Asus ROG GL702ZC owners lounge

I expect You have seen the review. 38db Idle average.

 

I assume that's auto mode, which is why I suggested making a custom fan curve to reduce the noise under idle, use, and maximum use.

Desktop parts like the CPU and GPU are going to run hotter and require more cooling, so I'm not surprised they are a few db over the laptop CPU parts. The 7700k laptop is heavy and bigger with more cooling designed for an even higher TDP CPU - 95w vs the Ryzen 65w, so it's not surprising it's a few db quieter:

I still wouldn't recommend re-pasting if it voids the warranty, and I wouldn't recommend it anyway as it's likely not going to reduce fan noise enough to make a difference. Making a custom fan curve will do the same and with less hassle.

 

Ok... these are the screens of Asus ROG gaming center and fan control.
The 2300rpm is during regular functions and that's pretty quiet.
However, the fans do go to about 5600 rpm during unrestricted (no FPS limit in Radeon drivers) gaming sessions and can be a bit distracting. Maybe it's just me being unaccustomed to it.
Temperatures are otherwise fine even with no FPS limit... they seem to hold under 80 degrees C (around 77 most of the time for the CPU and GPU).

I would need a relatively demanding game to test the numbers though.
As for the fan curve... don't seem to have an option to drop the fan speed as the slider keeps being on 0. I'd need to open up a game and then see if the slider moves/gives me the option to lower the fans.

 

That's good news, that the temps are way low with the fans running as they are - a bit too fast / high, that means if you figure out how to drop the fan speed to a quieter level there's some thermal room available - it'll run warmer but quieter.

The Game Profiles 1,2,3 are where I think you can get fan speed control. The top level Fan Boost only add's speed to run cooler.

Check out this blurb on the ROG Gaming Center, search for "fan", and search hit 5 out of 9 shows inside a Profile:
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1032978/
"If 'laptop' supports [System fan control], the fan speed mode can be adjusted manually as follows sample interface"
I assume that yellow box arrow drop down has other options than Auto, then that will open up the slider for adjustment.

Note that document is from 3/17, so it's old, and doesn't include listing of newer laptops like the GL702ZC, so maybe check the manual or ask Asus for a newer version of the ROG Gaming Center documentation.

Until you get more specific info, click into one of those Profile's and see what clickable options are available

 

@Deks

For Asus laptops there is 3rd party software, Notebook FanControl, and I used it on previous models, the developer usually answers posts / email, so if you don't see the G702ZC in the list, ask him to add it - and/or ask which existing profile will work best until he gets a proper one in an update to the software:
https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=NoteBook+FanControl&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc

Check out the google link for video and written docs by people making their own profiles, and using existing profiles on new laptops.

 

Hm... looks like the fan curve control is not supported on GL702ZC.
All game profiles look like this, so no manual fan control.
Tnx for letting me know about Notebook FanControl, but my laptop isn't on the support list (which is to be expected).
How can I contact the developer to include GL702ZC as well besides posting a config?
Lol... looks like I'll have to create a config and then upload it so it can be integrated.

 

Time for another request ticket to Asus to request the GL702ZC makes it into the supported laptops list for ROG GC fan control support

The Github site should have a way to post requests, or emails to the developer, he used to have a site outside of github... look for that too.

 

Just tested Prime95.
The temperatures went up to 88 deg C on the CPU.
That is of course maximum CPU load (100%) 3.2GhZ across all 8 cores without touching that fan slider.

Using manual system fan slider in the ROG GC, I've set it to 30% (and ~3300 RPM) This appears to hold the temps at around 72-74 deg C on the CPU (they seem to have gone down now to 72 deg C and holding steady) for a while... however it now looks that the CPU temperature is climbing again.

It looks like the temps start increasing after about 17 or 20 minutes of Primark and the slider doesn't do too much.
The fans still seem to ramp up and down automatically.

It's interesting to note that Primark blend stress test kept the CPU at 72-74 deg C for a while before the temperatures rose again.
The load on the CPU was the same (100%) all the time, so nothing intricately changed... unless the heat buildup became much bigger the fan speed of 3300 rpm wasn't enough to keep it lower.

This does point to the premise that I could potentially benefit from a re-paste if I decide to do it.

88 deg C under full load is not dangerous of course, but I remember reaching similar temperatures under stress tests in my old Acer which went down by about or over 10 degrees with re-pasting.
Beyond 4000 RPM, the fan noise is relatively noticeable.


