ASUS GL502VM (GTX 1060) : about availability and thermals

This laptop is supposedly out : I can order it on Newegg and Xotic for example. But there is not a single review online. Not a single video. Not a single unboxing. So, do these websites actually only take pre-orders but I failed to see that?

Anyways, the lack of information is very surprising, because I find the laptop very competitively priced, thin and light, especially if you ditch the 2"5 entirely and just keep a M.2 SSD. (you shave 50 grams/2 ounces from the total weight). As a side question : can you really simply ditch the 2"5 drive?

The main question I have is about the thermals. How hot does the gaming rig get when under load?

A lot of the details, like the screen, keyboard, audio, can be inferred from the similar ASUS products, such as the GL502VS (GTX 1070). But the thermals and the noise are very important to me.

For example, MSI GS is another line of slim gaming laptop, and the GS73VR which also sports a 1060, runs really hot, which is simply unacceptable for me.

Thank you for any input!

 

Here's my album on my GS502VS: http://imgur.com/a/EyLkc

I cannot make any comments on the VM model, but I would imagine the temps are slightly lower while the fan noise is the same. Also, this ASUS line is not that slim and does NOT weigh 4.8 lbs. I doubt the VM weighs much less than the VS.

My temps have reached 89c. There's been no performance issues at this temp, so it doesn't matter to me much. But to someone who is anxious about temps, it's going to eat them up. The fans get going for sure. They don't bother me much, but if you don't like fan noise at all, you're probably not going to find that this round. These are desktop GPUs inside these laptops, and they have the temps to match.

 

Got a review right here

 

interesting that the lack of optimus only cuts battery life from 3.5 hours down to 3 hours.

I was expecting a lot less battery life.

I hope in a few years, we'll have nvidia low power battery life equal to intel integrated graphics.

 

So, given that you've been using VS for a while; and given anything you might know about the gl502vm from the video posted above, or any other source; can you think of any real justification to get the vm over the vs? What I mean by real, is something actually noticeable... Not just specs on a paper, but concrete differences.

I'm inclined to get the vm because I want the lighter thinner cooler running system. But if the difference [in those three variables] is going to be negligible, and the performance delta is going to be substantial, then the only mitigating factor would have to be price; in particular, bang-for-buck.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

 

Besides being somewhat thinner and lighter, it supposedly has Thunderbolt enabled (unlike the VS) so you could use external graphics as an upgrade later on. So, the VS with the 1070 has a noticeable performance increase over the VM's 1060, but the latter can be upgraded later on.