/m2;
PWM: No.
Response: 3ms advertised.
Out-of-the-box calibration was really bad on this sample, with severely skewed Gamma and White Point. Calibration addresses them fine, but also takes a further toll on the maximum brightness, and even with calibration, there’s no way past the fact that the contrast is sub 1000:1, so the blacks aren’t amazing with this panel. At least there’re no noticeable light bleeding or uniformity distortions.
In comparison, the QHD 165 Hz panel is a lot nicer:
Panel HardwareID: Chi Mei CMN152A (N156KME-GNA);
Coverage: 99.8% sRGB, 85.5% AdobeRGB, 97.8% DCI-P3;
Measured gamma: 2.02;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 379.42 cd/m2 on power;
Min brightness in the middle of the screen: 18.35 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 1127:1;
White point: 6700 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.33 cd/m2;
PWM: No.
Response: 10 ms GTG (via NBC).
It’s not yet available on the configurations you can find in stock, but I’d definitely pay extra for this screen option if given the choice.
Hardware and performance My review unit is the configuration mostly available in stores today of the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage G513, code name G513QY, built on an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX 8C/16T processor, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory in dual channel, 512 GB of fast SSD storage, and dual graphics: the Radeon RX 6800M chip with 12 GB of vRAM, and the Radeon Vega integrated within the AMD processor.
Before we proceed, keep in mind that our review unit was sent over by AMD and should be identical to the retail units. We tested it on the software available as of early June 2021 (BIOS 303, Armoury Crate 4.1.6.0, GeForce 466.63 drivers). Some aspects might change with future software tweaks.
Spec-wise, this Strix G15 Advantage series is an all AMD notebook and the first to bundle the Ryzen 9 5000 processors with the RX 6000M graphics chips, alongside AMD’s software suite. SmartShift is the more interesting software part and is AMD’s alternative for Nvidia’s Dynamic Boost technology, but it works on a larger range of powers. From what I’m seeing, the 6800M in this laptop runs at between 110 to 160 W between the different titles and resolutions, and the combined CPU+GPU power of this platform is around 180W, with the technology seamlessly allocating the power between the CPU and GPU.
The GPU is sometimes bottlenecked at FHD resolution in some titles, and that’s one more reason why I think the QHD screen would be a better match for this configuration.
I’ll also mention that there’s no MUX switch or similar technology on this laptop, and the internal screen signal is mounted through the Vega iGPU, which results in a slight performance toll in certain cases. While some of you might have preferred a MUX, Asus decided on this more seamless approach that changes between the iGPU/dGPU on the fly and will probably make most users’ lives simpler with this laptop, even if that means some fps are lost in the process. I see both points, and having experience MUX and MUXless laptops in the past, I agree with Asus’s decision, especially on a mid-range product such as this one.
2x RAM slots and 2x M.2 SSD slots are available for memory and storage. Getting inside requires you to remove the back panel and be careful not to sever the ribbons that connect to the light bar. No worries if you do, because they’re snap-on and can be easily put back together (you might have to take out the corners parts to do it easily).
Our unit shipped with a fast 512 GB SSD, and you’ll most likely need more space on a gaming laptop in this day and age. It also shipped with 16 GB of RAM in dual-channel, but the single-rank kind has been documented to impact performance in certain loads and games.
Here’s Asus’s statement on this matter:
”
Does the StrixG Advantage Edition use slow memory?
The ROG Strix G Advantage Edition uses the fastest 8GB memory sticks available, and performs extremely well, especially considering its aggressive price point of 1649 USD in the USA.
DRAM chipmakers have shifted production, and as a result, the only 8GB memory sticks available today and going forward will be single rank x16.
This is a PC industry-level transition and not limited to any one model or brand.
Older memory sticks can perform 5-10% better depending on the chips used and their configuration (x8).
The performance difference depends on the game and graphics settings, but is generally smaller for newer titles that use more efficient memory management mechanisms.
The memory in the StrixG Advantage Edition is fully upgradeable, so anyone interested in getting the most out of their ROG StrixG Advantage Edition and has access to an older 8+8GB memory kit or a 16+16GB memory kit can get a couple of extra FPS by swapping their memory.
”
To make things straight, we’re going to upgrade the RAM to a 32 GB dual-rank kit further down in the article and see what that translates into in terms of performance.
But first, let’s talk about the software. Asus offers four power profiles for the ROG Strix G15 Advantage:
Silent – quite fan-noise and limited CPU/GPU speeds and power;
Performance – balanced profile with stock CPU/GPU settings, averagely noisy fans – GPU runs at 110-135W and stock clocks;
Turbo – High-Performance profile with increased CPU/GPU power allocation, faster-spinning fans, and still stock GPU clocks (110-160W).
