*** ASUS Zephyrus M (GM501) Owner's Lounge ***

Just wanted to give a shout out to @Phoenix and say thanks for the tweaking service! Now I'm ready to play some games....

 

hey @Phoenix are you only helping people with tweaking who bought the laptop from HIDevolution?

 

Yes

 

So I ordered my system as a clean install from HIDevolution. The ROG Aura Core app was not installed and I therefore could not control the keyboard lights. When checking the thumb drive that had the drivers, the folder for it was blank... I was stuck with 'rainbow' colors... ugh...

As previously posted, I found the what I needed here:

https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ROG-Zephyrus-M-GM501/HelpDesk_Download/

Note that you'll need to "See All Downloads" or you'll miss the Aura Lighting Service App.

I followed the directions:

Please note, MUST follow below steps to install the application:
1. Go to MS store to install the latest version of ROG Aura Core.
2. Download and double click the Setup.exe to install the Aura Core Component app.
3. Download and run install.bat as administrator to install the Aura Lighting Service app.

I also installed the keyboard firmware update.​

So the app now works - partially at least. As others have mentioned, the Brightness slider moves, but does not change anything. It seems to be stuck at 33%. The 'music' effect also does not work. I was able to get it off the rainbow effect, so I'm not going to stress over this thing, although I would like to crank up the brightness.

 

Enjoy your gaming!

 

Glad to know I am not the only one with the brightness issue. Hopefully the 2.5 version of Aura Core will be out soon and fix this and the Music issue!

 

Hoss411, I just found this on the keyboard. Don't know why I didn't see this before... Function-UP & DN Arrow keys adjusts the keyboard brightness! You only get 0, 33, 66, 100%, just like on the Aura Core app.

 

Outstanding. That works for me as well. Thanks for sharing!

 

Can you suggest a cheap SATA SSD to buy in order to get rid of the HDD ?
I would say 512GB. I don't need ultra performance, I just need to have something much faster than an HDD. Budget would be 100-150 euro (that could be still100-150 US Dollar, considering that here in europe we have around 20% of VAT on top).

Did someone this swap ? Did it help in increasing the battery duraiton ?

 

I personally like the Samsung drives the best, however, they can be a bit pricey. Something like an Intel or Sandisk may be a bit more budget friendly.

I don't think it changes the battery life that much. You may get a bit more battery life, but nothing astronomically better.

 

When we do a clean install, there isn't any installer for the ASUS Aura application. We can install it using MS store within the OS, but we always have issues with the Out of Box Experience using the Sysprep tool. When it runs the audit to shutdown the PC to pack it up, it shoots out an error about the application and wants us to uninstall it before we can continue to shut it down. We therefore we have no choice but to intentionally leave it out.

It can only be installed by the user after they boot into Windows 10.

You can thank ASUS for that...

 

You should be able to get an M.2 512GB SATA SSD for around $130 USD. Just Google for it.

 

Hummm, forgive my ignorance, but does the M.2 "format" fit in place of the 2.5" Hard disk ? Looking at the picture I don't think. SHould I add a kind of "bay" or adapter ?

 

Sorry, I should have said either M.2 or 2.5".

 

I think switching back and forth between optimus and discrete on a regular basis can cause other problems also. I had to restore an OS image because I couldn't get the screen to hold contrast. It would boot up fine, but then the screen would change and get washed out 10-15 seconds later. I keep it on discrete now with silent fans when doing productivity work.

I'm getting great temps in games. mid 70's on GPU and CPU. No repaste. Ultra settings for Witcher 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and DOOM. Fans are loud but I can hear the internal speakers over the fan noise just fine.

 

Is possible to deactivate from BIOS the starting bothering sound ?

Sometime I ask myself what the hell have engineers and designers in their minds in order to think to such stupid features

 

Yes, it is in the BIOS. First thing I did!

 

I received my GM501 (the one with 1060 GFX ). It is solid...I would say "dense". When I will have time to play with it and I will complete the moving from my old laptop I would write my personal impressions.

For my previous Laptop it was still an age where they were including some phisical support that let you to make a fresh installation. Here I don't see anything so I guess I will find all online. Also Windows 10 ?
Any advice for the fresh install ? Should I wipe out the recovery partition too ?