It depends really, but since I do use 3d Studio Max for rendering, etc... I'm a bit worried leaving it on during the night because the CPU would likely be stressed to the max in that situation (and like the GPU if I'm using a combo of both).

 

88c isn't bad for 100% all core / thread Prime 95, for an Intel CPU that throttles at 93c, AMD Ryzen appears to thermal throttle @ 95c - what is the throttle point for the AMD Ryzen 7 1700? - and what is the "real" temperature of an AMD Ryzen CPU when it gives false readings of 20c higher than actual Tjunction temps? - supposedly fixed in all monitoring programs still being updated.

Have you tried Ryzen Master for Overclocking?
http://www.amd.com/en/technologies/ryzen-master

 

I used Ryzen Master before indeed, however, not sure if I want to overclock.
For one thing, I'd be much more confident doing that after re-pasting the CPU and GPU and once I've seen a measurable/good decrease in temperatures on stock.

The voltages seem to go down to what I can manually reach on their own it would seem when the CPU is stressed across all cores (if CPU-Z is to be trusted), but I'll need to do comprehensive testing on that too and examine if there's a difference between auto and manual voltage control.

I am slightly swamped with re-painting parts of the apartment though and moving furniture around... still, I could use that to just run the benchmarks and go paint after setting everything up.

I was also worried about a wrong temperature reading at first, however, it seems to be reported exactly the same across range of software such as ROG GC, HWMonitor and Ryzen Master... so I think 88 deg C across all cores is accurate.
It's just I have a hankering suspicion that the thermal paste application Asus did isn't too great and of course they botched the GPU cooling by not putting in another copper pipe (as the CPU has 3, and GPU has only 2 - for 65W TDP for each component, you'd think cooling would also be equal with more powerful but less noisy fans).

I think OEM's should aim for much better cooling obviously by abandoning active fans and copper pipes all-together. If both the CPU and GPU are stressed to the max., temps shouldn't really exceed 70 or 75 deg C on either component (even if individually stressed).

Asus may have slightly better thermal application than average, but I noticed a few videos on youtube with people re-pasting their Asus laptops anyway and getting better thermals.
Granted, this is with usually Intel CPU's which have shoddy applications in the first place, but still... if they were able to shave off 20 degrees C, it's at least possible, I could drop mine by about 10 deg C.
Ryzen is quite efficient and that's definitely not in question that even under maximum load, 88 deg C across 8 cores and 16 threads (100% CPU utilization) is actually quite good for a 65W TDP... still, considering the cooling in this thing, it should be possible to reduce it with a good repaste... and my experience with re-pasting is good in a sense I don't have to re-apply it after a while either,

 

Strangely, that's exactly the same wattage & temperatures I see on my laptop (M17xR3 with i7-2920XM CPU) - I've limited the the CPU in the BIOS to 65W at a 4Ghz overclock, and if I run Prime95 it'll hover at about 88 degC, that's why I chose 65W as the limitation. I'm using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut on my CPU, and the Alienware M17xR3 is know for it's good cooling ability, so your laptop is looking good in terms of temperature on the CPU if it is actually pumping 65W through it.

 

It does, but the fan noise level goes up to high levels to keep the temps in line... mind you, I think that a person can potentially adjust to that noise level, but it can be a bit difficult when the fans are so close to you.
In a desktop, that kind of noise level is usually away from your ears on the floor, so there's some distance involved.
That's why I was looking to repaste, so I can improve upon cooling and potentially bring down the temps by about 10-15 deg C. If I can do that via re-pasting, then the fans will be producing less noise by default.

Btw HmScott...
Do you think that Asus should have used 3000 MhZ RAM in this laptop as opposed to the 2400 MhZ?
If that's the case, I would agree with you on that front, but prices of so-dimm 3000 MhZ RAM can be quite large... about $50/£50 - $65/£65 higher vs so-dimm 2400 MhZ if Amazon is anything to go by (amounting to $200/£200 per 16GB stick of 3000 MhZ).

That's not exactly a small difference, but even so, I suspect that laptop OEMs have a tendency to take not just the price of all individual components based on desktop counterparts and add a few % to it along with 'assembly' price (its basically no different to them having to build a desktop for you, for which you pay about $200/£200 more than you would by assembling your own system - sometimes, that assembly price is even higher).