Manual – gives the ability to custom tweak the CPU power and GPU power/clocks, plus create manual fan profiles based on temperature limits.
Turbo/Manual are only available with the laptop plugged in and are meant for gaming and other demanding loads. Performance is, in theory, a jack-of-all-trades, while Silent is excellent for daily light use and can also handle demanding workloads if you plan to keep the fans’ noise at bay. You can also power the laptop through USB-C, in which case you can use this on the Performance mode without depleting the battery, but with a performance toll in demanding combined loads.
Here’s what to expect regarding performance and temperatures with everyday multitasking, browsing, and video.
Performance tests and benchmarks On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s performance by running the Cinebench R15 test for 15+ times in a loop, with 1-2 seconds delay between each run.
The Ryzen 9 5900HX processor stabilizes at 80+W of sustained power on the Turbo setting, which translates in frequencies of 4.2+ GHz, temperatures in the 95+ C, scores of ~2250 points, with the fans spinning at about 45-47 dB at head-level. The processor runs at higher sustained power for a few runs before stabilizing at around 80W.
Switching over to the Performance profile translates in the CPU stabilizing at around 73W of power, with temperatures in the low-90s and the fans at around 40 dB.
On Silent, the processor quickly stabilizes at ~50W with barely audible fans (sub 35 dB) and temperatures in the low-80s C. It returns excellent scores of around ~2000 points, only ~10% beneath those registered on the Turbo profile. I’m not aware of other laptops capable of this kind of CPU performance on this kind of quiet profile.
Finally, the CPU runs between 28 and 73 W of power on battery, on the Performance profile, with significant variation in scores between the two power levels. Details below.
To put these findings in perspective, the Ryzen 9 5900HX in this laptop is the fastest CPU in this loop test so far, outmatching the various other 5900HX implementations we’ve tested, as well as the few Intel 11th gen options. Older hardware is, of course, no match in this sort of load.
We then further verified our findings with the more taxing Cinebench R23 loop test and the gruesome Prime 95 on the Turbo profile.
We also ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook. 3DMark stress runs the same test 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time, and this unit fails to pass it by a small margin, which suggests a slight decrease in performance once the heat builds up into the system. We’ll further look into this aspect down below.
Next, we ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks, on the stock Turbo profile in Armoury Crate and FHD resolution.
3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 26492 (Graphics – 32617, Physics – 24832, Combined – 11478);3DMark 13 – Port Royal: 5496;3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 10646 (Graphics – 11000, CPU – 9004);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 6589;Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 18303;Handbrake 1.3.3 (4K to 1080p encode): 37.82 average fps;PassMark 10: Rating: 4518 (CPU mark: 23772, 3D Graphics Mark: 4083, Disk Mark: 16822);PCMark 10: 7231 (Essentials – 10426, Productivity – 9094, Digital Content Creation – 10824);GeekBench 5.33.1 64-bit: Single-Core: 1439, Multi-core: 7388;CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 2336 cb, CPU Single Core 233 cb;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 5397 cb, CPU Single Core 560 cb;CineBench R23 (best run): CPU 13890 cb, CPU Single Core 1433 cb;x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 27.27 s.
These are some solid results. Few other laptops can beat this at CPU multi-threaded tests, but the i9-11900H in the Zephyrus M16 or the Zephyrus S17 are also some of the faster options tested so far. BTW, here’s a detailed comparison of the S17 and M17 lineups , if interested in those two.
As for the GPU, this is a match for the RTX 3080 chips in the Scar 17 and comes with 10-20% of the 155W RTX 3080 in the Raider GE76 in rasterization tests, but the Nvidia chips maintain a clear lead in RTX, where the 6800M is at the level of a lower-power 3070.
We’ve also run some tests with the upgraded memory to see how that impacts the results, and it’s not by much:
FHD – default RAM FHD – upgraded RAM QHD – upgraded RAM, external monitor
3DMark 13 – Fire Strike 26492 (G – 32617, P – 24832, C – 11478)
27069 (G – 32969, P – 25196, Combined – 12135)
27588 (G – 33357, Ps – 25357, Combined – 12744)
3DMark 13 – Port Royal 5496
5482
5467
3DMark 13 – Time Spy 10589 (Graphics – 10934, CPU – 8986)
10886 (Graphics – 10981, CPU – 10381)
10982 (Graphics – 11062, CPU – 10555)
Superposition – Extreme 6589
6603
6530
Passmark 10 4518 (CPU: 23772, 3D: 4083, Disk: 16822)
4905 (CPU: 26261, 3D: 4620, Disk: 16815)
–
PCMark 10 7231 (E – 10426, P – 9094, DCC – 10824)
7258 (E – 10486, P – 8984, DCC – 11014)
–
That’s not all, though, as you’ll see once we get to the gaming results further down.
