Asus ROG Strix GL503VD Gaming Laptop Review

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Gaming Benchmarks

Alien: Isolation

Alien: Isolation isn't a difficult game to run, so the Asus ROG Strix GL503VD will feel right at home. The Strix delivered well over 60 FPS, so you won't have to reduce any settings for a good gaming experience. However, it fell behind the Acer Aspire VX 15, despite the latter having a Core i5 CPU. On the other hand, the Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming 7000 came up short of the Strix by a couple of frames.

If pure value is what you're aiming for, the Dell or Acer Aspire will serve you better. The Acer Predator Helios 300 will perform nearly 80% faster, but its extra performance is wasted without a faster display.

Ashes of the Singularity

Ashes of the Singularity's workload is a complete 180 in comparison to Alien: Isolation. Ashes is undoubtedly one of our most strenuous benchmark titles, and even laptops with GTX 1070 GPUs fail to reach 60 FPS. It should come as no surprise that the Strix's performance was suboptimal in this game. The Strix's Core i7 didn't help matters much when compared to the Inspiron, which performed about 8% faster. Even the Aspire performed better than the Strix, but we believe we were given a golden sample in this case. If you want a playable experience at high, you'll need a laptop with at least a GTX 1060. Alternatively, you can turn the dials down and get away with well over 30 FPS on the Strix, which was around 4 FPS better than the Aspire.

DiRT Rally

DiRT Rally becomes platform-bound once a certain level of GPU performance is achieved. However, budget-oriented laptops will be bottle-necked by their weak GPUs. The Strix's performance is a perfect example of this; the Dell Inspiron delivered around 6% more performance than the Strix, thanks to its GTX 1050 Ti. The Aspire defied expectations yet again, besting the Strix by a couple of frames. The Sager, despite its GTX 1050 Ti, didn't fare much better than the bottom three laptops. However, the GTX 1060-based Helios came close to 60 FPS, and that's easily achieved with minimal tweaking. The Strix can also reach 60 FPS, but the graphical settings must be reduced by far more.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is yet another intensive title, and even the GTX 1060-based Helios struggled during certain scenes. Unfortunately for low-end laptops like the Strix, this means that performance slows to a snail's pace. The Sager and even the Inspiron performed much better than the Strix, sometimes coming close to 30 FPS, but you're still better off either upgrading to a Helios or, if you're working within a budget, dropping the settings. With the heat turned down, the Strix can comfortably deliver frame rates in the mid-to-high 30s.

GRID Autosport

GRID Autosport is easy to run. The Strix finally gets its due here, thanks to this game's dependence on the whole platform, not just the GPU; the Core i7 granted the Strix about a 16% higher frame rate than the Inspiron and a 4% higher frame rate than the Aspire, pulling its performance above 60 FPS. In this laptop price range, you'll often have to turn down your settings to get an enjoyable experience. GRID is one of the few cases where you don't have to.

Hitman

Similar to DiRT Rally, Hitman becomes a platform-based title once you have an adequate amount of GPU horsepower. Beneath this threshold, however, every bit of GPU strength helps. The Strix outpaced the Aspire, but by just a fraction of a frame. Meanwhile, the Sager and Inspiron both maintained about 8% additional performance thanks to their GTX 1050 Tis. With the Strix, you can achieve frame rates close to 60 FPS by reducing the settings; alternatively, shelling out a tiny bit more for the Acer Helios will result in more than double the performance without compromises.

Metro: Last Light Redux

With Metro: Last Light Redux, we're faced with yet another GPU-reliant title, and one we've resorted to time and time again because of how demanding it is. Metro's heyday is over; nowadays, anything with a GTX 1060 will provide great performance. Anything below that? Not so much. The Strix's, Inspiron's, and Aspire's performance differences were all within less than a frame. The Sager fared slightly better, delivering about two more frames, which is hardly enough to make a difference below 30 FPS. Meanwhile, the Helios cruised by with close to 50 FPS and can easily reach 60 FPS with minimal tweaking. Luckily, you can achieve this frame rate by reducing your settings. Once again, the Strix outperformed the Aspire when the graphics were reduced.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider ups the graphical ante even more, to the point where even the Acer Helios falls within the 30 FPS range. The Strix and Aspire, both containing GTX 1050s, performed 50% slower than the Helios, hovering around 17 FPS. Meanwhile, the GTX 1050 Ti-based Inspiron and Sager delivered little more than 20 FPS. Lowering the settings to medium will double the Strix's performance, but you'll need to dig deeper to get anywhere remotely close to 60 FPS.