I think that since this laptop is limited to 1080p on the LCD panel, it would have been better to include 3000 MhZ RAM since that CAN indeed raise performance in various games on Ryzen...
Considering the price of $1600/£1600, you'd think it would be included.
But on another end, I can also see that 2400 MhZ laptop RAM is far more common.
I doubt that 'black Friday' will change anything (first off, I don't go out to buy useless junk all the time and I detest seeing people behaving in an uncivilized manner), especially since only select 'goods' get discounts, not all of them.
I sincerely doubt that so-dimm RAM (especially of 3000 MhZ variety) will get discounts. And if it does... that's why I'd prefer to order stuff I need online.

 

Hope Asus will listen and be more cooperative than Dellienware. In Dell camp is fan control support a Big no.

Can you remember max Cpu Package Power when you tested P95 ?

From what I have read... Ryzen will gain a lot in peformance with faster ram.

 

RAM isn't cheap now, it's way overpriced, and I have had to recommend to others to put off buying unless they absolutely need it. If you can live with the RAM that came with your laptop then do it.

The Ryzen CPU and RAM compatibility was an issue early on but AMD updates included in BIOS updates should have resolved issues with higher speed memory.

Without BIOS support for RAM settings, you really can't hope to make faster than stock RAM work unless Asus put in support for it specifically, or add support to the BIOS through an update.

I'd ask Asus via a support ticket as to the maximum supported RAM speed, and is XMP reading enabled - will the BIOS see the higher speed settings and use them, or will the base speed be the maximum?

Ususally there is a memory QVL (Qualified Vendors List) document that lists specific supported memory make / model, it's usually available in the Support section of the laptop and in the documents section as a text file. There isn't one in the GL702ZC Support area, and the manual doesn't have that information:
https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ROG-Strix-GL702ZC/HelpDesk_Manual/
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/GL702ZC/0409_E13295_GL702ZC_V2_A.pdf
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/64c9pp/ryzen_memory_performance_should_you_buy_faster_ram/

High-Speed DDR4: Ryzen's Silver Bullet?


Black Friday isn't just the on-site madhouse these days, most sales are online and most everything is on sale across the board, but IDK how much memory will be discounted, there's no need - the supply and demand have driven prices up and unless supply comes up the prices won't come down, even on Black Friday, CyberMonday, or any other sale between now and next year.

I wouldn't worry about it at all, enjoy your laptop as it is. It sometimes happens that people fixate on issues that aren't really important - not that they won't make a measurable difference, it's that they won't make a difference that improves your life.

Get some nice noise canceling headphones, I did many years ago, and I enjoy wearing them much of the time - wireless is best - wires suck.

You might want to wait for a long while before pulling your laptop apart, try not to think about it and refocus on remembering why you bought the laptop in the first place, what did you intend to use it for? Probably not for re-pasting and entering into an endless journey toward reducing heat and noise.

If Asus says you can repaste without losing your warranty, I'd ask further if using Liquid Metal paste is allowed before using it. If you are hoping to reduce temps that far you will need to use it - I don't recommend it - you could easily mess up - experienced people do as well as inexperienced people, it's just too risky.

Ignoring common sense, if you do use LM only use it on the CPU and not the GPU - use ICD or some other thick paste that works well with large area coverage.

You are the Guinea pig at this point in time, there are hardly any of these GL702ZC's in existence, and I haven't heard of anyone trying to re-paste, so video tape it if you can to share with others.

That's something else to think about, Asus may not be able to replace the motherboard if you spray it with LM and parts melt, so there's that to look forward to... at the least you'd need to pay Asus for the repair work as LM damage isn't covered under warranty - it would be one of those "you broke it while inside the laptop" situations.

Whatever you end up doing, please continue to keep us up to date

 

I am focusing at the moment on what I got the laptop for: productivity (3d Studio Max, early Blender, Photoshop, Adobe Premierre, Internet and some gaming).


Trust me, the re-pasting was brought up as a side idea. I'm not in a rush to do it, and if I'm gaming, I usually use headphones anyway (don't have wireless ones, but the wired ones are more than long enough and I can't hear the fan noise at all even when there's no music/sound playing).

As for the RAM... that's the thing I was thinking about... if I do decide to upgrade the RAM, the cheapest right now would be another 16GB 2400 MhZ stick.
So, if Asus integrated support for faster RAM, the question is, if when get another RAM stick... which to get? 2400 or 3000 MhZ?

Dual channel (at this point) would likely result in better performance for a cheaper amount of money... and it looks like the performance gain going to 3000 MhZ isn't that huge.
Long term, if I get faster RAM stick earlier, I can just replace the original one with another equally fast stick when prices do go down.

 

It’s a big IF. How will they work together? compatibility with each other? And higher vs. lower speed sticks means different timings. Will Asus push out firmware who support memory overclocking? Will it be released unlocked firmware? None know.

 

That's another thing that got me thinking.
The faster RAM 'usually' defaults to the slower RAM speed... however, in order for dual-channel to activate, which aspects of the RAM stick would need to be the same? Async dual channel not counting as Ryzen doesn't work well with it and memory bandwidth suffers (by remaining in single-channel mode).
Is it the MhZ, RAM quantity, timings, one or two of these or all three?

 

If you want faster memory I wouldn't get another of the same make/model, I'd replace it with all new memory that is recognized by the Asus GL702ZC BIOS.

If you don't get useful info, or a negative response from Asus, it's still possible to simply try a bunch of matched kits in increasing speed. 2400, 2666, 3200, and see what happens. I've done this in the past with laptops that have been out for months or years, and no one else posted trying it, and it worked, then everyone wanted to do the same.

You can be that pioneer

G.skill seems to be the go to reliable fast memory for DDR4, but even they have exceptions that won't work with some motherboards, it may take you a bunch of make's / sku's to try and find one that works.

If you have a memory / computer / laptop distributor near you, they might have free pairs of memory that you can test on site, I've done that years ago, but then again I'm in an area where that's not an unusual task, and I had need for large quantities, not one set for a laptop. Work your sources to see if that's available for you.

If you need more memory now for VM's or other use, or just to activate dual channel to see how much performance improvement it makes, I'd buy from a source that is easy for return without restocking fee's.

Amazon seems best, especially if you have Prime membership, but even so some sales sources Amazon represents will have a restocking fee if it turns out the performance improvement isn't worth the extra $'s and you don't need that much RAM size.

Good luck

 

I do think I need 32GB.
Last night I apparently ran out of RAM playing Star Trek Timelines in the browser... granted it was after 4 or 5 hours of gameplay that I got the message I'm out of RAM... but in all honesty, I also had a bunch of other tabs open.
But that's not the only thing I can think of... 3d Studio Max and Adobe software can be RAM intensive.

Right now, I'm leaving the RAM as is... with potential buying another 16GB 2400 MhZ stick... and likely on black friday if the prices go down. In the meantime, I'll have to ask Asus about which RAM speeds are supported.
I know the Asus rep I spoke with in an email before getting the laptop said they TESTED the notebook with 2400 MhZ... but didn't say anything beyond that.

We all know they officially 'test' with certain components, but like on my Acer for example, the 'official' quantity of RAM supported was 4GB (as Acer mentioned), but the chipset (PM 45) supported 8GB easily enough, so I just went with what the chipset supported.

Asus is a bit different as they do seem more 'attentive' to their hardware and they should know what they put into UEFI support (although, they don't seem to put anything in a text when it comes to actual changes for what's supported).

 

Ok... have a bit of an update on my questions to Asus about cleaning the laptop, re-pasting, warranty and RAM speed support.
2 e-mails in total. I'll post my questions to them first followed by Asus replies:

1. Asus response to my initial technical support inquiry (don't have a copy of what I wrote exactly) :

Please be advised that dissasembling the device and braking seals will void the 24months manufacturer's warranty.
If the unit displays temperatures over 100degrees celsius, we will have it serviced (cleaned, thermal paste applied etc) and checked for hardware failures.

Regarding the RAM upgrade, you have 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion, up to 32 GB SDRAM. This means you can add a memory stick of the following type: DDR4 2400 SO-D 16GB 260P as a 16gb one is already installed on one of the sockets. As the unit has a quick access door to this and no major dissasembly is required, such action is permitted and warranty will not be forfeit.