In the meantime, we also ran some Workstation related loads on this Ryzen 9 + RX 6800M configuration on the Turbo profile:
Blender 2.90 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 3m 3s (Turbo);Blender 2.90 – BMW Car scene- GPU Compute: 58s (OpenGL);Blender 2.90 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 8m 4s (Turbo);Blender 2.90 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 1m 56s (OpenGL);Luxmark 3.1 – Luxball HDR – OpenCL CPUs + GPUs score: -;SPECviewerf 13 – 3DSMax: 227.19 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – Catia: 258.42 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – Creo: 176.54 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – Energy: 2.74 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – Maya: 226.72 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – Medical: 82.62 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – Showcase: 148.29 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – SNX: 82.86 (Turbo);SPECviewerf 13 – SW: 141.57 (Turbo).
And the newer SPECviewperf 2020 test:
SPECviewerf 2020 – 3DSMax: 126.62 (Turbo), 127.43 (Turbo – upgraded RAM);;SPECviewerf 2020 – Catia: 16.2 (Turbo), 19.93 (Turbo – upgraded RAM);SPECviewerf 2020 – Creo: 63.14 (Turbo), 62.65 (Turbo – upgraded RAM);SPECviewerf 2020 – Energy: 2.75 (Turbo), 2.72 (Turbo – upgraded RAM);SPECviewerf 2020 – Maya: 221.74 (Turbo), 229.48 (Turbo – upgraded RAM);SPECviewerf 2020 – Medical: 47.88 (Turbo), 36.81 (Turbo – upgraded RAM);SPECviewerf 2020 – SNX: 63.47 (Turbo), 65.67 (Turbo – upgraded RAM);SPECviewerf 2020 – SW: 145.79 (Turbo), 143.89 (Turbo – upgraded RAM).
Solid Blender results, although the Nvidia chips still win by a large margin in the Optix accelerated tasks.
With Specviewperf, the all-AMD Strix G15 is faster in most tests than the R9+ RTX 3070 in the Strix G17 and even beats the i9+RTX 3080 in the GE76 Raider in some loads, and only significantly falls behind in the Energy loads. The Upgraded RAM doesn’t make much of a difference in most tests, except for Catia.
Gaming performance With these out of the way, let’s look at some games.
We ran a couple of DX11, DX12, and Vulkan titles on the stock Turbo, Performance, and Silent profiles, at FHD resolution, both on the laptop’s internal screen and an external monitor hooked up via DP (at FHD and WHD resolution). Here’s what we got:
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX + FHD Turbo FHD Turbo, external FHD Performance FHD Silent QHD Turbo, external
Battlefield V 111 fps (55 fps – 1% low)
118 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
107 fps (54 fps – 1% low)
–
104 fps (55 fps – 1% low)
Cyberpunk 2077 66 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
66 fps (48 fps – 1% low)
64 fps (48 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (43 fps – 1% low)
45 fps (35 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 5 94 fps (69 fps – 1% low)
99 fps (76 fps – 1% low)
93 fps (69 fps – 1% low)
91 fps (68 fps – 1% low)
102 fps (77 fps – 1% low)
Metro Exodus 60 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
58 fps (39 fps – 1% low)
54 fps (37 fps – 1% low)
49 fps (32 fps – 1% low)
56 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor 202 fps (128 fps – 1% low)
–
192 fps (125 fps – 1% low)
172 fps (108 fps – 1% low)
127 fps (91 fps – 1% low)
Red Dead Redemption 2 98 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
104 fps (64 fps – 1% low)
95 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
–
68 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 98 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
112 fps (66 fps – 1% low)
94 fps (58 fps – 1% low)
88 fps (53 fps – 1% low)
95 fps (63 fps – 1% low)
Strange Brigade 178 fps (132 fps – 1% low)
179 fps (133 fps – 1% low)
172 fps (134 fps – 1% low)
142 fps (111 fps – 1% low)
154 fps (114 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 122 fps (90 fps – 1% low)
112 fps (85 fps – 1% low)
115 fps (87 fps – 1% low)
–
98 fps (72 fps – 1% low)
Battlefield V, The Witcher 3 – recorded with Fraps/in-game FPS counter in campaign mode;
Far Cry 5, Middle Earth, Strange Brigade, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tomb Raider games – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;
Red Dead Redemption 2 Optimized profile based on these settings .
