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Asus TUF FX505DY (Ryzen 5 3550H, Radeon RX 560X) Laptop Review

Finally, a decent AMD gaming laptop. Sick of seeing Intel Core i5-8300H and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 gaming laptops? Then try this $700 AMD-only alternative instead. The Ryzen Zen+ platform shines in its first outing even though it's a bit late to the party.

Asus unveiled the TUF FX505DY at CES 2019 alongside the AMD Zen+ family of processors. It has the distinction of being all AMD inside and the first to carry a Zen+ Ryzen 5 3550H CPU that will have a lot to prove in a market dominated by Intel H-class CPUs. Much like how the 2017 Asus Zephyrus GX501 was the premier Nvidia Max-Q laptop, the TUF FX505 is AMD's premier Zen+ laptop with all eyes on performance.

The TUF series is home to Asus' budget-mainstream gaming laptops in contrast to the higher-end ROG series. Since the Ryzen 5 3550H is also targeting budget-mainstream laptops, the TUF FX505DY should be a snug fit to showcase the Zen+ CPU at its best. Asus has chosen to pair AMD's brand new processor with the two-year old Radeon RX 560X Polaris GPU, so this uncommon combination should make some interesting results when compared to the sea of Intel-Nvidia alternatives currently available.

The FX505 is the successor to last year's FX504 with a newer chassis. Nonetheless, we will still be comparing the system to the FX504 as well as some competing budget Intel-Nvidia 15.6-inch alternatives like the Gigabyte Sabre 15, Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH, MSI GP63Acer Nitro 5 AN515, Samsung Odyssey 15, and HP Pavilion 15 Gaming. Our Asus has the notable advantage of costing only $700 MSRP compared to the $900+ launch prices of the aforementioned alternatives.

Note that Asus is also planning to launch a 17.3-inch version of the model we have here called the TUF FX705DY.

More Asus gaming reviews:

Asus TUF FX505DY (TUF FX505D Series)
Processor
AMD Ryzen 5 3550H 4 x 2.1 - 3.7 GHz, Picasso-U (Zen+)
Graphics adapter
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop) - 4 GB VRAM, Core: 1223 MHz, Memory: 1750 MHz, GDDR5, 25.20.15025.1002 (Adrenalin 19.2.3)
Memory
8 GB 
, DDR4-2666, 17-17-39, Single-channel
Display
15.60 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 141 PPI, Panda LM156LF-CL03, IPS, NCP002D, glossy: no
Mainboard
AMD CZ FCH
Storage
WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G, 256 GB 
Soundcard
AMD Raven - Audio Processor - HD Audio Controller
Connections
1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 1 HDMI, 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm combo audio
Networking
Realtek RTL8168/8111 Gigabit-LAN (10/100/1000MBit/s), Realtek 8821CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.2
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 26.8 x 360.4 x 262 ( = 1.06 x 14.19 x 10.31 in)
Battery
48 Wh Lithium-Polymer
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
Camera
Webcam: 720p
Additional features
Speakers: 2 W stereo, Keyboard: Chiclet, Keyboard Light: yes, McAfee LiveSafe, AMD Display Optimizations, Graphics Profile, Asus Armoury Crate, Keyboard Hotkeys, 12 Months Warranty
Weight
2.2 kg ( = 77.6 oz / 4.85 pounds), Power Supply: 480 g ( = 16.93 oz / 1.06 pounds)
Price
700 USD
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Case

Take the FX504 chassis, cut the side bezels narrower, and you're essentially left with the FX505. The design, chassis material, and overall feel of the system remain the same. Unfortunately, this also means that all the disadvantages of the FX504 are still in effect here including the flexible lid and slight creaking of the hinges and base. The all-plastic build certainly gives a budget impression when compared to the higher-end Zephyrus or Strix series that retail for significantly more. We find it to be run-of-the-mill and not significantly better or worse than many other budget gaming laptops like the Sabre 15 or Acer Nitro 5 AN515.

Thickness and length are almost identical to the FX504 series while width has been cut by over 20 mm because of the narrower bezels. It's one of the more compact 15.6-inch gaming laptops available without resorting to higher-end models like the MSI GS65 or Razer Blade 15 that can cost over twice as much.

Textured plastic surfaces from top to bottom. Center of keyboard warps slightly with applied pressure
Textured plastic surfaces from top to bottom. Center of keyboard warps slightly with applied pressure
Similar chassis design as last year's FX504 but shorter in length
Similar chassis design as last year's FX504 but shorter in length
Lid opened to maximum angle of ~150 degrees
Lid opened to maximum angle of ~150 degrees
Small hinges are satisfactory, but we're unsure how they will hold up a few years down the line
Small hinges are satisfactory, but we're unsure how they will hold up a few years down the line
390 mm / 15.4 inch 266 mm / 10.5 inch 27 mm / 1.063 inch 2.4 kg5.29 lbs383 mm / 15.1 inch 260 mm / 10.2 inch 29 mm / 1.142 inch 2.3 kg5.11 lbs384 mm / 15.1 inch 262 mm / 10.3 inch 25 mm / 0.984 inch 2.3 kg5.07 lbs378 mm / 14.9 inch 267 mm / 10.5 inch 26.9 mm / 1.059 inch 2.5 kg5.5 lbs365 mm / 14.4 inch 260 mm / 10.2 inch 24 mm / 0.945 inch 2.3 kg5.07 lbs360.4 mm / 14.2 inch 262 mm / 10.3 inch 26.8 mm / 1.055 inch 2.2 kg4.85 lbs297 mm / 11.7 inch 210 mm / 8.27 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 5.7 g0.01257 lbs

Connectivity

Port options and positioning are identical to the FX504 series except that the HDMI port has now been upgraded from 1.4 to 2.0. We're still disappointed to not see any USB Type-C ports which we believe should be standard across all gaming laptops. Some users may also find it odd that there are no ports along the right edge of the system. An SD reader is excluded yet again much like on the Lenovo Legion series and the Razer Blade 15.

