How does the lid robustness compare to last year G17 or G15? A couple of months ago I had to return a Strix G15 G512 with a fragile plastic lid that had serious bending/twisting issues (the rest of the chassis was quite sturdy). Although this was not the main reason for returning it, I'm interested to know whether its 15" and 17" successors had solved this problem. This might prove especially important on some occasions when I travel with the laptop in my backpack.
Also, how does the G713 compare to the current Scar version, since both the Strix and Strix Scar have a metallic lid this year?
I own a ROG GL552VX from 2016 (thick bezels, aluminium lid) which seemed quite sturdy in comparison, considering the way the lid bends and flexes. I'm afraid that build quality suffered a downgrade since then, at least with regard to the screen construction.
As far as I remember without having the two side by side, the lid is stronger on the 2021 G17 and doesn't or bend when you pick it up from a concern. The metal on the Scar is somewhat even thicker though, but again, I don't have the two side by side for a direct comparison. I was quite impressed with the build quality on both
Do you think it is a better choice to combine 3070 with Ryzen 7 or 9 in case I will use my laptop mostly to work with applications for the Architecture field, such as Autocad, Revit, Adobe, Modellation app, Rendering app., etc.
What's the price difference? I wouldn't pay more than 50 USD/EUR extra for the Ryzen 9, and even then it might not be worth it. They're very similar, just slightly higher clocks on the Ryzen 9
For the moment there is no price for the configuration with Ryzen 7…the difference between the G17 and the SCAR 17 (both with 3070 + ryzen 9) is 300 €, probably due also to the extra features that you already mentioned in your article. I don't know if 300 € more are justified in this case.
The performance and thermals are going to be similar. If you don't care about the design, materials, RGB, keyboard, and audio of the Scar, then the G17 is what I'd go with.
Thank you for the suggestions. I don't really care about the RGB and partly of the design, but I definitely care about the materials and I am intrigued by the keyboard. Audio is a plus I think.
I am also considering Lenovo Legion 5 pro as an option, but I have some doubts about the size of the screen 16 inches compared to 17 inches + the resolution that probably in the case of the Lenovo will not be the best for some applications I am using.
Also regarding the stiffness of the laptop itself, the Asus seems to be well constructed.
Indeed the price of the Lenovo is very attractive.
I'm intrigued about the 5 Pro as well. Haven't touched it yet, looking forward to when available here. That 16-inch 16:10 is closer to a 15-inch screen in size with an extra part at the bottom
This interests me, I thing I will wait to see that…
I travel a lot and while I am usually willing to lug around a heavy laptop (obviously I would prefer lighter), the size is actually of a larger concern. This is simply because of how hard it is to pack a 17 vs a 15in. So the idea of a 16in 16:10 laptop being of similar size to a 15in… is interesting. My major concern is cpu single/multicore performance and to a lesser extent the GPU so long as it is in the 3070 class ( i want the larger video memory). tho larger wattage headroom is also important on the GPU it is something I am willing to "downgrade". Basically 5800H seems to fit the bill for me, 3070 (prefer larger wattage but ok with even the lower end of that), size and weight, and upgradability. (with the caveat that the whole package should be good quality). The other things are screen resolution/brightness. So I am having a lot of trouble trying to decide on which laptop to get :(
OH yea.. usage case: learning AI and doing AI training, Gaming, overall travel work/entertainment
I'd just hold on for a month or two. By April/may we'll have the Legions in stores and some reviews, as well as the new Intel Core H hardware. Plus current AMD Ryzen H will most likely be cheaper and more widely available as well.
I decided to buy this laptop after i read your review a few times and compared it with other models.
I really glad i bought it, the monitor it's really great, looks amazing , colors are beautifull.
As for thermals , well i am pleased with them.
Prime95 for 1h CPU temp at 77 degrees.
Unigine 4.0 all settings maxed out i got GPU at 78 degrees.
Aida64 + Furmark i got 83degrees CPU and 80 degrees GPU after 55minutes of testing.
As for games i only tested Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, both on everything setting to maximum, i got some 120 fps average in Witcher 3 and 65 fps Cyberpunk ( no RT ) , with RT ultra i got 35 fps ,but enabling DLSS Quality got me a stable 50-55fps and no dowside in image quality as i can see. Both Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk after 1h of playing in turbo mode were under 80 degrees, both CPU and GPU
The only think that i think is weird, is that in Witcher 3 if i set it on 60fps,sometimes the GPU goes to 100% with 700-800Mhz and then jumps back to 30-40% with 1900-2000Mhz while maintaining 60fps.
Overall i think it's a great laptop amd especially since i got it on a sale , just 1400euros :)
Hi Razvan, thanks for your feedback and I'm glad this article helped. Your temps are better than what I get on this unit.
For the 60 fps cap, you're using Whisper Mode? That's what I use and seems to be working alright.
Well i think it helps on temps that i always use my laptop on an aluminium cooler ( fans off , but still is about higher with 2cm ).
I am not using whisper mode on the 60fps cap, i just set the limit on Riva and still using Turbo mode, for in game stats i use MSI Afterburner.
I play ( when i have the time after job, wife , kid ) just offline and RPG mostlt, so over 60fps it's kind of uselles for me.
Just a litlle weird that the GPU drops on frequency sometimes, i for one haven't discovered why, can't be temps since on the 60fps cap it has something like 65-68 degrees on Witcher 3 all on ultra.
