If I had to pick one gaming laptop brand that I think stands out above the rest, it would have to be ASUS ROG. The Republic of Gamers line, as cheesy as its namesake, has given us some of the most notable gaming laptops that pretty much always ooze quality and class. Whether it’s the supple Flow, the powerful Strix, or the Zephyrus mid-group – which also includes the niche but certainly great Zephyrus Duo – ASUS ROG has some brilliant laptops. They are expensive, yes, very expensive, but if you are looking for a device that can be built with the latest technology and at the same time maintain a look that does not scream “Major League Players”, These are the laptops to choose from. And for the Zephyrus G14 2023, this is again the case.
The review unit I got my hands on is powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 7950 HS with Radeon 780M graphics processor, all clocked at 4001 MHz across its 8 cores and 16 processors. This CPU, in addition to being very powerful, opens the door to AMD Fidelity FX Super Resolution (FSR) to help you get an even higher level of performance in the games you play. And that’s on top of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, which itself is capable of taking advantage of DLSS 3 to further enhance your gaming experience. Then there’s also the 32GB of DDR5 RAM, which is dual-channel and clocked at 4800MHz. Essentially, if you’re not familiar with what all this tech jargon is alluding to, the Zephyrus G14 (2023) is a beast, which can hold up in just about any game you throw at it.
The best part about this laptop is that everything you play games looks amazing too thanks to the 14-inch ROG Nebula HDR display, which runs at 2560 x 1600 resolution, also known as QHD+. This screen is absolutely gorgeous and never fails to capture the beauty found in modern gaming or, for that matter, the complexity of 2K quality TV and movies. For gaming, this display also runs up to 165Hz and has a 3ms response time. While the response time is solid for a laptop, I can’t help but think that the refresh rate could have benefited from being higher, considering the hardware under the hood and the frame rates this device can achieve. But beyond the FPS values…
In terms of the build quality of the 2023 Zephyrus G14, there’s not much to scoff at. It feels smooth and sleek and has a solid weight that reminds you just how much technology this device packs. The keyboard and trackpad take up most of the body and the bezel around the screen is as thick as the top to ensure there is room for the 1080p FHD IR webcam that can be used for facial recognition to unlock the laptop every time you use it. There aren’t too many visible and noticeable vents either, which I find remarkable because this laptop doesn’t tend to get loud even when under stress, but there seems to be a reason for that.
Commercial:
The only area the Zephyrus G14 seems to struggle with is heat dissipation. Laptop components build up heat and then fail to move it around, which means that when the device is pushed to the limit, you’ll see core temperatures of over 80 degrees Celsius. This means you can feel the heat through the chassis, which is particularly uncomfortable on your lap, and see a direct impact on FPS values when in-game. To demonstrate this, during my testing period, I found that the more I used the device, the more often the frame rates dropped and stayed around 60 FPS. This still means you get smooth, fluid gameplay, but when the cooling system is at full power, FPS figures can triple that number on a regular basis. Take the numbers below as an example.
rest 2
Low: 67 FPS
Ultra: 43FPS
DLSS 3 and AMD FSR: 96 FPS
F1 23
Low: 85FPS
Ultra: 44FPS
DLSS 3 and AMD FSR: 88 FPS
Baldur’s Gate III
Low: 115 FPS
Ultra: 75FPS
DLSS 3 and AMD FSR: 124 FPS
Commercial:
Aliens: Dark Descent
Low: 103 FPS
Ultra: 79FPS
F1 Manager 2023
Low: 142 FPS
Ultra: 100FPS
And just to demonstrate how vital AMD FSR is to this laptop, here’s some reading from Overwatch 2, which doesn’t support DLSS 3, for some reason…
supervision 2
Low: 320 FPS
Ultra: 159FPS
UltraAMD FSR 1.0: 171 FPS
UltraAMD FSR 2.2: 196 FPS
Simply put, if you use all the rendering techniques this laptop has at its disposal, you can play some of the latest games at levels that many desktops couldn’t, but the main problem is, of course, the limits. of self-imposed FPS that occur. when is hot. We’re not talking about FPS drops to 15 FPS or the like, just to be clear, but the drops are noticeable and annoying. But again, considering the fan noise is minimal, one can almost forgive the poor heat dissipation on this laptop; I would at least prefer a quieter, warmer system than one that stays cold but sounds like a Harrier jet taking off from an aircraft carrier.
As an afterthought, the laptop features a 76Wh battery, which is fine for regular tasks, but will melt down when under stress and high loads, so you basically need to be plugged in if you want to use this laptop for gaming. It also supports Wi-Fi 6E, and according to my tests, this means that multiplayer games are very easy to enjoy without the need for an Ethernet connection, which is a good thing because it’s missing one of those ports. In terms of connectivity, you get a decent array, including two USB-A, two USB-C (one of which can be used as a power port), an HDMI 2.1, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card port. .
Overall, if it wasn’t for the poor cooling, I’d say ASUS hit a home run with the ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023). It’s powerful, feels and looks great, has extensive options, a fantastic screen, and has the latest components under the hood. But again, that’s when you look at the most expensive version of the laptop on the market, and as far as the price range you’d be looking at for this device, it would be upwards of £3,200. It’s basically very, very expensive, but you won’t get too far with what you get for that tag.