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ROG Strix G15/G17 Advantage: Asus' Gaming notebook with RX 6800M and 5900HX

Jun 17, 2021

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That hasn't existed for ages: a high-end gaming notebook only with hardware from AMD. Asus makes this possible with the ROG Strix G15/G17 Advantage Edition, in which a Ryzen 9 5900HX is combined with a Radeon RX 6800M. With this, AMD wants to beat the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU. The starting price is 1,799 euros.

After AMD is again more than competitive against Intel in the notebook with the mobile Ryzen 5000, there has so far been a lack of suitable graphics cards from “Team Red” to beat Nvidia. The Radeon RX 5000M based on RDNA (1) is neither competitive with Nvidia's large mobile GPUs, nor has it been able to establish itself on the market apart from the MacBook Pro – only HP and MSI offer models.

After all, there are already potent combinations of a fast AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU and the most powerful mobile Nvidia GPU on the market from several manufacturers. With today's presentation of the Radeon RX 6000M, combinations are only possible with hardware from AMD in the high-end class.

Ryzen 9 5900HX and Radeon RX 6800M are series

The Asus ROG Strix G15/G17 Advantage Edition is one of the first gaming notebooks of this type that also meets the requirements of AMD's new Advantage program. The notebook will initially only come to Germany with 15.6 inches, which apart from the display size has no effect on the equipment. Asus is calling for 1,799 euros for the base model, which has no appointment yet, but is already well equipped, because the basic equipment includes the Ryzen 9 5900HX and the Radeon RX 6800M, the new flagship of the mobile RDNA-2 graphics cards with 40 CUs, 2.3 GHz game clock and 12 GB GDDR6.

Be careful with the AMD benchmarks

In select games, AMD sees the graphics card ahead of the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU. 120 FPS are possible on average from 18 popular games at 1440p and maximum details. The range, however, ranges from 61 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077, 130 FPS in Hitman 3, 254 FPS in DOTA 2 to 417 FPS in Valorant (see picture 2). It must also be noted that AMD has developed the new Asus notebook at 145 watts for the Radeon RX 6800M (160 watts with SmartShift) with a ROG Strix Scar 15 G533 with the same CPU, but only 115 watts (130 W with Dynamic Boost) for the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU compares. All details in the news about the announcement of the Radeon RX 6000M.

< p class = "p text-width">There are only adjusting screws for RAM (up to 32 GB), SSD (up to 1 TB) and the display. You can choose from Full HD with 300 Hz and 100 percent sRGB and WQHD with 165 Hz and 100 percent DCI-P3. The ROG Strix G17 Advantage Edition, which is not available in this country, offers the same options, only in 17.3 instead of 15.6 inches.

Cooling with liquid metal for CPU and GPU

For the first time, liquid metal is responsible for cooling the components on the CPU and GPU, which is supposed to reduce temperatures by up to 14 degrees Celsius compared to traditional thermal paste. A large vapor chamber for CPU, GPU, VRAM and power supply should do its part for cooling. Asus speaks of “gigantic dimensions” for the vapor chamber and can thus dissipate 25 watts more power loss than with the normal Strix cooling system. Two fans, each with 84 propeller blades, are ultimately responsible for removing the heat. The keyboard belongs to the “CoolZone” and should not exceed 40 degrees Celsius surface temperature.

