**The ASUS TUF FX505: A Budget Gaming Laptop Review**

Hey guys, this is Austin, and welcome to windy Las Vegas, of course, the natural home of all our laptop content.

Today I wanna take a look at this, the ASUS TUF FX505. So the TUF line for ASUS is a little bit more of a budget gaming line, and at least when you look at this on paper, it is incredibly impressive.

For $700, what you're getting here is an all-AMD laptop. That means we have the latest Ryzen processors, Radeon graphics, and the other basics are definitely checked, eight gigs of RAM, standard SSD, decent 1080p display.

When it comes to the hardware, it is very clear that ASUS spent their budget on the internals and not on the chassis, and that's not really a bad thing. It is all made out of plastic, and it feels reasonably sturdy, but it's basically exactly what you expect at this kind of price point.

The keyboard is okay. It's a little bit mushier than I'd like, although it does have backlighting, and the touchpad is okay. It is very, very plasticky, and sometimes the mechanism gets a little bit crunchy, but again, $700 bucks, it's really not a big deal.

The port selection is definitely minimal. So we have three USB-A ports, two of which are 3.0, but one of which weirdly is 2.0, as well as HDMI, as well as Ethernet. Now that's fine, but it would definitely be nice to see something like USB-C onboard, although I will give them props, and on top of Ethernet you do have a very decent Wi-Fi solution on this guy.

The screen is decent. It's a little bit dimmer than I'd like, but importantly it does have FreeSync thanks to this being a full AMD laptop. Now the only downside here is that it only runs between 40 to 60 hertz. Now when I originally saw this laptop, AMD showed it to me with a 120 hertz option, (car engine accelerating) that sounds cool.

However, this model only has a 60 hertz display. However, FreeSync is definitely a good thing, especially at this kind of budget. This is the first laptop we've had in that has the brand-new second-generation Ryzen Mobile.

Now this is not a major advantage over the last generation. It does shrink it down to a 12-nanometer process, some slight changes. Realistically, they're only promising about a 7% performance increase. Now this does (laughing), it's so windy, man! Sounds like there's a hurricane behind us.

Now this does take advantage of one of the new H-Series Ryzen processors which does bump the TDP from 15 to 35 watts. Now in theory that should help performance, especially in gaming. However, when you run it through Geekbench, you won't see any kind of major difference between previous Ryzen processors.

Big reason for that is that this is only outfitted with a single DIMM of slow eight gigabyte DDR4 RAM. Really, Ryzen does come alive when you give it very fast dual channel memory, which is definitely part of the performance bottleneck here.

If that's not enough for you, though, there are a mere 11 screws on the bottom to get access to a little bit of expansion. Okay, so pop this off and the first thing we'll see is we do have a spare 2 1/2-inch drive bay, so you can add a hard drive or an SSD.

And we also have a decent-looking Wi-Fi card in there. And we also have a pretty standard looking power supply. Now I'm not going to go into too much detail on the hardware, but it's definitely competent for this price point.

Now let's talk about the performance. So we ran some benchmarks, and they're actually quite respectable. We got some good scores in Cinebench, we got some good frames per second in games like Assassin's Creed and Civilization VI.

And overall, the laptop performed pretty well considering its budget. Now I do want to note that it does get a bit hot, especially under heavy load. But it's not surprising given its design.

Now let's talk about the drivers. Now I have to say that I was really excited to see what kind of performance we could get out of this laptop. However, after some testing, I noticed that the dedicated GPU just disappears sometimes.

It's not in Task Manager, it's not in Radeon Settings. The only way I've found to actually fix that is to restart the computer. Now it's not the end of the world because it does default to the integrated Vega graphics, which to be fair are actually quite a bit better than what you will find on most other gaming laptops.

But still, when you talk about dedicated graphics just disappearing sometimes, it gives me some pause before I recommend this laptop. The FX505 is a perfectly competent gaming laptop.

Now when you consider the price, the little issues I found with the hardware really aren't that big of a deal, and the performance definitely is there. Really, my main issue is the continued flakiness of those AMD drivers.

It's not a deal breaker, but they can and should be a lot better. Overall, I would say that this laptop is worth considering if you're in the market for a budget gaming laptop.

