GL502 kaby lake finally does away with the nasty orange keys.

Well, I got mine yesterday, tested it out for a few hours, and ended up sending it right back.

My initial impressions were mostly positive. It looked good, seemed solid, and the screen was great. Things started to go downhill from there though.

This thing was loaded, and I mean loaded with bloatware. I couldn't even tell what half of them were supposed to do, so I just left them in place with the default install while testing.

I think @link626 already mentioned this, but in all the marketing pictures it looks like the RoG logo on the lid is silver, but it ends up glowing a bright orange when turned on, which is too gaudy for me. They really should show this in the product pictures, it's kinda misleading that they don't.

The keyboard was sturdy, but I personally didn't like the very short key travel, as it didn't give good tactile feedback for key presses. Also, there was no dedicated "End" key (because of the stupid unnecessary RoG key), and you had to hold Fn to toggle NumLock (not to mention there's no BIOS option to have NumLock on by default like in nearly every other laptop).

The touchpad was horrible. Maybe it's just me, but I've never had a touchpad before where the buttons are part of the pad iteslf instead of dedicated buttons. So to click the button, you have to push down the whole touchpad, and the click took a LOT more force than necessary, I mean you really have to push down pretty hard. For normal clicking you can just tap on the pad, but this made things like click+dragging of objects much more difficult and unnatural than they should be. That and the right-click almost never worked. Occasionally it would, but 4 out of 5 reboots, it just won't do anything at all. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, using the generic windows drivers instead of the ASUS ones, resetting the BIOS, etc, but never figured out why it worked occasionally, but wouldn't work most of the time. Perhaps mine was just broken?

I also had a few other weird problems. Much like the touchpad, most reboots the bluetooth would break. In device manager, it said "power error" "device failed to turn on". It's weird, as it's the same physical card as the wifi, and the wifi worked fine. With device manager open, it would constantly flash/refresh, as if the device was repeatedly turning on and off again. Also, when running Furmark, the screen would go black for about 1/4 second at random intervals. I'm not sure if this is some improper G-sync behavior, the panel was flickering off, or error due to overheating GPU, but it really made me question it's reliability. I'm assuming all these things are hardware issues, and even if they weren't I shouldn't have to troubleshoot and fix such fundamental problems on a brand-new system, so I just sent it back.

For thermals, running Furmark and it's integrated CPU stress test for ~1 hour, with the laptop on a flat surface with the lid open, CPU temps held at 95 +/- 1 C, and GPU at 80 +/- 1 C, about what I'd expect for a 100% CPU/GPU load. There was some throttling on the CPU, but not bad. The GPU would throttle quite a bit though. Only for a second or so at a time, but it happened a few times a minute. It didn't appear to be power throttling with the 180W adapter, as the monitoring tools showed draw below 180W (not entirely accurate though), but more likely thermal throttling. It's hard to judge by looking at the pictures, but the heatsink is really small. There's hardly any surface area at all. I mean, my Clevo has easily 3x more copper.

Lastly, for those who care, many functions are broken under Linux. I should have guessed this was the case when it requires special drivers (ATK, etc) even on Windows, but the Fn+ hotkeys, screen brightness adjustment, keyboard backlight, airplane mode, etc did not work at all. I've never had a laptop where so many basic functions don't work without proprietary drivers. This is a complete deal breaker for me, though I know it probably won't make a difference for most potential customers out there.

I was really hyped when it arrived, but the excitement couldn't carry me through the hand full of issues I experienced just during the first few hours of use.

 

Is amazon going to give you a full refund without restocking fee?

wow, sounds like you aren't used to asus laptops. I can see how it's easy to get pissed off at the laptop.
Even when my previous laptops had physical mouse buttons, I never used them. I use the one/two finger tap for left and right click. I don't actually push down on the clicker.
I tested the trackpad clicker though, and I found it worked fine.
and key travel was decent enough to allow me to type fast.

When I got my old G501VW, the End key was replaced with the power button. You just have to get used to pressing Shift+Num1, or get a key remapper.

Linux is usually broken for hotkeys, even with my old laptop.