Front: No connectivity
Front: No connectivity
Left: AC adapter, Gigabit RJ-45, HDMI 2.0, USB 2.0 Type-A, 2x USB Type-A 3.1 Gen. 1, 3.5 mm combo audio
Left: AC adapter, Gigabit RJ-45, HDMI 2.0, USB 2.0 Type-A, 2x USB Type-A 3.1 Gen. 1, 3.5 mm combo audio
Rear: No connectivity
Rear: No connectivity
Right: Kensington Lock
Right: Kensington Lock

Communication

Interestingly enough, the removable WLAN module sits directly underneath the M.2 slot
Interestingly enough, the removable WLAN module sits directly underneath the M.2 slot

Unlike most Ultrabooks and pricier gaming laptops where 2x2 wireless is the norm, the FX505DY ships with a 1x1 RealTek WLAN module for theoretical transfer rates of only 433 Mbps. This is likely a cost-saving measure as the usual Intel and Killer solutions are more premium solutions.

We didn't experience any connectivity issues during our time with the test unit despite the slower maximum transfer rates.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
660 MBit/s +147%
Asus FX504GD
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
614 MBit/s +130%
Asus TUF FX505DY
Realtek 8821CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC
267 MBit/s
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
144 (113min - 190max) MBit/s -46%
iperf3 receive AX12
Asus FX504GD
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
657 MBit/s +103%
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
626 MBit/s +93%
Asus TUF FX505DY
Realtek 8821CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC
324 MBit/s
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
293 (186min - 315max) MBit/s -10%

Maintenance

Servicing is easier than expected and requires only a Philips screwdriver. The bottom panel pops out without much effort unlike what we experienced on the MSI GE75. Users have direct access to both storage bays, both SODIMM slots, and the BIOS battery.

Easy access to internal components
Easy access to internal components

Accessories and Warranty

There are no extras in the box outside of the AC adapter.

The standard one-year limited warranty applies. Registering the laptop with Asus will extend the warranty by an extra year.

Input Devices

Keyboard and Touchpad

The red backlit keyboard and plastic trackpad (~10.3 cm x 7.3 cm) are essentially identical to last year's FX504 and so our previous comments still apply here. The sides of the keyboard are narrower this time around due to the narrow bezel design of the chassis, but key feedback remains satisfactory with relatively quiet clatter. 

The trackpad is still disappointing and more fit for a cheap $500 laptop. Its integrated click keys are spongy and the plastic surface offers a bumpy glide when moving the cursor slowly. Conspicuous fingerprints will accumulate very quickly as well.

The NumPad keys are narrower and feel squished when compared to the QWERTY keys
The NumPad keys are narrower and feel squished when compared to the QWERTY keys
Adequate key travel with slightly softer feedback than the SteelSeries keys on  many MSI laptops
Adequate key travel with slightly softer feedback than the SteelSeries keys on many MSI laptops

Display

Too many budget laptops are equipped with cheap TN panels that offer poor contrast, shallow colors, and narrow viewing angles. Thankfully, the FX505DY has a 1080p IPS panel without any of these drawbacks. Granted, it's still a budget panel with just average colors, response times, and brightness, but even a cheap IPS panel is leagues ahead of a cheap TN panel. Contrast ratio is surprisingly good at almost 1000:1 compared to half that on the outgoing FX504GD.

Interestingly, Asus has sourced Panda for the matte panel here whereas most other Asus gaming laptops have panels from AU Optronics. Graininess is kept to a minimum for a crisp and almost glossy-like viewing experience without the glare. Some uneven backlight bleeding is present on our test unit that's only noticeable when viewing movies with black borders.

Enthusiast features like G-Sync, 120/144 Hz, 3/5 ms, or 4K UHD are not available here. This is supposed to be a no frills inexpensive gaming laptop, after all.