AH, ok. Is there any noticeable fps drop with the GPU clocks down to .7 GHz? The kind that would cause stuttering and be noticeable with games?
If yes, you could give whisper mode a try as well (only possible on the Silent profile), it worked pretty well for me with quiet fans and low temps.
No drop at all, fps is fixed at 60 fps, if i wouldnt have seen the MSI Afterburner stats i could never tell the GPU drops at 0.7 Mhz , so there is no problem at fps or gameplay, just that randomly ramps up to 100% with ~700Mhz then goes back to 1900-2000Mhz. I havent seen this happened in Cyberpunk. First i thought it goes on iGPU on some areas of the game , but i doubt the iGPU could give 60fps on ultra with Witcher 3.
I'll test some games and pay attention to Afterburner maybe i can see why, try even without fps .
As far as performance goes, it's great,i have just for 5 days, but i cant find a fault to this laptop, just curios why it does that sometimes :)
I have issues with a different but similar Asus Notebook: ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE:
I have recorded the issue and uploaded to YT clips for demonstration of (1) laggy behavior on external monitors: https://youtu.be/YlXHBaPzYcE (2) throttling with video-playback and gaming simultaneously: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptp9m23JVoY
The latter was quite striking, as the temps were ok and I had the fan profile set to turbo-performance.
I think throttling is quite an issue with Asus Zen3 Notebooks right now, either the VRMs are not up to specs or the BIOS needs more updates to fix it.
I haven't experienced this sort of behavior with any of the ROG laptops tested this year, but at the same time I've only connected one external monitor via DP, not two.
You should run a couple of more tests and try to figure our what's going one. For instance, have a single monitor connected via DP, then the same single monitor via HDMI, then have two (one via DP and one via HDMI). Also, try to disable the main display and see if that helps, etc. There might be an issue with the fact that the DP is hooked straight into the dGPU, while the HDMI and the internal screen go through the iGPU. The VRMs should be fine, I don't think that's the issue
I no longer have the DUO around to test this out.
If you can't figure it out, then send the laptop back if it's withing your return window.
Hi Andrei,
so far I've tested both a single monitor (4k smart tv) and a set of other two HDMI external screens. I suspected the same, that one was connected to igpu and the other to dgpu. To note: the duo won't allow external screens when the dgpu is not switched on (so igpu only is not possible). I think that most io is still done with the igpu, be it only throughput at times. Somehow this affects thermals and clock speeds, causing hangups as I have encountered. Sometimes dragging a MS Word Window alone on an external screen would cause delayed responses afterwards (typing, scrolling menu bar selections). I fear that there is a bug with Zen3 mobile chipset concerning igpu dgpu interplay, that affects core speeds in a dramatic way, this sporadically on actions like redraws.
I returned the notebook as DoA and am hoping that this is a one-off. But some other review sites are reporting strange fluctuations in core speed as well. It may be that one can deliberately trigger them in low usage scenarios, pinpointing at the real reasons they may cause them, and not only arguing that these are high peak usage related and one-offs.
I only have the scar 17 at this point and I tried replicating what you're saying, but I can't. You're still going to get a replacement for the one you've sent back? Looking forward to your feedback on this matter if you do.
Thanks in great part to this review I just threw down on a slightly different variant of this laptop. The difference is 32 Gb, against the 16 I've seen everywhere else, of same speed RAM in exchange for a downgrade on the screen to 144Hz HD IPS quality VA like the 300Hz one (it's the 5800H CPU btw)
I figured no games in my library and few I'm likely to play (not a mp/online shooter, BR/moba/esports fan) will ever push past 144Hz at high/ultra settings, even with a 3070. Besides I'm unsure if I could tell, seeing no difference between 120 and 144Hz previously.
So yeah, was a tough decision tbh made easier by such reviews as this (thanks again) and the fact that my original plan of fully upgrading my old ailing desktop and fixing my gf up one of her own ended up pricing to 3.5 grand instead of around 2 grand just for mine alone due to the scalping and mining awfulness aso atm. Far cheaper to get a £1800 fairly 4K worthy laptop for now (got the TV for it already and DLSS will help with that a lot) and letting my gf have my only 18 month old 8750H/1070 Asus ROG Strix Scar as it's more than enough for her. I'll look at desktop upgrades again in a couple of years when things are sane again maybe.
I do have one question though for you guys… how's undervolting aso do for this? I know heat will always be a thing with gaming laptops. Is Throttlestop ok for Ryzen CPU's, anybody have any advice or numbers? I had a -150.6 mv on that 8750H and it still got pretty toasty under load, even if capping fps too.
There's no UV possibility on Ryzen laptops, and as far as I can tell, probably won't be possible on future Intel models either, but we'll have to see about that. I did cover a few options that can help with temps in the G733 and GA503 articles though, would work here as well
Thanks Andrei. Well, no UV option is unfortunate. I have to ask, is there a reason/cause for that lack of UV?
Anyway, I'll be taking a look at the articles you mentioned in due course as well as swapping the barely used SM961 m.2's from my old desktop once my new toy arrives. The 1Tb for that spare slot and the 256Gb can go in my old Asus ROG G751JT to refresh and make it useful again.
As far as I understand, it's because it would be too difficult and even risky to properly support UV in the multitude of AMD laptop SKUs, without risking for people bricking their processors (which has occasionally happened with Intel models in the past). I have an article that goes over how you can get better thermals on AMD laptops on my to-do list, unfortunately, though, that implies limiting the CPU in one way or the other (disabling boost or limiting the PL1 power level), so it's not ideal, but there's not more that can be done at this point.
