XMG Neo 15 / Eluktronics MECH-15 G3 review (2021)

RTX 3070 vs RTX 3080 XMG Neo 15

The differences between the benchmark results of the RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 versions of this laptop were very interesting. In the majority of titles and graphical settings the average FPS uplift was about 9% for the RTX 3080, but there were significant outliers on both ends of the spectrum. The RTX 3080 performed better at 1440p overall, likely due to the increased VRAM of the more expensive card, as well as when Ray-Tracing was turned on, which can be attributed to its greater number of RTX cores.

On the lower end, CS:GO performed pretty much the same with both GPUs, the RTX 3070 version beating the more expensive laptop as many times as it lost to it. CS:GO is a particularly CPU-bound game, so this may be at least part of the reason for this. Generally, we noticed that the RTX 3080 was not operating at maximum capacity when running this game, so there may be some sort of capping occurring here, perhaps due to voltage constraints. The same was true for Rainbow 6 Siege, in which the RTX 3080 was consistently underutilized at 1080p, actually being beaten by the RTX 3070 slightly at 1080p, but pulling ahead slightly at 1440p.

Far Cry 6 is another fairly CPU bound game, though here we noticed performance more in line with expectations. At 1080p the gap was often only around the 5% mark, though when the resolution was increased to 1440p, the greater VRAM of the RTX 3080 bumped the performance uplift to as high as 16%. Fortnite showed a relatively small uplift at 1080p, but this increased at 1440p resolution. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla was one of the most consistent performers, showing 8-9% increase for the RTX 3080 on most settings and resolutions.

In Doom Eternal, a GPU intensive title, the uplift on the RTX 3080 laptop was most notable, especially at the highest graphical settings, but even more so when Ray Tracing was turned on at the highest settings, when it became huge: between two and three times the performance. Call Of Duty: Warzone also saw a pretty huge increase in frames, ranging between 6-37%, but averaging at around 23%.

Finally, Shadow Of The Tomb Raider saw a consistently high increase in performance for the RTX 3080 at all resolutions and with Ray Tracing turned both on and off, ranging between 6-22%.

1080p vs 1440p performance

Rainbow 6: Siege and Shadow Of The Tomb Raider both performed very well at 1440p, in a few rare instances barely dropping any frames at all compared to 1080p. The rest of the games showed fairly substantial differences, though, either on the average FPS, 1%, 01.%, or all three. Ultimately, which resolution is best depends on the game you’re playing and your own personal preference as to FPS performance vs the crispness of the image, but both options look great.

Should I get the 1080p 240Hz XMG Neo 15 instead?

The answer to this question really depends on the games you are interested in playing and at what settings. CS:GO, Fortnite and Rainbow 6 Siege all got consistently above the 165FPS cap imposed by the 165Hz display on most graphical presets. With Ray Tracing turned off at 1080p, Doom Eternal performed well above this, even on max settings. So for titles like these, you may want to consider the higher refresh rate option. For the others, the 165Hz 1440p option is probably the better choice.

XMG Neo 15 gaming performance: the takeaway

In terms of FPS performance, the XMG Neo 15 is one of the most powerful gaming laptops money can buy. It’s one of the few laptops that can handle playing the most demanding games on maximum settings, at 1440p resolution and still produce an FPS well above 100 (though not in every game).

As to whether you should go with the RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 option, this depends on the games you are going to be playing and your personal priorities. If playing titles like Doom Eternal on max settings with Ray Tracing on is a priority for you, then you may want to consider the RTX 3080. Similarly, if you intend to game on 1440p resolution, this is the option you probably want to go with. If neither of these applies to you, then we’d suggest saving several hundred dollars and going with the RTX 3070 version, which trounces most RTX 3080 laptops from other brands in any case.

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