I was thinking the center of the heatsink has enough room to stick another sheet of copper on it, but it might block the bottom intake vent.

I played Watchdogs 2 again, and cpu temps held stable at mid 80s, and gpu upper 70s, and the gpu never throttled.
I don't think there's any realworld app that could stress both the cpu and gpu like benchmark tests do.

That said, I'm not planning to keep this laptop either. Just wanted to get all the info out there to inform people.

 

I had that problem with the numpad too as well as with the wireless drivers not connecting automatically. They're both actually really easy fixes and the numpad issue is a problem around a lot of Windows 10 laptops. I had a gs63vr that had that issue, and if you do some messing around in the registry edit it solves it in 5 minutes. As far as the extra programs go, it's a big pain that they haven't put up a page for the drivers yet. I ended up having to do a reset because they didn't have a page for the asus drivers I needed when I went for the clean install. And even after that I still deleted the sonic studio by mistake when I went to clean out the bloat ware

 

Yes, full refund as the non-working right click, power failure bluetooth, and screen flickering off randomly are all (possibly) hardware issues.

I did have an ASUS laptop before, but that was a decade ago and it wasn't a gaming one. It was kinda meh, but it was only a mid-range model, so I wasn't expecting much out of it. Can't really compare it to the GL502VM.

I'd agree that normal gaming wouldn't put this unrealistic load on a system, and most people probably wouldn't see throttling, but I still think the cooling solution is inadequate. And you're right about the lid blocking the vents. There's no good reason for it to do so, as the part of the lid that covers the vents is only plastic decoration; it's not like there's necessary components in there or anything.

I'd argue that Linux isn't broken for hotkeys. I had a Dell XPS, HP Envy, and still have a Lenovo Thnikpad, and they all worked 100% without issue from the day they were released. The Dell even had these weird backlight touch-sensitive buttons for media control. My current Clevo P650 works except for the airplane mode hotkey, but that can be easily replicated by a right-click on the taskbar network icon. I think the issue is that all those ACPI functions aren't handled by hardware, like in most other laptops, but by software that requires special drivers. Other gaming laptops may be the same, as they all seem to offer their own propitiatory "Software Control Center" crap that some laptop manufacturers seem to think is a feature. Things like the non-functional media keys wouldn't bother me, but having no way to adjust screen brightness or turn on the keyboard backlight are deal breakers.

 

oh yeah, i saw that screen flicker. It went away after I disabled gsync. I think this is not an uncommon problem with gsync. Gsync seems to be immature.

I really don't think gsync should be on a 60hz screen with a gpu this powerful, which can do 60fps anyway.
it's unnecessary and a waste of battery without optimus.
They should have added hdmi 2.0 and Optimus, for 4k TV monitors and battery life.

 

Yeah, I think I'm just going to get the new version of my Clevo. It can switch back and forth between G-Sync and Optimus in the BIOS. It's a boring upgrade, but at least I know it'll work the way I want it to.

 

Update: found out what the issue was on my fps. It was just G-sync matching it with my monitor refresh rate. When I turned it off, I was getting 140-160ish fps. Overall, I'm happy with this laptop and intend on keeping it. It's not perfect, it can get pretty loud and slightly hot under load, the trackpad isn't the greatest, and the battery life is nothing to write home about, but the benefits outweigh the flaws of it (at least for me). I definitely feel like I need to learn how to repaste though, and do it to this system (or hire a professional to do it for me)

 

Repasting is super easy unless you're using the liquid metal stuff. There's dozens of guide online you can find with a quick search. You'll probably gain a degree or two (which can make a difference), but don't expect any drastic change. Kyronaut seems to be the best stuff available at the moment: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011F7W3LU/

 

have you tried undervolting the cpu ? ,since the cpu is running at 1.1V you might get a 10~15C temperature reduction with a 100mv ~150mv undervolt, it's alot more efficient than repasting the machine(it will also improve your battery life) ,it will only take intel extreme utility and some stress tests ,i would recommend doing it since its very easy and there are alot of guide out there for it

if you want to lower it deeper you can undervolt the gtx 1070 ,this guy
lowered his graphics card power consumption to 93W down from 150W(he has the desktop version, the laptop version is 120w ,such reduction could have solved the skylake power drain issue) not all gtx 1070 will reach such numbers especially the laptop versions since they have more shaders,and i would advise against undervolting the gpu if you aren't an advanced user but the gains from undervolting the gpu in terms of battery life and temperature is bigger than the cpu (gpu results also vary more than the cpu)

 

I've never actually tried undervolting before, but it seems pretty useful so I may give it a shot.