The price difference in these laptops with Ryzen 7 and 9 processors is about $230. Is it worth the upgrade keeping in mind that I will use this laptop for at least the next 5 years?
Also I do not have an external monitor and will be using the laptop screen as the main for all my gaming ( not much of esports, mostly just AAA titles), so will this laptop be fine to use since it has no MUX switch?
Considering the above 2 points, should I go with the G17 or wait for some other models to launch before making the decision? My budget will be around $2000.
You have all the info in the article. I wouldn't pay for the ryzen 9, and the lack of the MUX switch is documented in the gaming section in most of the Ryzen reviews here on the site.
Hello, I have bought this laptop and was quite happy with it in the first week. However a few days ago there was a bios update in the update tool (not yet on the website) to update the firmware to 317, which I did.
Since then I'm getting a lot lower FPS in games. The main game I play is warzone, where I went from 110 fps with everyone on max (no raytracing) to 80 fps. I have the feeling the GPU doesn't clock so high anymore, max temp on turbo is 54 degrees celcius after half an hour of playing. Is this something you could check maybe on your laptop if you also have this issue?
Thank you!
I no longer have the laptop. Try to restart the laptop when this happens and see if it does anything. Also, switch between the Balanced, Turbo and Manual modes and against see if it makes a difference. HW Info and GPUz can help figure out if the GPU works right. 54 on Turbo does not sound right.
As it's looking now it's indeed boot related.
Some boots I get 115-125 watts of GPU power, and if I test games on the same boot then it looks for now that it always gets the max power.
Some boots it only gives around 50 to 60 watts and then every game I boot in that boot gets only that low amount of watts.
Any idea how to fix? I'm tempted to send it back. I love the laptop except for that. But it doesn't sound hardware related but maybe firmware or something? any thoughts?
Thank you in any case :)
looks like software, but idk what you can do to reliably fix it
Harold
May 25, 2021 at 5:06 am
Hi Andrei, about this 1080p screen versus a qhd panel, do you really notice a difference in detail/sharpness while gaming? I heard from someone you will only notice a difference in 2D, sharper text, but in-game you won't really notice. What's your opinion about this?
Both FHD and QHD should be fine if you're coming from an FHD laptop. Once you go QHD though, which indeed paints slightly crisper fonts and text, I'd say you'll get used to it quickly and be able to tell the difference when switching back to FHD. The difference is little to none with games or videos, like you mentioned
I have a question, I'm really interested in this laptop and your review confort me in my choice but I never bought any laptop before, I only bought pc parts and built full sized gaming pc so I had two questions.
First, temps aside, are the CPU/GPU the same theoretical performances as if they were put in a full sized pc.
And the second which is my most important one is that I heard that laptops and especially gaming laptops tends to slowly decay over time (losing perf etc…) Is this true or just a rumor?
no, laptop components are lower-power variants of what's available for PCs, and their performance scales down with the power. The difference is greater on the GPUs, especially on the high-tier models (3080, 3070), and less on the CPUs.
As for the performance, it doesn't degrade per see, but in time the thermal module might clog up with dust and the thermal paste might dry up, so a thorough clean and repaste would help after 2 years or so. Generally, these also happen on PCs, but the whole repasting/cleaning processor is easier than on a laptop. Repasting a laptop would also most likely void the warranty, so keep that in mind as well.
I'm considering getting this/the new Legion 5 pro or last year's Razer Blade 15 advanced model (same spec as the one you reviewed last year with the 2080 super and the 1080p 300hz panel) (all available at the same price where I am rn) for school, since I'm an engineering student I need the 8gb of VRAM for some apps and the 8 physical cores help a lot with running some heavier apps. The razer blade wins in size and portability but this and the legion 5 pro win in performance.. any recommendations on what to do?
We'll have a review of the Legion 5 Pro shortly. I'd suggest getting in touch with Derek once that's published, because he owns a Razer Blade 15 Advanced and he's the own reviewing the 5 Pro as well, should be able to help you out. ETA for the article is a couple of days
Marco
July 25, 2021 at 1:39 pm
Hi, how do you feel about trackpad position? Cause I really don't understand why they insist on shifting them A LOT to the left in 17.3" notebooks, when I'm supposed to rest the palm most of the time cause these are GAMING notebooks. I found it a truly idiot design choice that could've easily been fixed just by shifting the trackpad 1-2 cm to the right to gain more palmrest area or keep the old size, as it was on the old 17" model.
I'm imagining playing games with part of the trackpad almost always under my palm, with those stickers also in the way, and this is probably the only thing that keeps me from buying this machine.
How did you feel it while playing? How much uncomfortable is it?
this doesn't really bother me. I find it a bit odd with laptops that shift the trackpad this way, but I'd say you can get used to it after a little bit. Palm rejection is also OK on Asus laptops, so no complaint about that. As for the stickers, peel them off!
You can see that they are not dedicated keys in the pictures
Gabriel
November 12, 2021 at 9:19 pm
Hi Andrei,
One quick question, how did you connect the external monitor to the the laptop? via HDMI? or via USB 3.2 gen 2 (Type-C) adapter to DisplayPort?
Did you manage to get G-Sync working? (from what I know and was able to find online is that G-Sync works only with Display Port).
And one final question, do you know if video connection via USB 3.2 gen 2 (Type-C) is going directly to the dGPU? or via the iGPU (similarly to the built-in screen) ?
I bought the Asus ROG Strix G713QR-ES96Q on 12/9/2021 for $1900. It has Ryzen R9-5900HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 with the WQHD display (2560 x 1440). It seemed like a great deal at the time. The picture is beautiful and very high definition. However after about 9 months, it would constantly switch from charging to battery. Rotating the power plug to a different position fixed the problem for another 9 months until I could barely find a position to get it to charge. I never put any stress on the cord. Looking into the power jack with a flashlight shows prongs that are pretty flattened. I tried to bend out with a pin but can't get at the inner barrel prongs. The power jack is a bad design and I would guess everyone has this problem on this machine after a few months. Comparing to a Dell machine, I can see it is a much better design, The prongs protrude out much more. I tried to fill out a repair ticket with Asus, but it's just past the 1-year warranty. I figured I could unsolder the power jack and re-solder a new one, but I really screwed up because somehow I knocked out some of those tiny resistors by the power jack. If you still have this laptop, I wonder if you can take a close up picture of the motherboard in this location, so I can see which components are missing. I found one, which I measured as a 15 k-ohm resistor, but it looks like two other locations were knocked out next to it by the look of the solder. It is tiny and hard to see. They are most likely the same value resistors but I can't be sure. I would like to verify which locations and simple picture would tell me this. Can you send me a close up picture of the motherboard a the power jack location, from the back with only the back cover of the laptop removed? I can send you a picture of mine so you know the location if you would be kind to reply to my email. As it is right now, my $2000 (after tax) has been thrown away after 1 year because it is no longer usable. Asus support won't sell me a new motherboard, won't tell me the components missing, and wants me to send it to them for a useless $85 diagnostic fee when I already know what's wrong. And that's before I pay the charge for a new motherboard as well as their service fee and shipping charges, in addition to being out of a laptop for probably 3 months.
Another thing I seriously hated are the F1-F12 keys. Because they are not see-through, all you can see in the dark are the symbols that only apply to this Asus laptop. I can never get used to the mapping in my games to the F1-F12 keys with some strange symbols. It's so bad, I would never buy an Asus again because of this even without the bad power plug problem. I scratched the F key symbols at the upper right over the paint so that the light would show through the clear plastic keys. It took about an hour to neatly scratch each one so that it didn't look bad. But that wasn't good enough. They show dimly because there is only one backlight in the middle of each key. When I compare to my Dell (just pop a key out) it has multiple backlights behind each key, in the locations just behind any symbols on the keyboard. So it shows through well on my Dell for symbols at the corner of the key as well as the center. Dell really does their keyboard right, and their power jack, which still connects well even after years of use. I can see the prongs are not flattened.
I got really screwed with this laptop. Asus support is horrible, and it has a bad design defect with the power plug and the F1-F12 key problem is something I found out has existed for a long time. They won't listen to their users who continually complain about this. I would never touch an Asus again.
This was the las Asus laptop in my life. After 2 years I used it only for 12 months maybe because it broke. When it came back I couldn't handle to abandon my other seconhand laptop that I had to buy for the servicing period, becouse everything about this ROG Strix was annoying. It starts with the keyboard, and finishes with performance for work apps. It was not so greatly higher than computer based on old quadro M2200M and 7th gen i7. Insanely poor quality of the body is additional disadvantage, not mentioning the look of a toy that I'm guessing was suppose to be aggresive gamers domain. Worst decision ever to buy this.
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Table of ContentsThe Best Premium fanless laptops and ChromebooksFull-size fanless laptopsFanless ultrabooks and Windows ultra-portablesFanless Windows-running Mini laptops In this article, we’re discussing fanless laptops and silent Windows ultrabooks...
Adi
March 4, 2021 at 7:55 pm
How does the lid robustness compare to last year G17 or G15? A couple of months ago I had to return a Strix G15 G512 with a fragile plastic lid that had serious bending/twisting issues (the rest of the chassis was quite sturdy). Although this was not the main reason for returning it, I'm interested to know whether its 15" and 17" successors had solved this problem. This might prove especially important on some occasions when I travel with the laptop in my backpack.
Also, how does the G713 compare to the current Scar version, since both the Strix and Strix Scar have a metallic lid this year?
I own a ROG GL552VX from 2016 (thick bezels, aluminium lid) which seemed quite sturdy in comparison, considering the way the lid bends and flexes. I'm afraid that build quality suffered a downgrade since then, at least with regard to the screen construction.
Andrei Girbea
March 5, 2021 at 10:23 am
As far as I remember without having the two side by side, the lid is stronger on the 2021 G17 and doesn't or bend when you pick it up from a concern. The metal on the Scar is somewhat even thicker though, but again, I don't have the two side by side for a direct comparison. I was quite impressed with the build quality on both
Mike88
March 5, 2021 at 1:07 pm
Please update GPU-Z screenshot with last version of GPUZ wich u can find to download, and it's showing the real values. It's very important.
Ivan
March 6, 2021 at 4:57 pm
Do you think it is a better choice to combine 3070 with Ryzen 7 or 9 in case I will use my laptop mostly to work with applications for the Architecture field, such as Autocad, Revit, Adobe, Modellation app, Rendering app., etc.
