The Asus TUF Gaming Dash 15 is a bit of an oddity among recent gaming laptops. Indeed, it is powered by Nvidia's latest RTX 30 series graphics silicon, with a GeForce RTX 3070 sitting pretty in its slender chassis.

This is not one of Intel's older 10th generation Comet Lake chips paired with the latest Nvidia GPUs, nor is it one of the impressively powerful new AMD Ryzen 5000 series mobile CPUs.

The Intel Core i7 11370H will be the vanguard of Tiger Lake in the 2021 gaming laptop market. It is a new Tiger Lake H35 CPU, and not one of the many-core big-bore ones scheduled to arrive later this year. However, we admit that it is a temporary fix until it comes to fruition. The difference. This i7 11375H is a 35W quad-core, 8-thread CPU that is largely based on the existing 15W or 28W 11th generation chips in thin and light machines like the Razer Blade 13 Stealth.

Nevertheless, this design is scaled up to peak at 5 GHz, a level that previous lower-specification chips have not been able to reach with adequate capability. Combined with the updated Willow Cove core, single-threaded performance is about 15% better than the 10th generation H-series chips, allowing this Tiger Lake H35 chip to enable a new style of notebook: the ultra-portable gaming notebook PC. Intel says.

The Asus Dash 15 is certainly portable; it's a 15-inch machine, but the chassis is slimmer than any of the other TUF gaming designs. It is also surprisingly lightweight for a gaming laptop with an RTX 3070.

Backing up the CPU and GPU pair is 16GB of DDR4-3200 memory, a 1TB NVMe SK Hynix SSD, and a 15-inch 1080p IPS display with a 240Hz refresh rate. When was the last time you saw such a feature on a slim gaming laptop? Unfortunately, there is no Advanced Optimus, but the integrated Intel Xe GPU can run the display at 240Hz on its own, without having to run Nvidia silicon. [because I also recently tested the Razer Blade 15 Advanced with a 1080p 360Hz screen. This product also does not have Advanced Optimus, even though it has the rest of the Max-Q 3rd generation. Also, although it has a high spec, it only has a 10th generation Intel chip, so the integrated GPU cannot handle the rigors of ultra-high refresh rates.

This becomes a problem for Razer, as some games do not get the proper refresh rate, even though the system switches to a discrete graphics card. to ensure that you get the full refresh rate in Windows and in-game, Razer machine must always be connected to an Nvidia card, which is not the case with this Tiger Lake H35 laptop.

Gaming Performance

System Performance

The RTX 3070 does not necessarily match the others, so in order to match Intel's proposed ultra-portable gaming laptop aesthetic, Asus has chosen the Tiger Lake H35 chip and RTX It is worth pointing out that it has chosen to combine the 85W variant of the 3070. This inevitably means a compromise in overall performance, but it has been done before to shrink gaming components to fit into smaller chassis.

There is also a bit of a performance hit from the quad-core CPUs themselves, as can be seen when we put them up against the TUF Gaming A15 with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and the Gigabyte laptop, also with an 8-core i7 10870H. These two models are RTX 3070-equipped, but are arguably more expensive due to the higher GPU wattage.

The single-threaded performance is impressive in its own right, but when it comes to CPU-intensive tests, such as the Dartmoor bench for Hitman 3, or titles and resolutions that are not GPU-bound, the Tiger Lake H35 chip is found to hold back performance.

But that is not all that is evident. In the GPU-limited games we tested, such as "Metro Exodus" and "Horizon Zero Dawn," game performance is on par with the 105W version of Nvidia's RTX 3070 on the Gigabyte Aorus 15G. Also, with the latest titles, the system is more likely to be GPU-bound at the highest settings, demonstrating the close focus on gaming that Asus and Intel are aiming for here.

And even where CPUs and low-wattage GPUs do put a cap on performance, they are not so detrimental in the grand scheme of gaming. Especially when you consider that the Dash 15 is the most affordable RTX 3070-powered gaming laptop we've tested since its launch; we wouldn't call a $1,700 notebook "cheap," but to get Intel's first 11th-generation gaming laptop with these specs feels priced aggressively enough for its low core count.

Other components are no compromise either. Memory is fast, the screen is bright, sharp, and quick, and SSD storage is relatively large. The redesigned TUF gaming chassis also works for me. The slim, lightweight design makes this 15-inch machine genuinely portable.

Slim designs are often more expensive than their chunkier siblings, and the Razer Blade is a perfect example. the Razer Blade is a beautiful machine with a MacBook-like aesthetic, but you have to compromise overall performance to match the design. It is a beautiful machine with MacBook-like aesthetics. It is, however, much more expensive than faster and much chunkier gaming laptops.

The Dash 15, however, feels like a more sensible step in the right direction. Sure, it compromises performance to squeeze the internals into a lighter, slimmer chassis, but it does so without adding a price premium. In fact, it's cheaper than any other RTX 3070 system we've toyed with. [The TUF Gaming A15 with the powerful Ryzen 5800H CPU is a much larger machine and much more expensive.

The Dash 15's slim design can make it a rather noisy laptop when it really gets going, and the TUF Gaming A15 is no different. However, while the fan noise is certainly noticeable, the Dash 15 cools the GPU more impressively. While not as aggressive as some we've heard, it's definitely a system you'll want to pair with a gaming headset.

Nvidia's Whisper Mode 2.0 also does not benefit this machine as it is not configured for use, even though the RTX 3070 offers that feature. GeForce Experience is not enabled on the notebook. It notes that it is not. Sure, it only really helps in polite company where you don't want to annoy other people's earholes with the whine of fans, but it certainly has its moments.

The biggest problem with the Dash 15, however, has nothing to do with the components, but with the battery. However, the fact that this machine is only one notch above an hour of battery-powered gaming is quite disappointing, despite the fact that it is powered by a 10nm Tiger Lake CPU. We're used to short battery life for gaming on laptops, but we thought that was getting better and may be one of the things the Dash 15 excels at.

Frankly, it's not a deal-breaker. It feels trivial in practical terms, since you'll spend most of your gaming time plugged into a power socket anyway. Also, if Intel's promise of an ultra-portable gaming laptop makes affordable high-spec laptops like the Dash 15 more common, I'm all for it. This is not to say that this powerful machine could not be used for productivity, but the focus on gaming as its raison d'etre is commendable.

If it's just for gaming, you honestly don't need an 8-core processor. A fat GPU, a beautiful screen, and a decent chassis are all you need.