Those above are rasterization-only tests, and here are some results for RTX titles.
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX + FHD Turbo FHD Turbo, external FHD Performance QHD Turbo, external
Battlefield V 66 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
75 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
64 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
52 fps (39 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 64 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
71 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
63 fps (26 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (22 fps – 1% low)
There are a lot of numbers here, so let’s get into some context.
Gaming on Turbo, Performance, and Silent Let’s go through the performance logs that show the CPU and GPU speeds and temperatures in a couple of different games on the various profiles.
This laptop runs internally hot in most games, except for those that cannot fully load the 6800M at FHD. On Turbo, we’re looking at CPU temperatures of around 95 C and GPU temperatures of around 85 C in Cyberpunk, Witcher 3, Red Dead 2, or Battlefield V, which actually push to CPU to around 150 W of average sustained power. Toasty!
Raising the back of the laptop to facilitate more air into the fans has a slight impact on the GPU temperatures, which drop to around 82C, but not that much over the CPU, which still averages around 95C.
Switching over to the Performance limits the fans to around 40-41 dB at head-level, leading to higher temperatures and GPU thermal throttling.
The Silent profile further limits the fans, which are barely audible at around 34-35 dB, and power caps the CPU and GPU. Surprisingly, they end up running cooler this way than on any of the other modes, with the CPU averaging between 85-90 C in the various tested titles and the GPU between 80-85 C.
Finally, I’ll also mention that this laptop can game fairly well while unplugged, running on battery, but don’t expect much battery life with demanding titles. We only got about an hour in Cyberpunk.
Manual tweaks Disabling the CPU’s Boost is one way to tackle the temperatures on AMD laptops, but I didn’t get the time to test it here.
Another is switching over the fans to higher rpms on the Manual profile in Armoury Crate. I only did the 100% CPU/GPU fans, which results in 50-52 dB noise levels, the kind you’ll need really good headphones to cover up. This way, the CPU still runs hot at around 90-95 C, but the GPU drops to 77-80 degrees without any throttling. Lifting the back of the laptop also makes sense in this case and will help further shed a few more degrees of the components.
A combination of manual fan rpms at around 80% and disabled boost should do well for gaming on this laptop, but I’ll let you give that a try on your units.
No MUX – performance on Internal/External monitor There’s still no MUX switch on the Strix G15 Advantage, and that means that the signal goes from the AMD dGPU through the Vega iGPU to be displayed on the internal screen, which takes a toll on the gaming performance in some titles, as documented above. That’s within 5% at FHD resolution and smaller at QHD in most titles, but Witcher 3 or SOTTR are exceptions from this norm.
You can connect an internal monitor through the USB-C port at the back of the laptop to circumvent the lack of a MUX, as that port is directly hooked into the Radeon RX 6800M chip.
I’ve also included some logs during running games on the external monitor at QHD resolution, with the laptop sitting on a desk and the main screen turned off. This mode fully stretches the 6800M chip and allows it to run at higher power than on the main screen’s FHD resolution.
And here are some logs with the laptop’s lid closed and placed in a vertical stand, which might interest some of you as well.
We’re especially looking at solid performance and good temperatures in the vertical mode, where the back fan intakes get unobstructed access to fresh air. Just keep in mind that you’ll probably have to pro the laptop in the stand on one of its sides, since the DP port is placed on the back edge.
Upgrading the RAM By default, the Strix G15 Advantage ships with single-rank RAM, and thanks to Jarrod’s reporting on the Legion 5 Pro , we know this kind of memory impacts the performance of AMD laptops by some amount.
Knowing that, I upgraded the RAM that comes default with this laptop with 32 GB of dual-rank DDR4-3200 memory to document the differences. Here’s a pic of the two RAM slots and their timings in the ZenTiming app. Those differences might seem insignificant, but they’re actually real in practice.
