Asus Tuf Gaming A17 Fa707xi Laptop Review: 140 W Geforce Rtx 4070 For $1400

The Asus TUF Gaming A17 FA707 is the AMD model of the Intel-based TUF Gaming F17 FX707. The TUF sequence is composed of midrange gaming laptops to distinction the pricier and higher-end ROG sequence.

Our configuration is the most recent SKU with the Zen 4 Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU, 140 W GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, and 1080p 144 Hz IPS show for about $1400 USD retail. Different SKUs of this fashion send with the slower Ryzen 7 7735HS, GeForce RTX 4050 or 4060, or larger solution 1440p show with even quicker 240 Hz or 360 Hz refresh charges.

Possible choices to the TUF Gaming A17 come with different midrange gaming laptops just like the MSI Pulse 17, HP Pavilion Gaming 17, Lenovo Legion 5 sequence, or the Acer Nitro 17 sequence.

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The chassis is in large part similar to the TUF Gaming F17 FX707 together with the site of the ports and the steel and plastic fabrics for the outer lid and base, respectively. Nevertheless, there are small superficial variations at the outer lid to assist visually distinguish the TUF Gaming A17 from the TUF Gaming F17. The nook circles at the F17, as an example, are actually diagonal traces. There also are further marks alongside the ground fringe of the lid while those are utterly absent at the F17. If flipped upside-down, the rubber triangle at the backside of the chassis is now orange as a substitute of purple. 

Our impressions at the construct high quality of the Intel-based F17 practice right here for the AMD-based A17.

In spite of its unexciting visible design, the TUF Gaming A17 remains to be thinner and lighter than many different midrange 17.3-inch gaming laptops just like the HP Pavilion Gaming 17, Acer Nitro 17, or MSI Pulse 17 by means of 200 to 500 grams every relying at the fashion. The diversities are huge sufficient to be noticeable when touring and so the rather small measurement of the Asus generally is a distinct merit.

Our fashion keeps all of the ports as discovered at the F17 FX707 however with one minor exception: the Thunderbolt 4 port has been swapped with USB-C 4. Maximum Thunderbolt gadgets are nevertheless suitable with USB4 and so this small distinction must now not affect the majority of customers.

Notice that whilst there are two USB-C ports at the gadget, best the only closest to the entrance edge is suitable with USB-C AC adapters. For instance, our 135 W USB-C Lenovo adapter may just recharge the Asus by the use of one USB-C port however now not the opposite. The gadget will have to even be on dGPU mode to reinforce exterior USB-C displays.

Apparently, our exterior track would best paintings with some of the two USB-C ports even supposing Asus claims that each ports must be suitable.

A Realtek RTL8852BE comes usual for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. There aren’t any configurations with Wi-Fi 6E or the Intel AX sequence prone to save on prices. We nevertheless skilled no connectivity problems when paired to our Wi-Fi 6 community even supposing all the way through is slower than anticipated.

The fashion integrates a 1 MP or 720p webcam while maximum different gaming laptops have already moved on to two MP or 1080p. Whilst higher than not anything, it is transparent that the TUF Gaming A17 wasn’t designed for Zoom calls.

The ground panel pops off rather simply after doing away with its 12 Phillips screws. There aren’t any main inner variations between the Intel and AMD variations and so customers are nonetheless getting two M.2 SSD slots and two SODIMM slots. RAM is restricted to 4800 MHz.

There aren’t any extras within the field as opposed to the AC adapter and bureaucracy. The standard one-year restricted guaranty applies if bought in the USA.

The tri-zone RGB keyboard supplies 1.7 mm of key commute to be moderately deeper than the keys on maximum Ultrabooks. The typing enjoy is enjoyable for a gaming pc as long as you’ll be able to forgive the cramped arrow keys and numpad.

Key visibility isn’t nice because the darkish grey font contrasts poorly with the black key caps. It is a strange determination by means of Asus to spotlight best the WASD letters in white whilst all different symbols are a lot darker. This forces the person to permit the keyboard backlight for more straightforward clarity even if below vibrant stipulations or if battery lifestyles is a priority.

At 13 x 7.7 cm, the clickpad stays the similar as at the TUF Gaming F17. On the other hand, we will understand no problems on our clickpad right here while the only on our Intel model had a “lifeless spot” close to the ground proper nook. Comments is first rate if now not moderately at the comfortable aspect when pressed.