Andrei Girbea
March 6, 2021 at 5:12 pm
What's the price difference? I wouldn't pay more than 50 USD/EUR extra for the Ryzen 9, and even then it might not be worth it. They're very similar, just slightly higher clocks on the Ryzen 9
Ivan
March 6, 2021 at 5:33 pm
For the moment there is no price for the configuration with Ryzen 7…the difference between the G17 and the SCAR 17 (both with 3070 + ryzen 9) is 300 €, probably due also to the extra features that you already mentioned in your article. I don't know if 300 € more are justified in this case.
Andrei Girbea
March 6, 2021 at 5:35 pm
The performance and thermals are going to be similar. If you don't care about the design, materials, RGB, keyboard, and audio of the Scar, then the G17 is what I'd go with.
Ivan
March 6, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Thank you for the suggestions. I don't really care about the RGB and partly of the design, but I definitely care about the materials and I am intrigued by the keyboard. Audio is a plus I think.
I am also considering Lenovo Legion 5 pro as an option, but I have some doubts about the size of the screen 16 inches compared to 17 inches + the resolution that probably in the case of the Lenovo will not be the best for some applications I am using.
Also regarding the stiffness of the laptop itself, the Asus seems to be well constructed.
Indeed the price of the Lenovo is very attractive.
Andrei Girbea
March 6, 2021 at 6:04 pm
I'm intrigued about the 5 Pro as well. Haven't touched it yet, looking forward to when available here. That 16-inch 16:10 is closer to a 15-inch screen in size with an extra part at the bottom
Ivan
March 6, 2021 at 6:19 pm
Thank you! I am looking forward to reading your review regarding it!
Ivan
March 8, 2021 at 10:11 am
Did you manage to tweak those thermals?
Andrei Girbea
March 8, 2021 at 10:32 am
what do you mean? I haven't done anything besides what's explained in the article, I had to move up to other articles
Marc
March 9, 2021 at 11:58 am
This interests me, I thing I will wait to see that…
I travel a lot and while I am usually willing to lug around a heavy laptop (obviously I would prefer lighter), the size is actually of a larger concern. This is simply because of how hard it is to pack a 17 vs a 15in. So the idea of a 16in 16:10 laptop being of similar size to a 15in… is interesting. My major concern is cpu single/multicore performance and to a lesser extent the GPU so long as it is in the 3070 class ( i want the larger video memory). tho larger wattage headroom is also important on the GPU it is something I am willing to "downgrade". Basically 5800H seems to fit the bill for me, 3070 (prefer larger wattage but ok with even the lower end of that), size and weight, and upgradability. (with the caveat that the whole package should be good quality). The other things are screen resolution/brightness. So I am having a lot of trouble trying to decide on which laptop to get :(
OH yea.. usage case: learning AI and doing AI training, Gaming, overall travel work/entertainment
Andrei Girbea
March 9, 2021 at 12:01 pm
I'd just hold on for a month or two. By April/may we'll have the Legions in stores and some reviews, as well as the new Intel Core H hardware. Plus current AMD Ryzen H will most likely be cheaper and more widely available as well.
Razvan
March 22, 2021 at 9:33 am
I decided to buy this laptop after i read your review a few times and compared it with other models.
I really glad i bought it, the monitor it's really great, looks amazing , colors are beautifull.
As for thermals , well i am pleased with them.
Prime95 for 1h CPU temp at 77 degrees.
Unigine 4.0 all settings maxed out i got GPU at 78 degrees.
Aida64 + Furmark i got 83degrees CPU and 80 degrees GPU after 55minutes of testing.
As for games i only tested Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, both on everything setting to maximum, i got some 120 fps average in Witcher 3 and 65 fps Cyberpunk ( no RT ) , with RT ultra i got 35 fps ,but enabling DLSS Quality got me a stable 50-55fps and no dowside in image quality as i can see. Both Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk after 1h of playing in turbo mode were under 80 degrees, both CPU and GPU
The only think that i think is weird, is that in Witcher 3 if i set it on 60fps,sometimes the GPU goes to 100% with 700-800Mhz and then jumps back to 30-40% with 1900-2000Mhz while maintaining 60fps.
Overall i think it's a great laptop amd especially since i got it on a sale , just 1400euros :)
Andrei Girbea
March 22, 2021 at 11:00 am
Hi Razvan, thanks for your feedback and I'm glad this article helped. Your temps are better than what I get on this unit.
For the 60 fps cap, you're using Whisper Mode? That's what I use and seems to be working alright.
Razvan
March 22, 2021 at 11:49 am
Well i think it helps on temps that i always use my laptop on an aluminium cooler ( fans off , but still is about higher with 2cm ).
I am not using whisper mode on the 60fps cap, i just set the limit on Riva and still using Turbo mode, for in game stats i use MSI Afterburner.
I play ( when i have the time after job, wife , kid ) just offline and RPG mostlt, so over 60fps it's kind of uselles for me.
Just a litlle weird that the GPU drops on frequency sometimes, i for one haven't discovered why, can't be temps since on the 60fps cap it has something like 65-68 degrees on Witcher 3 all on ultra.
Andrei Girbea
March 22, 2021 at 12:01 pm
AH, ok. Is there any noticeable fps drop with the GPU clocks down to .7 GHz? The kind that would cause stuttering and be noticeable with games?
If yes, you could give whisper mode a try as well (only possible on the Silent profile), it worked pretty well for me with quiet fans and low temps.
Razvan
March 22, 2021 at 12:16 pm
No drop at all, fps is fixed at 60 fps, if i wouldnt have seen the MSI Afterburner stats i could never tell the GPU drops at 0.7 Mhz , so there is no problem at fps or gameplay, just that randomly ramps up to 100% with ~700Mhz then goes back to 1900-2000Mhz. I havent seen this happened in Cyberpunk. First i thought it goes on iGPU on some areas of the game , but i doubt the iGPU could give 60fps on ultra with Witcher 3.
I'll test some games and pay attention to Afterburner maybe i can see why, try even without fps .
As far as performance goes, it's great,i have just for 5 days, but i cant find a fault to this laptop, just curios why it does that sometimes :)
Hans-Christian Heine
March 24, 2021 at 9:05 pm
I have issues with a different but similar Asus Notebook: ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE:
I have recorded the issue and uploaded to YT clips for demonstration of (1) laggy behavior on external monitors: https://youtu.be/YlXHBaPzYcE (2) throttling with video-playback and gaming simultaneously: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptp9m23JVoY
The latter was quite striking, as the temps were ok and I had the fan profile set to turbo-performance.
I think throttling is quite an issue with Asus Zen3 Notebooks right now, either the VRMs are not up to specs or the BIOS needs more updates to fix it.
Andrei Girbea
March 24, 2021 at 9:14 pm
Hmmm, did you contact Asus about it?
I haven't experienced this sort of behavior with any of the ROG laptops tested this year, but at the same time I've only connected one external monitor via DP, not two.
You should run a couple of more tests and try to figure our what's going one. For instance, have a single monitor connected via DP, then the same single monitor via HDMI, then have two (one via DP and one via HDMI). Also, try to disable the main display and see if that helps, etc. There might be an issue with the fact that the DP is hooked straight into the dGPU, while the HDMI and the internal screen go through the iGPU. The VRMs should be fine, I don't think that's the issue
I no longer have the DUO around to test this out.
If you can't figure it out, then send the laptop back if it's withing your return window.
Hans-Christian Heine
March 25, 2021 at 1:54 am
Hi Andrei,
so far I've tested both a single monitor (4k smart tv) and a set of other two HDMI external screens. I suspected the same, that one was connected to igpu and the other to dgpu. To note: the duo won't allow external screens when the dgpu is not switched on (so igpu only is not possible). I think that most io is still done with the igpu, be it only throughput at times. Somehow this affects thermals and clock speeds, causing hangups as I have encountered. Sometimes dragging a MS Word Window alone on an external screen would cause delayed responses afterwards (typing, scrolling menu bar selections). I fear that there is a bug with Zen3 mobile chipset concerning igpu dgpu interplay, that affects core speeds in a dramatic way, this sporadically on actions like redraws.
I returned the notebook as DoA and am hoping that this is a one-off. But some other review sites are reporting strange fluctuations in core speed as well. It may be that one can deliberately trigger them in low usage scenarios, pinpointing at the real reasons they may cause them, and not only arguing that these are high peak usage related and one-offs.
Andrei Girbea
March 25, 2021 at 6:28 pm
I only have the scar 17 at this point and I tried replicating what you're saying, but I can't. You're still going to get a replacement for the one you've sent back? Looking forward to your feedback on this matter if you do.
Chris Proost
April 17, 2021 at 4:58 am
Thanks in great part to this review I just threw down on a slightly different variant of this laptop. The difference is 32 Gb, against the 16 I've seen everywhere else, of same speed RAM in exchange for a downgrade on the screen to 144Hz HD IPS quality VA like the 300Hz one (it's the 5800H CPU btw)
I figured no games in my library and few I'm likely to play (not a mp/online shooter, BR/moba/esports fan) will ever push past 144Hz at high/ultra settings, even with a 3070. Besides I'm unsure if I could tell, seeing no difference between 120 and 144Hz previously.
So yeah, was a tough decision tbh made easier by such reviews as this (thanks again) and the fact that my original plan of fully upgrading my old ailing desktop and fixing my gf up one of her own ended up pricing to 3.5 grand instead of around 2 grand just for mine alone due to the scalping and mining awfulness aso atm. Far cheaper to get a £1800 fairly 4K worthy laptop for now (got the TV for it already and DLSS will help with that a lot) and letting my gf have my only 18 month old 8750H/1070 Asus ROG Strix Scar as it's more than enough for her. I'll look at desktop upgrades again in a couple of years when things are sane again maybe.
I do have one question though for you guys… how's undervolting aso do for this? I know heat will always be a thing with gaming laptops. Is Throttlestop ok for Ryzen CPU's, anybody have any advice or numbers? I had a -150.6 mv on that 8750H and it still got pretty toasty under load, even if capping fps too.
Andrei Girbea
April 19, 2021 at 9:47 am
There's no UV possibility on Ryzen laptops, and as far as I can tell, probably won't be possible on future Intel models either, but we'll have to see about that. I did cover a few options that can help with temps in the G733 and GA503 articles though, would work here as well
Chris Proost
April 19, 2021 at 4:56 pm
Thanks Andrei. Well, no UV option is unfortunate. I have to ask, is there a reason/cause for that lack of UV?
Anyway, I'll be taking a look at the articles you mentioned in due course as well as swapping the barely used SM961 m.2's from my old desktop once my new toy arrives. The 1Tb for that spare slot and the 256Gb can go in my old Asus ROG G751JT to refresh and make it useful again.
Cheers!
Andrei Girbea
April 20, 2021 at 9:52 am
As far as I understand, it's because it would be too difficult and even risky to properly support UV in the multitude of AMD laptop SKUs, without risking for people bricking their processors (which has occasionally happened with Intel models in the past). I have an article that goes over how you can get better thermals on AMD laptops on my to-do list, unfortunately, though, that implies limiting the CPU in one way or the other (disabling boost or limiting the PL1 power level), so it's not ideal, but there's not more that can be done at this point.
Lorand Goczi
May 3, 2021 at 10:20 am
I bought this notebook and I am completely satisfied with it.
Thyagarajan
May 18, 2021 at 7:46 am
Hi Andrei,
The price difference in these laptops with Ryzen 7 and 9 processors is about $230. Is it worth the upgrade keeping in mind that I will use this laptop for at least the next 5 years?
Also I do not have an external monitor and will be using the laptop screen as the main for all my gaming ( not much of esports, mostly just AAA titles), so will this laptop be fine to use since it has no MUX switch?
Considering the above 2 points, should I go with the G17 or wait for some other models to launch before making the decision? My budget will be around $2000.
Andrei Girbea
May 18, 2021 at 10:10 am
You have all the info in the article. I wouldn't pay for the ryzen 9, and the lack of the MUX switch is documented in the gaming section in most of the Ryzen reviews here on the site.
Jorn
May 22, 2021 at 12:32 am
Hello, I have bought this laptop and was quite happy with it in the first week. However a few days ago there was a bios update in the update tool (not yet on the website) to update the firmware to 317, which I did.
Since then I'm getting a lot lower FPS in games. The main game I play is warzone, where I went from 110 fps with everyone on max (no raytracing) to 80 fps. I have the feeling the GPU doesn't clock so high anymore, max temp on turbo is 54 degrees celcius after half an hour of playing. Is this something you could check maybe on your laptop if you also have this issue?
Thank you!
Andrei Girbea
May 24, 2021 at 10:04 am
I no longer have the laptop. Try to restart the laptop when this happens and see if it does anything. Also, switch between the Balanced, Turbo and Manual modes and against see if it makes a difference. HW Info and GPUz can help figure out if the GPU works right. 54 on Turbo does not sound right.
Jorn
May 24, 2021 at 5:14 pm
As it's looking now it's indeed boot related.
Some boots I get 115-125 watts of GPU power, and if I test games on the same boot then it looks for now that it always gets the max power.
Some boots it only gives around 50 to 60 watts and then every game I boot in that boot gets only that low amount of watts.
Any idea how to fix? I'm tempted to send it back. I love the laptop except for that. But it doesn't sound hardware related but maybe firmware or something? any thoughts?
Thank you in any case :)
Andrei Girbea
May 24, 2021 at 5:19 pm
looks like software, but idk what you can do to reliably fix it
Harold
May 25, 2021 at 5:06 am
Hi Andrei, about this 1080p screen versus a qhd panel, do you really notice a difference in detail/sharpness while gaming? I heard from someone you will only notice a difference in 2D, sharper text, but in-game you won't really notice. What's your opinion about this?
Andrei Girbea
May 25, 2021 at 10:00 am
Both FHD and QHD should be fine if you're coming from an FHD laptop. Once you go QHD though, which indeed paints slightly crisper fonts and text, I'd say you'll get used to it quickly and be able to tell the difference when switching back to FHD. The difference is little to none with games or videos, like you mentioned
Louis Veran
May 31, 2021 at 4:27 pm
I have a question, I'm really interested in this laptop and your review confort me in my choice but I never bought any laptop before, I only bought pc parts and built full sized gaming pc so I had two questions.
First, temps aside, are the CPU/GPU the same theoretical performances as if they were put in a full sized pc.
And the second which is my most important one is that I heard that laptops and especially gaming laptops tends to slowly decay over time (losing perf etc…) Is this true or just a rumor?
Andrei Girbea
May 31, 2021 at 4:43 pm
no, laptop components are lower-power variants of what's available for PCs, and their performance scales down with the power. The difference is greater on the GPUs, especially on the high-tier models (3080, 3070), and less on the CPUs.
As for the performance, it doesn't degrade per see, but in time the thermal module might clog up with dust and the thermal paste might dry up, so a thorough clean and repaste would help after 2 years or so. Generally, these also happen on PCs, but the whole repasting/cleaning processor is easier than on a laptop. Repasting a laptop would also most likely void the warranty, so keep that in mind as well.
Su
June 9, 2021 at 1:57 pm
Hi Andrei!
I'm considering getting this/the new Legion 5 pro or last year's Razer Blade 15 advanced model (same spec as the one you reviewed last year with the 2080 super and the 1080p 300hz panel) (all available at the same price where I am rn) for school, since I'm an engineering student I need the 8gb of VRAM for some apps and the 8 physical cores help a lot with running some heavier apps. The razer blade wins in size and portability but this and the legion 5 pro win in performance.. any recommendations on what to do?
Andrei Girbea
June 9, 2021 at 2:45 pm
We'll have a review of the Legion 5 Pro shortly. I'd suggest getting in touch with Derek once that's published, because he owns a Razer Blade 15 Advanced and he's the own reviewing the 5 Pro as well, should be able to help you out. ETA for the article is a couple of days
Marco
July 25, 2021 at 1:39 pm
Hi, how do you feel about trackpad position? Cause I really don't understand why they insist on shifting them A LOT to the left in 17.3" notebooks, when I'm supposed to rest the palm most of the time cause these are GAMING notebooks. I found it a truly idiot design choice that could've easily been fixed just by shifting the trackpad 1-2 cm to the right to gain more palmrest area or keep the old size, as it was on the old 17" model.
