Gaming Laptop Analysis

Is the ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 good as a gaming laptop? Good

Processor - Modern AAA 2021 gaming with the Core i7-9750H 6-Core 2.6GHz processor is no problem. As it meets game requirements of today it will likely hold its own against future release titles as well, this is an excellent CPU for a gaming laptop. The 6 cores that this processor has is excellent and very capable for today and future AAA gaming.

Graphics Card - This graphics card, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB Mobile, is good at running 2021 AAA titles and a good choice for a gamer on the move. Dont underestimate the importance of your GPU VRAM in modern gaming. This GPU has 6GB of VRAM which is a good amount, that will help deliver smooth gaming experiences. There are laptop GPU solutions with more VRAM, but there are certainly some with less as well.

System Memory - This amount of RAM, 8GB, is a good quantity of laptop RAM for modern 2021 games.

Screen Size - This laptop’s 15.6" screen is certainly a good size for 2021 gaming on the move. Look for 17 inch laptops, if you want a gaming laptop with a suitable viewing area. But the larger laptop means you compromise on portability.

Refresh Rate - Look for higher refresh rate hertz for a gaming laptop. Ideally around 120Hz or more refresh rate on a gaming laptop screen. The laptop can only deliver FPS(frames per second) up to the listed refresh rate. So if you have hardware in your laptop that can turn out awesome frame rates on all the latest AAA titles, but a 60hz refresh rate, your laptop will be stuck at a maximum of 60FPS in all games. The top refresh rate we can see currently for this laptop is 120Hz which is pretty good as gaming will often benefit from a better than 60Hz screen.

GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB Mobile graphics card gaming performance in the ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop

The big one in any gaming PC is making sure the graphics card is up to the task of modern gaming. And this is of course the same for choosing the right gaming laptop as well. Therefore we will be considering this laptop’s hardware in relation to its overall price and how well it could run modern demanding or popular games like Far Cry 6, God of War 2018 and Forza Horizon 5. This is done in relation to its native 1080p resolution at Ultra video settings to give us something to compare against other laptops. The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB Mobile card that's powering the ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop, when compared to today’s top 500 most demanding games, can run 489 at min system specs and will run 277 games when comparing to their increased recommended system requirements.

Comparing ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 to today’s best price to performance laptop ranges

Stepping into it, we can standardise our assessment of this ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop review by giving every laptop a relative price to performance rating. This rating, for all laptops, will adjust over time and keep the data in this review relevant to today's expectations and inline with ever increasing game demands of modern AAA laptop gaming.

With a P2P rating currently of 10 out of 10 for the ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2. This relative value will change as hardware costs and their performance change over time for laptops. With a number of TUF A15 laptops in the model lineup this particular variant places at the 4th position for Price to Performance value. Laptops closer to the top place (1st) are value gaming laptop options that deliver the best performance for the laptop price.

Looking outside of this range lets us compare the Price to Performance rating of the very best laptops we have listed. Today's top laptop model for P2P is the ASUS TUF A15 R7 4800H GTX 1660 Ti 16GB RAM 512GB M.2 and the price we have for it is $999. Our ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop’s price to performance is 38% worse when comparing it with the top laptop, purely on a performance for money basis, and as we know lots of things go into our decision when choosing the right laptop for us. Moving to the 2nd position of the P2P ranking list sits the MSI Bravo 15 R7 4800H RX 5500M 16GB RAM 512GB M.2 laptop, where it has a price of $1049. Our TUF A15 laptop currently has 20% worse Price to Performance rating against this 2nd best model.

How does the ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop compare to the best CPU performance focused laptops and today’s most popular games?

If you are looking for a strong CPU focused laptop then let's compare this TUF A15 laptop with the top CPU performance focused laptop available today and see how it compares. So the laptop we have chosen for its CPU performance is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 R9 4900HS RTX 2060 Mobile 16GB RAM 1.0TB M.2, which comes with a Ryzen 9 4900HS 8-Core 3.0GHz processor. That processor performs 43% better compared to our review laptop’s Core i7-9750H 6-Core 2.6GHz.

A quick review of the number of games our laptop processor can run at recommended requirements is 429, taken from the top 500 most demanding games today. For min cpu specs this figure for number of games it can run is 497.

But the real test is seeing how well the laptop CPU performs against today's popular games. Our Core i7-9750H 6-Core 2.6GHz compared against recommended processor requirements for Far Cry 6 delivers 3% better performance while against God of War 2018 it’s 3% better and finally compared to Forza Horizon 5 it has a performance difference : 28% better.

How does the ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop compare to the best graphics card performance focused laptops and today’s most popular games?

Shall we see if our review laptop holds out favourably against a top GPU performance focused laptop PC that is currently available. We have the MSI GT76 Titan i9-10900K RTX 2080 Super 64GB RAM 2.0TB M.2 4K as one of today’s best graphics crunching laptop. It comes with a GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8GB video card in it, which currently has 67% better performance compared to our laptop’s GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB Mobile.