Inner plastic bezels are textured instead of smooth unlike on most other budget laptops. Note the glare even when indoors
Inner plastic bezels are textured instead of smooth unlike on most other budget laptops. Note the glare even when indoors
Narrow side bezels for a more compact form factor
Narrow side bezels for a more compact form factor
Light-moderate uneven backlight bleeding
Light-moderate uneven backlight bleeding
Matte subpixel array with no edge-to-edge glossy options
Matte subpixel array with no edge-to-edge glossy options
223.5
cd/m²
215.3
cd/m²
197.3
cd/m²
199
cd/m²
211.5
cd/m²
182.8
cd/m²
185.7
cd/m²
200
cd/m²
185.8
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
Panda LM156LF-CL03 tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 223.5 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 200.1 cd/m² Minimum: 10.12 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 82 %
Center on Battery: 211.5 cd/m²
Contrast: 920:1 (Black: 0.23 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.92 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 4.16
ΔE Greyscale 3.1 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
60% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
38.1% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
41.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
60.2% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
40.04% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.23
Asus TUF FX505DY
Panda LM156LF-CL03, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
Chi Mei CMN15F4 (N156HHE-GA1 CMN), TN LED, 120 Hz, 15.60, 1920x1080
Asus FX504GD
AU Optronics B156HTN03.8, TN LED, 15.60, 1920x1080
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
LG Display LP156WFG-SPB2, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
AU Optronics B156HAN06.0 (AUO60ED), IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
ID: LGD0533, Name: LG Display LP156WF6-SPK3, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080
Display
101%
-7%
55%
53%
-3%
Display P3 Coverage
40.04
91.5
129%
37.09
-7%
62.5
56%
63.4
58%
38.97
-3%
sRGB Coverage
60.2
100
66%
55.8
-7%
93
54%
87.4
45%
58.2
-3%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
41.4
85.9
107%
38.34
-7%
63.8
54%
64
55%
40.3
-3%
Response Times
48%
29%
66%
-7%
14%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
44.8 ?(18.8, 26)
24 ?(12.8, 11.2)
46%
41.6 ?(19.6, 22)
7%
15 ?(8, 7)
67%
48.4 ?(24, 24.4)
-8%
32 ?(16.4, 15.6)
29%
Response Time Black / White *
30.8 ?(17.6, 13.2)
8.4 ?(6, 2.4)
73%
15.2 ?(10, 5.2)
51%
11 ?(7, 4)
64%
32.8 ?(18, 14.8)
-6%
25.6 ?(15.6, 10)
17%
PWM Frequency
20830 ?(30)
26040 ?(19)
25%
20000 ?(99)
-4%
Screen
-5%
-34%
10%
19%
-25%
Brightness middle
211.5
368.5
74%
260
23%
305
44%
299
41%
248.4
17%
Brightness
200
341
71%
241
21%
284
42%
284
42%
241
21%
Brightness Distribution
82
87
6%
85
4%
83
1%
88
7%
84
2%
Black Level *
0.23
0.34
-48%
0.55
-139%
0.52
-126%
0.24
-4%
0.3
-30%
Contrast
920
1084
18%
473
-49%
587
-36%
1246
35%
828
-10%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
3.92
8.91
-127%
7
-79%
3.63
7%
4.98
-27%
7.5
-91%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
17.63
14.39
18%
22.52
-28%
8.18
54%
7.67
56%
25.2
-43%
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *
4.16
2.87
31%
5.27
-27%
1.31
69%
3.7
11%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
3.1
12
-287%
6.1
-97%
4.77
-54%
4.58
-48%
6.5
-110%
Gamma
2.23 99%
1.825 121%
1.97 112%
2.54 87%
2.55 86%
2.19 100%
CCT
6578 99%
11519 56%
7894 82%
7500 87%
6397 102%
7852 83%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
38.1
85.94
126%
35.5
-7%
59
55%
57
50%
37
-3%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
60
99.98
67%
61
2%
93
55%
87
45%
57.9
-3%
Total Average (Program / Settings)
48% / 23%
-4% / -21%
44% / 25%
22% / 22%
-5% / -14%

* ... smaller is better

Color space covers only 60 percent of sRGB to indicate a budget panel. Most mainstream gaming laptops cover 90 percent of sRGB or more for deeper and more accurate colors. For gaming purposes, however, the more limited color space will not dramatically impact the experience.

vs. sRGB
vs. sRGB
vs. AdobeRGB
vs. AdobeRGB

Further measurements with an X-Rite colorimeter reveal generally accurate grayscale before any calibration. Most budget gaming laptops have overly cool color temperatures for poor first impressions, but the FX505 has thankfully broken this trend. Colors still become increasingly inaccurate at higher saturation levels due to the narrow color space mentioned above. Blue in particular is measurably more inaccurate than other colors as it leans towards blue-violet instead.

Grayscale before calibration
Grayscale before calibration
Saturation Sweeps before calibration
Saturation Sweeps before calibration
ColorChecker before calibration
ColorChecker before calibration
Grayscale after calibration
Grayscale after calibration
Saturation Sweeps after calibration
Saturation Sweeps after calibration
ColorChecker after calibration
ColorChecker after calibration

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
30.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 17.6 ms rise
↘ 13.2 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 81 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
44.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 18.8 ms rise
↘ 26 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 73 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM detected 20830 Hz ≤ 30 % brightness setting

The display backlight flickers at 20830 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 30 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting.

The frequency of 20830 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18110 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Outdoor visibility is poorer than most gaming laptops as the display is dimmer than average. Even though the matte panel keeps glare at a minimum, ambient lighting will still wash out colors and make it difficult to read text for long periods. Viewing angles are wide as expected from an IPS panel with only slight changes to colors and contrast from extreme angles.

Be sure to disable the display power savings option through the Radeon settings or else maximum brightness will be even lower when running on battery power.

Wide IPS viewing angles
Wide IPS viewing angles

Performance

There are no other CPU or GPU options available other than the quad-core Ryzen 5 3550H CPU and Radeon RX 560X GPU. It's possible that Asus will add additional SKUs or introduce different models in the future with the more powerful Ryzen 7 3750H.

As for the GPU, the Radeon RX 560X is an aging model based on AMD's last generation (and soon-to-be two generations old) Polaris architecture. It's rarely found on PCs since most OEMs would rather use the more common GeForce GTX 1050 Nvidia equivalent.

Our specific test unit is equipped with just 8 GB of single-channel DDR4 RAM. Slightly faster results than we've recorded here can be obtained if upgrading to dual-channel memory.

Processor

CPU performance is comparable to the Core i5-8300H and Core i7-7700HQ according to CineBench benchmarks despite the fact that the AMD processor is running at a lower TDP envelope than the Intel (35 W vs. 45 W). Single-thread performance, however, is slower than we were expecting as it's only comparable to the 15 W Ryzen 7 2700U. Meanwhile, the higher-end hexa-core Core i7-8750H will still handily outperform the new Zen+ processor by 30 percent or more depending on the laptop. Even so, AMD's intention was to offer a CPU that's competitive against the Core i5-8300H and the Ryzen 5 3550H is a success in this regard.

