All about the all-new TUF Dash F15 at CES 2021

Yet another laptop to put on the radar for gaming enthusiasts is ASUS‘ TUF Dash F15 as announced at CES 2021, a super slim 15-inch device that represents a more portable, lightweight, and inclusive direction for the TUF Gaming series. Stay gaming, working and productive anywhere powered by the latest-gen processors up to an 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11375H CPU and GeForce RTX™ 3070 GPU.

Its powerful core experience is rounded out with high-end features not typically seen at accessible price points, such as a tournament-level gaming panel with up to a 240Hz refresh rate, a versatile Thunderbolt™ 4 port, and Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation technology. Gamers can be productive longer on the go thanks to an expansive battery that nets up to 16.6 hours of video playback and Type-C charging that extends battery life from a variety of adapters and power packs. The TUF Dash F15 fits all of these features in a chassis that is stylish without sacrificing the TUF Gaming series’ signature military-grade durability.

Slim and stylish

At 19.9mm thin and 2kg, the new Dash F15 is lighter and thinner than standard TUF Gaming laptops while still meeting MIL-STD-810H military standards to survive survive everything from extreme environments and ambient vibration to accidental knocks and bumps. In taking TUF Gaming to a new direction, the Dash F15 has a streamlined new look and feel: Moonlight White and Eclipse Gray color options are both professional and understated, accentuated by bolt blue backlighting on the keyboard with the modern refreshed TUF logo evoking the strength of the series, while the thin lettering across the lid underscores the slim new design direction.

Fastest 11th Gen Intel Core laptop

Packing up to the latest 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11375H processor, the CPU at 5GHz can nearly match the fastest desktop processors while being in a smaller package with up to 35W of sustained power when the GPU is active and 64W when the CPU is on its own enabling amazing performance in a thin chassis. Four lanes of CPU-attached PCI Gen 4 for high bandwidth to connect the latest discrete graphics. The Dash F15 is the fastest 11th Gen Intel Core-powered laptops available to date, accelerating everything from gaming and streaming to intensive tasks like compiling code.

ROG and Intel have the same vision of powerful ultraslim gaming laptops that let users work and play in more places, which results in the TUF Dash F15. Room for up to 32 GB of DDR4-3200 memory means there’s enough RAM for productive multitasking and content creation. Everything loads at warp speed thanks to a PCI Express® SSD that makes systems feel more responsive. Up to 1 TB of space holds a massive collection of games, while an additional SSD slot makes it easy to add terabytes of extra capacity for massive multimedia files and more.

The Dash F15 features an easy-upgrade design that puts the SO-DIMM slot and both M.2 slots just behind the bottom panel, held in place with standard Philips screws. A special pop-open screw pushes the bottom corner away from the chassis so it’s easy to get under the hood fast. The surrounding hooks holding the edges together are smaller and stronger than conventional counterparts, making it easy to lift off the panel without scuffing the body or special tools.

Powered by Ampere

Graphics power is assured with up to a GeForce RTX™ 3070 GPU clocked up to 1390 MHz at 80W with ROG Boost, allowing it to pump out massive frame rates in the latest blockbuster games and popular esports titles alike. NVIDIA’s latest Ampere architecture means this all-new GPU blends traditional CUDA processing cores with 2nd generation RT and 3rd generation Tensor cores to accelerate ray tracing and artificial intelligence. This combination of cores enables realistic in-game lighting and effects, and it also speeds up other computationally intensive work like AI deep learning.

Naturally, a powerful GPU should only be paired with an amazing gaming panel, which the TUF Dash F15’s panel  up to a 240 Hz refresh rate offers gamers the same edge as esports athletes, with a 3ms response time that reduces motion blur to make fast-paced target tracking more precise. This top IPS-level panel option covers 100% of the sRGB spectrum, the most widely used digital color space, letting users game, create, and do more in true color.