Our laptop GPU beats 277 games recommended system requirements when looking at today’s top 500 most demanding games. This number changes to 489 games if we compare to the top 500 most demanding games for minimum system requirements.

When compared to the recommended graphics requirements of the most popular games today, like Far Cry 6 our laptop GPU is 23% worse in performance. Compared to God of War 2018 our laptop graphics performance is 10% better.

The ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 has a 1080p screen resolution, should I get a 4K resolution gaming laptop instead?

This laptop’s panel has a physical 15.6" screen that delivers 1920x1080 pixels natively. But should you consider moving from this 1080p laptop and searching for a 4K laptop instead, with the intention of getting better visuals for your games or movies? 4K laptops have a 60Hz screen refresh rate normally, that means a game would not be able to run at more than 60 frames per second even if the hardware could deliver more. While 60FPS would provide acceptable stability, a lot of gamers would prefer higher FPS than this. However, thats not the only issue here. Modern AAA game system requirements would need more powerful gaming hardware than is normally found in laptops, to play reliably at 4K Ultra graphics settings, even at 60FPS. We can see 120Hz panel refresh rate versions of this laptop are available. The higher the better.

Drop the 4K screen resolution on your AAA games to 1080p to increase the games frame rate to something more playable, and in doing so will make a game look blurry as it wouldn't be displayed in the 4K laptop’s native resolution. And so is there a point in getting a 4K screen laptop at the moment? If the new 4K laptop has the performance to play modern games at 4K resolution, then perhaps the laptop’s 15 or 17 inch screen isnt enough to fully enjoy the high pixel count? So if you have or can get a desktop monitor that delivers more than the 60Hz frame rate limiter, for that gaming experience then you can keep your laptop mobile and still enjoy high end gaming.

If you are looking to view 4K streaming content, while keeping yourself mobile with your laptop, then maybe a 4K resolution panel would be a better experience than the normal 1080p. In general, we think it's probably not worth the extra money for any visual gains you might not spot, without a direct comparison, especially if you are thinking to game on your laptop as well.

We think don't spend your extra cash on getting a 4K laptop to game on, as it's likely to feel disappointing to buy a super shiny new 4K laptop, then have to lower the resolution while playing your games, delivering a blurry in-game experience, and only getting up to a maximum 60FPS due to the usual 60Hz 4K panel restriction.

Today’s best 1440p desktop monitor for a laptop is - ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27 inch 1440p 75Hz 5ms IPS

An example of a well priced 1440p desktop monitor would be the ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27 inch 1440p 75Hz 5ms IPS, which has 75Hz and is currently available for $311.99. Our cheapest tracked price for the desktop 1440p monitor was $229.99, which we recorded on 9th Mar 2021.

Today’s best 4K desktop monitor for a laptop is - Asus Predator XB273K 27 inch 4K GSYNC IPS 1ms 144Hz

The 4K Asus Predator XB273K 27 inch 4K GSYNC IPS 1ms 144Hz display is our current suggestion if you wanted to grab a desktop monitor. With a $618 price at the moment it also has a 144Hz refresh rate. We have noticed that this 4K monitor has raised its price by $618 recently. And while it is a good 4K monitor even at this current price, it could probably be found for a bit cheaper. Reviewing tracked prices for our suggested 4k monitor, its lowest price was recorded on 13th Nov 2020, where we spotted it for $549.99.

[Note - check that monitor display connectors are compatible between a monitor and a laptop before purchase]

The primary use we can think of is for streaming 4K movie and TV content, assuming you have access to these services. If this is your primary use for the laptop, rather than gaming then it certainly might be worth considering this.

Save your cash, don't grab a 4K laptop for gaming at the moment. A 1080p is certainly the best top end gaming laptop choice at the moment. There are not many 1440p monitors that we have seen. It could be a disappointing experience if you buy your new 4K laptop, and then for each modern game you pick up be faced with dropping resolution or graphics settings to achieve an ok FPS. Even then we will be seeing a max 60FPS because of the common 60Hz found on the 4K panel.

Today's Best Priced Mouse and Headset for ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop

We price track a number of good value gaming mice and the one that currently stands out is the Kayinuo M738 Gaming Mouse 3200DPI wired 6 Buttons, which is currently available for $12.99. Today's best value and good quality mouse has enjoyed a price reduction of $32.26, and provides another reason for us to suggest it to compliment this laptop. Reviewing all our records the lowest tracked price we have for this mouse was recorded on 15th Aug 2020, where it was priced at $11.99.

Of our price tracked headsets, the gaming headset that catches our eye today, to go well with the ASUS TUF A15 i7-9750H GTX 1660 Ti 8GB RAM 256GB M.2 laptop, is the Corsair HS45-7.1 Surround. Today this headset is priced at $36.99. For reference, our lowest tracked price for this headset was on 28th Nov 2019 and it was priced at $34.99.