Performance sustainability is excellent. When running CineBench R15 Multi-Thread in a loop, the CPU is able to maintain its initial high score of ~755 points for the first few loops before falling just 5 percent as shown by our graph below. This corresponds to an initial clock rate of 3.7 GHz before falling to 3.5 GHz which we will detail in our Stress Test section.

Note that the Core i5-8300H in last year's Asus FX504GD suffered from throttling issues and so its scores are much lower than the average Core i5-8300H in our database. Our FX505DY thankfully exhibits no similar performance issues.

See our dedicated page on the Ryzen 5 3550H for more technical information and benchmark comparisons.

CineBench R10 32-bit
CineBench R10 32-bit
CineBench R11.5 64-bit
CineBench R11.5 64-bit
CineBench R15
CineBench R15
050100150200250300350400450500550600650700750800850900950Tooltip
Asus TUF FX505DY Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G; CPU Multi 64Bit: Ø725 (718.93-754.96)
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung PM871b MZNLN128HAHQ; CPU Multi 64Bit: Ø892 (884.49-963.04)
Asus FX504GD GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172; CPU Multi 64Bit: Ø605 (578.56-609.13)
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0 Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND; CPU Multi 64Bit: Ø658 (642.69-661.47)
Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Asus ZenBook 15 UX533FD
Intel Core i7-8565U
191 Points +32%
Dell Precision 7530
Intel Core i9-8950HK
187 Points +29%
Asus FX504GD
Intel Core i5-8300H
170 Points +17%
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
Intel Core i7-8750H
170 Points +17%
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
161 Points +11%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
AMD Ryzen 7 2700U
150 Points +3%
Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBA-80WY001VGE
Intel Core i5-7300HQ
147 Points +1%
Asus TUF FX505DY
AMD Ryzen 5 3550H
145 Points
Asus GL702ZC-GC104T
AMD Ryzen 7 1700
144 Points -1%
Honor Magicbook
AMD Ryzen 5 2500U
138 Points -5%
CPU Multi 64Bit
Asus GL702ZC-GC104T
AMD Ryzen 7 1700
1408 Points +86%
Dell Precision 7530
Intel Core i9-8950HK
1193 Points +58%
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
Intel Core i7-8750H
964 Points +27%
Asus ZenBook 15 UX533FD
Intel Core i7-8565U
815 Points +8%
Asus TUF FX505DY
AMD Ryzen 5 3550H
757 Points
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
736 Points -3%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
AMD Ryzen 7 2700U
661 Points -13%
Asus FX504GD
Intel Core i5-8300H
609 Points -20%
Honor Magicbook
AMD Ryzen 5 2500U
576 Points -24%
Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBA-80WY001VGE
Intel Core i5-7300HQ
501 Points -34%
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit
7839
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit
20097
Cinebench R10 Rendering Single 32Bit
4575
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit
74 fps
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Single 64Bit
1.65 Points
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi 64Bit
8.55 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
145 Points
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
87.7 fps
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
757 Points
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
98 %
Help

System Performance

PCMark benchmarks rank our FX505 consistently ahead of last year's FX504 equipped with the i5-8300H CPU and GTX 1050 GPU. Part of this is likely due to the fact that our FX504 was running on a slow primary HDD compared to the NVMe SSD of our FX505, but it's a breath of fresh air to see a full-on AMD gaming laptop match and even outscore a competing Intel-Nvidia alternative. Mid-range gaming laptops equipped with the i7-8750H and GTX 1060 will still outperform our Asus by a wide margin.

We didn't experience any software issues during our time with the test unit.

PCMark 8 Home Accelerated
PCMark 8 Home Accelerated
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated
PCMark 10 Standard
PCMark 10 Standard
PCMark 10
Score
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
5125 Points +16%
Asus TUF FX505DY
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
4405 Points
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ, Liteonit CV3-8D128
4364 Points -1%
Asus FX504GD
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172
3808 Points -14%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
3763 Points -15%
Essentials
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
8702 Points +9%
Asus TUF FX505DY
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
7949 Points
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ, Liteonit CV3-8D128
7542 Points -5%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
6733 Points -15%
Asus FX504GD
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172
6583 Points -17%
Productivity
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
7019 Points +9%
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ, Liteonit CV3-8D128
6749 Points +5%
Asus TUF FX505DY
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
6446 Points
Asus FX504GD
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172
5927 Points -8%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
5574 Points -14%
Digital Content Creation
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
5983 Points +32%
Asus TUF FX505DY
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
4528 Points
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ, Liteonit CV3-8D128
4432 Points -2%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
3855 Points -15%
Asus FX504GD
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172
3843 Points -15%
PCMark 8
Home Score Accelerated v2
Asus TUF FX505DY
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
4560 Points
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
4440 Points -3%
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung PM871b MZNLN128HAHQ
4415 Points -3%
Asus FX504GD
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172
3909 Points -14%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
3860 Points -15%
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ, Liteonit CV3-8D128
3431 Points -25%
Work Score Accelerated v2
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
5543 Points +6%
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung PM871b MZNLN128HAHQ
5354 Points +3%
Asus TUF FX505DY
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
5223 Points
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ, Liteonit CV3-8D128
5063 Points -3%
Asus FX504GD
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172
5018 Points -4%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
4810 Points -8%
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2
4560 points
PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2
5223 points
PCMark 10 Score
4405 points
Help

Storage Devices

Secondary 2.5-inch bay sits underneath the left palm rest
Secondary 2.5-inch bay sits underneath the left palm rest

Internal storage options include a single PCIe Gen. 3 M.2 2280 slot and a secondary 2.5-inch SATA III bay. Our specific test unit is configured with only a 256 GB Western Digital M.2 NVMe SSD.

