The Maximum RAM for ASUS Tuf A15

[foxfaisal]

Good day,

I plan to buy a new laptop to be used in my university (mostly for MATLAB simulation). This time, I would like to go for the 4th gen AMD mobile APU instead of the 10th gen Intel mobile CPU.

So far, the laptop with the most powerful AMD APU but still within my budget is the ASUS Tuf A15 with Ryzen 9 4900H and GTX1660Ti (I think I don't need the RTX2060 variant). However, the official ASUS website below says the Tuf A15 can detect only up until 32GB of 3200MHz of ram:
https://www.asus.com/my/Laptops/ASUS-TUF-Gaming-A15/specifications/

I did search for the keyword 'tuf a15 maximum ram' on google. Some search result claims that the Tuf A15 (or other laptop brands with the Ryzen 4000 series APU) can detect 64GB of ram, but most of the websites/videos only make the claim without giving any photo/screenshoot/video evidence, so I am not sure whether I should believe that claim or not. For examples:
1) This OPTIC PC online laptop seller allows its customers to customise the Tuf A15 (Ryzen 7 4800H and RTX2060) that they buy with up until 64GB of RAM.
https://xoticpc.com/products/asus-tuf-tuf506iv-as76
2) This seller on Newegg also allows its customers to customise the Tuf A15 (Ryzen 7 4800H and RTX2060) that they buy with up until 64GB of RAM.
https://www.newegg.com/gray-asus-tuf-a15/p/2WC-000N-01SY9
3) This crucial.com website claims that the Tuf A15 can detect up until 64GB of RAM.
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/asus/asus-tuf-gaming-a15
4) This XMG (a TongFang ODM reseller) allows their Core 15 laptop (Ryzen 7 4800H) to be customised with up until 64GB of RAM.
https://www.xmg.gg/en/xmg-core-15-amd
5) This Illegear (another TongFang ODM reseller) also allows their ONYX V RYZEN laptop (Ryzen 7 4800H, might be similar with the Core 15 from XMG) to be customised with up until 64GB of RAM.
https://store.illegear.com/onyx-series/226-illegear-onyx-v-ryzen.html

Is there any reliable but cost-effective way for me to confirm whether the Tuf A15 can detect 32GB or 64 GB of RAM?

I bought a used Dell Optiplex 7010 Small Form Factor last year with i7-3770 CPU. The official user's guide and service manual stated that the maximum RAM that the Dell Optiplex 7010 Small Form Factor can detect is up until 4 x 4GB of DDR3 1600MHz, but I accidentally found some people in a few forums claiming that they did try to install 4 x 8GB of DDR3 1600MHz and can be detected by their Dell Optiplex 7010 Small Form Factor. Since 16GB of DDR3 is quite affordable, I didn't have any problem buying used 4 x 8GB of DDR3 1600MHz to test it myself. Luckily, my Dell Optiplex 7010 Small Form Factor can really detect the 4 x 8GB of DDR3 1600MHz.

The 2 x 32GB of DDR4 3200MHz however is too expensive for me to buy just for testing. In addition, I would like to avoid buying the Tuf A15 if it is really confirmed that it can only detect up until 32GB of RAM. Instead, I will go for the 10th gen Intel if the 4000 series Ryzen APU because at least all of the laptop that comes with i7-10750H that I've seen so far from Dell, HP, MSI, Acer, ASUS, Gigabyte/Aorus, Clevo, TongFang etc do claim that their laptops can detect up until 64GB of RAM.

Thank you.