First, I’ll add the benchmark results mentioned earlier, at FHD resolution on the laptop’s internal screen and QHD on the external monitor connected via DP:
FHD – default RAM FHD – upgraded RAM QHD – upgraded RAM, external monitor
3DMark 13 – Fire Strike 26492 (G – 32617, P – 24832, C – 11478)
27069 (G – 32969, P – 25196, Combined – 12135)
27588 (G – 33357, Ps – 25357, Combined – 12744)
3DMark 13 – Port Royal 5496
5482
5467
3DMark 13 – Time Spy 10589 (Graphics – 10934, CPU – 8986)
10886 (Graphics – 10981, CPU – 10381)
10982 (Graphics – 11062, CPU – 10555)
Superposition – Extreme 6589
6603
6530
Passmark 10 4518 (CPU: 23772, 3D: 4083, Disk: 16822)
4905 (CPU: 26261, 3D: 4620, Disk: 16815)
–
PCMark 10 7231 (E – 10426, P – 9094, DCC – 10824)
7258 (E – 10486, P – 8984, DCC – 11014)
–
Next, we retested some games as well, and FHD and QHD resolutions:
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX + FHD Turbo, FHD Turbo, FHD Turbo, external, FHD Turbo, external, QHD Turbo, external. default RAM QHD Turbo, external,
Cyberpunk 2077 66 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
69 fps (54 fps – 1% low)
66 fps (48 fps – 1% low)
69 fps (53 fps – 1% low)
45 fps (35 fps – 1% low)
48 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 5 94 fps (69 fps – 1% low)
111 fps (83 fps – 1% low)
99 fps (76 fps – 1% low)
112 fps (83 fps – 1% low)
102 fps (77 fps – 1% low)
108 fps (81 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 98 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
118 fps (77 fps – 1% low)
112 fps (66 fps – 1% low)
125 fps (82 fps – 1% low)
95 fps (63 fps – 1% low)
100 fps (68 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 64 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
72 fps (41 fps – 1% low)
71 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
72 fps (29 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (22 fps – 1% low)
54 fps (22 fps – 1% low)
Strange Brigade 178 fps (132 fps – 1% low)
215 fps (149 fps – 1% low)
179 fps (133 fps – 1% low)
221 fps (151 fps – 1% low)
154 fps (114 fps – 1% low)
159 fps (118 fps – 1% low)
There’s a 10-15% performance difference at FHD on the laptop’s internal screen in most titles, except for Cyberpunk, where the gap is only around 5%.
There’s also an extra performance gap when connecting an external monitor, more noticeable at FHD and smaller at QHD resolution. This once more indicates the platform’s performance potential in a design with dual-rank RAM and some MUX switch that would connect the internal display straight into the RX 6800M dGPU. There’s no such design right now, but that might happen at some point.
Asus’s statement mentions that “The performance difference depends on the game and graphics settings, but is generally smaller for newer titles that use more efficient memory management mechanisms. ” It would be interesting to test some of the more recent games further and look for the differences, but I don’t have the time to test that properly.
Theoretical 6800M performance vs. RTX 3080 Still, these tests above allow us to properly compare the performance of the 6800M with a powerful RTX 3080 configuration, such as the one in the MSI GE76 Raider, which offers a 155W RTX 3080 and a MUX switch.
6800M – FHD Turbo, external, RTX 3080 – FHD 6800M QHD Turbo, external, RTX 3080 – QHD, external
Cyberpunk 2077 69 fps (53 fps – 1% low)
88 fps (67 fps – 1% low)
48 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
58 fps (46 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 5 112 fps (83 fps – 1% low)
125 fps (93 fps – 1% low)
108 fps (81 fps – 1% low)
112 fps (87 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 125 fps (82 fps – 1% low)
122 fps (78 fps – 1% low)
100 fps (68 fps – 1% low)
101 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 72 fps (29 fps – 1% low)
95 fps (49 fps – 1% low)
54 fps (22 fps – 1% low)
70 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
Strange Brigade 221 fps (151 fps – 1% low)
248 fps (164 fps – 1% low)
159 fps (118 fps – 1% low)
188 fps (163 fps – 1% low)
The RTX 3080 comes in front of all titles and especially wins at RTX. But the 6800M is competitive and definitely a potential match for lower-power 3080 implementations and most 3070s. That ideal 6800M laptop is not available for now, though, with a MUX and the right kind of RAM. That can’t be updated on the Strix G15 Advantage, but we’ll still have to account for the lack of a MUX.
Real-life 6800M vs RTX 3070 performance Back to existing designs that you can actually buy, here’s a more realistic comparison of the Strix G15 Advantage and the Strix G17, with the G17 built on the same Ryzen 9 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3070 115-130W GPU. Both units ship with single-rank RAM, and none offer a MUX switch, so the signal to the internal screen is routed through the VEGA iGPU.
6800M – FHD Turbo, 3070 – FHD Turbo, default RAM 6800M – QHD Turbo, 3070 – QHD Turbo,
Cyberpunk 2077 66 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
64 fps (52 fps – 1% low)
45 fps (35 fps – 1% low)
46 fps (34 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 5 94 fps (69 fps – 1% low)
101 fps (75 fps – 1% low)
102 fps (77 fps – 1% low)
97 fps (54 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 98 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
94 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
95 fps (63 fps – 1% low)
90 fps (35 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 64 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
73 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (22 fps – 1% low)
56 fps (27 fps – 1% low)
Strange Brigade 178 fps (132 fps – 1% low)
176 fps (138 fps – 1% low)
154 fps (114 fps – 1% low)
146 fps (122 fps – 1% low)
Much closer results, with still an edge for the 3070 model at FHD resolution, but wins for the 6800M at QHD on an external screen. Now, we do know that the single-rank memory impacts the all-AMD model. Still, we haven’t yet documented the impact of the same kind of RAM on the AMD + Nvidia configuration, which I plan to pursue in a future article.
All in all, even if Asus made some decisions that impact the gaming performance of the Radeon RX 6800M chip in the Strix G15 Advantage, I still feel this is a very competent performance laptop that can successfully handle workloads and games but also run cooly and efficiently with mundane activities such as streaming or browsing or word-processing. AMD have never been truly competitive in this segment in the past, and I’m sure glad they are now, as the competition between AMD, Nvidia, and Intel can only result in better products for us to buy in the years to come.
Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others Asus updated the thermal design of the Strix G15 Advantage over the regular Strig G series, to cope with the higher-power hardware inside. They went with a dual-fan quad-radiator cooling module, with a massive vapor-chamber in between and updated VRMs and Thermal Grizzly liquid metal on both the AMD CPU and GPU.
The fan profiles are also fairly conservative on this product, spinning at 45-47 dB on Turbo, around 40 dB on Performance, and sub 35 dB on the Silent profile. They impact the performance and internal temperatures, as explained in the previous section, and the components end up running very hot in the most demanding loads. Ramping up the fans in the manual mode can somewhat address these, but with a jump in noise levels, at 50+ dB.
The outer case temperatures rest within comfortable limits, though, with temperatures in the low to mid-30s around the WASD region and arrows and up to mid-40s in certain small spots on the interior and back. This laptop will feel very comfortable with long gaming sessions, as the thermal module does an excellent job isolating the hot components from the areas you’ll get in touch with.
*Gaming – Silent – playing Far Cry 5 for 30 minutes, Silent profile, fans at 34-35 dB *Gaming – Performance – playing Far Cry 5 for 30 minutes, Silent profile, fans at 40-41 dB *Gaming – Turbo, on desk – playing Far Cry 5 for 30 minutes, fans at 45-47 dB
Gaming aside, this laptop runs quietly with everyday multitasking, browsing, or video streaming, even if there’s no 0dB Technology and the fans are active most of the time. I also notice some occasional electronic noises when running Specviewperf, but they’re usually covered up by the fans, and did not occur with everyday use.
*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Silent profile, fans at 0-35 dB dB
For connectivity, there’s Wireless 6 and Bluetooth 5 through an Intel AX201 chip on this unit, as well as still only Gigabit Lan. Our sample performed well on WiFi both near the router and at 30+ feet with obstacles in between.
This Strix G15 inherits the dual 4W audio system from the regular Strix models, and lacks the quad-speakers available on the Scar 15 lineup. The quality is not as loud or as rich as on the Scars, but still fairly punchy (at ~80 dB) and pleasant sounding, for laptop speakers. Those interested in higher-quality sound can hook up a pair of good headphones instead, which will also cover up the fan noise.
Finally, the camera… well, there still isn’t any on this series.
Battery life There’s a 90Wh battery inside all the 2021 ROG Strix models, both the 15 and 17-inch options, a welcomed upgrade from the 66 Wh in the previous generations.
Here’s what we got on our review unit in terms of battery life, with the screen’s brightness set at around 120 nits (~60 brightness).
10 W (~7-8 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Silent Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;11 W (~8+ h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;9.5 W (~9+ h of use) – Netflix fullscreen in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;15 W (~5-6 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Performance Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;80 W (~1+ h of use) – Gaming – Cyberpunk, Performance Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON, no fps limit.
These are good runtimes, and merely a bit shorter than on the 2021 Scar 17 and Strix 17 tested in the past. The system still automatically switches the screen to 60Hz while on battery and on the iGPU, plus the AMD Ryzen 5000 H platform prooves to be efficient with lightweight loads.
This ROG Strix G15 G513QY configuration is bundled with a 280W power-brick, the older design that Asus offered with some of their past ROG models, and not as compact and lightweight as what you get with the other 2021 Strix models. The battery fills up in about 1.5 hours, with fast charging for the first half an hour, and USB-C charging is supported, up to 100W.
You won’t be able to use the laptop on Turbo while hooked over USB-C, but those 100W are still more than enough for everyday multitasking and even some occasional workloads, in case you don’t want to bring along the heavier main brick when on the go. The USB-C charger is not included in the box with this model, but Asus says you will be able to find ROG branded 100W PD chargers in most stores this year.
Price and availability – ROG G15 Advantage Edition The 2021 Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage is available in the US right now, but not yet in most other regions.
It starts at 1649 USD for the Ryzen 9 + 6800M + FHD 300 Hz screen variant tested here, which is very competitively priced. It’s 100-150 USD cheaper than the Ryzen 7 + RTX 3070 variant of the regular Strix G15 and hundreds of dollars cheaper than the RTX 3070/3080 versions of the Strix SCAR 15, which outmatches in certain loads.
Other configurations should also be available down the line, and I’d especially keep an eye out for the QHD screen option when available.
Follow this link for updated configurations and prices in your region at the time you’re reading this article.
Final thoughts- ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage review Having used this G15 Advantage for the last weeks, I confidently feel that this is among the best multi-purpose performance laptop you could get for less than $2000, and that’s despite the fact that it is a slightly limited showcase of what the Radeon RX 6800M platform is truly capable of, especially in games.
For two reasons. Firstly, this ships with single-rank RAM, which impacts the performance in some games. Asus says this kind of RAM is the norm now for 2×8 GB kits, and the impact should diminish with newer and more memory-efficient games. Nonetheless, I’d recommend swapping the RAM for the faster kind, and while you’re at it, even consider upgrading to a 32 GB 2×16 kit, which are all dual-rank (for now).
The other is the fact that there’s no MUX on this laptop, much like on all the other 2021 ROG models. Asus decided to opt for a solution that seamlessly switches between the iGPU and dGPU, as they felt that would be more convenient for the users with mixed-use and would greatly help with battery life on the go. I kind of agree with their decision, especially since the impact is not significant in most games on this all-AMD configuration, as shown in our tests.
Nonetheless, in order to get the best possible gaming performance on this laptop, you’ll have to upgrade the RAM and hook up an external monitor, which combined can lead to a 10-25% increase in framerates compared to playing the same titles on the internal screen with the default configuration.
That aside, though, this all-AMD notebook is a beast. We already knew how compelling the Ryzen 9 mobile processor is, and the Radeon RX 6800M proved to be more capable than any of the previous AMD mobile GPUs of the past, able to trade blows with the more expensive RTX 3070/3080 configurations out there. Except for RTX, where Nvidia is still unchallenged, for now.
There’s a catch, though: the AMD hardware runs at high power in this laptop, and even if Asus significantly updated the thermal design over the standard Strix G versions, the components still end up running very hot on most of the profiles. Very little of that heat spreads out onto the exterior, though, so unless you’ll carefully look into it, you’ll never even know about those high CPU/GPU temperatures. Which, in all fairness, can be addressed by ramping up the fans and perhaps limiting the CPU.
Looking past the performance, this Strix G15 is a fine mid-range laptop: well built, nice looking, and bundled with good inputs, IO, and screen options. If available, get the QHD screen, it’s brighter, richer, and a better match for the 6800M chip.
On the other hand, don’t expect some of the fancy materials or the ultralight form-factor available with other products, or even basic features that you’d perhaps expect to get on any full-size laptop these days, such as a camera, a card-reader or some sort of biometrics.
All in all, despite these, I still feel there’s very good value in this laptop and it should be on your short-list this year. You might have to save some money for the upgraded RAM, and if you do, this will outmatch any of the other options in its segment in terms of performance, across the board.
Anyway, this wraps up our review of the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage G513QY, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it down below, so get in touch!
Review by: Andrei Girbea
Andrei Girbea is a Writer and Editor-in-Chief here at Ultrabookreview.com . I write about mobile technology, laptops and computers in general. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now. I'm a techie with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering. I mostly write reviews and thorough guides here on the site, with some occasional columns and first-impression articles.
Mul
June 11, 2021 at 1:51 pm
"DRAM chipmakers have shifted production"
Maybe it would make a great article if you could investigate this topic more. Why would chipmakers decide to produce inferior products in an industry that strives to constantly progress and break the performance barier. This seems like such a stupid move that will break the trust between producers and consumers.
Ted
January 19, 2022 at 1:07 am
Production cost tradeoffs
Abhigyan
June 12, 2021 at 11:50 pm
The weight of the laptop is 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds), as mentioned on the Asus website. Heavier than the Nvidia Strix. Please update this.
Very solid laptop, but for me the best laptop at the sub $2k mark remains the Asus Strix Scar 15 with 130W 8 GB RTX 3080 for $1999 in the US.