 

undervolting the cpu is really easy and the gains in temperatures and battery life are really quite noticeable if you are interested here how its done (if you are interested)
1download intel extreme utilty
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24075/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU-
2 download prime 95 (stress test)
http://www.mersenne.org/download/

3 move the core voltage offset and the cache voltage offset to -100mv(-0.1V) and the in intel extreme utility

4 open prime 95 and stress test for 10 minute~20 minutes if your cpu didnt have a problem, go back to intel extreme utility and decrease it even further by -5mv and stress test every time ,if you get a windows blue screen or a freeze just increase the voltage (if you get it at -120mv ,just go back to the last undervolt your cpu held -115mv and apply changes ) it really looks scary ,but it's really easy ,most kaby lake processor are in the -100mv~-130mv range ,which may give you up to 12~14c reduction in cpu temperature

note : if you get i windows blue screen ,don't worry your machine will just restart and intel extreme utility will revert the undervolt ,just go back to intel extreme utility and increase the voltage a bit over where you got the blue screen while testing (if you get a blue screen when your cpu was -130mv ,just wait until it restarts and open intel extreme utility and set the voltage offset to the last undervolt your cpu held)
this guy has an gs43vr which have worse cooling then your device ,and undervolting the cpu gave him room to overclock the gpu
https://www.reddit.com/r/MSILaptops/comments/5oqgyl/msi_gs43vr_7re_undervolting_overclocking_temps/

 

Hi all,

Appreciate all the activity and info here. I am going a little crazy making a final decision on my purchase.

Last week I purchased the Asus GL502V-DS71 - I returned it immediately since there was significant light bleed (glow?). I wasn't much of a fan of the trackpad, or the keyboard either. Both felt like I was skating on ice, if that makes any sense. Otherwise I actually liked the looks, was nice and light, and didn't find that the monitor really obstructed the rear vents as much as photos would indicate.

I started the exchange process with Amazon, then stumbled upon a flash sale which saved me $600 on the MSI GT62VR Pro-087. This brought the price down $300 Canadian dollars less than the GL502VS-DS71. I pulled the trigger on this deal, now both the replacement Asus and the MSI are being shipped and I have the option to return either one of them.

After pouring over reviews and forums I have come up with reasons for keeping each:


MSI GT62VR 6RE-025CA Dominator Pro - Gsync 1070 16gb 256 SSD 1TB HDD
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01J7H9IKY/ref=pe_386430_126088100_TE_item

1) Display - No reports of light bleed and overall positive feedback
2) Better cooling due to a better build
3) Better keyboard and trackpad (I use a mouse anyway)




Asus GL502VS-DS71 - Gsync 1070 16gb 128 SSD 1TB HDD
https://www.amazon.ca/Asus-GL502VS-...e=UTF8&qid=1485118447&sr=8-2&keywords=gl502vs

1) Kaby Lake i7-7700HQ - upgrade over the i7-6700HQ
2) 120hz display upgrade over the MSI's 60hz
3) Thinner and lighter


I guess I want to know if the cpu and 120hz upgrades are really significant enough to make up for the keyboard and cooling concerns. Anything I haven't mentioned here, I am not really concerned about (ie. speakers, looks etc) I really just want the best gaming performance and nicest display. That is, IF the replacement doesn't have too much annoying yellow glow (major deal breaker). My last gaming laptop was the Asus G73-SW which had a great premium feel, and lasted forever.

I am gonna post this in the MSI owners forum as well, hopefully it's not against the rules.

Thanks in advance!

 

1 the gt62vr is much cooler ,its cpu can hold 3.1 ghz compared to the asus which will most likely throttle to 2.8~3.1 ghz ,you can also change the profile to turbo in the msi which will over clock the cpu to 3.8ghz(it will also overclock the gpu) which will make it faster than the kaby lake

2 the gt62vr have better battery life

3 MSI have better promos for its laptop owners ,some people got wath dogs 2 and mafia 3 for free

do i think 120hz is worth it to justify all that ?
nope ,even if both are at the same price go for the GT62VR 60Hz is still smooth ,and the GT62VR runs cooler while overclocked compared to the asus while throttling,go for the asus if you want a gtx 1070 in a slim and light package if gaming is your primary concern go MSI all the way

 

This is afterall an Asus thread / forum / area, so there will be people that don't care that the larger MSI will do better, because there are also larger Asus laptops that will also cool better

The MSI laptops are great, but so are the Asus one's.

The thin laptops are going to have trade-off's in cooling and noise, but they make up for it in easy carry weight and a more pleasing on the eye design - to the prospective buyer.

I like these thin ones too, and I wouldn't expect to push them to the limits like I do my thicker model laptops.

It's clear you can't put a 20lb sack of thermal load into a 10lb box and think it's going to work the same.

"It's not that the Bear is a particularly good Bicyclist, it's that the Bear can ride a Bicycle at all that is amazing" - Somebody watching a Bear Ride a Bicyle.

 

i

a not saying ASUS laptops are bad ,the gl502vs mobility/performance are great ,but he specifically said he wanted game performance and he also said the gt62vr was 300$ CAD cheaper ,i don't think the mobility of the asus would make up for the price difference, but thats just my opinion ,and the gt62vr is only 0.5 kg heavier.

 

That's cool, but he is looking at this model, so something about it caught his eye, he likes it, so it's still a contender for him

 

yeah its still a great laptop ,i am personally considering it since after i undervolt the cpu and gpu ,it will run in the mid-high 70's which is great enough for me ,but a 600$ off on an msi gt62vr is something hard to refuse

 

Is that $600 savings for the shiny new highly desirable Kabylake version or for the hugely overstocked "we gotta move these puppies now or get stuck with them" Skylake version?

 

sk

skylake and kaby lake have the same ipc ,meaning a i7 7700hq running at 3.3 ghz is slower than an i7 6700hq running at 3.4ghz ,even if its on the skylake version its still a steal

 

I'm not saying the Skylake isn't a good deal, I am saying that's why it's cheaper, it's not the new stuff it's the old model, maybe just as good within a gnat's eyelash, but it's still old stock now.

The low price is because the vendors are all trying to get them sold so they aren't stuck with them long term.

The Kabylake parts are clocked higher, and seem to OC better - OC only for the 7820HK and 7920HQ, so there is that going for them.

Plus the video codec's in the iGPU for Netflix 4k and probably other services are only in Kabylake, you can't currently do those with Skylake - hopefully someday.

$600 is a great discount, but your resale value is also gonna drop too.

Lots of things to consider when buying a newly released laptop and the previous model laptop.

 

can

can you change the 4 core multiplier in throttlestop for i7 6700hq ?
my i7 5500u ,despite not being overclockable allowed my to change them from 29× to 30× ,if this can be done with i7 6700hq it will reach 3.3ghz at 4 cores allowing it to match the kabylake performance, but your points are quite solid too

 

Nope not the 6700HQ, but noone has reported yet if the same limitation is on the 7700HQ

The 7920HQ is allowing the owner to change the multiplier in a much wider range than the 6920HK, so anything's possible, but I wouldn't count on the 7700HQ being settable
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...scussion-thread.794965/page-368#post-10439183

 

6700hq is default 35/31/31/31

you cannot change it at all, unless you want to disable turbo and run the chip at 2.7ghz

 

it's 35/33/31/31 btw ,it sucks that you can't change it ,lets hope kabylake allows you to change it ,the i7 7700hq could run at 38/37/36/36

 

The more I read up on the CPU's, it looks like the Kaby lake is almost a non factor. My decision comes down to the 120hz vs the 60hz and ergonomics. I am really leaning towards the MSI now, I dont mind a little bulkiness in exchange for cooling.

Also, can someone confirm that the gl502VS-DS71 comes with an IPS display? I am hearing otherwise on the MSI forum.

 

Compare the base and Turbo Frequencies of the Skylake vs Kabylake.
http://ark.intel.com/compare/97185,88967,88969,88972,97462,97464

300mhz and 200mhz increases aren't much, but you can't get those speeds with a 6700HQ or a 6820HK.

The 6820HK OC's reliably to 4.0ghz - sometimes higher, but the 7820HK seems to want to rev even higher

 

Looked up the hardware ID. It looks like it's a AHVA panel. So it's not a true IPS panel, but it's much nicer than a normal TN panel.

 

AHVA is "IPS-like", basically IPS but made by someone other than the "IPS" trademark holder so they have to use their own "proprietary name.

Like "Champagne" vs "Sparkling Wine".

 

Right. I did put it side by side with the Razer Blade I was when I finished setting it up (it was a full hd IPS panel). I'd say it's about 90% as nice as the razer in terms of colors and blacks. You're basically trading off that 10% for really good response times, and you get used to the panel pretty quickly as far as colors go. I'd say worth it, but a persons needs may vary.

 

Hey, do you have the model number handy? I'd like to compare it directly to the LP156WF6-SPB1 - MSI Panel

 

Monitor Name (Manuf): AUO B156HAN04.3

 

Have you considered the Clevo's as an option? I just ordered a P650HP with the 1060. They also offer the P650HS with the 1070, which is a few mm thicker, but otherwise identical. You can chose between the LG 1080p G-Sync 60Hz IPS, the AUO 1080p 120Hz TN G-Sync, and a Samsung 4k IPS. They also allow you to switch between G-Sync and Optimus, instead of being stuck to one or the other, and have a robust cooling solution. Take a look: https://www.gentechpc.com/Sager-NP8157-Clevo-P650HS-G-nVidia-GTX-1070-8G-p/sager-np8157.htm

Edit: The HP/HS models are the brand new Kaby Lake ones, and there aren't any reviews out on them yet. However, there are dozens of reviews for the P650RS / RP, which are the otherwise identical Sky Lake versions.

 

I've looked at some Clevo/Sager Models but I live in Canada and the prices are much higher than Asus or MSI equivalents.

 

Have you tried Eurocom? They are a canadian co. that sells clevos and you get 10% off if you are student.

 

I checked out the F5 and found it to be quite pricey and didnt look much further. Like I said earlier in the thread, I was able to purchase the GT62VR 6RE-025CA with 1070 for $1400 USD (1899 CAD) and didnt come anywhere close to that with other models.

 

I wonder why that is. The Clevo's here in the US are generally ~$200 cheaper than their ASUS/MSI equivalents. Then again, I usually order them without storage drives or OS (I already have both, and that's not an option w/ the retail brands) and that keeps the price down a bit.

PROTIP: if you use Windows, it's worth paying a bit extra to get a retail license instead of an OEM one, as you can move the license between systems when you upgrade, whereas an OEM license gets tossed along with the system it was initially installed on. Of course this only applies to laptops if you can get one without paying for an OEM Windows license, which AFAIK is only possible with Clevo and Dell.

 

or just save the money and keep using an unregistered Windows. It only has a watermark, but is otherwise fully functional.

 

I have the MSI ge62vr and it's quite thin and stays cool...playing overwatch CPU is between high 50s - mid 60s celcius. GPU 70c. Highest I've seen GPU is 71c. I've never run the cooler boost so not sure how low that would take temps.

 

Just got the GL502VSK today. Right now I'm just trying it out to see if I actually think it could do what I want, but so far I'm pretty satisfied. The only major issues I've had are the occasional coil whine and the backlight bleed. I'm not sure if replacing the unit would fix either, but I'm gonna give it some more time before I decide. I ran a few benches/games and am impressed with the performance of the 1070. I want to do a few more tests to see how hot it will get on average. Didn't seem bad based on Firestrike, and I've been able to use it in my lap while gaming without it getting too hot.

 

all cpu's skylake and after have coil whine. Earlier generation cpus probably have it too. I hear light staticky noises under light loads.

As for light bleed, you'll probably have to go through 10 units to find one that is near perfect. I have very slight glow in 2 spots along the bottom edge, and a very diffuse glow in the upper right corner, otherwise hardly visible unless I'm in a totally dark room, and the screen is completely black, which is rare.

I've always wondered though... is there backlight bleed when the lcd is NOT installed into the lid, at the LG factory?

 

After some testing I decided to send it back. The CPU was pushing 92c after a few minutes of Tomb Raider w/DX12 and all Max. The coil whine at idle was also driving me crazy. It sounded like a hard drive was thrashing every few seconds. I think for the price if you can put up with any defects it's a solid purchase, but I'm willing to spend more money for something that has better cooling and a better display. I think I'll take a look at Sager or MSI, just not sure which models have the best cooling.

 

I guess I got lucky with mine then, there's no coil whine or backlight bleed on mine. The only problem is the hard drive whines a bit every now and then, but I plan on removing that completely when I get a new ssd. If you don't mind not having a brand name, I'd say go with sager, they're pretty well built from what I understand, the cooling is pretty nice, and you can still get a 120hz screen as an option.

 

The lid's front bezel on the Clevo's pops right off exposing the bare panel, and all of the backlight bleeding along the sides goes away, so I'd assume most bleeding issues come from imperfect fitting inside the lid.

 

that's what i suspected. it would be unacceptable if it left the factory this way.

So it's the uneven bezel pressure that is causing the bleed.

 

Yeah, I think I would still recommend the laptop to other people, but for me it just wasn't what I wanted. I was pretty impressed with it outside of the heat/coil whine, but I like that the Sager has more storage and memory options and seemingly better cooling.

 

You sure you don't have coil whine? put your ear to the center of the keyboard.
This is what you should hear...


My 502vm has this noise all the time at idle. It's still a common complaint with kaby lake.
But I don't mind it.

 

It doesn't sound quite like that, but I'm kind of unsure now. I found a good price on an ssd so I'll be able to find out for sure once i've switched everything out. I'll make sure to let you know. Even if it is coil whine, it's not too bad, so I'll still be keeping it.

 

Off topic-ish, but does anyone know where to get a good enclosure for an m.2 pcie ssd? I've been looking around for one for the one thats coming in for my laptop, but the only ones I can find support m.2 sata.

 

Hey all, I picked up the Kaby Lake version of this laptop a few days ago and looked at temps for alien isolation and fallout 4 on ultra for about 30 mins each. I was hitting high 60s for the GPU and mid to high 70s low 80s for the CPU. This was during early points in the game where there wasn't a whole lot going on or many NPCs but the temps weren't as scary as I thought they would be. The lower bezel of the screen was definitely warm due to the rising hot air from the vents. Although I wasn't happy with the fact that the lid does raise behind the vents, performance-wise I didn't see big impacts.

Perhaps the games that I played on weren't too graphic intense?
Any suggestions on other titles that would push it more?

From the feedback on these forums, I was seriously thinking about exchanging the GL502VM for another brand due to thermals. The problem is that when you compare the price point for what you get, there are no competitors with the same feature set - i.e. Kaby Lake, Thunderbolt, quality IPS display. I've scoured each brand and don't see anything comparable. I was even contemplating downgrading to a Skylake MSI Apache but in the end felt this was not the way to go. Looks like I may actually stick with this model particularly if the gaming tests show that thermals aren't as bad as some have reported.

Thoughts?

 

most games don't stress the cpu and gpu simultaneously, so it's normal to see lower temps.

I stress tested both, and the only penalty was slight throttling for the cpu. Otherwise, both cpu and gpu were within spec.

But paying $1500 for this is full retail price, and a little high for what you get.... a crappy 128gb m2 ssd and a slightly faster kaby cpu.
Considering the skylake version was selling for $1235 shortly after release, the extra m2 ssd and cpu isn't worth the $265 difference.

I also noticed that the silver paint wears off easily. I found a few black spots on the bottom where the paint didn't cover completely.