[Jurrunio]

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15624/amd-details-renoir-the-ryzen-mobile-4000-series-7nm-apu-uncovered

Quote

All of these CPUs support DDR4-3200 (up to 64 GB, 51.2 GB/s) 

what is confirmed tho is the TUF A15 itself being bad

 

and Asus doesnt think heir brilliant design can be improved further

 

so you really are down to TongFang rebrands at this point without switching to Intel

[VeganJoy]

16 minutes ago, foxfaisal said:

3) This crucial.com website claims that the Tuf A15 can detect up until 64GB of RAM.

if crucial guarantees compatibility through their widget then they will stand by it, and if it turns out to be non compatible they should work with you on a return/replacement

[foxfaisal]

35 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15624/amd-details-renoir-the-ryzen-mobile-4000-series-7nm-apu-uncovered

what is confirmed tho is the TUF A15 itself being bad

 

and Asus doesnt think heir brilliant design can be improved further

 

so you really are down to TongFang rebrands at this point without switching to Intel

 

Thank you very much for your reply. I do notice that the videos from the Hardware Unboxed team highlighted about 2 main issues with Tuf A15, whis are:
1) Low screen quality in terms of screen response time and colour accuracy.

2) High temperature.

However, I do see some comments on their videos defending the Tuf A15 in those 2 aspects. 1st, the Tuf A15 is a military grade laptop. To comply with the military grade standard, one of the things that the manufacturer has to do is to prevent the foreign material from going into the laptop and damaging the electronics components inside the laptop. One of the reasons why they have to make the air intake smaller is to prevent the foreign materials from entering the laptop. That means the owner sacrify the laptop cooling system to get a more robust laptop (military grade). One of the people who make this comments says he purposely buy the military grade Tuf A15 so that he can use it to do his work on construction site. Of course toughbooks suit his working environment better, but he bought the Tuf A15 using his money and that Tuf A15 fits his own budget. 2nd, they can use a better screen (more colour accurate and faster response time), but the production cost for the Tuf A15 will also be increased.

 

I am just going to use the laptop for MATLAB, so I don't think a good cooling system and screen is compulsory for my.

Beside TongFang, I notice that Acer Nitro 5, Dell G5 SE, MSI Bravo 15, Lenovo 5, HP (not sure only Pavillion Gaming or also Omen) also have their own variants with Ryzen 4000 series APU. But the most that I can go with these brands is up until Ryzen 7 4800H. If I still want to go for the Ryzen 9 4900H, the only option that I have right now is ASUS Tuf A15.

 

If the Tuf A15 is really not a good choice for me, one of my alternative is to go for the Acer Predator Helios 300 2020. The i7-10750H CPU might be a little bit slower than the Ryzen 9 4900H (for multi-core performance) and the detected ram for Helios 300 2020 is slower than the Tuf A15 (2999MHz vs 3200MHz), but at least the Helios 300 2020 has better cooling system and screen even though their price don't differ so much. 

[foxfaisal]

15 minutes ago, VeganJoy said:

if crucial guarantees compatibility through their widget then they will stand by it, and if it turns out to be non compatible they should work with you on a return/replacement

All right, understood. So I can assume that it is safe for me to trust this crucial website. Thank you.

[VeganJoy]

3 minutes ago, foxfaisal said:

All right, understood. So I can assume that it is safe for me to trust this crucial website. Thank you.

theyre one of the 3 or 4 nand oems (micron), and the only company that sells dram that they fab themselves afaik. probably the most reliable source youll find for compatibility aside from manufacturer qvls

[foxfaisal]

2 minutes ago, VeganJoy said:

theyre one of the 3 or 4 nand oems, and the only company that sells dram that they fab themselves afaik. probably the most reliable source youll find for compatibility aside from manufacturer qvls

All right, understood. Thank you very much. Now the only thing that I have to consider is whether to stick with my intention to buy the Tuf A15 or to switch to the Predator Helios 300 2020.

[Jurrunio]

1 hour ago, foxfaisal said:

Beside TongFang, I notice that Acer Nitro 5, Dell G5 SE, MSI Bravo 15, Lenovo 5, HP (not sure only Pavillion Gaming or also Omen) also have their own variants with Ryzen 4000 series APU. But the most that I can go with these brands is up until Ryzen 7 4800H. If I still want to go for the Ryzen 9 4900H, the only option that I have right now is ASUS Tuf A15.

R9 and R7 both offer 8 cores and 16 threads, their difference is only on clock speed which you wont be feeling any on the A15 because the CPU thermal throttles.

