Tuesday, January 15, 2019
ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 - Tough Gaming Laptop
OPTIC AXCESS -- ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 is the latest gaming laptop product from the line that is quite attractive for the Indonesian market.TUF Gaming is a new line from ASUS that is a level below ROG (Republic of Gamers) for users who want to have high-performance laptops to play games than most mainstream laptops but have more limited funds.
Then whether the FX505 laptop as the latest model of the line can re-captivate the hearts of Indonesian gamers? Here's a review of the ASUS TUF Gaming FX505.
Design
The ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 has a design that is still somewhat similar compared to its predecessor with several reshuffles here and there. The design character that is characteristic of TUF laptops such as trapezoidal pieces in the cover and lines that make up the X are highlighted in this version.The gray cover with aluminum and the gold ASUS logo give a smooth and soft impression but also look premium at the same time. At a glance, the outer appearance is not as flashy as most gaming laptops, so it's still appropriate to take it to a formal place like lectures.
The body feels sturdy even though overall it is made of plastic that is quite thick. Not surprising because this laptop has been equipped with MIL-STD-810G certificate which means it has passed the Military Grade test. This ensures the laptop will be resistant to shocks, humidity, solar radiation, altitude, and extreme temperatures.
This laptop is quite large with dimensions of 360.4 x 262.0 x 25.8 mm and weighs around 2.2 Kg. Therefore, make sure you have enough bags to store when you want to take a trip. This large size is actually still fairly reasonable for a gaming laptop in its class but it will be something that should be considered for those who prefer slim laptops.
The gaming side of this laptop will only be really visible when opening it. A keyboard with RGB backlit and a transparent WASD button that is different from other buttons. There are several RGB effect modes that can be selected starting from Static, Breathing, Color Cycle, to Strobing so that they can be adjusted to your taste.
Unfortunately, this backlit RGB is only available on the Gold Steel variant FX505 while for other variants only available is a typical red-backlit gaming laptop. Even so, the other variants, in my opinion, are no less cool.
The keyboard itself is quite good for playing games but still feels unsatisfactory for typing for a long time because the surface is flexible so that the surrounding area feels down when pressed
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Asus chose to provide a full keyboard layout on this laptop which would certainly be quite helpful in playing some games. One thing that makes it a bit surprising is the arrow button slightly protrudes downward which makes me have to get used to it because I often press the clump accidentally.Under the keyboard, there is a large enough touchpad that is comfortable to use when not carrying an extra mouse. The surface makes the fingers slip easily and clicks tactically and left and right.
About connectivity, this laptop provides a fairly complete port starting from USB 3.1, USB 2.0, HDMI 2.0, RJ45, and 3.5 mm audio jack. All of these ports are available on the left while the right side does not have any ports except Washington Lock.
Screen and Audio
The ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 has a 15.6-inch screen with Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with 100% sRGB gamut coverage. Also, do not miss the anti-glare layer to minimize disturbing light reflections.As an ASUS laptop released in 2018, the screen uses the NanoEdge design which has a thin bezel of only 6.5 mm. Even so, the bezel is fairly thick when compared to other ASUS laptops in 2018 which offers a NanoEdge screen.
To accompany the screen, ASUS also embeds audio that is no less cool. The TUF Gaming FX505 is equipped with DTS Surround Sound technology that provides more real audio with virtual 7.1 surrounds that will simulate where the sound comes from.
After playing games and watching movies with headphones, I can say that the virtual surround effect is very good and makes the playing experience feel more like being inside. Unfortunately, virtual surround, in my opinion, is less felt when using speakers.
Performance and Gaming
The ASUS TUF Gaming FX505GE-I7T61T that I use has an Intel Core i7-8750H processor with speeds of up to 3.9 GHz which provides 23% better performance than the previous generation. At the same time, there is also an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card for the need for heavier graphics.This laptop has 8GB of RAM LPDDR4, but unfortunately, it's only a single channel. Of course, there are still slots available to activate dual channels and increase the maximum capacity to 32GB for those who want it.
About storage, this laptop offers a dual storage solution with a 128GB PCIe Gen 3 SSD for the operating system and a 7200RPM SATA HDD with a capacity of 1TB to store personal data. This combination is still the most optimal in my opinion because it provides better overall performance but doesn't really make prices too swollen.
ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 is able to score around 4,423 on PCMark 10 while PCMark 8 scores 4,977 for Work Accelerated mode. For the ability of the processor, the Core i7 embedded in reaching the number 826 CB in Cinebench R15.