The TUF Gaming variant from ASUS is popular since its introduction last August 2018. TUF Gaming is ASUS’s latest product for gamers that are looking for a high-quality gaming laptop at an affordable price. In the past, TUF Gaming FX505DY was introduced with a Ryzen 3000 series, now ASUS returns with AMD to bring Ryzen 4000 series processor to its latest gaming laptop.

Fyi, The Ultimate Force (TUF) started as a motherboard variant from ASUS, where the motherboard is known for its durability for long term usage.

Although the laptop uses the same name, the main selling point of this laptop is not its motherboard but rather the overall durability that ASUS claimed to provide what every gamer needs. You may wonder why ASUS created the TUF line and not focusing on the Republic of Gaming or ROG line for a superior gaming laptop?

ASUS’s answer is that the ROG line is now upgraded and most of the ROG products are expensive. That’s why ASUS created a new brand called TUF to provide an option for gamers that are looking for an affordable gaming laptop but with the quality of a ROG laptop. With beastly specs and has several elements that a ROG laptop has.

The writer is given the chance by ASUS Indonesia to try ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV, the highest SKU released by ASUS. the laptop has a similar design and characteristic to FX505DY that was released at the end of last year. What separates both laptops are their specs and features. The specs, performance, latest features, and cheaper price are the reasons why A15 TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV more worth buying.

Spesifikasi ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV

The ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV that the writer has is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 series. FX506IV uses Ryzen 7 4800H with 8 cores and 16 threads config with up to 2,9 GHz clock speed. The FX506IV uses Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GDDR6. With 8 GB DDR4 3200 MHz RAM that’s upgradeable to 32 GB. For the storage, FX5050IV uses 516GB SSD NVMe M.2

Take a look at the complete specs below ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV:

Because ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV is a budget gaming laptop, its price can compete with other brands. The laptop comes with a Full HD 15,6 inch IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh rate with 3ms response time. The laptop weighs only 2,22 kg and that’s without the average-sized power brick.

Design

The first improvement ASUS made is from the design department. They redesigned ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV. The design looks more manly compared to its predecessor. It can be seen from the back cover where it has an industrial look. There’s an interesting detail to the back cover with four bolts at the corners. 

The other improvement ASUS made for the TUF Gaming series is the use of the TUF logo on the back cover. The past TUF Gaming laptops only have an ASUS logo, but now ASUS can proudly announce that the company has another gaming laptop besides ROG and that is TUF Gaming.

Taking what ROG gaming laptop has, TUF Gaming adopts the design of its sibling ASUS ROG Strix Hero II from the keyboard to the keyboard layout. This is meant to provide a fresh innovation for a better gaming experience for the user.

For the keyboard, ASUS used a similar concept to ASUS ROG Strix Hero II. Where it has rounded edges and there’s enough spacing between the keys so it’s comfortable and minimalize typo.

As a gaming laptop, there’s a customizable RGB backlit with several options in the Armory Crate or keyboard short-cut. But unlike the ROG line, the customization is limited.

Fitur

If the past TUF gaming laptop only has a display with a 120Hz refresh rate, now ASUS gives a 144Hz display with a 3ms response time for ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV. The awesomeness of this display is its thin frame. It’s an IPS panel display with NTSC 45 certificate. Obviously, the display has an anti-glare and can show up to  62.1% sRGB, 43.2% AdobeRGB, 44.3% DCI P3 color spectrum to make gaming more comfortable.

Unlike the previous-gen that had a HyperCool Pro cooling system, ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV has a similar cooling system with a few tweaks. The cooling system for FX506IV has a Self Cleaning feature to minimalize dust in the cooling system. Looking at the vents, there’s steel copper fin that’s identic to the ROG line. ASUS claimed that it’s for a better heat conductor. 

The gaming laptop also has complete connectivity; on the left side, you have the power port, 1 HDMI 2.0 port, 2 USB 3.1 ports, 1 headphone jack, 1 USB Type-C port, and RJ-45 LAN port. On the right side, you have the USB 2.0 port and a Kensington Lock.

