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日本[In-depth Comparison] ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 vs HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) – the HP laptop is one of the best Zen+ machines that we have tested so far
Gaming laptops with AMD CPUs – some years ago that was “mission impossible” but right now the red company has plenty of good offers that are already on the market. We are still waiting for the so wanted and desired AMD Zen 2 mobile processors but Zen+ still has much to offer, especially with its good price/performance ratio. At the same time, these CPUs are efficient and the machines equipped with them are well-priced which is a good combination for most gamers.
As we said above, the Zen 2 mobile chips aren’t available, so we can show you some good Zen+ laptops. For today’s article, we’ve picked the ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 and HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000). Both of them are equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 3750H which has a 4-cores/8-threads configuration, 35W TDP, and 2.3GHz – 4.0GHz base and boost clocks. Additionally, they are both featuring the GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q. The latter is the battery-friendly version of the most powerful non-RTX NVIDIA Turing video card. You can check its performance against the RTX 2060 in our comparison here.
Ok, let’s see which AMD-based machine is worthier than the other and why.
Read our in-depth reviews here:
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502: Detailed review
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000): Detailed review
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 configurations:
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) configurations:
Contents
Design and construction
Our test laptops are not the best in terms of build quality. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 has an aluminum lid but the rest of its body is made of plastic. At least its the base has a matte finish instead of a glossy one that attracts fingerprints. While The thin bezels around the display definitely look good, the laptop is an average performer when it comes to thickness and weight – 20.4 mm and 2.10 kg, respectively. As an almost all-plastic notebook, you can expect some squeak noises from it when you twist it a bit. You can open the lid with a single hand but you have to be careful because it’s easy bendable.
The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) isn’t that different from the ASUS laptop when it comes to the build materials – plastic everywhere. Even the lid is made of plastic and speaking of the latter, it is prone to bends but at least it opens with a single hand – yes, you have to be gentle with this one too. As for the profile and weight – 23.5 mm and 1.98 kg. The laptop is a bit thicker but it weighs less than the ASUS one.
When it comes to build quality, dimensions, and portability, neither of the two shines above the other – a lot of plastic is being utilized in their builds, they are a bit thicker and heavier too.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)Some words about the keyboards. The ASUS machine is equipped with an optional backlit keyboard that has shorter than usual key travel and clicky feedback – good for gaming but not for typing. The arrows keys are too small for our likings and we miss the NumPad area. The touchpad is good – especially when it’s combined with the optional 120Hz monitor you can enjoy a butter-smooth experience.
The HP representative has a keyboard that comes with good key-ravel but the feedback is semi-clicky. The “Up” and “Down” arrow keys are half-sized but we are happy to see a NumberPad section. As of the touchpad – it features good tracking abilities but it lacks sensitivity and its surface isn’t that stable.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)Opening the bottom panel of ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 isn’t that easy – there are a lot of screws that have to be removed before you can see the innards of the laptop. The cooling solution has three heatsinks and the same number of heat pipes – two of them are for the CPU and GPU while the other one cools the voltage regulators and the graphics memory. We can also spot two fans. There are two M.2 SSD slots (with PCIe x2 speeds).
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)Opening the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is a more pleasant job because there are just 7 screws waiting for you and after that, you can see the cooling of this laptop. It has two thick heat pipes cooling down both CPU and GPU, one long heat sink, and two fans. Just a single M.2 slot here.
| Height | Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 | 20.4 mm (0.78″) | 2.10 kg (4.6 lbs) |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) | 23.5 mm (0.93″) | 1.98 kg (4.4 lbs) |
It’s time for the I/Os.
ASUS’ device has an RJ-45 connector, an HDMI 2.0b connector, a USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port, a USB Type-C 3.1 (Gen. 2) with DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities, and an audio jack on its left side, while on the right – there are two USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) ports.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)
The left side of the HP laptops is populated by a single USB Type-A 2.0 port and the power plug. Thankfully, the right side is richer on ports – an HDMI connector, a USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port, an Ethernet connector, a USB Type-C 3.1 (Gen. 1) port, a headphone jack, and an SD card reader.