Sequential read and write rates are balanced at just over 1000 MB/s each. While much faster than any SATA III SSD, this is rather average for an NVMe drive. The pricier Samsung SSD PM981 can offer almost twice the read rates as our Kingston drive. In the end, the WD drive a budget NVMe SSD fit for a budget gaming laptop.

Swapping out and upgrading drives will not void any warranties.

See our table of HDDs and SSDs for more benchmark comparisons.

Asus TUF FX505DY
WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
Samsung PM871b MZNLN128HAHQ
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
Liteonit CV3-8D128
AS SSD
-60%
-1%
-119%
-60%
Seq Read
1059
504
-52%
1808
71%
470.8
-56%
516
-51%
Seq Write
1180
462.9
-61%
1429
21%
126.8
-89%
479.8
-59%
4K Read
37.55
21.88
-42%
46.1
23%
23.64
-37%
28.3
-25%
4K Write
110.6
60.8
-45%
97
-12%
54.5
-51%
53.8
-51%
4K-64 Read
619
253
-59%
536
-13%
203.1
-67%
257
-58%
4K-64 Write
502
137.8
-73%
273.6
-45%
127.1
-75%
132.2
-74%
Access Time Read *
0.087
0.155
-78%
0.085
2%
0.121
-39%
0.141
-62%
Access Time Write *
0.034
0.072
-112%
0.038
-12%
0.269
-691%
0.073
-115%
Score Read
762
325
-57%
763
0%
274
-64%
337
-56%
Score Write
730
245
-66%
514
-30%
194
-73%
234
-68%
Score Total
1899
742
-61%
1663
-12%
600
-68%
752
-60%
Copy ISO MB/s
1166
690
-41%
446.8
-62%
Copy Program MB/s
507
328.1
-35%
195.3
-61%
Copy Game MB/s
480.3
220.7
-54%
323.5
-33%

* ... smaller is better

WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
CDM 5/6 Read Seq Q32T1: 1734 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Write Seq Q32T1: 1302 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Read 4K Q32T1: 311.9 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Write 4K Q32T1: 207.6 MB/s
CDM 5 Read Seq: 1373 MB/s
CDM 5 Write Seq: 1302 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Read 4K: 45.19 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Write 4K: 129.8 MB/s

GPU Performance

Graphics performance is most similar to the GeForce GTX 1050 or GTX 965M if not just slightly better at DX12 titles according to 3DMark benchmarks. Nonetheless, the GTX 1050 Ti is still the noticeably faster card by about 27 percent. The even rarer Radeon RX 580 as found on the Asus GL702ZC is up to 90 percent faster.

3DMark 11
3DMark 11
Ice Storm Extreme
Ice Storm Extreme
Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate
Fire Strike Ultra
Fire Strike Ultra
Fire Strike
Fire Strike
Time Spy
Time Spy
3DMark
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics
Asus Zephyrus S GX531GM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
11332 Points +79%
Asus GL702ZC-GC104T
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop), R7 1700
11010 Points +74%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
10248 Points +62%
Lenovo Legion Y730-15ICH i5-8300H
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i5-8300H
8004 Points +27%
SCHENKER XMG P506
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, 6700HQ
7595 Points +20%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i5-8305G
7355 Points +16%
Asus FX504GD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H
6356 Points 0%
Asus TUF FX505DY
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H
6327 Points
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U
6262 Points -1%
Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBA-80WY001VGE
AMD Radeon RX 560 (Laptop), i5-7300HQ
5738 Points -9%
Asus ZenBook 15 UX533FD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q, i7-8565U
5622 Points -11%
Asus GL552VW-DK725T
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, 6700HQ
4326 Points -32%
Honor Magicbook
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), R5 2500U
2328 Points -63%
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics
Asus Zephyrus S GX531GM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
3626 Points +103%
Asus GL702ZC-GC104T
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop), R7 1700
3440 Points +92%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
2908 Points +62%
Asus TUF FX505DY
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H
1790 Points
Asus FX504GD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H
1597 Points -11%
3DMark 11
1280x720 Performance GPU
Asus GL702ZC-GC104T
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop), R7 1700
15264 Points +87%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
14302 Points +75%
Asus Zephyrus S GX531GM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
12620 Points +54%
SCHENKER XMG P506
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, 6700HQ
9967 Points +22%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i5-8305G
9862 Points +21%
Lenovo Legion Y730-15ICH i5-8300H
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i5-8300H
9805 Points +20%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U
8451 Points +3%
Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBA-80WY001VGE
AMD Radeon RX 560 (Laptop), i5-7300HQ
8345 Points +2%
Asus TUF FX505DY
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H
8181 Points
Asus FX504GD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H
7133 Points -13%
Asus ZenBook 15 UX533FD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q, i7-8565U
7016 Points -14%
Asus GL552VW-DK725T
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, 6700HQ
5384 Points -34%
Honor Magicbook
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), R5 2500U
3482 Points -57%
1280x720 Performance Combined
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
10391 Points +61%
Asus GL702ZC-GC104T
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop), R7 1700
8946 Points +39%
SCHENKER XMG P506
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, 6700HQ
8271 Points +28%
Lenovo Legion Y730-15ICH i5-8300H
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i5-8300H
7932 Points +23%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i5-8305G
7788 Points +21%
Asus FX504GD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H
7025 Points +9%
Asus Zephyrus S GX531GM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
6839 Points +6%
Asus ZenBook 15 UX533FD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q, i7-8565U
6774 Points +5%
Asus TUF FX505DY
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H
6447 Points
Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBA-80WY001VGE
AMD Radeon RX 560 (Laptop), i5-7300HQ
5933 Points -8%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U
5792 Points -10%
Asus GL552VW-DK725T
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, 6700HQ
5378 Points -17%
Honor Magicbook
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), R5 2500U
2597 Points -60%
3DMark 06 Standard Score
25730 points
3DMark 11 Performance
7714 points
3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score
57356 points
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score
18476 points
3DMark Fire Strike Score
5515 points
3DMark Time Spy Score
1925 points
Help

Gaming Performance

Since raw performance is not unlike the GTX 1050, the latest PC titles should have no issues running on this AMD machine. Gaming at 1080p is certainly possible on demanding titles with most settings on Low-Medium or Medium.

Idling on Witcher 3 shows no sudden dips in frame rates to suggest no interrupting background activity or heavy throttling.

See our dedicated page on the Radeon RX 560X for more technical information and benchmark comparisons.

The Witcher 3 - 1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+)
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
Intel Core i7-8750H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
42.3 fps +86%
Asus GL702ZC-GC104T
AMD Ryzen 7 1700, AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop)
37.4 (31min) fps +65%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G, AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH
34.3 (32min - 37max) fps +51%
Asus ZenBook 15 UX533FD
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q
30 fps +32%
Lenovo Legion Y730-15ICH i5-8300H
Intel Core i5-8300H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile
27.9 fps +23%
SCHENKER XMG P506
Intel Core i7-6700HQ, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M
25.7 fps +13%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G
Intel Core i5-8305G, AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870
23.7 fps +4%
Asus TUF FX505DY
AMD Ryzen 5 3550H, AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop)
22.7 fps
Asus FX504GD
Intel Core i5-8300H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile
22.2 fps -2%
Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBA-80WY001VGE
Intel Core i5-7300HQ, AMD Radeon RX 560 (Laptop)
20.7 fps -9%
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
AMD Ryzen 7 2700U, AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop)
20.6 fps -9%
Asus GL552VW-DK725T
Intel Core i7-6700HQ, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
14 fps -38%
020406080100120140160180200220240260280300320340360380Tooltip
Asus TUF FX505DY Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G: Ø36.6 (32-39)
Average of class Gaming  : Ø197.8 (182.8-382)
low med. high ultra
BioShock Infinite (2013) 134.3 118 114 53.1
The Witcher 3 (2015) 108.8 70.3 38.5 22.7
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) 108.6 65.7 35.3 26.6

Emissions

System Noise

The cooling solution consists of just two fans and two heat pipes. When the system is idling, both fans will idle for a silent experience. This doesn't last long, however, as even light loads like browsing or video streaming will kickstart the fans up to 32 dB(A) against a background of 28.2 dB(A). We recommend running on Power Saver mode if complete silence is priority.

Fan noise when gaming is loud even for a gaming laptop. We're able to record a steady fan noise of 49 dB(A) when playing Witcher 3 compared to 44 dB(A) on the Acer Nitro 5 AN515 equipped with the same Radeon RX 560X GPU. Granted, many mid-range GeForce gaming laptops are just as loud as our FX505 such as the Gigabyte Sabre 15 or MSI GP63, but we think Asus and AMD should be aiming to do better.

We otherwise noticed no coil whine on our test unit.

Twin ~50 mm fans. Cooling solution is relatively small overall
Twin ~50 mm fans. Cooling solution is relatively small overall
Fan noise is louder than we would like both in and out of gaming
Fan noise is louder than we would like both in and out of gaming
Asus TUF FX505DY
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R5 3550H, WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung PM871b MZNLN128HAHQ
Asus FX504GD
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i5-8300H, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), R7 2700U, SK Hynix HFS128G39TND
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ, Liteonit CV3-8D128
Noise
-6%
1%
-2%
1%
-9%
off / environment *
28.2
28.4
-1%
28.1
-0%
30.2
-7%
29
-3%
28.2
-0%
Idle Minimum *
28.2
32.8
-16%
29
-3%
30.9
-10%
29
-3%
33
-17%
Idle Average *
28.2
32.8
-16%
29.2
-4%
30.9
-10%
31
-10%
33.3
-18%
Idle Maximum *
28.2
33
-17%
29.7
-5%
31.6
-12%
32
-13%
34.7
-23%
Load Average *
43.9
35.8
18%
44.3
-1%
42.3
4%
36
18%
44.5
-1%
Witcher 3 ultra *
49
51
-4%
40.7
17%
44
10%
49.2
-0%
Load Maximum *
50.6
52.3
-3%
47.7
6%
40
21%
46
9%
52.8
-4%

* ... smaller is better

Noise Level

Idle
28.2 / 28.2 / 28.2 dB(A)
Load
43.9 / 50.6 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Audix TM1, Arta (15 cm distance)   environment noise: 28.2 dB(A)

Temperature

Dual rear exhaust
Dual rear exhaust

Surface temperatures when idling are generally flat with the rear quadrants being only 2 C to 3 C warmer than the front quadrants. The spot closest to the M.2 drive, however, will be noticeably warmer as shown by our temperature map below since NVMe SSDs are notorious for their temperatures.

When gaming, the top of the keyboard can become as warm as 39 C compared to 54 C on the FX504GD to represent a significant improvement. As expected, the side with the Radeon GPU runs warmer than the side with the Ryzen CPU. These hot spots are thankfully towards the rear of the unit and away from the palm rests and WASD keys for comfortable use.

Note that the left palm rest will always be warmer than the right if a secondary HDD or SSD is installed. This is not the case for our configuration since it lacks a secondary drive.