Technical data at a glance

ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition ROG Strix G17 Advantage Edition CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
Zen 3, 8 cores/16 threads, 3.30/4.60 GHz, 45+ watt GPU AMD Radeon RX 6800M
RDNA 2, 40 CUs, 2.3 GHz, 12 GB GDDR6, 96 MB Infinity Cache, 145 Watt RAM up to 32 GB DDR4-3200 SSD up to 1 TB PCIe display 15.6 “, FHD, IPS, 300 Hz, 3rd ms, 100% sRGB, FreeSync Premium 17.3 “, FHD, IPS, 300 Hz, 3 ms, 100% sRGB, FreeSync Premium 15.6”, WQHD, IPS, 165 Hz, 3 ms, 100% DCI-P3, FreeSync Premium 17.3 & quot ;, WQHD, IPS, 165 Hz, 3 ms, 100% DCI-P3, FreeSync Premium connections 3 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 type A, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 type C, 1 × Ethernet, 1 × HDMI 2.0b, 1 × audio combo, 1 × power battery 90 Wh Wireless connectivity Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 cameras no Dimensions 354.9 × 259.9 × 22.69 to 27.2 mm 395 × 282.1 × 23.4 to 27.5 mm Weight 2.4 kg 3.0 kg Windows 10 Pro operating system Price from 1,799 euros? * * Not currently planned for the German market

ROG, Ryzen and Radeon

That the notebook is definitely something special for Asus and AMD is shown by the design with subtle references to the newly inspired partnership. On the lid there is a large illuminated ROG logo, lots of small ROG lettering and an AMD logo. The entire case is kept in matt black and is therefore one of the more inconspicuous gaming notebooks, although the RGB lighting in the lid, on the sides and on the entire front as well as with four zones on the keyboard can certainly ensure a colorful appearance.

The so-called armor caps also stand out from the matt black, covers for the area – viewed from the front – on the rear left of the hinge, which can be exchanged for official versions from Asus itself or for their own creations from the 3D printer, for which Asus the supplies matching blueprint. A red armor cap sits on the hinge by default, with a somewhat cryptic lettering “///R.”, Which stands for “Triple-R”, i.e. ROG, Ryzen and Radeon. Two more Armor Caps in silver and semi-transparent gray, each with ROG lettering, are included with the notebook and can be attached to it magnetically.

No space for a webcam

Other features include numerous connections (see table), Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, speakers behind the keyboard, AI-supported noise canceling for the integrated microphones and a 90 Wh battery for both display sizes. Asus mentions up to 11.4 hours of runtime for video playback, but does not provide any information about gaming. The notebook can be quickly charged to 50 percent in 33 minutes using the power supply unit; alternatively, power delivery via USB Type C, limited to 100 watts, can be used. What is not available is a webcam because there is no space above the display for it. This was also the case most recently with the ROG Strix Scar 15/17, which combines the Ryzen 9 5900HX with a GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU.

ComputerBase received information about this item from Asus received under NDA. The only requirement was the earliest possible publication time.

Update 6/16/2021 5:46 pm

At the request of the editors, Asus announced the maximum power dissipation of Ryzen 9 5900HX and Radeon RX 6800M in the ROG Strix G15/G17 Advantage for each profile. With the processor, this can also be read out with common tools such as HWiNFO, with the graphics card, however, only the consumption of the GPU is available via software; AMD does not disclose the total consumption of the graphics card. The following table closes the knowledge gap.

Profile scenario Silent Performance Turbo Manual TDP CPU (GPU idle) 50 W 74 W 90 W 10-100 W TDP CPU (GPU active) 1-25 W 1-35 W 1-55 W 10-100 W TGP GPU1 65-109 W 80-154 W 125-179 W 1-189 W platform (CPU + GPU, permanent) 2 90-110 W 115-155 W 180 W 90-190 W platform (CPU + GPU, peak) 3 139 W 186 W 216 W 237 W 1 minimum at high temperature and high CPU consumption, maximum at low temperature and low CPU consumption
2 minimum at high temperature maximum at low temperature
3 short-term peak consumption of the platform

The Radeon RX 6800M can consume a maximum of 189 watts in the Asus notebook in the “Turbo” profile, although this is only possible within the framework of the maximum platform TDP of 237 watts allowed for a short time. In contrast, the maximum consumption of the platform consisting of CPU and graphics card in the Turbo profile is 190 watts, of which the processor also consumes its share – 150 to 160 watts consumption for the graphics card should be a realistic value in games, which is also the maximum Consumption of the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU.