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We always knew this generation of the best gaming laptops was going to be expensive, but some rigs have skirted current supply chain constraints better than others. I had my hopes up after testing the 2026 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, but the longer those numbers stayed absent from the brand's store the more concerned I became. The wait is over now, and we have a price tag for the RTX 5070 Ti version I was so impressed with during testing. It's... a lot.
The latest iteration of one of my favorite 14-inch rigs comes in at $3,599.99 with that Ti GPU and Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor. That's $1,100 more than the $2,499.99 rate on the previous generation's AMD model. Perhaps even more damning, though, is last year's RTX 5080 prices.
Alongside a new anti-glare screen, that does actually get the job done by the way, the new G14 bumps up the power heading into that lower-class GPU. In my testing, that meant the RTX 5070 Ti 2026 iteration sometimes out-performed last year's 5080 rig.
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Asus ROG Zephyrus 2025 (RTX 5080) vs 2026 (RTX 5070 Ti)
3D Mark and QHD+ in-game performance
| Attribute | RTX 5080 (2025) | RTX 5070 Ti (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 3863 | 3715 |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 15133 | 16365 |
| 3DMark Fire Strike | 31778 | 31825 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1600p, Highest) | 155 | 165 |
| Total War: Three Kingdoms (1600p, Ultra) | 84 | 81 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (1600p, RT:Ultra) | 55 | 57 |
| Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (1600p, Highest) | 78 | 83 |
Compared to last year's, this is a real power upgrade - especially when you're looking to get closer to 60fps in Cyberpunk 2077. At slightly lower graphical settings you'll be nailing this baseline in a way that wouldn't be possible from a similarly-specced 2025 iteration.
If I was looking at both the 2025 RTX 5080 and 2026 RTX 5070 Ti configurations, though, I'd absolutely be choosing the former. You're dropping some fancy screen features, but the two are pretty evenly matched. There's just a four-figure price difference between the two.
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There's plenty of contention among the best Asus gaming laptops this year, then, but the best Razer laptops and the best Alienware laptops are still shooting their shot as well.