Just keep in mind the driver issues, and make sure to check the manufacturer's website for any updates before making your purchase.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, this is Austin,and welcome to windy Las Vegas,of course, the natural homeof all our laptop content.Today I wanna take a lookat this, the ASUS TUF FX505.So the TUF line for ASUSis a little bit more ofa budget gaming line,and at least when youlook at this on paper,it is incredibly impressive.For $700, what you're gettinghere is an all-AMD laptop.That means we have thelatest Ryzen processors,Radeon graphics, and the other basicsare definitely checked, eight gigs of RAM,standard SSD, decent 1080p display.Now when it comes to the hardware,it is very clear thatASUS spent their budgeton the internals and not on the chassis,and that's not really a bad thing.It is all made out of plastic,and it feels reasonably sturdy,but it's basically exactly what you expectat this kind of price point.The keyboard is okay.It's a little bit mushier than I'd like,although it does have backlighting,and the touchpad is okay.It is very, very plastickyand sometimes the mechanismgets a little bit crunchy,but again, 700 bucks, it'sreally not a big deal.The port selection is definitely minimal.So we have three USB-Aports, two of which are 3.0,but one of which weirdly is 2.0,as well as HDMI, as well as Ethernet.Now that's fine, but itwould definitely be niceto see something like USB-C onboard,although I will give them props,and on top of Ethernet you do havea very decent Wi-Fi solution on this guy.The screen is decent.So it's a little bit dimmer than I'd like,but importantly it does have FreeSyncthanks to this being a full AMD laptop.Now the only downside here is thatit only runs between 40 to 60 hertz.Now when I originally saw this laptop,AMD showed it to mewith a 120 hertz option,(car engine accelerating)that sounds cool.However, this model onlyhas a 60 hertz display.However, FreeSync isdefinitely a good thingespecially at this kind of budget.This is the first laptop we've had inthat has the brand-newsecond-generation Ryzen Mobile.Now this is not a major advantageover the last generation.It does shrink it down toa 12-nanometer process,some slight changes.Realistically, they'reonly promising abouta 7% performance increase.Now this does (laughing),it's so windy, man!Sounds like there's a hurricane behind us.Now this does takeadvantage of one of the newH-Series Ryzen processorswhich does bump the TDPfrom 15 to 35 watts.Now in theory thatshould help performance,especially in gaming.However, when you runit through Geekbench,you won't see any kind of major differencebetween previous Ryzen processors.Big reason for that isthat this is only outfittedwith a single DIMM of sloweight gigabyte DDR4 RAM.Really, Ryzen does come alivewhen you give it veryfast dual channel memory,which is definitely part of theperformance bottleneck here.If that's not enough for you, though,there are a mere 11 screws on the bottomto get access to alittle bit of expansion.Okay, so pop this off andthe first thing we'll seeis we do have a spare2 1/2-inch drive bay,so you can add a hard drive or an SSD.And we also have, if I flip this up,yeah, an extra DIMM slot.So by default it's only eight gigs,but you can upgrade to 16 pretty easy.We have our NVMe SSD,as well as what seemsto be decent cooling.Just a couple of heat pipes here.Nothing too crazy but the main thing isyou do have that expandabilitywith the 2 1/2-inch drive bay.It's not that difficult to, say,add a little bit of extra RAM,which you probably should because, I mean,eight is fine, but 16 ismuch more comfortable.What really makes this agaming laptop is the GPU.This uses a Radeon RX 560Xvery similar to the Acer thatwe recently took a look at.It's totally respectable.You're able to play most gameson Medium settings at 1080psuch as Overwatch as well as Apex Legends.Now, no, you won't be able to crank outUltra settings in a lot of games,but again, considering the price,this is very much par for the course.It's somewhere in the neighborhood ofwhat you would expect out of a GTX 1050.Now speaking of that Acer video,one of our biggest issues with itwas the fact that were some major problemswith updating drivers.Thankfully that has been resolved.However, the driver issues have returnedin a different form.My dedicated GPU on thisjust disappears sometimes.Now I don't know if thisis some weird power settingthat I can't find, but sometimes,especially when this computer sits idlefor 30, 45 minutes or so,the dedicated GPU just disappears.It's not in Task Manager,it's not in Radeon Settings.The only way I've foundto actually fix thatis to restart the computer.Now it's not the end of the worldbecause it does of course defaultto the integrated Vega graphics,which to be fair areactually quite a bit betterthan what you will find onmost other gaming laptops,but still, when you talkabout dedicated graphicsjust disappearing sometimes,it gives me some pause to say that,oh yeah, you should definitely go outand spend your $700 on a laptop like this.The hardware is there,but the driver supportjust gives me a little ofpause before I recommend it.The FX505 is a perfectlycompetent gaming laptop.Now when you consider the price,the little issues Ifound with the hardwarereally aren't that big of a deal,and the performance definitely is there.Really, my main issue isthe continued flakinessof those AMD drivers.It's not a deal breaker,but they can and should be a lot better.