ASUS ROG Zephyrus GX501 Owner's Lounge

What good is this test if gaming on ultra settings temps are decent?
It doesn't throttle under normal usage so what's the point.
I never understood running Prime and Furmark together to see how high temps get since both stress the system way beyond your normal use.
Sure I understand some people run CPU heavy programs but then again if your looking for a laptop that runs CPU dependent work there are better laptops for that.

 

I'm sure it is somewhat luck of the draw with factory stamped on paste. Heck, I've even had the occasional Alienware 15/17 current gen models with good paste applications (not talking quality of paste, just quality of application) .

 

When I see high temp aka +80/90c with only half the rated 45w TDP for the processor, I wonder what's up. Wouldn't you wonder what's wrong? And none talk about P95 and Furmark. Both of those Stress tests is useless for testing out what's wrong with the cooling in the notebooks. That's why Aida64 is a better choice. Same with running some known benchmark tests.

 

I'm just talking in general and not pointing the finger at you, I'm sure there are many uses for Aida64 but most people are just interested in a normal temps usage/gaming and so far the cooling system gets the job done , not saying it has the best cooling but for a thin and lite laptop it's pretty good while still keeping fan noise in check.

 

I would love to see Aida64 stress test temps on another system this thin/light and with at least a 1070.

 

@Darkhan
Since you have both this model( Max Q) and Aorus X7 both with GTX 1080 exactly how many more or less FPS to you get in games?
Would love to see exactly how much less performance you get with Max Q.
If you had to choose one or the other which one would it be?
One thing that really bothers me is excessive fan noise and the does the Zypherus still get loud when overclocking the GPU?
Thanks.

 

FPS is about the same on all games I have tried on both machines, not enough difference for the current games to make a clear winner, newer games releasing later this year may be another story but I think will still be close.

As Far as overall system choice, if I had to pick just one. It would be the GX501 due to size, weight, Fan noise is incredible low (regardless what some people post DB is, the actual noise you hear is nothing) Keyboard is pretty good. Now with that being said, I still love the X7, the screen in 4k is absolutely beautiful, the sound from the speakers is better than the asus (the asus is not terrible but lacking)

The biggest negative I can see from the Asus is the one hard drive slot, so you should consider at least upgrading to a 1tb.

 

Thanks for the honest answer, even though the GTX 1080 Max Q is not a full power GPU its shows its still pretty potent.
The tradeoffs you make with the ASUS are well worth it in my opinion.
Wish they had a 17" version, I wouldn't be able to resist.

 

Hello, happy (I guess?) Zephyrus owners!
When it got announced I thought I had my laptop dreams fulfilled, but tests/reviews show it makes a lot of trade offs (obviously).
@Darkhan , since you also have the X7 DT which I'm eyeing (together with the X5 and the P650), could you compare battery life? It seems like the biggest flaw, and Aoruses have 94whr

 

Nvidia 1080 Max-Q Laptop Gaming Benchmarks


The ROG Zephyrus’ innovative cooling lets a thin gaming laptop play like a desktop
http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/06/27/rog-zephyrus-gx501-thin-gaming-laptop-hands

 

That's the same sound level measured by @Darkhan for his new Max-Q 1080 Zephyrus at load.

He had 55dBA measured at head level here in this post, but it looks like he edited that detail out...

Darn, it looks like he edited out all those 50-55dba entries in his posts...

What's up with that @Darkhan ? If it's true, and you posted it, why add to the Max-Q deceptions by editing out the useful details?

I was quite impressed that you posted the honest real measurements even though it disproved Asus's Max-Q claim of 39dBA - what happened?

 

Measuring Noise is very particular to the ambient room noise, the precise location of the meter, I removed because I personally think I should have took my time, turned off the ceiling fans, turned off the AC and recreated a lab like result.

Yes I measured 55db, actually 55 with spikes of 56-57. But without performing proper technique I felt like I should remove until I have time to test it in the lowest noise environment ( i think this is what the reviews did?)

I live in a large home with all tile floors and hardwood. I just don't think my noise test are up to par to post unless I felt sure about them.

 

Your measurements are as valid as any other owner report, given the vagaries of our environments that we all face, it's a real life test, no anechoic chamber is going to provide that.

If you want to couch your readings in some kind of disclaimer, that's cool, I understand wanting to provide context, but quietly removing them from half a dozen posts isn't the way to do it.

Please add the disclaimer, but please don't remove readings completely without explanation, that's part and parcel with hiding the truth.

You did the right thing to start, thanks for reposting them

 

A quiet room measures 40db, such as the average quiet room in a home without a fan or AC blowing.

 

ASUS ROG Zephyrus GX501 Gaming Laptop Review

 

ayyy its now an owner's lounge


Having some issues with framerate drops in bf1 and NVidia not showing in the taskbar at all. not sure gysnc is working. trackpad a little over sensitive for long distance movements and zooms when scrolling sometimes (very sensitive pinch zoom). Speakers are eh. Can't figure out exactly how sonic studio works...

 

It says 240w on mine. Actual consumption even on benchmarks tops out at 180w

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

Measured at the wall? Or summed up from hwinfo64 or other tools?

If Asus supplied a 180w PSU, which they could have - I'm sure that would have been a bad idea with lots of failures in the field.

You need to leave a nice margin for safe operation. Those PSU's get hot especially near their limits

 

Measured using a kill-a-watt

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

That's pretty accurate, but can miss transient peaks that might be even higher.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alternative-to-kill-a-watt-with-peak-feature.675834/

I don't have a specific suggestion for an inexpensive peak reading meter, but if you find one please let us know

 

Folks, I picked up a Zephyrus just a couple of days ago. Noticed immediately that one of the four USB ports power any device connected to it. Reinstalled the chipset drivers without success.

Asus recommends sending in for RMA. I thought I'd check in with you for any thoughts before I pack it up.

 

asus just emailed me again 2+ weeks later... Told me again to get the psu from a reseller. I went and checked online. Still no PSUs being sold by resellers in the US... LMAO!

 

What's the model / make / tech specs for this one? Usually Asus just uses their off the shelf 180w, 230w, 330w PSU's, what's the big deal about this one? Asus has been using a 230w PSU for many years, there should be los of places to buy one, google it

https://www.google.com/search?q=asus+230w+power+supply

230W LAPTOP CHARGER
SKU : CHARG230WG750PN : 0A001-00390000
OUR PRICE $134
https://www.asus-accessories.com/la...MIovucooqK1gIVFLnACh217gJ3EAQYBCABEgKPKvD_BwE

Amazon Shop - stick with the original Delta models:
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=asus+230w+power+adapter\

 

The gx501 has its own "special" PSU...

 

What makes it special? If it has the same connector, whether it has other features or not - like USB port - it doesn't matter as long as the power spec is the same. It might be a different shape PSU, lighter or moderized, but if it as the same pin out connector, you should be able to use the traditional model 230w PSU.

I suppose you already asked Asus if their traditional 230w PSU will work?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_od...+jack.TRS0&_nkw=asus+230w+power+jack&_sacat=0

Please post a photo of your GX501 power jack and PSU laptop power connector so we can see the difference.

https://www.google.com/search?q=asu...7#imgdii=DjMrseSyVaOVkM:&imgrc=1oCmx9KNjlgtkM:

 

@mason2smart - here's a Asus GX501 specific Asus branded PSU being sold:

Asus Rog GX501 GX501V GX501VI Charger Ac Adapter 230w
http://lps-gopower.com/lps-ac-adapt...v-gx501vi-charger-ac-adapter-230w-p-7263.html

 

wow! you actually found one!

 

@mason2smart - so what happened with your "100c CPU" Zephyrus?

Did you swap it out? How's it running?

 

no time to play anyways.... if it has an issue ill get it replaced.... I store all important things in onedrive anyways...

 

So are you using it? Or are you using another laptop for the most part?

 

im currently using the tablet a lot but ill be doing most of my coding and word processing on the zephyrus.

