ASUS TUF A18 2025, Ryzen 7 260, 64GB, 4TB SSD, RTX 5060, Black

64GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD put this thing in the 96th and 98th percentile respectively. The RTX 5060 and Ryzen 7 260 are strong performers, but the 18-inch FHD+ display is just average. It's expensive and runs hot, but the spec sheet is hard to beat.

The RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM is a standout for this class. It's not the absolute top of the charts, but it's one of the best on the market for a laptop at this price point. The Ryzen 7 260 with its 8 cores and 16 threads is well above average, and ASUS claims it beats an Intel i9-13905H. We'll take their word for it, but the 5.1 GHz boost clock is legit. The 64GB of RAM is where this thing gets silly. That's more than most desktops. You could run a dozen Chrome tabs, a video render, and a game at the same time and still have room to spare. The 4TB SSD is top of the charts, so you won't be uninstalling games to make room for the next one anytime soon.

Against the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10, the TUF A18 holds its own on RAM and storage but gives up some ground on the display. The Legion has a higher resolution panel, while the TUF is stuck at FHD+ on an 18-inch screen. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 is way more compact, but you're trading that for a smaller screen and less RAM. The Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max will crush this thing in single-core performance and battery life, but it costs significantly more and you can't upgrade the storage as easily. The MSI Raider and Alienware Aurora are closer competitors, but neither offers 64GB of RAM and 4TB of storage out of the box at this price. The TUF A18's real advantage is that it's a spec sheet flex for the money.

At USD 2,680 in the US, you're paying a lot for that 64GB RAM and 4TB SSD combo. The affordability score is in the 10th percentile, so this is not a budget buy. But if you look at the price per gigabyte of storage and RAM, it's actually not insane. The EUR pricing is all over the place though. We saw listings from EUR 2,959 to EUR 3,607 across ES, FR, and IT. That's a EUR 648 spread for the same machine. If you're in Europe, shop around. The cheapest listing we found was at EUR 2,959, and that's the one you want.

The ASUS TUF A18 is a spec monster. 64GB of DDR5 RAM and a 4TB SSD put it in the 96th and 98th percentile of our database respectively. That's the kind of headroom that makes you forget what a loading screen looks like. The Ryzen 7 260 and RTX 5060 are no slouches either, landing in the 84th and 88th percentile. On paper, this thing is a desktop replacement that actually means it.

If you need something portable, skip this. The compact score is 40.7 out of 100, which is one of the worst we've seen. At 2.35kg with an 18-inch screen, this is a desk-bound machine. Also skip it if you're on a budget. The affordability score is in the 10th percentile, and the EUR 648 price spread across European listings means you could easily overpay if you don't shop around. And if you're sensitive to heat, the multiple reports of it running hot should give you pause. A cooling pad is basically a required accessory.

The ASUS TUF A18 is a data-backed recommendation for anyone who wants a desktop replacement that can handle gaming, content creation, and heavy multitasking without breaking a sweat. The 64GB of RAM and 4TB SSD are the headline acts, and they're backed by a solid CPU and GPU combo. It's not compact, it's not cheap, and it runs hot, but if you can live with those trade-offs, this is one of the best spec-per-dollar laptops we've seen in a while.