Our 1080p AU Optronics B173HAN04.9 IPS panel is an entry-level show discovered on many different gaming laptops together with the MSI Pulse 17 or Katana 17. It’s generally the most affordable and lowest-end possibility outstanding by means of its deficient ~60% sRGB colour replica and sluggish black-white reaction instances. Fortunately, Asus gives a complete of 3 shows to choose between for its FA707 sequence:

• 1920 x 1080, IPS, ~60% sRGB, 144 Hz
• 2560 x 1440, IPS, 100% DCI-P3, 240 Hz
• 2560 x 1440, IPS, 100% sRGB, 360 Hz

Whilst there aren’t any OLED or mini-LED choices, we extremely suggest any of the 2 1440p panels as they every be offering a lot better colours than the bottom 1080p panel whilst keeping up each adaptive sync and Complicated Optimus.

The show does now not come calibrated with its moderate grayscale and colour deltaE values of three.2 and four.51, respectively. Calibrating the show ourselves with an X-Ceremony colorimeter would give a boost to those respective averages down to simply 0.3 and 1.82. On the other hand, colours nonetheless transform more and more erroneous at larger saturation ranges because of the restricted colour area discussed above. Blue, as an example, suffers from an excessively top deltaE of 20.94 even after calibration.

Our calibrated ICM profile is to be had to obtain above without spending a dime.

Outside visibility is rather deficient regardless of the matte panel to cut back glare. Most brightness is best round 250 to 300 nits in comparison to nearly two times that on laptops just like the MacBook Professional 16 or the competing Lenovo Legion Narrow 7 16.

We set Asus Armoury Crate to Turbo mode and Final GPU mode previous to working the benchmarks beneath. Converting the Armoury Crate energy profiles robotically adjustments the Home windows energy profiles as neatly. Notice that Efficiency mode isn’t the quickest energy profile to be had; that identify as a substitute is going to Turbo mode.

In the meantime, the 4 GPU modes are tied to MUX and Complicated Optimus as follows:

• Final mode: Discrete GPU is lively for all duties. A comfortable reboot is needed. This may be required to permit G-Sync at the inner track.
• Same old mode: Differently referred to as Microsoft MSHybrid. Computerized switching between dGPU for hard packages and iGPU for different duties.
• Eco mode: Discrete GPU is disabled and all packages will run at the iGPU.
• Optimized mode: Computerized switching between dGPU for hard packages and iGPU for different duties when on AC energy. If on battery energy, the dGPU is robotically disabled.

The Ryzen 9 7940HS competes immediately with the average Core i7-13700H. Uncooked functionality is inside only a few proportion issues of its Intel counterpart in each single- and multi-threaded quite a bit. We will be able to follow no main throttling problems as neatly in contrast to at the TUF Gaming F17 FX707Z with the older twelfth gen Core i7-12700H.

Downgrading to the Ryzen 7 7735HS from our Ryzen 9 7940HS will affect processor functionality by means of about 15 to twenty p.c. The Ryzen 7 possibility remains to be lots speedy for gaming particularly at our midrange point the place the GPU is sort of at all times the bottleneck, however avid gamers having a look to squeeze each closing body from the top refresh fee panel must imagine the Ryzen 9.

PCMark ratings are one of the easiest of any thirteenth gen Core i7-powered gaming pc because of the quick Zen 4 Ryzen 7 CPU and GeForce RTX 4070 GPU. We did not enjoy any crashes throughout trying out, however the show would on occasion have wake-from-sleep problems most likely because of the automated GPU switching.

LatencyMon unearths DPC problems when opening a couple of browser tabs of our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is differently easiest with out a dropped frames recorded.

Our check unit ships with the WD SN560 which is a midrange PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD by contrast to the higher-end WDC SN850X sequence. Switch charges best out at round 5000 MB/s as a substitute of 7000+ MB/s at the aforementioned SN850X. For a midrange gaming pc, alternatively, the WD SN560 is greater than enough. We will be able to file no functionality throttling problems on our power as proven by means of our DiskSpd pressure check effects beneath.

Total graphics functionality is kind of 25 to 30 p.c slower than the desktop model of the GeForce RTX 4070. Customers upgrading from an older RTX 3060 pc will nonetheless see notable boosts in functionality of as much as 50 p.c earlier than accounting for any DLSS-enabled options. The rather top 140 W TGP goal permits our TUF Gaming A17 to outperform the typical pc in our database with the identical RTX 4070 GPU by means of about 5 to fifteen p.c.

Downgrading to the RTX 4060 or RTX 4050 configuration will affect functionality by means of about 20 p.c and 35 p.c, respectively. The functionality delta is kind of a directly line when leaping between the RTX 4050, RTX 4060, and RTX 4070 choices. The speedier RTX 4080 or 4090 are best to be had on Asus’ higher-end ROG fashions.

Operating at the slower Efficiency or Balanced energy profiles affects gadget functionality simply moderately as proven by means of our Fireplace Strike effects desk above. Probably the most important affect comes from working on battery energy as to be anticipated.