Not just the performance sector, the company also paid extra attention to the audio of ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV. The gaming laptop has good audio with a DTS-X Ultra that can simulate surround 7.1 sound well so the user can enjoy a deep and accurate 3D gaming audio both from the speaker and headset.

For the keyboard, the laptop has an advanced feature called Aura Sync. the RGB is bright, but it can’t be synchronized with accessories that support Aura Sync.

Don’t worry about breaking ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV upon fall. This is a military-grade gaming laptop with a MIL-STD-810H certificate. TUF Gaming FX506IV can withstand any impact, ranging from fall, preseed with a heavy load, to extreme temperature. 

ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV also the mainstay feature of the ROG line, Armoury Crate. With this feature, the user can customize the system, cooler, Aura Sync, to the game library for an optimal user-friendly experience. Unfortunately, the Armoury Crate in TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV doesn’t have a button specific to launch the feature.

Read More >> ASUS Brings ExpertBook Series B9 to Indonesia

What about the Performance of ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV? 

Because ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV use Ryzen 7 4800H processor with 8 cores and 16 threads config with a clock speed of 2,9 GHz combined with Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GDDR6, it’s not surprising that the Cinebench R15 score for the multicore is amazing/ the single-core test is just as amazing, so playing a triple-A game with its single-core won’t be a problem.

Take a look at the benchmark of ASUS TUF Gaming FX505D: 

Cinebench R15

3DMark

Final Fantasy XV Bench

PC Mark 10

Unigine Heaven

The test using several popular video games is great. The laptop can run games at a stable frame rate on several scenes when the writer played Assassin's Creed Origins, Grand Theft Auto V, CS:GO, and Dota 2 at max settings.

Here are some test images in the game:

To test how fast the storage of TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV, the writer used CrystalDiskmark 6.0.1 and you can see the result below.

From some test results that I run, the authors feel less satisfied with the use of a laptop with only 8 GB of RAM. Even though it's 3200 Mhz, it's like a little stuttering. So the authors suggest upgrading the RAM of the TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV to 16 GB or 32 GB to provide maximum performance.

You can adjust the fan configuration when playing games. So you can set the fan’s speed to max when playing an intense game.

The fan noise is quite loud although it’s still tolerable. The writer recommends you use a headphone so the fan noise won’t bother you while gaming.

Fortunately, the laptop doesn’t generate a lot of heat while gaming, it’s because all of the heat is blown to the back and the right side. Because it’s blown to the right side, the user’s hand may get warm when using a mouse and can get a little uncomfortable.

For the battery life, ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV has a good battery life for working and browsing. It has a screen on time of 5 hours with a 48Wh battery.

Verdict

TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV is the fastest budget gaming laptop with Ryzen 7 4800H. The performance of TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV is just as good as the ROG laptops that come with the Intel gen 8 or 9 processor. Combined with Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GDDR6, the performance feels much better when used for gaming all day long.

The sturdy material made the writer confident when carrying the laptop for traveling. Bagging a MIL-STD-810H ceritificate, made the laptop safe when the user made a clumsy mistake or when carrying the laptop on a motorcycle.

The writer finds it hard to find the bad of TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV because of the performance and price it’s offered at, but the writer thinks that there are several factors that you should consider before getting the laptop. The laptop only has 8GB of RAM so it’s best if you upgrade the RAM for an optimal performance.

The 48Wh battery made the laptop a bit lacking for mobility so you will need to keep your power brick around no matter you go.

ASUS does this to give the user more freedom to upgrade the storage so it has an HDD SATA space. However, the TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV sold in other countries used that HDD space for a bigger battery.

Durability is one of this laptop’s selling point. So if you want a sturdy laptop, then TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV is great for those who want a laptop that’s tough and has a great performance.

For every purchase of TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV, the user gets an exclusive TUF Gaming backpack so you don’t have to buy a new bag to carry the laptop. It also comes with a pre-installed Windows 10 Home.

So, does ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FX506IV that’s priced at Rp20 million is laptop you should get? Yes, the performance, specs, and features of this laptop make it a great choice for those with a tight budget but desire a gaming laptop with beastly specs.

Don’t forget to keep up with Dunia Games for more information about tech and gadgets.

Read More >> A Guide for Purchasing a Gaming Laptop

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