– ROG Zephyrus G14 2026 (RTX 5070 Ti at 115W) offers gaming performance very close to last year’s RTX 5080 model.
– Upgraded 12 GB VRAM on RTX 5070 eliminates a key previous downside.
– RTX 5070 Ti remains faster than the new RTX 5070 12 GB, but rivals will be closer in performance.
– Price is a major deciding factor: the new G14 is $3199 vs. ~$2500 for the old model.
– Expect upcoming RTX Spark laptops to be strong competitors in this segment.
Asus’s New G14: A Performance Leap?
Last year, Asus developed a more powerful version of the compact ROG Zephyrus G14 with improved cooling for the two GeForce GPUS RTX 5070 Ti as well as GeForce RTX 5080. When we reviewed both models last year, the performance difference was actually not that big, which was also a result of the comparatively low TGP of 110 Watts, so both GPUs could not reach their full potential. Compared to the rivals like the Razer Blade 14 there was a significant performance advantage, because they were limited to the regular GeForce RTX 5070.
Old Bottlenecks Addressed
In addition to the lower performance, the smaller VRAM of 8 GB was also an issue. Nvidia recently fixed the VRAM issue with the new 12 GB VRAM version of the RTX 5070 similar to the RTX 5070 Ti. We just reviewed the updated ROG Zephyrus G14 2026 and the combination of the RTX 5070 Ti with a TGP of 115 Watts and the new Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra 9 386H offers excellent results in terms of gaming performance.
Gaming Performance: Now Even Closer
The results are even closer to the old RTX 5080 SKU, even though this is certainly a result of numerous driver updates as well. Overall, this means you can easily play any demanding title in the native resolution with highest details, only Raytracing requires DLSS and frame generation. We expect most rivals will get an update with the new RTX 5070 12 GB, so one of the downsides will be eliminated.
Future Competition and Pricing
The RTX 5070 Ti will still be faster, but overall, the devices will be closer together and the upcoming RTX Spark laptops will certainly be interesting rivals as well. The price will probably be a deciding factor, because at $3199 it is much more expensive than the old unit (currently around $2500). Considering the current memory crisis and all the improvements we talked about in our comprehensive review, this increase was somewhat expected, but it will be interesting to see how expensive the rivals with the new RTX 5070 12 GB will be.
- GeForce RTX 5070 Ti: TGP 115 Watts
- GeForce RTX 5080: Previous high-end option
- Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra 9 386H
- Base VRAM: 12 GB for updated RTX 5070
- Pricing: $3199 for new G14