I'm imagining playing games with part of the trackpad almost always under my palm, with those stickers also in the way, and this is probably the only thing that keeps me from buying this machine.
How did you feel it while playing? How much uncomfortable is it?
Andrei Girbea
July 26, 2021 at 3:54 pm
this doesn't really bother me. I find it a bit odd with laptops that shift the trackpad this way, but I'd say you can get used to it after a little bit. Palm rejection is also OK on Asus laptops, so no complaint about that. As for the stickers, peel them off!
Bogdan
October 13, 2021 at 7:41 pm
Does this laptop have dedicated buttons for Home, End, PgUp, PgDown, Insert?
Andrei Girbea
October 13, 2021 at 7:44 pm
Scroll to the keyboard section…
Bogdan
October 13, 2021 at 7:53 pm
On Scar you specify that there aren't. Not on this article tough… Or I don't find it in the text…
Andrei Girbea
October 14, 2021 at 9:15 am
You can see that they are not dedicated keys in the pictures
Gabriel
November 12, 2021 at 9:19 pm
Hi Andrei,
One quick question, how did you connect the external monitor to the the laptop? via HDMI? or via USB 3.2 gen 2 (Type-C) adapter to DisplayPort?
Did you manage to get G-Sync working? (from what I know and was able to find online is that G-Sync works only with Display Port).
And one final question, do you know if video connection via USB 3.2 gen 2 (Type-C) is going directly to the dGPU? or via the iGPU (similarly to the built-in screen) ?
Andrei Girbea
November 14, 2021 at 11:06 am
Hi. Only the USB-C port is connected to the dGPU, the HDMI hooks into the iGPU. For my tests, I'm connecting the external monitor via uSB-C DP.
Matt
December 30, 2022 at 11:15 am
I bought the Asus ROG Strix G713QR-ES96Q on 12/9/2021 for $1900. It has Ryzen R9-5900HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 with the WQHD display (2560 x 1440). It seemed like a great deal at the time. The picture is beautiful and very high definition. However after about 9 months, it would constantly switch from charging to battery. Rotating the power plug to a different position fixed the problem for another 9 months until I could barely find a position to get it to charge. I never put any stress on the cord. Looking into the power jack with a flashlight shows prongs that are pretty flattened. I tried to bend out with a pin but can't get at the inner barrel prongs. The power jack is a bad design and I would guess everyone has this problem on this machine after a few months. Comparing to a Dell machine, I can see it is a much better design, The prongs protrude out much more. I tried to fill out a repair ticket with Asus, but it's just past the 1-year warranty. I figured I could unsolder the power jack and re-solder a new one, but I really screwed up because somehow I knocked out some of those tiny resistors by the power jack. If you still have this laptop, I wonder if you can take a close up picture of the motherboard in this location, so I can see which components are missing. I found one, which I measured as a 15 k-ohm resistor, but it looks like two other locations were knocked out next to it by the look of the solder. It is tiny and hard to see. They are most likely the same value resistors but I can't be sure. I would like to verify which locations and simple picture would tell me this. Can you send me a close up picture of the motherboard a the power jack location, from the back with only the back cover of the laptop removed? I can send you a picture of mine so you know the location if you would be kind to reply to my email. As it is right now, my $2000 (after tax) has been thrown away after 1 year because it is no longer usable. Asus support won't sell me a new motherboard, won't tell me the components missing, and wants me to send it to them for a useless $85 diagnostic fee when I already know what's wrong. And that's before I pay the charge for a new motherboard as well as their service fee and shipping charges, in addition to being out of a laptop for probably 3 months.
Another thing I seriously hated are the F1-F12 keys. Because they are not see-through, all you can see in the dark are the symbols that only apply to this Asus laptop. I can never get used to the mapping in my games to the F1-F12 keys with some strange symbols. It's so bad, I would never buy an Asus again because of this even without the bad power plug problem. I scratched the F key symbols at the upper right over the paint so that the light would show through the clear plastic keys. It took about an hour to neatly scratch each one so that it didn't look bad. But that wasn't good enough. They show dimly because there is only one backlight in the middle of each key. When I compare to my Dell (just pop a key out) it has multiple backlights behind each key, in the locations just behind any symbols on the keyboard. So it shows through well on my Dell for symbols at the corner of the key as well as the center. Dell really does their keyboard right, and their power jack, which still connects well even after years of use. I can see the prongs are not flattened.
I got really screwed with this laptop. Asus support is horrible, and it has a bad design defect with the power plug and the F1-F12 key problem is something I found out has existed for a long time. They won't listen to their users who continually complain about this. I would never touch an Asus again.
Artur
June 9, 2023 at 8:35 am
This was the las Asus laptop in my life. After 2 years I used it only for 12 months maybe because it broke. When it came back I couldn't handle to abandon my other seconhand laptop that I had to buy for the servicing period, becouse everything about this ROG Strix was annoying. It starts with the keyboard, and finishes with performance for work apps. It was not so greatly higher than computer based on old quadro M2200M and 7th gen i7. Insanely poor quality of the body is additional disadvantage, not mentioning the look of a toy that I'm guessing was suppose to be aggresive gamers domain. Worst decision ever to buy this.