Other configurations of the Dash F15 feature a 144 Hz display that still offers competitive gaming speed, more than doubling the refresh rate of conventional laptop displays. Its panel maintains colors and contrast across wide viewing angles, so you can sit off to the side while playing games or streaming videos with friends.

Adaptive-Sync support across all display options enables ultra-smooth gameplay by synchronizing the refresh rate with the GPU’s frame rate, reducing lag, minimizing stuttering, and eliminating visual tearing. The display is framed by 6.2 mm super-narrow bezels that minimize distractions from the action. The slim border shrinks the footprint of the chassis, too, making the laptop more compact.

Portable power

Speaking of power, get up to 16.6 hours of continuous video playback time, with fast-charging technology taking the battery from 0% to 50% in under 30 minutes. Battery life can be extended even further with Type-C charging support that can top off a charge from compatible adapters and power packs. Type-C adapters up to 100W are supported, meaning users can travel lighter and save the standard AC adapter for gaming or other intensive tasks that need full performance. The Type-C port works with Thunderbolt 4 and USB4, so it connects to the latest generation of premium devices.

Thunderbolt 4 lets users plug in a docking station to drive a desktop setup or hook up an external GPU to boost gaming performance and overall graphics power on demand. The Dash F15 is also equipped with a wide variety of additional ports keep users flexible for any situation.

Three USB 3.2 Type-A ports make room for vital peripherals like a gamepad, mouse, and external storage. HDMI 2.0b can be connected to a wide range of displays at resolutions up to 4K. The Type-C port also doubles as a DisplayPort 1.4 output, making it simple to connect a secondary display. Getting online is easy with ultrafast WiFi 6 (802.11ax). It’s hard to beat the convenience of wireless networking, but wired connections have lower latency for serious multiplayer gaming, so Gigabit Ethernet is also included.

Comprehensive cooling

Advanced cooling enables the Dash F15 to fit top tier processors in a super slim form factor. A substantial heat spreader and five copper heat pipes distribute thermal energy from the CPU, GPU, VRAM, and VRM into four heatsinks, each lined with thin fins that maximize surface area for heat dissipation and minimize resistance to airflow.

Dual fans channel air through four outlets for quicker heat expelling and less noise too, thanks to the n-Blade fans which are made rom a special liquid crystal polymer that makes enough space to fit 83 blades per fan and still ensure that each blade is strong enough to hold up at high RPMs. Such a high blade density means each fan can draw and push more air per rotation, cooling components faster. With 0dB Technology, the fans switch off completely when CPU and GPU temperatures drop below 50°C in the Silent operating mode.

Self-cleaning likewise ensures long-term stability and performance by preventing build-up on critical components like fan blades and heatsink fins, further finetuning it between three operating modes that mix different cooling and performance profiles. 

Turbo mode delivers maximum performance and fan speeds for intensive tasks, while Performance mode optimizes speed and acoustics for the best gaming experience. Silent mode reduces power and noise for lighter loads like web surfing and video streaming. Scenario Profiles can be set to trigger automatically when you launch specific apps and games, and they can also change additional system settings, like the display profile and behavior of the Windows key.

Premium sound

The Dash F15 is topped off with a range of premium features that enhance its everyday user experience for gaming, entertainment, and more. Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation technology means crystal clear voice chat, supporting any input device and noise cancellation able to be applied or adjusted for specific apps. It also runs on the CPU so the GPU is free to maximize gaming performance.

The quiet keyboard design keeps inputs under 30dB so you’ll always be discreet wherever you want. Dedicated hotkeys allow for quick access to essential features like volume, mic mute, and Armoury Crate. The stealthy keyboard switches have a 1.7mm travel distance that makes typing more comfortable.

Entertainment experiences are more immersive with DTS:X Ultra technology that brings 7.1-channel virtual surround sound to stereo headsets or speakers. Users can choose between built-in presets for games, movies, and sports or try customizing their tuning with the embedded equalizer.

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Stay tuned to the upcoming ROG Malaysia official local launch announcement for the availability and pricing.