System idle (top)
System idle (top)
System idle (bottom)
System idle (bottom)
Witcher 3 stress (top)
Witcher 3 stress (top)
Witcher 3 stress (bottom)
Witcher 3 stress (bottom)
Prime95+FurMark stress (top)
Prime95+FurMark stress (top)
Prime95+FurMark stress (bottom)
Prime95+FurMark stress (bottom)

Stress Test

We subject the laptop to unrealistically demanding workloads to test for any potential throttling or stability issues. When running Prime95 to stress the CPU, clock rates will be as high as 3.7 GHz for the first few minutes before dropping and stabilizing at 3.5 GHz. Since the base clock rate of the Ryzen 5 3550H is 2.1 GHz, the CPU in the Asus is able to maintain a fairly high level of Boost performance at a relatively low core temperature of 62 C. At worst, we are able to record a core temperature of 83 C to 87 C when running both Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously.

Running Witcher 3 is more representative of real-world gaming loads. The CPU and GPU stabilize at 60 C and 70 C, respectively, compared to 74 C and 66 C on the last generation FX504 with Intel Core i5-8300H and GeForce GTX 1050 graphics. It's clear here that the new AMD CPU is able to run cooler than the Intel equivalent while its Radeon RX 560X GPU is beginning to show its age.

System idle
System idle
Prime95 stress
Prime95 stress
Prime95+FurMark stress
Prime95+FurMark stress
Witcher 3 stress
Witcher 3 stress
CPU Clock (GHz) GPU Clock (MHz) Average CPU Temperature (°C) Average GPU Temperature (°C)
System Idle -- -- 39 38
Prime95 Stress 3.5 -- 62 --
Prime95 + FurMark Stress 3.1 1169 83 87
Witcher 3 Stress ~3.0 1223 60 70
Max. Load
 34.2 °C
94 F
37 °C
99 F
34.8 °C
95 F
 
 30 °C
86 F
44.2 °C
112 F
27 °C
81 F
 
 22.8 °C
73 F
27.4 °C
81 F
23.4 °C
74 F
 
Maximum: 44.2 °C = 112 F
Average: 31.2 °C = 88 F
49.4 °C
121 F
37.6 °C
100 F
39.2 °C
103 F
35 °C
95 F
46.4 °C
116 F
32.4 °C
90 F
27.2 °C
81 F
29.8 °C
86 F
26.6 °C
80 F
Maximum: 49.4 °C = 121 F
Average: 36 °C = 97 F
Power Supply (max.)  47 °C = 117 F | Room Temperature 20 °C = 68 F | Fluke 62 Mini IR Thermometer
(+) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 31.2 °C / 88 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F for the devices in the class Gaming.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 44.2 °C / 112 F, compared to the average of 40.4 °C / 105 F, ranging from 21.2 to 68.8 °C for the class Gaming.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 49.4 °C / 121 F, compared to the average of 43.2 °C / 110 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 24.2 °C / 76 F, compared to the device average of 33.8 °C / 93 F.
(+) Playing The Witcher 3, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.4 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 33.8 °C / 93 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 27.4 °C / 81.3 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.9 °C / 84 F (+1.5 °C / 2.7 F).

Speakers

The integrated speakers hold no surprises as they perform about as well as you'd expect from any budget laptop. Bass is very poor for a "tin can"-like experience unfit for multimedia playback or gaming sessions. We recommend earphones if possible for a much better audio experience.

Maximum volume will not vibrate the chassis or introduce any static.

Stereo 2 W speakers near the front corners of the system
Stereo 2 W speakers near the front corners of the system
Pink noise at maximum volume
Pink noise at maximum volume
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2040.138253736.33137.438.84034.837.55034.936.26335.135.68033.934.910034.733.912532.533.716031.73920030.744.625030.449.331530.152.140029.35350029.653.463028.957.880028.966.6100028.667.1125028.566.4160028.470.5200028.272.625002872.4315028.173.1400027.974.2500027.965.1630027.966800027.961.51000027.862.51250027.858.51600027.654.7SPL40.581.9N3.947.4median 28.5median 61.5Delta1.18.135.335.132.931.831.83236.535.132.428.93328.936.328.848.32761.52752.924.860.92462.822.763.32269.521.267.82174.82075.919.472.718.97117.770.117.86917.671.817.668.117.671.417.673.717.670.417.571.617.671.617.669.617.459.717.583.630.662.51.5median 69.6median 17.84.72.4hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseAsus TUF FX505DYApple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz
Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)
Asus TUF FX505DY audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (74.2 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 19.4% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 7% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 6.3% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (31.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 97% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 2% worse
» The best had a delta of 6%, average was 18%, worst was 132%
Compared to all devices tested
» 89% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 9% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 5% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 93% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 3% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Energy Management

Power Consumption

Idling on desktop demands anywhere between 5 W and 10 W depending on the power profile and screen brightness setting to be just slightly more efficient than most 15.6-inch gaming laptops. When gaming, however, power consumption averages about 90 W to be similar to competing laptops equipped with GTX 1050 graphics. The all-AMD Asus offers a similar level of performance-per-Watt to GTX 1050-powered alternatives.

We are able to record a maximum power consumption of 120.7 W from the medium-sized (~16 x 7.5 x 2.7 cm) 120 W AC adapter when running both Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously. Thus, the laptop will recharge very slowly if running at 100 percent CPU and GPU load. Perhaps a higher capacity 150 W adapter would have been more appropriate for the system.