I would also like to know if the CPU and GPU wattage can be capped manually for better thermals. Bob of all trades showed this was possible on the Zephyrus G14/15 for gaming at mid 60s temperatures with fans on silent. That’s a lovely feature.
Pascal
June 13, 2021 at 8:35 am
Hello, en 2021 même pas de l'HDMI 2.1 pour le brancher sur un écran TV, -1.
Merci pour les tests qui renseignent bien.
Muhammad Abdullah
June 14, 2021 at 7:48 am
Really nice and detailed review.
Can you specify the model of the dual-rank ram you are using? And is it also available in 8×2 GB form?
Andrei Girbea
June 28, 2021 at 11:06 am
it's in the picture. Not sure if available as 2×8 GB
ERIC
July 31, 2021 at 10:33 am
I JUST PURCHASED THIS LAPTOP, AND IM SUPER IMPRESSED, I CHANGED OUT THE RAM AND ADDED A EXTRA SSD DRIVE, AND WOW WHAT A BEAST OF A LAPTOP. I GOT MINE ON SALE FOR $1499 US DOLLARS.
Simon
August 9, 2021 at 5:15 pm
First of all, great review, just the information I needed.
I have a question regarding the usb-c port though.
Now if I am not mistaken it allows for directly transfering video signals from GPU to monitor and regarding the USB 3.1 gen 2 specification it should be capped at 10 Gbit/s.
However, that would not be enough for driving my WQHD 144hz monitor.
So do I have to use the HDMI port and does that come with a perfomance penalty bc it isn't directly hooked to the GPU?
Andrei Girbea
August 9, 2021 at 8:25 pm
Hi. As far as I remember, DP 1.4 can do 1440p at 144Hz, so you should be able to drive that monitor via the USB-C port here. The USB gen bandwidth is not important in this case.
Thyagarajan
August 24, 2021 at 11:42 am
Hi Andrei,
I'm stuck deciding between this and the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. I mostly play AAA titles, not much of esports and generally use my laptops for atleast 5 years. What would be your pick? (In India, the L5Pro 3060 is about $200 cheaper than this Asus and the 3070 model is about $100 more.)
Andrei Girbea
August 24, 2021 at 11:56 am
I'd consider either the 3070 L5Pro or this, with the 6800M. However, you'll want to upgrade the RAM to dual-rank dual-channel on both to take full advantage of the hardware, so consider that as well (if not at the beginning, then at least later on).
I rather lean towards the L5Pro for gaming because I'm not happy with the high CPU/GPU temperatures on this G15. Are they also the same screens? That would also play a role in the decision.
Thyagarajan
August 25, 2021 at 7:57 am
Thanks Andrei.
Yes the screens are the same (both are selling the QHD model here). I see from your reviews that the L5Pro ones are better, so will go with that one itself.
Likith
August 28, 2021 at 4:21 pm
I'm in the same dilemma as Thyagarajan. Legion 5 pro vs this one. Even I will be using it for 4 years. I have one more question. Since I will be using it for another 4 years, wont the ryzen 9 be more "future proof" since its the next generation ??
sebastien
December 27, 2021 at 9:35 am
Nice and exhaustive review.
Fran
January 18, 2022 at 7:25 pm
The color space of this 1440p display is much better than the 1600p screen of the legion 5 Pro.
ThatGuy
March 29, 2022 at 4:31 am
Glad you shared this. Returned my Zephyrus G15 (Intel) and got this. Night and day performance difference while the Zephyrus was built a little better. I got lucky and due to a pricing error actually got money back and got a late model G513QY with an MA* Serial Number. Also by some odd fate had two Crucial 3200 16GB Dual Rank sticks lying around.
Have you seen this memory boost with any other machines or is it a unique phenomenon?
Did you by any chance calibrate the display or just measure? If you calibrated, would you be willing to share (I know no two screens are the same)?
Andrei Girbea
March 29, 2022 at 9:12 am
The DDR4 SR to DR memory boost is noticeable on most laptops, but especially on the AMD platforms. I'll send you the profile via email.
Hemliq
June 7, 2022 at 7:05 pm
Great review, I went ahead and bought this little beast, I'm impressed! In my unit with MA** serial, the FHD 300hz version seems to have a different panel, TL156VDXP01 which after some digging turned out to be the one used in the 2022 SCAR, I didn't find much info on the manufacturer although it seems to have lower GTG response times than the Sharp panel. I'm also interested in your calibration if you care to share it. Thank you for this awesome review.
Nathan
June 19, 2022 at 4:02 pm
Great review, only thing I would still love to know is if this laptop sports VR? It should as the USB c can output directly to the dGPU but none of the reviewers I have seen test VR these days.