 

1 hour ago, foxfaisal said:

However, I do see some comments on their videos defending the Tuf A15 in those 2 aspects. 1st, the Tuf A15 is a military grade laptop. To comply with the military grade standard, one of the things that the manufacturer has to do is to prevent the foreign material from going into the laptop and damaging the electronics components inside the laptop. One of the reasons why they have to make the air intake smaller is to prevent the foreign materials from entering the laptop. That means the owner sacrify the laptop cooling system to get a more robust laptop (military grade). One of the people who make this comments says he purposely buy the military grade Tuf A15 so that he can use it to do his work on construction site. Of course toughbooks suit his working environment better, but he bought the Tuf A15 using his money and that Tuf A15 fits his own budget.

There's no standard for "military grade" so it's just marketing gimmick. If Asus actually cared about dust and impact resistance, they should get an IP (ingress protection) rating instead just like the proper rugged laptops but they didn't.

 

1 hour ago, foxfaisal said:

i7-10750H CPU

No I'm talking about Intel 8 core models. Otherwise you might as well get an R7 or R9 in a hot laptop and manually lower the power limit so it stops running so hot

[foxfaisal]

2 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

R9 and R7 both offer 8 cores and 16 threads, their difference is only on clock speed which you wont be feeling any on the A15 because the CPU thermal throttles.

 

There's no standard for "military grade" so it's just marketing gimmick. If Asus actually cared about dust and impact resistance, they should get an IP (ingress protection) rating instead just like the proper rugged laptops but they didn't.

 

No I'm talking about Intel 8 core models. Otherwise you might as well get an R7 or R9 in a hot laptop and manually lower the power limit so it stops running so hot

If Tuf A15 is not a good choice but I still want to go for the AMD 4000 series APU, I think I can only go for the R7 4800H from the Acer Nitro 5, Lenovo Legion 5 15, or that TongFang ODM. MSI Bravo 15 might not also be a good choice based on the videos that I've seen on youtube (including from the hardware unboxed). HP (both Omen and Pavillion gaming) might have the variants that comes with AMD 4000 series APU, but so far they are still not yet available in my country (I am from Malaysia, btw).

 

May I know what is the model no for the Intel 8 core model? If it is beyond my budget limit but I want to switch to Intel, I think the affordable model for me at this moment is the Acer Predator Helios 300 2020 (i7-10750H with RTX2060). Personally, I prefer the MSI GP65/GL65 series, but the price of the MSI in my country has become a little bit expensive since around the year 2017.

 

 

[Jurrunio]

1 hour ago, foxfaisal said:

If Tuf A15 is not a good choice but I still want to go for the AMD 4000 series APU, I think I can only go for the R7 4800H from the Acer Nitro 5, Lenovo Legion 5 15, or that TongFang ODM. MSI Bravo 15 might not also be a good choice based on the videos that I've seen on youtube (including from the hardware unboxed). HP (both Omen and Pavillion gaming) might have the variants that comes with AMD 4000 series APU, but so far they are still not yet available in my country (I am from Malaysia, btw).

Laptop expert here is @genexis_x so maybe he/she'll stop by soon. I remember positive things from Lenovo models but not sure exactly which

[foxfaisal]

8 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Laptop expert here is @genexis_x so maybe he/she'll stop by soon. I remember positive things from Lenovo models but not sure exactly which

Roger that. Thank you very much for introducing me to @genesis_x

[genexis_x]

May I know your budget?

[taku1101]

I'm currently picturing this:

After a day's long journey on the path going up to mountain to the knowing ones, you finally arrive at their gate. You enter in and see the wise and elderly seated on their thrones as the cold wind blows the snow in your face. You kneel down and utter: „I just need a laptop“ and the elderly bow down closer to you and in a deep and booming voice they ask:

„May I know your budget?“

[foxfaisal]

12 hours ago, foxfaisal said:

Roger that. Thank you very much for introducing me to @genesis_x

Sorry for my late reply. My budget so far is below MYR6000 or below USD1440.40 if based on today's exchange rate on google:

https://www.google.com/search?q=myr+to+USD&oq=myr+to+usd&aqs=chrome.0.69i59.2988j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I am from Malaysia, and that MYR thing is the currency from my country.

 

Below is the laptop models that I have surveyed so far:
1) TongFang ODM (equivalent to Eluktronics RP-15 and XMG Core 15) with Ryzen 7 4800H + GTX1650 + 144Hz screen + 16GB of RAM + 500GB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR3,997 / USD959.55)

https://store.illegear.com/onyx-series/226-illegear-onyx-v-ryzen.html

2) Clevo ODM (I have no idea this model is equivalent to which model from Metabox etc) with Core i7-10750H + GTX1650Ti + 120Hz screen + 16GB of RAM + 500GB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR948.27 / USD948.27)

https://www.level51pc.co/welcome/Productinner/forge15s-1650-ti-edition

3) TongFang ODM (I have no idea this model is equivalent to which model from Eluktronics, XMG etc) with Core i7-10750H + GTX1650 + 120Hz screen + 16GB of RAM + 500GB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR4198 / USD1007.80)

https://store.illegear.com/raven-se-series/210-illegear-raven-se-v.html

4) Acer Nitro 5 with Ryzen 7 4800H + GTX1650 + 144Hz screen + 8GB of RAM + 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR4299 / USD1032.05)

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/model/NH.Q9MSM.001

5) Acer Nitro 5 with Core i7-10750H + GTX1660Ti + 144Hz screen + 8GB of RAM + 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR4899 / USD1176.09)

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/model/NH.Q7PSM.001

6) Acer Predator Helios 300 with Core i7-10750H + RTX2060 + 144Hz screen + 8GB of RAM + 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR5199 / USD1248.11)

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/predator-series/predatorhelios300

7) Lenovo Legion 5i (15) with Core i7-10750H + GTX1660Ti + 144Hz screen + 8GB of RAM + 256GB M.2 PCIe SSD + 1TB HDD (MYR4,971.12 / USD1193.40)

https://www.lenovo.com/my/en/laptops/legion/legion-5-series/Legion-5i-15/p/88GMY501434

HP Omen 15 with Core i7-10750H + RTX2060 + 144Hz screen + 8GB of RAM + 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR6399.00 / USD1536.19)

https://store.hp.com/my-en/default/laptops/personal-laptops/omen-laptops/omen-15/omen-laptop-15-dh1018tx-1a6a6pa.html

9) MSI GP65 Leopard with Core i7-10750H + RTX2060 + 144Hz screen + 8GB of RAM + 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD (MYR6999 / USD1680.23)

https://mystore.msi.com/product/gp65-leopard-10sek-rtx2060-gddr6-6gb/

 

PS:

1) I am going to use the laptop mostly for MATLAB and not for gaming, so any graphic card should be OK for me as long as the CPU is Ryzen 9 4900H, Ryzen 7 4800H, Core i7-10750H etc.

2) The HP Omen 15 and MSI GP65 Leopard is already beyond my budget, but I list it anyway.

3) There might be MSI GP65/GL65 with lower graphic card that fit my budget, but it has not been listed at the MSI distributor's website in my country so far.

4) Acer Nitro 7 has also not been listed at the Acer distributor's website in my country so far.

5) I don't list the Lenovo Legion 5 (15) with Ryzen 7 4800H above because the related page from Lenovo distributor's website in my country so far is down.

6) I don't list the Dell G3 and G5 series because I don't like this year's design (both Intel and AMD).

7) So far I would like to go for the Ryzen 9 4900H and the only option that I have is that Asus Tuf A15. If you guys think that Tuf A15 is really a bad choice in terms of thermal, then I have no choice but to downgrade to Ryzen 7 4800H. If you guys think that the i7-10750H (or other intel CPU within my budget) is better for my type of workload (MATLAB), then I can also consider intel.

I prefer the webcam at thetop of the screen if possible, notthe nose cam at the bottom of the screen.

9) I also prefer the laptop that has both NVME and 2.5" SATA bay. All this time I have the habit of installing Windows and programs on the SSD, but I set my cloud storage, internet download manager, torrent etc to download/sync files on the HDD to slow down the total written files on the SSD to preserve the SSD's lifespan.

10) Numpad is also a must for me because I key in a lot of numbers in MATLAB, Python, Excel etc. Beside ASUS ROG series, I think I can't buy the HP Omen 2020 because they don't have the numpad.

 

That is all that I would like to say at the moment. Thank you.

 

[foxfaisal]

8 hours ago, taku1101 said:

I'm currently picturing this:

After a day's long journey on the path going up to mountain to the knowing ones, you finally arrive at their gate. You enter in and see the wise and elderly seated on their thrones as the cold wind blows the snow in your face. You kneel down and utter: „I just need a laptop“ and the elderly bow down closer to you and in a deep and booming voice they ask:

„May I know your budget?“

[foxfaisal]

I asked about the same question (The Maximum RAM for ASUS Tuf A15) in 2 other forums, but most of the people in the forum also advise me to forget about the Tuf A15 because of the terrible thermal issue. @genesis_x (using another user ID in another forum) even advised me to go for the Legion 5 15 series because it comes with better screen colour accuracy (100% sRGB) and better cooling system (in performance mode, the Intel version will be boosted with 75W of power while the AMD version will be boosted with 65W of power).

 

Below is the available model of AMD and Intel (in Malaysia) that I have shortlisted for myself:

1) Lenovo Legion 5 15 AMD version (https://www.lenovo.com/my/en/laptops/legion/legion-5-series/Lenovo-Legion-5-15ARH05/p/88GMY501444)
Web Price: MYR3,783.12, around USD913.25 based on today's Google exchange rate.
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Processor ( 2.90GHz 4MB )
Display Type: 15.6"FHD, WVA, AntiGlare, LED Backlight, Narrow, 100%sRGB, Non-Touch, 144Hz 5ms, 9.5mm 1920x1080
Memory: 16.0GB DDR4-3200 DDR4 SODIMM 3200MHz
Storage: 1TB 5400+256GB SSD,PCIe-NVMe,TLC
AC Adapter: 170W
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6
Keyboard: 6-row 4zone RGB Backlight, Black Key, White Icon English (US)

 

2) Lenovo Legion 5 15 Intel version (https://www.lenovo.com/my/en/laptops/legion/legion-5-series/Legion-5i-15/p/88GMY501434)
Web Price: MYR4,971.12, around USD1200.03 based on today's Google exchange rate.
Processor: Intel Core i7-10750H Processor ( 2.60GHz 12MB )
Display Type: 15.6"FHD, WVA, AntiGlare, LED Backlight, Narrow, 100%sRGB, Non-Touch, 144Hz 5ms, 9.5mm 1920x1080
Memory: 16.0GB DDR4-2933 DDR4 SODIMM 2933MHz
Storage: 1TB 5400+256GB SSD,PCIe-NVMe,TLC
AC Adapter: 170W
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650Ti 4GB GDDR6
Keyboard: 6-row 4zone RGB Backlight, Black Key, White Icon English (US)

 

The only difference that I notice between the AMD and the Intel version is the GTX1650 vs GTX1650Ti. Unfortunately, the AMD version with the spec that I list above is already sold out. If I still want to go for the AMD version, I will have to wait for the next stock. It it is really urgent for me to own the laptop, I have no choice but to go for the Intel version.

 

If the Legion 5 15 is still too much for my workload, I can even downgrade some more to Ideapad 3 Gaming with the following spec:
3) Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i 15 Intel version (https://www.lenovo.com/my/en/laptops/legion/legion-5-series/IdeaPad-Gaming-3i-15”/p/88IPG301387)
Web Price: MYR3,915.12, around USD945.11 based on today's Google exchange rate.
Processor: Intel Core i7-10750H Processor ( 2.60GHz 12MB )
Display Type: 15.6"FHD, WVA, AntiGlare, LED Backlight, Narrow, Non-Touch, 120Hz 1920x1080
Memory: 8.0GB DDR4-2933 DDR4 SODIMM 2933MHz
Storage: 1TB 5400+256GB SSD PCIe
AC Adapter: 135W
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4GB GDDR6
Keyboard: 6-row Backlit English (US)

 

I still have a headache regarding the maximum supported RAM as usual. The official site (at least the Malaysian official site) says that the Lenovo 5 15 series can only go up until 16GB (but the same Lenovo Malaysia official site says that their Ideapad 3 Gaming series can go up until 32GB). When I search about this on google, some websites that I found claim that the Lenovo 5 15 series can detect up until 32GB, but there is no screenshot/photo/video evidence as usual. The Matthew Moniz's Lenovo Legion 5 15 video that I listed below stated that the Legion 5 15 series's RAM can be upgraded up until 64GB (at least for the Intel version), but I have no idea from where did Matthew Moniz get this info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUIuSiODaFY

 

PS: Please teach me how to embed a youtube video into the post of this forum. I tried to do it with the Matthew Moniz video above, but so far it doesn't work. Thank you.

[Gazzman]

For what its worth and for other users benefit I learnt that the advertised speed of Crucial RAM for AMD based laptops doesnt necessarily work as advertised. If the laptop does not support XMP then Crucial 32Gb 3200 DDR4 will only run at 2666. Its not entirely false advertising but worth knowing that you should check AMD's list of tested RAM before hand.

As far as the TUF A15's heat issues there are solutions to help cool it down and relatively cheap ones too. Im going to go ahead and buy it anyway as I wont be doing any gaming on it which means that the combination of CPU and GPU running flat out together is unlikely to occur, I think it will be a quick machine for software development.

[foxfaisal]

Hello everyone.

 

Sorry for not replying anything on this thread for a very long time because I was so busy lately. I have decided to go for the Lenovo Legion 5 15" with AMD CPU during the 12.12 sale, but then I changed my mind to MSI GP65 Leopard 10SEK (i7-10750H and RTX2060) once I notice that one of the reputable and trustworthy shops in my country (Malaysia) listed the price at MYR5799 on Lazada (Malaysian version of eBay, Amazon etc.) without the MSI loot box (around USD1427.97 according to today's exchange rate on Google). The price of this model when it has newly arrived in Malaysia was MYR6999 (around USD1723.477 according to today's exchange rate on Google), but I notice that some other reputable and trustworthy shops in Malaysia reduced the price of this model to MYR5999 (around USD1477.22 according to today's exchange rate on Google) by the time this message is written.

 

Personally, the Lenovo 5 15" with the AMD CPU might be better for me in terms of price and performance, but I changed my mind at last minute to go for the MSI GP65 at last minute due to my 2 personal reasons based on my current situations and requirements:
1) Delivery time. The Lenovo 5 15" with the AMD configuration that I want (GPU, screen type, keyboard, RAM, storage etc.) is not available off-the-shelf (even though the same configuration is available off-the-shelf for the Intel version). I have decided to go for the customised model (before I notice about the MSI price reduction during the 12.12 sale, but the Lenovo's website said it takes more than 8 weeks to receive the customised laptop. Meanwhile, the MSI GP65 that I bought from PC Image through Lazada took 3-9 days for delivery.
2) Instalment service. I can get 0% instalment plan if I buy things within a certain price range (I think it should be anything more than MYR500.00) through Lazada using a local's bank credit card. I can also get the 0% instalment plan from Lenovo Malaysia's website using HSBC credit card. At this moment, I only own a credit card from the local bank and not HSBC.

 

So far, I am happy with the MSI GP65 (even though the Lenovo Legion 5 15" AMD might be better in terms of price and performance). I even type this message from my new MSI GP65. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone in this thread who has spent your time giving me advice all this time on which laptop that I should and shouldn't buy. Keep in touch, all the best in your life, and happy new year.

[poudel_1991]

Just upgraded my 3 years old Asus tuf A15 with r7 4800H by installing 64gb of 3200MHz ram to give it a new life.