Storage wise, this notebook can take up to 512GB SSDs and 1TB 5400RPM/2TB 5400RPM/1TB 7200RPM. If there is a quick access door for this as well, you can upgarde the storage as well without incurring warranty voidance.
Unfortunatelly we do not offer any upgrade services so any such actions must be sorted by the end user.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get back in touch with us.
Please feel free to rate our service according to the solution provided in the questionnaire that will be sent to you shortly after our reply to your inquiry.
Best Regards,



2. My second question (in response to their reply) :
Thank you for answering my question about re-paste and warranty. I was only curious about that, but it's good to know I can send the laptop to you guys should temperatures rise to unmanageable levels (and that I'm covered for 24 months).
Am I permitted to at least use a can of compressed air when the laptop is turned off (without disassembling the laptop of course) if temperatures start to climb (as I live in a relatively dusty environment), or do I need to again contact you to arrange it to be cleaned?
If a situation arises where I need to send you the laptop for cleaning and re-paste is it possible to request from you to use a higher quality thermal compound in the process such as gelid extreme or a non-conductive/non-corrosive liquid metal type ?
The reason behind asking about gelid or liquid metal is that those are high quality thermal compounds which should technically be able to reduce maximum load temperatures (if applied correctly) by about 5 to 10 degrees C compared to what usually ships from factory.
It might be prudent to include those and Fujipoly type thermal pads (17w/mk) for some other internal components such as voltage regulators, etc. to further improve existing cooling.
Other than that, I was also going to suggest use of carbon nanotubes, synthetic diamonds and/or graphene for future cooling designs that would aid in potentially removing the need for active cooling (fans).

Oh and about the RAM upgrade... did you (Asus) include 3000 MhZ RAM support into the laptop's UEFI/BIOS? I realize you guys probably only officially tested with 2400 MhZ and can only recommend that, however that's not what I'm curious about. The motherboard is based on the B350 desktop model and technically should support 3000 MhZ RAM.
I was just wondering if the UEFI/BIOS microcode was programmed to include higher speed RAM support than 2400 MhZ (and if so, up to which speed?), because Ryzen CPU's infinity fabric benefits (performance wise) from high speed RAM in games and professional applications and if I will upgrade the RAM, I'd obviously prefer to go with faster
If you don't know if the GL702ZC UEFI/BIOS can support 3000 MhZ RAM, could you inquire with someone who might know... and also recommend to include log changes when it comes to bios/uefi revisions to see what exactly has been included, fixed, optimized, etc (and send a copy of those changes to me)?

Kind regards

Asus Response:
Thank you for your feedback regarding cooling and thermal paste.
You are allowed to clean your notebook of dust with air cans.
Regarding servicing the unit, the repair team have their own thermal paste that they use and cannot be changed - you can request it when filling out the repair application however, and perhaps a special exception can be made for you.
There is no such support implemented for RAM and we do not provide BIOS change logs to end users.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok then... it seems that I can clean out the laptop using the air cans, but not get inside it to replace the thermal compound myself (otherwise it breaks the seal and I lose the 24 month warranty - which is not exactly fair - I can understand if you damage the laptop yourself while attempting to replace the thermal compound you void your warranty, but not allowing this simple thing to the end user is a bit much - I'd rather not wait several weeks before getting the laptop back - and there's also transit to take into account which could damage the laptop as well).
Of course, 'breaking the seal' is greatly dependent on whether they can DETECT it was broken in the first place. The key in that case is identifying where the seals are on this laptop and how they are seated to prevent Asus from noticing you opened the laptop yourself.
I'm reasonably certain people did this before and OEM's didn't necessarily notice.
And they mention disassembling the unit... I'm only talking about removing the back panel to gain access to the CPU and GPU (and their cooling) to replace the thermal paste. Not to disassemble the whole thing (though technically removing the cooling could classify as 'disassembly' - and for that matter, unscrewing anything on the laptop (including the door for the RAM) could count as such - hm... perhaps that could be used as a 'defense' if OEM's accuse you of voiding the warranty.

Also, I'm not seeing any 'quick access doors' for the RAM. There is only a larger panel available that's sealed with several screws (seems to be the same size as the entire back panel). I'll have to send them an email about this with a picture I uploaded here to tell them there is no 'quick access door' to the RAM I can see and that the entire back panel would need to be removed to gain access to RAM sticks (Which is in line with early reviewers of this laptop who opened the laptop as well).

Air cans alone will probably not be adequate during a 24 month period. My old Acer accumulated a certain amount of dust after mere 6 months...
I guess I could use the air cans twice a year in that case until the warranty expires.
But I'm also hoping no issues would crop up requiring me to send the laptop to Asus in the first place, and if I'm right in the sense that this laptop has no 'quick access door' for the RAM (and that the entire back panel needs to be removed to gain access to the RAM slots)... then I have a way in already.... it's just a matter of being careful to not remove any stickers or 'seals' as it were in case I'd need to send the laptop back to Asus (and I'm hoping nothing like that actually happens).

On another end, it seems they took at least a passing note of understanding on my thermal paste and pads suggestion to improve existing cooling (and that they 'might' include better thermal paste if I request it of them - that is IF I send them the laptop at any point in time, and I want to avoid doing that to avoid waiting times - I'd only have it for repairs if the machine broke down on its own) ... in addition to mentioning CNT, graphene and synthetic diamonds to potentially remove the need for active cooling and copper pipes.

And as for RAM speed support... that reply wasn't exactly detailed.
Is he saying that Asus never included the microcode updates into the laptop's UEFI to include 3000 MhZ RAM even though its based off the desktop B350 model that DOES support it since AMD released AGESA 1.0.06 months ago?
Seems odd not to include those updates... but the bios/UEFI revision 300 (which was uploaded on the 27th October) only says 'Optimize system performance' (the laptop originally shipped with BIOS/UEFI version 208).
It would be helpful to know what those optimizations included.... its too cryptic like this.

I sent another inquiry about the laptop's lower panel including with the picture and asked them about AGESA 1.0.0.6 (and if that AGESA update wasn't included, will it be included in future bios/UEFI revisions along with 1.0.07.)

 

First of all your "emails" (tickets?) to them are too long, and you mixed in too many unrelated questions together.

You have to remember that English isn't always their first language, and even if it is, the statements are too long.

They have to read lots of emails every day and answer them, so if you can separate the topics, even if you just save them for future replies, you will get more favorable replies - IDK if it would change their reply, but I have always gotten the go ahead from Asus to re-paste and / or replace storage / ram.

I would try again. Maybe something like this.

"Hi, I need to add RAM, M.2 storage, and replace my 2.5" HDD with an SSD.

To get inside the laptop (model number here) I need to break the seal over the screw holding the back cover on the laptop. There are no easy access doors over the RAM or storage areas (if that is true).

Can I please do that without voiding the warranty?"

Then after you get the ok for that. Wait a few days, or at least 12 hours - so you get a new shift of front line support people. Put the 2nd question in a new ticket - important so you can track them separately.

"Hi, I am an enthusiast and usually re-paste my laptop's with better thermal paste and thermal pads. I love my new laptop but it's running hotter than I'd like to run it.

Can I please re-paste my laptop CPU and GPU without voiding my warranty? I promise to be very careful, and not cause internal damage while doing the re-pasting.

Thank you!"

Then after you get the positive response, open a new ticket and ask about the thermal paste specifics, include the previous ticket reference number for the re-pasting ticket request.

"Hi again, I'd like to use a thermal paste that gives the best performance.

Right now the best standard thermal paste is "Liquid Metal" paste.

These LM pastes provide the best cooling, and although they are conductive / corrosive and can damage laptop components if used incorrectly, I have experience with them and won't damage the laptop.

If I do damage the laptop I take responsibility for the cost of repairs, but I would still like Asus to cover other unrelated component failures via my warranty.

Is it ok if I take responsibility for the use of LM paste, and still get my Asus warranty over the other potential failures unrelated to use of LM paste?"

It's easy to get verbose, especially in response, so be conservative and focused in your replies.

You can start over with a new ticket, in the same manner as above. You've already gotten permission to change memory and storage, through the easy access covers, so that's why I made the above suggested ticket text with specific mention of the fact there are no easy access covers.

Good Luck

 

I included a snapshot of my laptop in the post you quoted and I included this picture in the e-mail I sent.
You can see yourself that there are no visible 'easy access covers'.

On the subject that english is not their first language... nor is it mine, though I have little to no issues with it (then again I'm also writing my own sci-fi novel in english, so, not exactly the same thing).
Still, I can understand that covering several seemingly unrelated topics in one email can be perceived as a bit much.
I like to explain things in detail to avoid misunderstandings, assumptions (or people pulling at straws), plus use just 1 email to get it done in one go...

But I shall follow up on your advice when it comes to asking them shorter questions as you suggested (actually, I might just copy/paste what you wrote directly) and in separate tickets for each topic (waiting around a day or 12 hours between shift changes).
I might get a more favorable reply...

 

Isn’t 95C max working temperature for Ryzen? This is worse than Dellienware. They put max temp limits at 93C now (100c was the norm before). What a joke.

 

That's the problem with some of these laptops, you can barely do anything to them without voiding the warranty! If I ever buy a laptop again I'd probably get something like the Tornado F5 which allows for user tinkering without breaking warranties.

 

Would you recommend this laptop?

 

Has excellent CPU performance for productivity work on the go and a practically mid-range desktop class graphics GPU (more than capable of driving most if not all games at 1080p at 60 FPS under FreeSync - and if some titles are more demanding, then just drop the quality from 'Ultra' to 'High'... that will more than make up the difference without actually sacrificing any quality that one could see as relevant because of minimal to very hard to notice differences between High and Ultra in the first place).

It really depends on what you want to use the laptop for.
If its more for gaming, then you might want to get a version of this laptop with Ryzen 1600 instead while still having large productivity capability... if anything, the version with 1600 will be cheaper... but it also comes will less RAM.
Bear in mind you'll need to increase the RAM yourself to gain dual-channel and improve general performance any way you slice it.

The upcoming Raven Ridge laptops with Ryzen APU that has 4 cores and 8 threads along with Vega igp (comparable to desktop GT 1030 apparently in performance) seems like a more viable choice for people who want some productivity and light gaming - I wouldn't expect of the GPU to be able to game spectacularly, but it will probably do the work nicely in a much smaller TDP envelope, and of course you gain a lot more in portability and battery life) - and unless that APU comes soldered, you will likely be able to upgrade it as well to future versions of Ryzen APU's based on Ryzen 2 and 3 and probably Navi igp.

Again, your choice.

I find the GL702ZC very capable... it DOES require a 'personal touch' but that's just me.

 

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, when it's available in the US all the issues are solved.

How long is the charging cable? from what I have seen in pictures it looks pretty short.

 

Charging cable isn't exactly what I would call too long , and the power brick is quite big/heavy... however, when you combine it with the laptop, it's no heavier than about 2.5 kg... less than 3 kg in total (which is no heavier than my old Acer 5930G with a power brick... and that laptop is/was far less powerful).
Otherwise, the charging cable is long enough. Don't know how long you need it to be though (could you be more specific)?

As far as I know, there aren't any 'issues' per say... this is how the laptop is generally constructed and operates.

The thing I mentioned earlier about re-pasting and such to Asus and cooling in general was simply a reflection on how high the temps go when you stress test the CPU and GPU to the maximum in artificial benchmarks (88 degrees C)... the temps do stay lower than 80 degrees celsius under varying loads (CPU and GPU)... in the range of about 75 degrees C.

Plus, this mobile RX 580 can be set to use Radeon Chill feature from within the drivers and limit the FPS to 60 (which would bring down power consumption and remove wasted frames which the LCD panel is unable to display since its limited to a refresh rate of 60Hz... otherwise, FreeSync works really well with that and gaming at 60 FPS on ultra/high settings is more than enjoyable - unless you plan on connecting the laptop to an external monitor to game at 2k, but in that case, you will have a harder time hitting 60FPS at that resolution... maybe with 'high' settings (but that's a big 'maybe' and it also depends on how well the game is optimized).

 

Since I have to keep the laptop plugged in most of the time, a long power cable would be useful if I am not directly by an outlet. My current power cable is about 10.5 feet, so if it's about the same length it would be ok

 

This one is about 10.3 feet (approximately). I measured it crudely, so I could be off by a small amount... but in that ballpark.

 

I got an update from someone else at Asus to my last email (I still hadn't sent them revised questions on what you hmscott wrote) :

"Thank you for your email.

Yes, as long as nothing is damaged or screws misplaced, the warranty would be unaffected.

In regards to the RAM speed - it works slightly different as generally laptop mainboards have other chipsets.
And most notebooks don't allow changing the timings/latency settings on RAM. And everything above 2133MHz/2400MHz even on system board is considered overclocking and might not be stable.

And notebooks are not tested as motherboards are with a QVL list - so we would advise to use 2400MHz/2133MHz memory for the sodimms"

Huh... so if I'm interpreting the first sentence accurately, as long as I don't damage anything inside the laptop or misplace any screws, warranty remains unaffected.
Curious.
Does that mean I can re-paste?
Hehe... might be easily interpreted as that, but I will be sending another ticket with that question by copy/pasting hmscott's example directly.

