Earlier this year at CES 2019, ASUS unveiled its TUF Gaming line-up with the RX 560. ASUS today refreshed the same product stack with the Ryzen Zen+ CPUs and the NVIDIA 1660Ti, making the FX505 and the FX705 compelling offers amidst the highly saturated mid-range gaming laptop market. The TUF Gaming lineup comprises of entry-to-mid range gaming laptops designed with durability and a light(er) form factor.
FX505 Specifications:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3550H/AMD Ryzen 7 3750H with Radeon Vega Mobile Graphics
- RAM: DDR4 at 2666 Mhz up to 32GB
- GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti
- Storage: M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 up to 256 GB and 1TB HDD
- Display: 17.6-inch IPS 1080p 120Hz Panel with anti-glare
- Battery: 46 WHr
- Weight: 2.2 Kg/ 4.9 Pounds
FX705 Specifications:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3750H with Radeon Vega Mobile Graphics
- RAM: DDR4 at 2666 Mhz up to 32GB
- GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti
- Storage: M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 up to 512 GB and 1TB HDD
- Display: 15.6-inch IPS 1080p 120Hz Panel with anti-glare
- Battery: 46 WHr
- Weight: 2.7 Kg/6 Pounds
Related:
- AMD and NVIDIA Graphics Card Prices May Rise in the US, Fall in Asia
- Intel Xe 10nm Graphics Card Confirmed for 2021; 10nm Icelake CPUs Coming in Q4-2019, 7nm in 2021
The Zen+ processors are a much-needed refresh and offer better performance than the Intel i5-8300H at a lower price point. One downside is the higher temperature on the AMD chips but the FX505 and FX705 have a better than average thermal performance thanks to the large heatsink and the power dissipation system. Moreover, the GTX 1660Ti offers a substantial performance boost over the last-gen RX 560. On the storage front, both come with M.2 NVMe SSDs up to 512MB.
The FX505 and FX705 have a 1080p IPS 120Hz panel which probably is their best feature. Even if you don’t have much use of the higher refresh rate for a competitive edge, just watching the cursor move across the screen is satisfying enough. Once you start using a 120Hz panel, its hard to go back to 60Hz, even if it is in 4K. With even high-end sub-$2000 laptops releasing with 60Hz panels, the 120Hz NanoEdge display is a huge plus. Furthermore, a full-sized RGB keyboard with 1.7 mm of key-travel should satify most gamers.
According to XFASTEST, the FX505 scored 79.35 FPS on Cinebench R15(OpenGL), 4286 on PCMark 10 and 11,794 on Fire Strike. This puts the performance on par with a GTX 1070 and a better score than an Intel i5-8400. Initial testing points to around 4.5 hours of use under casual workloads on battery power.
The FX505 and FX705 start at $700, which is a great deal for the new Zen+ chip, GTX 1660Ti and a 120Hz panel. The laptops are aimed at entry-level gamers but should be a compelling buy for business professionals who need that extra bit of performance.
Further Reading:
When will it arrive at online stores like Amazon.in??
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You say RYZEN 2000 in headline, but in specification table you mentioned RYZEN 3000, and you write Zen + refresh was much needed which refers to RYZEN 2000. Please check which is correct.
Headline mistake and a mistake in screen sizes, 705 is 17.3 and 505 is 15.6.