Display
These contenders have 1080p IPS panels. The ASUS machine has a 120Hz display with a model number Sharp LM156LF-GL03 (NCP0036) while the HP rival is equipped with a 144Hz one that has the following model number – AUO B156HAN08.2 (AUO82ED). Both of them have comfortable viewing angles and very good contrast ratios – 1260:1 for the ASUS and 1150:1 for the HP.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)Sadly, the ASUS panel has a rather poor sRGB coverage – just 55%, whereas the HP display is much better with a 90% result.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work.
Below you can compare the score of the ASUS display and the HP’s too – both with already applied “Gaming and Web design” profile. With our calibration, the first one has a mediocre score of 3.5 (not very color-accurate) while the HP panel is almost suitable for color-sensitive work with an average dE score of 2.1.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)One of the most important things about a display is its safety towards the user. We are glad to inform you that both panels are PWM-free and you can use them for long hours of gaming, typing, or whatever you want.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)Response time (Gaming capabilities)
We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa. We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time of 27.3 ms for the ASUS panel and 8.6 ms for the HP display. The ASUS unit (Sharp LM156LF-GL03) is a typical example that the refresh rate of a particular panel isn’t the most important thing when it comes to gaming – this one has a rather slow response time. On the other side, the HP panel is super-fast and it’s very pleasing to the eye while gaming, typing or just browsing the Web.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)Our display profiles
Here at LaptopMedia, we create a set of custom-tailored profiles for every notebook we review. They boost the productivity of display and reduce negative effects such as blue light emissions and PWM. You can read more about them here.
Buy our profiles from here:
15.6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels), 120 Hz, IPS (Sharp LM156LF-GL03 NCP0036): Buy our profiles
15.6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels), 144 Hz, IPS (AUO B156HAN08.2 AUO82ED): Buy our profiles
Specs sheet comparison
More information about AMD Ryzen 7 3750H and its position in our Top CPU Ranking you can find HERE.
More information about the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q and its place in our Top GPU Ranking you can find HERE.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G GA502 (2019) series
- Dimensions
- 360 x 252 x 19.9 - 20.4 mm (14.17" x 9.92" x 0.78")
- Weight
- 2.10 kg (4.6 lbs)
- Price
- Starting at $724.99
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000, ec1000, ec2000) series
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (Laptop) #169 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (Laptop) #177 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q #165 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (Laptop) #156 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (Laptop, 50W, 128-bit) #189 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (Laptop) #192 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Laptop, 50W) #197 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Laptop) #196 in Top GPUsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (4GB GDDR5)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (3GB GDDR5)AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (R4000/5000, 35/45W) #243 in Top GPUs
- Dimensions
- 360 x 257 x 23.5 mm (14.17" x 10.12" x 0.93")
- Weight
- 1.98 kg (4.4 lbs)
- Price
- Starting at $669.99
Battery
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 has a 76Wh battery unit and it’ll take around 7 hours of Web browsing and 9 hours of video playback before thinking about the charger which is a decent result for a machine with a 120Hz display.
The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is equipped with a small 52.5Wh battery and the screen-on time it provides isn’t very impressive – 4 hours of Web browsing and a bit above 4 hours when watching videos.
Hardware and Gaming tests
Our competitors have the same AMD Ryzen 7 3750H inside of them as well as the same GPU too – the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q. The Zen+ CPU is one of the fastest chips of this architecture, it has 4MB L3 cache, 35W TDP, and a Radeon RX Vega 10 iGPU – the latter is one of the most powerful integrated graphics at the moment and you can check its performance against a low-end GPU in our comparison here. We’ve talked bout the clocks of the CPU at the beginning of the article.
The GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q is a capable and battery friendly version of the full-blown sibling. It’s manufactured in a 12nm tech process and it has 60W TGP (Total Graphics Power) while the normal version has 80W TGP. The Max-Q version is suitable for thin and light devices because of the lower power consumption and lower heat dissipation.