 

Cool, glad to hear the tablet is working out

Please come back and let us know how the GX501 does with your school work and when you have free time to get back to gaming... in 4-6 year's

 

RAM Speeds...

 

Been having a slight issue with the trackpad... its not sensitive to small movements and seems to make the mouse go towards the top of the screen. this is evident when making circles with my finger -- i find myself lowering my circles to keep the pointer in the center of the screen. The trackpad seems to not be sensitive in some areas and for some reason sometimes completely rejects my fingers even though its on the highest sensitivity (or its for some reason turning down the pointer speed)

 

The barrel connector is different...id say unique as i've been looking for another adapter with the same size for 2 weeks now without any luck. Was planning on transplanting the cable to a smaller 185w brick. By my measurements its 6.0mmx3.5mm with center pin. Can someone validate?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

Anybody checking their Zephy's battery wear levels? I use Battery Bar and it is showing 7.4% wear after only 3 full discharge-recharge cycles

Can anyone else check theirs and report back?

 

Anyone else thinking of upgrading the 512GB NVME SSD on their Zephy's? I just ordered a 1TB PM961 off Amazon for US$399

 

Battery wear levels are the OCD'er's quicksilver, and yet means little or nothing when you understand what it really means.

The pre-programmed estimate of capacity is just that, a theoretical target for a particular capacity that may or may not be the actual manufacturing target of the unit you have. Plus there are variations from "perfection", so a few percent more or less than average - probably around 8% is normal.

After a few charge discharge cycles, or maybe a bunch of smaller ones, the "wear level" stabilizes, the absolute number doesn't really matter as it's really the "zero level" for that particular battery.

My wear levels have been 5%, 4%, 8%, and I have seen 15% all stable after months, years, and as an actual wear level it doesn't mean anything until way down the line when the battery starts loosing capacity due to age, and that number starts increasing again.

Even when the number starts increasing again you should still get years of life from a typical laptop battery, probably through the first 2 or 3 owners.

Occasionally someone gets a bad battery out of the box, and that number keeps increasing over days and weeks, if that happens it's time to RMA it for a new one. I've seen on occasion that number go from 5% - 25%+, that's not good, and time to RMA.

Unfortunately unless the battery is a complete DOA it's a bad battery may not show up in the 14 day acceptance time.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I was worried because everytime i did a full discharge and recharge, the wear level increased from 3.2 to 4.5 and now to 7.4. Full discharge/recharge cycles are unavoidable with the poor battery power of the Zephys.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

My battery wear level has been around 4% constant...

 

Gx501 trackpad issues. Sensitivity randomly varying sometimes mouse won't move, lot of jitter and jumping when using the trackpad

 

Can anyone confirm this? Does anyone else have similar issues?

 

I have had no issues, and felt the trackpad was decent.

 

Occurs in bios as well

 

No issues here.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G955F mit Tapatalk

 

it's your finger, or overly sensitive trackpad. You're not going to get buttery smooth motion with a fat finger vs a laser in a mouse.

My gl502vm trackpad is kind of like that too. You think you're going in a straight line, but your finger contact patch actually varies as you slide along.
You really can't keep even pressure, even if you think you are.
your finger will be more jittery than a mouse.

Put your phone on the trackpad, and run your finger along the straight edge of it. Your mouse cursor won't travel in a straight line.

You're not going to get smooth motion unless you move your finger fast.

 

NVIDIA WhisperMode Tested - Quieter Gaming for Notebooks
Asus GX501 Max-Q 1080 vs. MSI GS63VR Max-Q 1070

 

So whispermode is a clock limiter.

Haven't people been capping their gpus with afterburner for years ?

or is whispermode more advanced ?

 

Did you watch the video?

Here's Nvidia's info area for WhisperMode:
https://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/whispermode

GFE WhisperMode add's 400+ game profile's, data for WhisperMode, so WM is adjusting game settings as well as Frame Rate.
https://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/nvidia-geforce-gtx-whispermode-for-laptops

 

maybe it varies the clockspeeds differently like a fan curve