Constant power consumption when running 3DMark 06
Constant power consumption when running 3DMark 06
Constant power consumption when running Witcher 3
Constant power consumption when running Witcher 3
Prime95 and FurMark initiated at the 20s mark
Prime95 and FurMark initiated at the 20s mark
Prime95 initiated at the 20s mark. Note the early spikes which correlate with the higher clock rates during the first few minutes of stress testing
Prime95 initiated at the 20s mark. Note the early spikes which correlate with the higher clock rates during the first few minutes of stress testing
Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.42 / 0.86 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 5.2 / 7.5 / 9.4 Watt
Load midlight 73 / 120.7 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.
Asus TUF FX505DY
R5 3550H, Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-256G, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, Samsung PM871b MZNLN128HAHQ, TN LED, 120 Hz, 1920x1080, 15.60
Asus FX504GD
i5-8300H, GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, Seagate Mobile HDD 1TB ST1000LX015-1U7172, TN LED, 1920x1080, 15.60
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
R7 2700U, Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), SK Hynix HFS128G39TND, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
i7-7700HQ, GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, Liteonit CV3-8D128, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
Power Consumption
-52%
-18%
-42%
-30%
-19%
Idle Minimum *
5.2
7.99
-54%
7.2
-38%
7.3
-40%
7
-35%
8
-54%
Idle Average *
7.5
12.15
-62%
10.2
-36%
11.1
-48%
10
-33%
10.9
-45%
Idle Maximum *
9.4
13.4
-43%
10.9
-16%
12.6
-34%
18
-91%
11
-17%
Load Average *
73
103.62
-42%
93.3
-28%
109
-49%
79
-8%
76.7
-5%
Witcher 3 ultra *
90
156.1
-73%
95.8
-6%
98
-9%
94.9
-5%
Load Maximum *
120.7
164.29
-36%
102.5
15%
168
-39%
128
-6%
106.4
12%

* ... smaller is better

Battery Life

Runtimes are longer than the average gaming laptop at almost 5.5 hours of real-world WLAN use. Results are actually quite close to the Acer Nitro 5 AN515 even though our Asus is equipped with a more powerful CPU. Battery capacity is relatively small not unlike other budget gaming laptops, but we're still surprised to see the Asus outlast competitors like the MSI GP63 or Gigabyte Sabre 15 by almost an hour each.

Charging from empty to full capacity takes just under 1.5 hours.

Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
8h 40min
WiFi Websurfing
5h 27min
Load (maximum brightness)
1h 37min
Asus TUF FX505DY
R5 3550H, Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), 48 Wh
MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE-013US
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 51 Wh
Asus FX504GD
i5-8300H, GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, 48 Wh
Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 52 Wh
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-42-R6V0
R7 2700U, Radeon RX 560X (Laptop), 48 Wh
Gigabyte Sabre 15G
i7-7700HQ, GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, 47 Wh
Battery Runtime
-24%
-29%
-36%
4%
-15%
Reader / Idle
520
451
-13%
449
-14%
495
-5%
493
-5%
WiFi v1.3
327
286
-13%
223
-32%
228
-30%
340
4%
261
-20%
Load
97
52
-46%
56
-42%
26
-73%
77
-21%

Pros

+ Great CPU performance and core temperatures
+ generally accurate grayscale out-of-the-box
+ good gaming performance for the price
+ relatively easy serviceability
+ respectable battery life
+ inexpensive

Cons

- small hinges could be larger or stiffer
- dim display for poor outdoor visibility
- spongy trackpad with bumpy glide
- loud fan noise when gaming
- no SD reader or USB Type-C
- aging Radeon Polaris GPU
- no ports along right edge
- weak speakers
- 1x1 WLAN only
- flexible lid

Verdict

In review: Asus TUF FX505DY
In review: Asus TUF FX505DY

The TUF FX505DY is the most balanced AMD gaming laptop we've tested. Whereas the mismatched Strix GL702ZC paired a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU and the FX550IU paired a low-end CPU with a mid-range GPU, the FX505DY successfully combines a mid-range Ryzen 5 3550H with the mid-range Radeon RX 560X for 1080p gaming on a budget. Overall performance is oftentimes on par with the common budget gaming laptop powered by an Intel Core i5-8300H and GeForce GTX 1050 while selling at a lower MSRP, which is exactly what AMD and Asus are aiming for with this new TUF system.

The main issue here is timing. Laptops with GTX 1050 and even 1050 Ti GPUs have been dropping in price to make room for RTX laptops. It's not difficult to find such systems on sale nowadays for $700 to nullify the performance-per-dollar advantage that AMD systems typically have. Had the FX505DY launched a year earlier when the GTX 1050 was newer and costlier, then it would have made for a more compelling alternative.

Because of the reason above, the FX505DY doesn't have any major advantages over the competition, but it isn't an inferior pick either. It stands toe-to-toe with budget Intel-Nvidia offerings which is saying a lot for an all-AMD laptop. AS the first Zen+ gaming laptop in the market, it shows a lot of promise for what future Ryzen gaming laptops can bring to the table. We're still crossing our fingers for Ryzen-Nvidia laptops to really undercut Intel's dominance.

Strong Ryzen Zen+ debut, but a little late to the party. The Asus TUF FX505DY makes for a good alternative to the usual Intel Core i5-8300H and GTX 1050 alternative. The system will hopefully pave the way for Ryzen-Turing gaming laptops in the near future which will almost certainly undercut Intel-Turing in terms of retail pricing.

Asus TUF FX505DY - 03/08/2019 v6(old)
Allen Ngo

Chassis
76 / 98 → 78%
Keyboard
87%
Pointing Device
75%
Connectivity
41 / 81 → 51%
Weight
62 / 10-66 → 92%
Battery
84%
Display
82%
Games Performance
86%
Application Performance
93%
Temperature
91 / 95 → 95%
Noise
83 / 90 → 92%
Audio
50%
Camera
50 / 85 → 59%
Average
74%
80%
Gaming - Weighted Average

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Asus TUF FX505DY (Ryzen 5 3550H, Radeon RX 560X) Laptop Review
Allen Ngo, 2019-03- 9 (Update: 2019-07- 4)