Asus launches ‘TUF’ gaming laptops with 144Hz displays, certified ruggedness

Asus has begun taking orders for an updated line of TUF and tumble gaming laptops that bring a little bit of ruggedness to the party. Both the 15.6-inch TUF FX505 and 17.3-inch TUF FX705 boast MIL-STD-810G certification.

"Infused with the spirit of The Ultimate Force (TUF), FX505/FX705 passes a series of rigorous MIL-STD-810G tests, successfully surviving varying conditions including solar radiation exposure, high altitude, and temperature extremes. It's certified to endure day-to-day use, from accidental knocks to sudden drops on a desk," Asus explains.

So, don't try gaming on one of these things out in the rain, if you're so inclined—there's no mention of the laptops being water resistant.

Aside from the toughness (TUFness?), The new laptops sport IPS panels with a 1920x1080 resolution and are available with either a 60Hz or 144Hz refresh rate. Be careful when shopping though—there are two version of the 60Hz panel on the 15.6-inch model, one that offers just 45 percent coverage of the NTSC color space and a higher-end version that bumps that up to 72 percent. While not always hand-in-hand, a wider color gamut typically means you can expect better images and color reproduction.

Asus is also touting small bezels on these "NanoEdge" displays. That's referring to the sides, which measure 6.5mm.

Intel's Coffee Lake CPUs are at the heart of the new laptops, and specifically either a Core i7-8750H or Core i5-8300H processor. This is paired with up to 32GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 1050, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, or GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GPU.

Storage options are varied. They include:

1TB SSHD (5400 RPM)
1TB HDD (5400 RPM)
1TB HDD (7200 RPM)
128GB/256GB/512GB PCIe Gen3 SSD

So far Asus has five different configurations listed in its web store, ranging in price from $699.99 to $1,299.99. On the lower end, the cheapest model pairs a Core i5-8300H with a GeForce GTX 1050, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSHD. Over on the higher end, the $1,299.99 model bumps things up to a Core i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1060, and 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB PCIe SSD paired with a 1TB (5400 RPM) HDD.

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Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).