ASUS ROG Zephyrus GX501 Owner's Lounge

Now it is offical that Zephyrus M and Coffee Lake Zephyrus is out. The only difference between ours and the new model is the processor, so could it be upgradable to Kaby Lake with motherboard upgrade? Case is the same.

By the way, my fan led's are not working. Should I worry?

 

Even if the coffee lake zephyrus has the same heatsink and design as the kaby lake model, the motherboard would be super expensive because of the gtx1080MQ soldered on, that is if one could even source it.

 

Finally got an email from Asus Corporate.
Asus says the process will take at least a week.

Microcenter hasn't called yet to schedule a pickup time.

 

Also I noticed something weird. In the global site of Asus, they have updated the page for Zephyrus with the new Coffee Lake processor. My countrie's webpage (Turkish Asus.com.tr) still has the previous model which we own , the Kaby Lake. Now both pages display FireStrike scores, but the 8th Gen scores are lower.

Why do you think they are different, moreover the new processor is scoring less.

Top is the Turkish site. ( https://www.asus.com/tr/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-ZEPHYRUS-GX501/)
Bottom is the global one. ( https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ROG-ZEPHYRUS-GX501/)

 

There are differences from run to run, that's why you usually run a few times and either average, or cherry pick the highest score

The 3dmark11 score is GPU only, and the Firestrike score doesn't say so I would assume it's also GPU only.

Unless the GPU was being held back by the previous CPU - CPU bottlenecked - the difference between CPU's may be negligible in effect to the GPU score.

You would want the Physics or CPU Only scores from each of those benchmarks, 3dmark11 and FireStrike, to compare CPU performance differences.

Also, the different releases of OS, Nvidia driver, and ROG Gaming Center default settings can affect comparisons. So even for CPU only scores you'd want to make sure the old test conditions - OC levels and Windows Power Plan settings were the same for the new laptop model.

 

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The Zephyrus M gets the standard the 1070 and standard keyboard, touchpad layout. The refreshed Zephyrus gets the CPU upgrade, but still the same front loaded keyboard and 1080MQ. Not sure what you mean by the benchmarks, the new 6 core bench better than the kaby HQs, the base clocks are only because of the 45TDP limit, but they should boost much higher than the base clocks on most scenarios.

 

You would think Asus would want to dispose of the battery ASAP...

 

It's a cheaper version, with a slightly wider case (1 to 2 cm thick ), and a plastic bottom cover (which really really looks ugly when you look at the Zephyrus logo where it was used to be orange ) . But it will sell more because the overall system is better and it is cheaper. You get a 1070 which is performing as well as 1080MQ and a Coffee Lake processor with 32GB of RAM's clocked at 2666MHz. Also it has a 144Hz panel and rainbow RGB keyboard. Also it claims the battery can run up to 5.5 hours.

Zephyrus M is a better option.

 

Yeah, between the two choices, I'd be calling Microcenter to check in every few hours to keep them on track, as they can get distracted with daily business, don't bug them but keep connected

Glad you bought the additional Microcenter Support plan, this is where it comes in handy. Microcenter can then deal with Asus for the returns and potential RMA.

It might be a good time to ask Microcenter to bird dog that extra AC adapter if Asus still hasn't gotten that to you as well.

 

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again, asus has good intentions, and drops the ball.

GM501 has manual graphics switching, but 55whr battery

my GL has a 64whr battery.

 

What do mean? The cpu benchmarks are just fine for the i7-8750H. As expected it scores well in the first CB15 run then scores lower on subsequent runs because of the TDP limit. Did you see the regular Zephyrus with the i7-8750H behave differently?

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Thicker and only a 1070 gtx, sounds like a step backwards. Battery life is still quite disappointing. There really is no reason to get this laptop anymore compared to their competitors.

 

It is not the new model of our Zephyrus GX501. Its a new model for Zehyrus brand the code is GM501 and they named it Zephyrus M. Its a seperate model.

The updated version of our model is the same with a new Coffee Lake i7-8750H processor, 2666MHz Rams and 144 Hz 3ms panel. Also it has the Print Screen button now.


Tapatalk kullanarak iPhone aracılığıyla gönderildi

 

I'w been having an issue with my GX501's touchpad/numpad. It seems that my numpad has a slight "overhang" on the right side. "Overhang" meaning my leftmost row of numbers can be accessed on the rightmost side of the numpad. So if i press to the right of my "+" i get a "7" and on the right of my "Enter" I get a "4" and "1"....

Could anyone else with a GX501 please confirm this problem? Or is it just my hardware?

Cheers!
Fredrik L

Edit: Nevermind. Turns out to be a drivers update. This issue is gone with the newest drivers for the touch- /num -pad.

 

Do you guys think the new Zep. M's keyboard lightning can be applied to our laptop? I mean the rainbow like colors (seperate colors for different zones) or the automatic color change according to game? Is it only software related or hardware also?

 

Hi everyone - I just recently got myself one of these thin Zephyrus gaming laptops and as soon as I got it I decided to go for a LM repaste as the stock paste is kinda awful.
Idle- 52C
Full load (CPU&GPU)- 93C

I have applied LM before on my main device (MSI GT83) and on another 2 devices (Asus Rog G751JY and a MacBook Pro) so I would like to think I know what I am doing (electrical 33+ tape, nail coat on PCBs, thin LM layer etc)... HOWEVER - it is for the first time I remove a copper heat sink and the thermal pads are completely destroyed. I cannot tell what the thickness on these should be for the Zephyrus, the amount of residue left behind by the pads is not that great so perhaps 0.5 mm?

Needless to say that the old stock paste was incredibly dry, like something I've never seen before...hence decided to save this laptop's life by using LM.

I have ordered the below and I am waiting on these to arrive as I ran out from last LM procedures - I am just a bit unsure on the thermal pads, not sure if 0.5 mm would do or if I need 1.0 mm ones.

• Grizzly Thermal Pads 0.5 mm
• Isopropyl Alcohol
• Grizzly Conductonaut LM

Perhaps someone here can advise on the thickness of thermal pads? Have a look:

 

That looks like a gooey thermal paste that is used instead of thermal pads. I don't have the machine so can't confirm. If you have issues with the thermal pads, you can use K5 Pro, which is similar to that gooey paste to replace the pads.

 

Did you try undervolting to reduce the 100% load temps from 93c by 10c? Asus and other makes overvolt in the BIOS by a good amount, you should be able to undervolt by -100mV on average - more or less from -50mV - -220mV which makes a big enough difference in stock paste temps that you won't need to pull it apart and void the warranty, or cause damage - like by LM leaking - which happens to even the most careful modder.

It's free cooling - one of the first things you do when getting the laptop, software changes are easier to do quickly, without leaving a mark. You can use undervolting even if you do end up pulling it apart - some people just love DIY work.

Looking forward to your benchmark results with the new CPU and 1070 performance.

Congratulations on your new laptop

 

Some high end thermal paste would add what ? 3-5$ USD per unit ? Why ASUS and the others wouldn't up a little the performance of their thermal paste ? They're making each new unit harder and harder to open and repaste, yet they still use that same low performance grey thermal paste.

First things I'd do after testing my unit will be to undervolt then repaste, sadly 75% of laptops that don't look like trucks have 90°+C CPU temps.

When Volta/Ampere will come i'll see which one : Acer triton, Asus GX, MSI GS65 handle CPU temps the best .

Since the GPU is not a problem Pascal coffee lake laptops will be a good indicator I doubt they will change all barebones in the upcoming months for the next GPUs....

 

I know little about the Zephyrus but I will always try to LM any of my devices (provided that im dealing with copper and not aluminium).
I simply cant stand idle temps of 50C...regardless of the laptop model.
My Msi GT83 was hitting 92C with stock paste and stock clocks on cpu/gpu, I applied LM and now won't go past 80. (Note: slightly overvolted to allow 4.4 ghz).

I will do more research on the undervoltage for the Zephyrus (as I dont want it to lose performance) but LM is definitely going on it.

Not sure if typo or being ironic about gtx 1070 (re: max-q). I know that if you put the specs on paper the max-q 1080 is pretty much an OC ed laptop 1070 (except having 500+ cuda cores, bit more memory speed but falling a bit behind on the core/boost clocks). But still...fact remains: the thickness on this laptop when you compare it to the Msi gt83 is a great advantage. Looking forward to those 75-80c temps on LM. Lets hope I got a decent (flat enough) copper heat sink.

 

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Yes you do want to have the vrms, mosfets, etc cooled either with thermal pads or gooey thermal paste like k5pro. The vrms don't have sensors so we can't know if they are overheating.

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The word on this is that the cost isn't the issue, it's the characteristics of long term viable paste vs highest performance paste.

The laptop makers don't want to re-paste the laptops once they are made, it's expensive to send them back and forth, so they need a paste that lasts years and is stable in operation over that time.

So thick paste that doesn't dry out or pump out over a long time period is preferable to a thin paste that has great thermal properties over a short time period.

That's why I don't recommend re-pasting a brand new laptop. Work with the undervolt, fan, and CPU tuning - use G-sync / Freesync / RTSS to limit FPS to the sync rate of the laptop, use convective cooling (lift the rear higher than the front of the laptop), and don't be so picky on having "the lowest temps" - unless it's thermal throttling reducing temps further is not going to improve performance or extend the life of the CPU.

Once you repaste you are looking at doing it again and again, I'd plan for every 6 months over the life of the laptop, and if you sell it now you have to tell the buyer they need to do the same. Not a good selling point for most people.

If you get a bad thermals laptop out of the box, none of those fixes get the thermals under thermal throttling (very rare), then return it for another one.

It's not worth the hassle to do it yourself, you wouldn't pull apart your brand new car off the lot and redo all of the gaskets would you?

 

I agree with this 100%. However I enjoy doing it, the zephyrus I got isnt brand new but I do know for a fact that it hasnt been pushed to its limits as the seller used it more as a replacement for an "office" purposed macbook pro.

I was just amazed at the fact that the lowest temp on idle mode was around 50C. It would go up to 65C by simply exploring through files or browsing web (no video or graphical content). Im sure we can all agree thats not normal.

It all made sense when I opened it up and realised that the stock paste applied on both CPU and GPU wouldnt even stick to my fingers. Residue was pretty much like dust/sand - incredibly dry hance the little-to-none thermal conductivity and 50-65C avg idling temps.

I should be getting the LM and pads on Tuesday so will keep you updated on how it goes and new temps. As im sure they ll be way lower.

 

Windows 10 runs many things in the background, and it might be that the power plan locks the CPU frequency high too, see if you can set the Windows active Power Plan CPU performance to 0%/100% so it can downclock.

Did you undervolt at all, I don't recall seeing you mention it...

 

Ah, you haven't

You don't lose performance by undervolting, you reduce the needed voltage to the CPU for stable operation.

Generally the BIOS has a too high CPU voltage bias so any wonky CPU's still run, but for most samples it's way too high.

So if you undervolt with Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, or XTU, or ThrottleStop - TS, you can tune the voltage down to what the CPU needs instead of overdriving it with more voltage than it needs - which helps it run cooler and live longer.

In the current generation of 4c/8t CPU's -100mV is a good starting point, and also enough to drop the 4c/8t 100% load temps by about -10C, maybe more for the 6c/12t new CPU's, but we don't have any reports yet.

The range of undervolt varies by CPU, so you have to experiment for each CPU to find the best setting. -50mV to -220mV have been reported as stable at stock settings.

As you OC the CPU, you may need to drop the undervolt a tad, at 4.5ghz I was still able to undervolt by -15mV and run prime95 non-avx, and everything else was stable too.

It's easy to do, I'd recommend XTU to start, and just select the -mV setting for the Core (all cores and cache are set to the same undervolt by this setting), and start with -100mV - or -50mV if you want to be conservative. Then run XTU Benchmark and make sure it runs, and increase the undervolt by -10mV at a time until you get a failure - Bluescreen / or other anomoly - and then reboot and back off by +5mV from the last value.

Then after you have the undervolt tuned in for maximum load testing, you need to test for idle stability - usually another +10mV correction is needed, but sometimes no change is needed, it depends on the CPU.

I exit all programs and leave it sit for a while, like an hour or so, and if it is stable, set up a Saved Profile in XTU so that value is applied every time you boot, or you could select it yourself each time you want an undervolt.

Then as you OC, and reduce the undervolt, set up a Custom Profile in XTU for each OC setup.

10c reduction in thermals at 100% load is very helpful. If you were hitting 93c and thermal throttling at peak loads, this undervolt would put you back in the 80c range and regain your full performance.

I hope you find the cause of the high idle temp, but I think it might just be the thin laptop and Asus's propensity to run hot instead of ramping up the fan's to reduce temperatures. Asus likes their laptops quiet more than cool.

Be careful with that LM on laptop CPU's, there have been instances where people have bricked their laptop, same for GPU's.

Good luck.

 

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Thanks for all this.

LM and thermal pads arrived today. Will keep thread updated once I am done with it + some after LM temps. Sadly I do not have before temps screenshots but light gaming (30 min) at normal room temp (22-23C) got the CPU up to 93-94 C.

Will definitely be careful. I like to be 110% safe so I know it's a bit overkill but what here are 2 pics from my MSI GT83 LM procedure where I made sure I don't brick it by applying:
3 coats of acrylic nail protector on PCBs (applied every 30 min to allow some time to dry) + Super 33+ tape on top. This current build still rocks an overvolted 6820HK running a stable 4.4 ghz with max temps never going past 79-80C.
Stock turbo clock 3.8 ghz and no overvoltage highest temps: 73C.

 

Hi all, I bought a 1080 M-Q Zephyrus and immediately repasted it with NT-H1. I also undervolted my CPU to -125 mV, but my temperatures are still extremely high. I am playing Battlefield 1 on ultra everything, 120 Hz, and while my GPU is getting up to about 80C, my CPU reaches the high 90's.

The fans are clear of dust and the vents aren't blocked by anything. Why are my temps so high and what else can I do to decrease them? I've repasted regular/delidded CPUs plenty of times, so I don't think my repaste job was bad, but I won't rule it out.

 

What were your out of the box temperatures, and after undervolting?

Its always a good idea to get a solid baseline reading before making changes, getting numbers at stock and again after undervolting, before deciding to re-paste.

Enough times people don't do a perfect re-paste job the first time on a new laptop, they need to hone their technique for that specific hardware, you might be not getting the best results - even slightly worse - than the out of the box paste.

NT-H1 is good paste, I have used it a lot over the years, and it has a long performance profile when applied well - I have a desktop with approaching 10 years in service and it's still running in the low 30c's at idle and 42c under load.

But, for a laptop, for highest performance, there are number of high end pastes that get better initial thermal results. They do tend to age out much faster than stock paste, or NT-H1, but they do drop temps furthest.

Maybe try another paste, let it settle under load after a few days to cure and set - especially if you move your laptop around during the day - and see if you get better results. There are plenty of mentions of specific non-conductive pastes to use - I don't recommend risking conductive pastes, it's a real bad day when you brick an expensive new laptop, so look around for what you can get in your area and give them a try.

Once you break the seal, and void your warranty, you are on the path to repaste regularly, so you have plenty of chances to improve your technique and pick an appropriate paste.

Good luck, and have fun.

 

Thanks for the reply. I actually don't have a baseline before. In the past with my desktops, I've never seen anything less than a significant temperature decrease by delidding/repasting/undervolting, so I just assumed the trend would continue.

This was my first time doing a laptop, and also my first time using NT-H1, so maybe I didn't use enough or used too much. Prior to this I was using my tried-and-true Arctic Alumina, which I like because it's 100% non conductive and non capacitive (some high end ones do have a slight capacitance). The nozzle is also smaller so you can get a more precise application. With the NT-H1, the nozzle is thicker so I feel like I had to dab it onto smaller components like the VRMs.

 

Ah, I'm glad you mentioned this...

Typically VRM's and VRAM have thermal pads to bridge the gap or really thick rubbery (when set, can take weeks or months) / gooey (when new) viscous thermal paste, which are both designed to work long term (years) as a gap bridge between components.

Thermal pastes, even thick ones like NT-H1 when exposed to air will contract as they dry out, and eventually that bridged thermal conductive route can break or become ineffective, allowing the components to overheat.

Unfortunately those components usually don't have thermal probes watching their temperatures, so you won't realize they are overheating or failing until you see the image artifacts, driver crashes, OS crashes, or that burning smell acompanied by smoke and total failure.

If you can, I'd get thermal pads to replace the ones removed, or get K5 Pro which is designed to replace thermal pads and stock gooey thick paste for bridging gaps:

https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Sys...&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=Computer-Systems

https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerSystemsGR/videos?disable_polymer=1

 

Awesome reply, thank you so much. What thickness thermal pad do you recommend? I'm seeing a lot of 0.5 mm, 1 mm, and 1.5 mm pads.

 

IDK the specifics, you would have needed to measure the ones removed, the thicker uncompressed area's, and it's good to note that many uses mix thickness around the area as needed to bridge the gap yet not lift the heatplate away from the main GPU / CPU component.

There have been many hours, weeks, months(?) wasted after removing thermal pads and re-pasting only to discover the heatplate is cantored such that one side is better cooled than the other, which can cause "core temperature differentials" large enough to cause thermal throttling from the 2 hottest cores (for quad core CPU's) ahead of the 2 cooler cores.

A core temperature differential of a few degree's is normal due to the vagaries of assembly - balancing the heatplate on the small surface area of the CPU - laptop especially with the bare core and no IHS - up to 8 degree's is acceptable - with 10c being the minimum Intel will replace a CPU.

If you can't get the reassembly right, you might be forced to sand down one side of the heatplate to match the original out of the box fitment. Not fun, a huge waste of time actually.

I'd get a range of pads of varying thickness, compliance (soft to hard under compression) and experiment with a new laptop - and publish your results so others can benefit from your time investment in finding the right thicknesses on which components.

Or, use K5 Pro once and not worry about it.

 

Hi GreggoG - I just repasted my Zephyrus with LiquidMetal (don't recommend you do that unless you know what you are getting yourself into as the smallest mistake can brick your device) - I also bought (from the same manufacturer) 0.5mm thermal pads ( Thermal Grizzly Thermal Pads Minus8) and I have been benchmarking all day long. CPU temps barely reach 68C with 1-hour long stress tests at room temperature (NOTE THAT CPU IS NOT UNDERVOLTED YET) and stress tests only via XTU which won't put too much pressure on the CPU.

I am going for a Prime95 stress test and will post results when done.

I have also ensured that the 0.5mm thermal pads are what this laptop needs by cutting bigger pieces around the edges so that I can test after heatsink is in place and fully screwed in. I used one of these but with an angled profile and used the thinnest blade in the set 0.20 mm and I couldn't even slide it in between the heatsink and the pad without damaging the pad - which made it clear that 0.5mm thermal pads is what I needed.

If in doubt about thermal pads thickness go ahead and use K5-Pro as per above suggestion.
Reference photo:

 

When using newer Prime95, don't forget to disable AVX/FMA3:

PSA: To everyone wondering what version of prime95 to use to test their Coffee Lake...
https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/78xi6t/psa_to_everyone_wondering_what_version_of_prime95/

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to be sticking with a thermal pad just because I hate dealing with liquids, especially during clean up.

Bigbadchief, thanks for the confirmation that it's 0.5mm. Those are 0.5mm pads all around the heatsink? Also, I don't remember 100%, did that arch-shaped black piece come off with the rest of the heatsink? I do remember from another thread on this forum that there are 13 screws you need to take out to remove the fans and copper portion of the heatsink, but I think that black piece in question that I'm referring to was still on the motherboard.

 

0.5mm all around the heatsink indeed. Not sure I know what you are referring to with " that arch-shaped black piece" sorry...

 

The piece right above the top copper pad.

 

Oh lol - sorry was overthinking it. You mean the whole "aluminium" like heatsink under the copper heatsink right? This:


No. That will not come off - it is not soldered to the copper heatsink though. Its just part of the whole "build" sort of speak.

 

From the guide I followed, it looks like the guy removed the copper pipes but didn't life up that black piece ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...s-gx501-dissasembly-and-repaste.808713/page-3)

How did you manage to get the black piece off of the board?

I might be misunderstanding because I don't have the board in front of me, so I appreciate the help

 

Stock thermal paste (no undervolt) XTU 60 min stress test CPU temp: 94 C
Stock thermal paste gaming session (no undervolt) (PUBG, Dota2, Witcher III, GTA V): highest 95C on CPU and 88C on GPU


Grizzly Liquid Metal temps after first 35 min of Prime95 stress test (max heat settings, CPU intense tasks) (undervolted -125 mV): 68C
Safe to say Liquid Metal saved my Zephyrus' life.

Gaming temps will follow.

 

Interesting - this hasn't happened to me. The copper heatsink came out entirely + the arch-shaped heatsink + the 2 fans due to the fans being attached to the heatsink (sticky thermal tape). I did not take the fans off. He might have done that and I suspect the arch-shaped heatsink shares the sticky thermal tape with one of the fans.

 

Hmmmm, odd. I guess maybe I just have to give it some gentle persuasion or check for a retention screw.

I was also considering beefing up the M.2 thermal pad. Do you know what thickness that one is by any chance?

 

I did not remove my M.2 NVME drive but I am sure once you remove it you'll know what you need. To be honest I did not see a thermal pad ON the NVME drive - it might be underneath? No idea.
I'll keep the 500GB for a while and will look to upgrade to 1 TB as they're quite pricey at the moment.

 

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Yeah it's underneath. It's probably not 100% necessary, but can't hurt. The one on there is pretty small, I'm thinking full coverage would be better.

 

I have been running Prime95 for almost 90 minutes straight now. I am also downloading Steam games in the background but after CPU heat stress test for 90 minutes I got a max of 68 C (at about 24-25 room temperature - which is normal room temp) - this value used to be 90C with stock thermal paste.

If the stock one Asus used was the k5 pro paste - chances are there will be a little bit of a negative impact as you removed the heatsink. Personally I change thermal pads on every repaste. Some people still like to use old thermal pads - I don't. Perhaps check your temps and keep it in mind for next repaste to get thermal pads or K5pro paste and replace old ones.