Asus AsusPro B9440UA (Core i7, 16 GB) Laptop Review Update

Processor

While the GV0100T sports the very popular Intel Core i5-7200U (2x 2.5 - 3.1 GHz, Hyperthreading, TDP 15 W), the i7-7500U (2x 2.7 - 3.5 GHz) is inside the GV0101T. The only difference between the two Kaby Lake processors is found in the base and Turbo speeds. The i7 clocks 200 and 400 MHz faster. In view of the tight TDP, we will have to wait and see whether the i7 can convert its clock speed advantage in a 1:1 higher performance.

Looking at Cinebench R15, the Core i7 can outperform the i5 in the cheaper AsusPro B9440UA by 7% in the single-core test and by 5% in the multi-core test. When comparing all 7200 models assessed to date, the one in the GV0101T only presents an average performance when all cores are loaded, and it even falls behind the mainstream by approximately 4% in the single-core test. As a reminder: the i5-7200U in the GV0100T does a better job compared with its colleagues and is in the upper field there.

As the graphs about the clock behavior during permanent load illustrate, the i7 can barely distinguish itself from the i5 during permanent load. The low ULV TDP of just 15 watts will not be as limiting on the i5 in terms of Turbo utilization though. This lets the performance gain of the more expensive CPU shrink to a negligible degree in most applications in practice. Idle scenarios with short load peaks might benefit (insignificantly) from the much higher single thread Turbo. Like the GV0100T, the scores do not change in battery mode.

The assessment of the total performance with PCMark 8 confirms that the slightly faster platform of Asus' B9440UA-GV0101T can hardly convert its higher potential in higher performance.

The Intel HD 620 GPUs in both B9440UA models present exactly the same specifications and clock rates. Thus, they logically achieve an almost identical score in 3DMark 11. The advantages of the more expensive GV0101T are within the measuring tolerances in 3DMark (2013).

We compared the achieved frames per second using the lowest settings in Witcher 3. The allegedly faster GV0101T even lags behind by approximately 2 FPS, which is also within the measuring tolerance. It is imaginable that the CPU part of the i7 clocks a bit higher than that of the i5. Consequently, it treats itself to a big piece of the TDP pie at expense of the HD 620 and that the i7's HD 620 cannot quite reach the clock speed of the i5.

Battery Runtime

We now dedicate ourselves to the battery life in our practical Wi-Fi test with reduced brightness. The nominally slower GV0100T only manages 3% more with an identical battery capacity. This indicates a very similar power consumption, and it is again within the range of measuring tolerances.

We recently published a special article on how to recharge lithium-ion batteries properly with some useful tips.