The Division

The Division features a GPU-intensive workload, but it isn't as demanding as Metro or RotTR. Because of this, the Strix produced playable frame rates at high settings with its GTX 1050. Its Core i7 granted it a slight edge against the Aspire and Inspiron, which fell short of the 30 FPS threshold. By dropping to the Medium preset, you gain only 15 FPS, whereas the Helios is capable of over 50 FPS without adjusting the settings.

Thief

After the trials and tribulations imposed by the last few titles, we finally end our gaming benchmark session with Thief, which is fairly easy to run. The Strix didn't particularly impress on this one; it only matched the Aspire and Inspiron's performance, while the Sager's GTX 1050 added an additional 10 FPS to the mix. Luckily, Strix users can reach just over 60 FPS using Thief's Normal preset. This still isn't as impressive as the Helios, which maintained more than 70 FPS without compromise.


MORE: Best Gaming Laptops


MORE: Gaming Laptop Previews


MORE: All Laptop Content

  • Martell1977
    This is an odd machine. I have the FX502VM and it only takes a 180w powersupply. It has the 1060 3gb in it and a i5-6300HQ. I can't imagine why this laptop with a weaker GPU would need 240w. Wouldn't think a newer gen i7 would take so much more juice. The rest of my hardware is comparable, 16gb DDR4, I added a M.2 SSD and run it along side the 7200rpm HDD, I swapped out my TN panel for a PLS.

    Plus, I'm a bit surprised that they are still using the 7700 and not the 8700. It's not like the CPU's haven't been out for a bit now. Maybe an issue with the supplies from Intel.

    Can't wait to see what ASUS comes up with using Ryzen and Vega.
    Reply
  • AgentLozen
    Martell1977 said:
    Plus, I'm a bit surprised that they are still using the 7700 and not the 8700. It's not like the CPU's haven't been out for a bit now. Maybe an issue with the supplies from Intel

    According to Wikipedia, Kaby Lake R mobile processor that best replaces the 7700HQ was supposed to launch in Q4 of 2017. The Asus ROG Strix that we looked at today may have been in development while the 7700HQ was still the best choice. Alternatively, your explanation of supply makes sense too.
    Reply
  • cryoburner
    I don't really get the point of running the gaming benchmarks at settings no one would actually use with these laptops. Half the benchmarks have all the similar systems performing below 30fps at ultra settings. That's not particularly meaningful data, since it's only putting load on the graphics card, and not telling much about how the CPU or other components contribute to performance. It won't tell anyone interested in these laptops much about what actual gaming performance will be like either. Seven out of ten of the benchmarks have the games averaging around 30fps or below, while most of those potentially using one of these laptops would likely drop settings to medium or high to maintain frame rates closer to 60fps.

    20748758 said:
    Plus, I'm a bit surprised that they are still using the 7700 and not the 8700. It's not like the CPU's haven't been out for a bit now. Maybe an issue with the supplies from Intel.
    As far as I know, 8th-gen mobile processors comparable to a 7700HQ are not yet available. And considering that gaming on these systems is going to be limited more by GPU performance anyway, it might be a bit of a waste to put something faster or with more cores in them, and it probably wouldn't be good for battery life to add more cores either, considering Coffee Lake is still on the same 14nm node that Intel has been using for the last 3 years.
    Reply
  • Non-Euclidean
    "The top of the box has a plastic carrying handle, which makes transporting the laptop easy."

    Please tell us who goes around transporting their $1K+ laptop in $1.00+ plastic & cardboard box it comes in...

    Better yet, who even thinks there are people doing that?
    Reply
  • Ninjawithagun
    Horrible price-to-performance ratio. This laptop should cost at most $799 MSRP. Won't be long before you see it 'on clearance' for about that price or lower. Yet another failure by the Asus sales marketing division.
    Reply
  • daglesj
    Those encased batteries are a great way for us IT guys to make money. I get so many 'dead laptops' in and in 95% of cases it just needs the battery disconnecting, press the power button, reconnect and bingo...working laptop.
    Reply
  • AgentLozen
    daglesj said:
    Those encased batteries are a great way for us IT guys to make money. I get so many 'dead laptops' in and in 95% of cases it just needs the battery disconnecting, press the power button, reconnect and bingo...working laptop.

    I experienced that same problem when I was troubleshooting a laptop a little while ago. I would prefer that the battery be accessible from the outside of the laptop.
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    That price and only a 1050? That is just nuts, when I can get an Acer predator with a 1060 6gb for a similar price. As much as I like Asus laptops, this one is a pass for me. Price/performance is horrible.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y4GZS9C/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1Z05M3SEW5N6I&colid=DNBZ6QXOJO3R&psc=1
    Reply