Normally, if you asked me about my interest in gaming laptops, I’d tell you it’s nonexistent. I’ve tested a decent number of laptops recently, but a handful of them either run into the issue of being too heavy, or not exactly meeting a great standard in terms of performance, considering their high asking prices – but I might have to change my opinion.
That’s all thanks to the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) gaming laptop, powered by Nvidia’s RTX 5070 Ti laptop GPU and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, both capable of providing great gaming performance. You might have guessed it; the RTX 5070 Ti shines across all games I was able to test, easily making this one of the best gaming laptops I’ve ever used.
I know, that sounds like a cliche, easy thing to say, but believe me, it’s one of the only laptops on the market I’d spend big bucks on. The deep, punchy bass that these speakers can produce left me shocked, especially when paired with Dolby Atmos. The chassis alone is a godsend, with a sleek and slim design suited for easy use wherever you go – and that’s due to its 14-inch OLED display (another fantastic selling point). But let’s not veer off course: I’m really here to talk about the mobile GPU at play here.
As I said, the RTX 5070 Ti is the star of the show, utilizing 12GB of VRAM to tackle games head-on at the Zephyrus G14’s 2880×1880 resolution. It’s important to note that this display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, so bear that in mind if you’re looking to lower in-game resolutions to FHD; you’ll need to use 1920×1200 instead of the usual 1080p, which is the correct 16:10 resolution. Frankly, though, you won’t need to do that – because this laptop’s GPU will handle just about anything you throw at it.
The power from Nvidia’s RTX 5070 Ti, packed in a small and lightweight laptop, left me blown away
After testing out the MSI Vector A18 HX A9W with its RTX 5080, I thought that it might be necessary for the ideal portable gaming experience (without spending more for an RTX 5090 model, anyway), but I was wrong.
The ROG Zephyrus G14’s RTX 5070 Ti doesn’t stand far off the RTX 5080 mobile GPU, and this was noticeable nearly instantly via game tests.
In Cyberpunk 2077, arguably one of the most graphically demanding games available with a built-in benchmark test, it consistently ran above 40fps with the ray tracing ultra preset and DLSS Balanced mode enabled. When enabling the ultra graphics preset without ray tracing, it produced an average of 64.14fps.
Both of these tests were at the maximum 2880×1800 resolution, and if you turn on Nvidia’s Multi Frame Generation tech, you’ll get even better performance results, as base frame rates are high enough at 40 to 45fps so as not to introduce major input lag.
In Doom The Dark Ages, a game that has forced ray tracing (something gamers hate, if Reddit is any indication), I managed to obtain a 65fps average at the full 2880×1880, DLSS Balanced enabled with the game’s ‘Ultra Nightmare’ graphics preset active. It’s worth noting that the benchmarks you see were done in Hebeth, the game’s second chapter location.
Results with the same graphics settings were similar across all chapters, with some dips into the mid-50fps range when there’s plenty of intense action on screen, but this doesn’t spoil smoothness.
Knocking the resolution down to 1920×1200 (well aligned with the 16:10 aspect ratio) with the same graphics settings, it had an 83fps average. Between the 1200p and 1080p resolutions, the latter has a very minimal 1fps lead, so it makes little sense to switch to 1080p, as you won’t get much better performance, but instead have black bars appear at the top and bottom of your screen.
Unsurprisingly, Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Black Myth Wukong were the most demanding games to run among all, and frankly, are the two main titles that need DLSS Multi Frame Generation for higher frame rates.
At 1080p, DLSS Balanced with maximum graphics settings and ray tracing set to the ‘Hideout Only’, it hit an average of 43fps. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since powerful desktop rigs still need to utilize Frame Generation for better frame rates. Fortunately, at 1200p, you’ll get an average of 42fps, which is a good base frame rate to enable Multi Frame Generation without any choppy and stuttery gameplay.
It’s a little better with Black Myth Wukong; on its ‘Cinematic’ graphics preset, it had an average of 43fps at maximum resolution with DLSS.
Remember, this is a lightweight, slim gaming laptop that is easy to travel with, especially since its 200W power adapter doesn’t weigh much at all. The $2,499 / £2,699 / AU$4,999.00 price might throw you off, but with what is available here in terms of the chassis and hardware, it’s reasonable, as it avoids the issues I had with other gaming laptops and their lack of portability.
While I absolutely love my handheld gaming PCs, which provide quick and easy access to games literally in the palms of your hands, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has surprised me so much, and would be the one gaming laptop I’d choose if I needed one.