Since these two notebooks have the same CPU/GPU combo it’s time to see which manufacturer has done a better job.
| Far Cry 5 | Full HD, Normal (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 | 62 fps | 60 fps | 58 fps |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) | 77 fps (+24%) | 73 fps (+22%) | 69 fps (+19%) |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) | Full HD, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 | 81 fps | 52 fps | 35 fps |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) | 96 fps (+19%) | 57 fps (+10%) | 37 fps (+6%) |
| Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) | Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 | 51 fps | 45 fps | 35 fps |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) | 70 fps (+37%) | 65 fps (+44%) | 58 fps (+66%) |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Highest (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 | 48 fps | 47 fps | – fps |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) | 66 fps (+38%) | 66 fps (+40%) | 43 fps |
The same CPUs, the same GPUs, two laptops – two entirely different worlds. The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) is much faster than its rival, no matter the game, no matter the settings.
Temperatures
In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.
Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| AMD Ryzen 7 3750H (35W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 | 3.83 GHz (B+67%) @ 75°C | 3.77 GHz (B+64%) @ 78°C | 2.84 GHz (B+23%) @ 81°C |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) | 3.73 GHz (B+62%) @ 72°C | 3.63 GHz (B+58%) @ 71°C | 3.53 GHz (B+53%) @ 67°C |
Now, you can clearly see why the ROG laptop lacks performance in our gaming tests – in prolonged loads, it is much hotter and it has 690MHz lower clock in these situations. The HP machine boosts much higher than its competitor and its CPU is very well cooled – 67°C.
Real-life GPU temperatures
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min) | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min) |
|---|---|---|
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 | 1396 MHz @ 78°C | 1432 MHz @ 81°C |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) | 1511 MHz @ 66°C | 1493 MHz @ 68°C |
The GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q in the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 has almost 60MHz higher frequency and 13°C lower core temperature during gameplay (ergo, our 30-minute test).
Gaming comfort
The comfort during load is very important because what is the point to have a fast machine that is super hot and loud at the same time? The ASUS contender is hot from the inside and that transfers to the outside too – its surface reached 56°C during our testing. At least for us, that is too much. On top of that, the fans are very loud.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)The HP laptop is better (again). Its shell reaches 50°C – not the best result but it’s acceptable and the hot spot is away from the WASD area.
Verdict
There is no doubt that the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) is the winner. It amazed us with its superb performance. When it’s compared to the ASUS device we had the feeling (at all times) that this one has faster hardware but it’s not the case – the cooling solution is much better which means the processor and GPU work at a lower temperature and higher clock speed. This is a pure gaming machine because it has a superb 144Hz display that is color-accurate (especially with our profiles), its sRGB coverage is good, and it has a fast response time of under 9 ms. Additionally, this machine has a decent keyboard with a backlight and a NumberPad section.
The downsides of this laptop are the mediocre battery life, the not-so-sensitive touchpad, and there is just one M.2 slot.
Ok, let’s summarize what was our experience with the ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502. It has an aluminum lid, which adds a bit of a premium feel but it is not very rigid (this applies for its opponent too). The keyboard of this thing isn’t that good for typing but its touchpad is decent. Unfortunately, the gaming performance of this notebook is much worse than that of its opponent. Because of the cooling solution (maybe it’s badly designed, or maybe it has some design flaw) the CPU and GPU temperatures are much higher and the clocks are a lot lower than the HP ones. That leads to a hefty loss of performance all the time, no matter the game. Also, we had some issues with the drivers that prevented the GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q from working at its full potential on the ROG Zephyrus GA502.
Ok, this one has a good battery life and two M.2 slots but it’s not enough for the win. The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) is one of the best Zen+ gaming laptops that we have tested so far.
Read our in-depth reviews here:
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502: Detailed review
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000): Detailed review
Why choose ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502?
- Two NVMe ports
- Long battery life
Why choose HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000)?
- Better comfort under load
- Rich in ports
- Cooler GPU that boosts much higher
- Faster display in terms of refresh rate and response time
ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA502 configurations:
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-ec0000) configurations:
