Getting The Most Out Of Your CPU
Not every laptop is built for gaming from the jump. And that’s okay! Sometimes you want a thinner, more portable model that meets all your work needs. But sometimes you end up with a machine like the 2024 Asus Zenbook S14. It’s got such a beefy, top-shelf CPU that it must be enough to game with. Right? Kind of! I spent a little time with this slick machine, and I gotta say: That Intel Core Ultra 7 chip goes a long way towards meeting your gaming needs. Even in a workbook like this one, it does pretty well for itself.
AAA Stress Tests
My first test was Forza Horizon 5. This was a partial success. It takes a good while to load, and you get several popups asking if you’ve installed a graphics card yet. Once the game is up and running, it moves pretty smoothly. If you turn the settings down below ultra, you can even get a stable framerate going. To be clear, this rig has an integrated graphics card. But the Ultra 7 is doing a lot more of the heavy lifting than usual.
Next was Flintlock: Siege of Dawn. It loaded up fine, but it ran like hot garbage. No amount of tinkering with the settings gave me a stable or pleasant experience. The audio got crunchy at random times, and visual effects were bleeding through the bottom of the screen. It was downright nasty. Maybe that’s the difference between a 2021 and a 2024 release? Overwatch 2 ran fine, but Blizzard games are pretty flexible in that regard. Oddly enough, the Crash Bandicoot collection was a complete non-starter. The game crashed four times before I even got to the main menu screen.
Easy Indie Integration
I also fired up a grip of indie titles with significant success. Dungeons of Hinterburg looked great, although I think a lower framerate is sort of built in. UFO 50 is a simulated NES library so it runs perfectly. Vampire Survivors runs amazing. I might have ‘tested’ that one a few more times than strictly necessary. Neon White looked and felt terrific. Same with Wargroove 2 and Hades. Generally, if a game wouldn’t run, I found out immediately. The Crash Bandicoot collection wouldn’t even boot up, for example.
On the other hand, some programs worked just fine after struggling to activate. DaVinci Resolve is my other gold standard operations test. If your machine can run that software in any capacity, it’s worthy of note. The Ultra 7 eventually found its footing with DaVinci Resolve, but there was a mighty struggle. If you’ve got a couple hundred gigs of spare hard drive space, you can do a little video editing.
Video Editing Struggles
Another thing you’ll need is a USB hub. The Zenbook S14 has like, a single standard USB port and a couple of USB-Cs. I know everything is Bluetooth now, but gaming often requires faster inputs than Bluetooth can provide. Plus, the coolest peripherals are still analog a lot of the time. Thankfully it’s a pretty easy fix, but it’s something to still keep in mind.
This was a fascinating experiment. I’ve long associated dedicated graphics cards with PC gaming. I assumed the two were inextricable. It turns out you can still do a lot of indie and older games without a dedicated card as long as your CPU is up to snuff. On the flipside, serious PC gaming can’t happen with a laptop at all. I say this as someone who’s been running the laptop test in various forms for over a year now. If PC is your only gaming platform, a truly beefy desktop can’t be beat. Alternately, if your life just demands a laptop for whatever reason, it’s good to know you’ve got options.
***A retail version of the hardware was provided by the manufacturer***