Now not best is fan noise typically louder than what we recorded at the Intel fashion, it is usually a lot louder if set to Turbo mode. Operating Witcher 3 on Efficiency mode would lead to a fan noise of simply 41 dB(A) in comparison to 57 dB(A) when on Turbo mode. Since Turbo mode is best moderately quicker than Efficiency mode, customers would possibly wish to imagine gaming on Efficiency mode as a substitute of Turbo mode for its a lot quieter fanatics. Differently, we typically suggest headphones on every occasion gaming laptops achieve 50 dB(A) or louder.

Floor temperatures are cooler than on maximum different gaming laptops due in large part to the plastic fabrics of the bottom and abundant air flow grilles. For instance, the typical floor temperature of our Asus when gaming would achieve simply 29 C in comparison to 39 C at the Razer Blade 17 which is relatively thinner, comprises fewer air flow grilles, and is most commonly steel alloy. The new spots on our Asus also are additional towards the rear the place arms are much less prone to contact.

When wired below Prime95, the CPU would spice up to 4.8 GHz earlier than falling simply moderately and stabilizing at 4.5 GHz, 80 W, and 82 C.

The GPU would stabilize at 2505 MHz core, 2025 MHz RAM, and 106 W when working Witcher 3 on Turbo mode while working on Efficiency mode would decrease all of those values to 2325 MHz, 2000 MHz, and 95 W, respectively. Efficiency mode therefore involves a slight hit to graphics as discussed within the GPU Efficiency phase above. Notice that each the GPU and particularly CPU run noticeably hotter when on Turbo mode regardless of the better fan ceiling on Turbo mode.

Energy intake may also be as little as 6 W when working on Energy Saver mode with the dGPU disabled. If set to most brightness with the dGPU enabled, intake may also be as top as 22 W which is 2 instances extra hard than the TUF Gaming F17 or Pulse 17 below equivalent stipulations. It is subsequently necessary to set the gadget to iGPU mode if battery lifestyles is of extreme significance.

Operating Witcher 3 on Turbo mode would devour up to 190 W or nearly 60 W greater than the MSI Pulse 17 with the similar GeForce RTX 4070 GPU. Intake would drop to 150 W if working on Efficiency mode as a substitute. Regardless that typically extra hard than gaming laptops with the older RTX 3060, the functionality positive aspects greater than make up for it.

We are in a position to measure a most draw of 248 W from the medium-sized (~16.5 x 7.6 x 2.5 cm) 240 W AC adapter when the CPU and GPU are every at one hundred pc usage. This fee best lasts for roughly 30 seconds as proven by means of the screenshot beneath because of thermal obstacles.

Runtimes are necessarily similar to the TUF Gaming F17 regardless of our quicker CPU and GPU. WLAN surfing particularly can closing for simply over 9 hours to be very spectacular for a big 17.3-inch gaming pc. In fact, customers will have to consider to run on iGPU mode to be able to achieve such lengthy runtimes.

Charging from empty to complete capability takes just below 90 mins with the incorporated proprietary AC adapter. Charging with third-party USB-C adapters is slower however nevertheless supported.

The TUF Gaming A17 FA707 is likely one of the least pricey 17.3-inch gaming laptops with the GeForce RTX 4070. It is particularly spectacular that the gadget comes with a Zen 4 Ryzen 9 CPU which means you shouldn’t have to sacrifice processor functionality for the low value. The robust CPU and GPU aggregate makes this fashion simple to suggest for avid gamers who wish to maximize performance-per-dollar.

The minimize corners as a substitute revolve round the remainder of the pc surrounding the processors. Extra particularly, the slim colour gamut and moderate reaction instances of the show faded compared to the shows on higher-end gaming laptops like the ones within the ROG sequence. Fortunately, Asus gives a couple of show choices for the TUF Gaming A17 with significantly better colours and attributes than our evaluation configuration. If imaginable, we suggest buying and selling the Ryzen 9 CPU and deficient 1080p panel of our evaluation configuration for a unit with the Ryzen 7 CPU and 1440p panel. The CPU is also a little slower, however the enhancements to show high quality can be a lot more noticeable and neatly definitely worth the trade-off.

The Asus TUF Gaming A17 balances value, functionality, and shape issue rather well as long as you’ll be able to in finding the suitable configuration. SKUs with the 1080p panel have noticeably worse colours than the 1440p choices.

Different disadvantages come with Wi-Fi 6 connectivity as a substitute of Wi-Fi 6E, a low solution 720p webcam, and no per-key RGB lights. On the other hand, those drawbacks do not immediately affect the gaming enjoy. The gadget keeps maximum core options which are arguably extra fascinating akin to the skinny profile, lengthy battery lifestyles, and out there internals for upgrades.

Newegg has the Asus TUF Gaming A17 as reviewed on sale for $1400 to $1500. Different SKUs with other AMD CPUs and GeForce RTX GPUs can be discovered on Amazon.