Thanks very much for who will guide me, I change a laptop each 6-8 years and usually I never needed to format them, so each new laptop is like starting from A-B-C for me

 

What I would suggest would be to create your own windows ISO, that way if you ever need to do a clean installation again it is ready to go.

If you don't have recovery media, visit the link below, download the tool, run this, select the option to create media for another PC, Select the USB and the media tool will create the recovery ISO.

For Windows 10 visit- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/\

1. Put the USB into your system and restart your computer.

2. Press the ESC key to enter the boot menu as soon as the computer begins to boot, select the USB and press ENTER to load the Windows setup.

3. Click install now and click through the various options.

4. Once you get to the option to "upgrade" or "Custom", click on Custom.

5. Remove all recovery files, partitions, and wipe your primary HDD.

6. Your drive should say "unallocated", select the unallocated drive and click next to reinstall Windows.

 

I reached that point and I have some doubts about removing some partitions.
I have these partitions:

Unit 0 - DATA (ok, this is the HDD. I will not remove it)
Unit 1 - System (260MB) - Type: System --> What is this ?
Unit 1 - no name - Type MSR : 16MB --> What is this ?
Unit 1 - OS Type: primary 237GB --> OK i can remove this
Unit 1 - RECOVERY type recovery 800MB --> Humm should I remove this too ?

 

Ok followed the instructions but now when I restart and press F2 I can't access anymore the bios

EDIT: nevermind, so apparently you can't access bios on a windows restart but the machine has to be first turned off.

 

Has anyone experienced an issue where your gaming center does not show the discrete gpu's temps after switching to gsync mode? Cause I have.

 

So these Dimms work. 32gb dual channel.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232169

 

What do you mean exactly ? Did you buy 2 x 16GB or just 1 X16GB to put together with the existing one ?

 

Put it to silent mode is the same thing as downclocking

 

Yes it’s on the bios

 

I am still in the process of moving my stuff on it and install the needed software but I can provide a feedback about the Screen (document editing usage, no games till now).
Important Note: I change laptop each 6-7 years so I am not the guy that sees a lot of different screens.

Compared to the screen (LG I guess) of my old Asus NV56Z the screen of GM501 is less luminous/bright.
On the NV56Z the white is brightly and amazingly WHITE. Someone could say "too much white for your eyes" but I like it.
On the GM501 the white, at least having the NV56Z beside, it is not at all WHITE but it is a less bright white that tends heavily to cold/blu tones.
Also view angle of the NV56Z are a little bit better than the ones in GM501. I knew, years ago, that the LG panel of NV56Z was one of the best ever but I did not expect it would be a so "top" screen.

On the other hand the contrast of GM501 is a lot better then the constrat on NV56Z.

All in all I am still satisfied of the GM501 screen although I am little bit disappointed by the fact that on a premium/expensive machine like that I expect premium components, starting from the screen.

 

That is the first comparison on the screen like that I have heard. Thank you for that input. I will be able to use that knowledge.

 

For gaming the GM501 this is one of the best screens you find out there

 

I bought two and removed the Hynix stick that came with it

 

I am actually thinking of upgrading the SSD to at least 500 gb

 

Why not change the sshd to a ssd that way it’s more worth it

 

I have a spare ssd to laying around and plus regular hard drive is a 2tb I want to keep that.

 

im just curious what is too hot in temps for the GPU and the CPU? right now with the games im playing the GPU reaches upper 80s like around 83C - 88C and CPU is running around 89C - 95C is this considered too hot during gaming? I have done undervolt and got LM past and fujiploy pads

 

Someone’s GM501 didn’t even reach 80c in Battlefield 1 and overwatch after repaste

 

Ahhh I see okay then go ahead

 

was this on Ultra settings? and also I am getting these temps on Far Cry 5, Assassin's Creed origins, and Ghost Recon Wildlands

 

I can confirm that battery duration is a joke. Little bit more than 2 hours just using text editor and surfing. Maximum luminosity. Wireless on. Optimus activated (theoretically and hopefully ).

 

Ultra settings

 

Same

 

Yep Im getting the same exact temps in a 78F or 25C room. If I go to a 70F or 21C room my GPU/CPUtemps drop by 5-7C.

On max graphics

 

Hi all,

Loving the laptop so far.

I'm just having an issue changing fan speeds and it seems to be just stuck on balanced. When i try to select silent or boost, nothing changes.

Anyone else experiencing this?

 

Nope

 

Hi, I am really about to sell my Clevo P751DM2-G (great machine, but I constantly feel its size and thickness, and fans always active during normal use) and my old ultrabook also, just to buy this Zephyrus M, hoping it will combine the strong sides of both of them. So, if you can, I need some information/suggestion from the owners, I hope you can answer me:

1) Would you recommend me this laptop not only as one for gaming demanding titles, but also for daily work (mainly writing, and then also working with engines like UE4, Unity) ?
2) Are the fans annoying during standard use, using silent or even balanced mode?
3) When plugged in, how annoying the red lightings from the back lid and the vents are? How much visibile and bright are they in a light room, and mostly, in a dark room?

Thank you very much in advance.

 

Hey Green Goober! Finally someone else with this issue - I've been searching the internet and noone has mentioned this. I recently purchased this laptop and love it except for the fact that on day two my wifi kept dropping...I updated and reinstalled drivers for the wifi card and reset my router/modem and none of my other devices on the network has had any issues. Finally brought it back to Miscrosoft to check it out. They tested it and confirmed it dropped signals intermittently...so they exchanged it out for a brand new one on the spot. That was great and all except here I am on my new laptop GM501 and it happened again! This shouldn't be an issue.

Have you found a fix, or a reason this is happening? If this keeps dropping again I think I'm going with another laptop as this is my second one. Thanks for any info!

 

1) yes, this laptop can do it all - just need to keep it plugged in as it will die quickly while performing any of those tasks
2) Silent and balanced mode the fans don't bother me at all. They are silent on silent mode, somewhat audible on balanced mode, and pretty loud on overboost mode.
3) The lights don't bother me at all. They are visible for sure and will be even more so in a dark room...but I don't really keep it on in a dark room. And it wouldn't bother me too much b/c of the main source of light coming from the screen.

Once issue I am currently having and trying to get resolved is the wifi card dropping signal intermittently.
Does anyone else have this issue or know a fix or if it is a common problem on these laptops? Wifi card is
the AC-9560 intel - thanks

 

Nice, thanks a lot!
Low battery life doesn't bother me too much actually, 2/3 hours I guess is enough as I would always carry the AC with it, also knowing that it is slightly smaller than Clevo's AC whou8gh it's still 230W, and that is great.
By the way, do you usually (as me) play on ultra settings? I just hope thermals won't be much bad if I set fan on balanced some times, during gaming. But what concerns me most actually is the capability of long gaming sessions, and the general lifespan of this kind of thin notebooks compared to more thick ones, but maybe it is nearly the same and it is just my paranoia...

For the wifi card: it's strange, I've always heard good things from that chip. Do you usually leave bluetooth active all the time? In any case, you should try to disable "bluetooth amp" from card configuration panel (in windows pheriperals management) if it is present, as sometimes it interfere with the wifi part, and see if it goes better. Otherwise, could also be some interference depending on the zone you are in, especially when the card switches to 2.4GHz bandwidth (also forcing the use of 5GHz bandwidth, through the same config panel, is an option to try).

 

Hmm, i'll try to disable bluetooth amp, I haven't tried that yet, thanks! Also, Ive been running ping test and streaming on it for the past four hours and it hasn't dropped again.
I've played Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Elder scrolls online so far. They both ran 70-120+ FPS at maxed settings (Few dips into the 60s depending on what's happening on the screen).
Deus Ex ran the cpu/gpu hotter as it is not well optimized as well. I was hitting low to mid 80s. ESO was running great and I think the hottest I saw it go was 79C. Overall, it handled
the games very well and did not heat to a point where I would be concerned. Keep in mind this is all stock. You can definitely do things to make it run cooler. Also, performance varies from laptop-to-laptop.
It's a great laptop. I am only two days in, but I am enjoying it so far. We'll see how long that lasts

 

hi there..

anyone have done undervolt cpu? if yes,, can share what -ve offset core voltage that you run stable?

thanks

 

See my quote.