As for the RAM, well, he doesn't say that 3000 MhZ wouldn't work in the laptop... just that they aren't tested with those speeds.
So, it likely remains up to me to try out 3000 MhZ RAM and see if it would work in this machine. I wasn't asking about changing timings/latency on the RAM though, so I don't know what he included that, but I already knew about not being able to change the timings and latency seeing how the BIOS/UEFI is effectively locked

 

Yup, that looks good, and you can follow up as you like, but I would address it to him (his ID) so you can converse with him directly.

The RAM answer basically means he doesn't know, but falls back on the company default supported speeds. Or, he does know and he is telling you not to waste your time.

If you do get a few matched sets of SODIMM's at higher speeds, please let us know how they work out.

Have fun

 

Hello everyone,

I'm very interested in buying one of these laptops, basically because I really want ECC in a portable machine. The Ryzen CPU supports ECC, not "officially" but AMD says it's there and it's just a matter of the computer's motherboard routing all of the memory modules' lines to the CPU, and the BIOS enabling it if present.

Is this the case with this notebook? Has anyone tested, or at least entered the BIOS settings and looking for any setting mentioning ECC?

Thanks in advance,
--
Durval.

 

I entered the BIOS but I didn't notice anything regarding ECC.
I could recheck again, but the BIOS/UEFI is pretty much locked because OEM's usually use outdated cooling methodologies in laptops (copper pipes and fans) and don't allow overclocking.
This is one of the reasons they lock UEFI... even though most people wouldn't really overclock the laptops to begin with (tweak maybe by undervolting, etc., but overclocking would be relatively limited with existing/ancient cooling).

I could raise a support ticked with Asus and ask them about ECC support.

 

Ancient? I think you mean "state of the art", for "cavemen" it's pretty darned good.
@Durval
You could try ECC memory, and see if it works...

That's the best way to go about it, but they might not know either. So I'd add to the question / ticket to Asus - please try this in house, plug in ECC memory and let me know if it works.

It's unfortunately the case with laptops that QVL charts of tested / supported memory aren't published, the answers are still of interest though, so ask Asus specifically about testing ECC in house.

 

No, I mean its ancient next to other cooling methods we developed over the past several decades. Heck we could adjust current cooling to use more passive-like methods with superior synthetic materials and eliminate fans all together.
Copper is inefficient next to synthetic diamonds for example... graphene and carbon nanotubes. A synthetic composite of those carbon forms (Along with various connections on the CPU using the same materials - or even using meta-materials which we developed as far back in the 1970-ies... aerospace materials for example wouldn't need to be used in ridiculous amounts - we can use minuscule amounts and create viable composits - so, if we can make a space shuttle to withstand atmospheric entry and the material can stay cool to the touch while being searing hot in the middle, I think we can develop passive cooling that would keep all hardware at low temperatures without using fans... btw, I was talking about a thermal tile:


A similar method could be used to develop vastly improved cooling.
The temperatures showed in the video were orders of magnitude greater (2200 deg C) than what is being generated in a laptop or a desktop for that matter - however, yes, in mobile devices, notebooks, etc. the purpose is to take heat AWAY from the components... but there's no reason to think you can't create a similar material that conducts heat away and insulates the rest of the nearby components from it as well.

Let's face it... OEM's are LAZY and CHEAP when it comes to designing viable cooling systems. They also probably want to keep laptops 'restricted' in a certain way, even though they can be easily designed to be fully modular and easy to service/maintain/upgrade.
Also, there's no real reason such a cooling system would need to be 'expensive'.
OEM's slap in an imaginary price (like material suppliers do) on it just because they can.

 

One of the other things not published are UEFI/BIOS update changes (specifically what was done to 'optimize performance' etc.).
I mean its absurd.
How are we supposed to know if AGESA 1.0.0.6 or 1.0.0.7 will be integrated?
Are Asus announcing it for specific motherboards (when it comes to desktops) or something else?
The UEFI/BIOS update changes aren't included for desktop mobos either in a text file (this is a bit odd as I remember that older mobo manufacturers did include what was changed).

 

If it's not being done, there are likely good reasons. Specialty designs meant for weight savings, size considerations, and supporting new manufacturing technologies are different than what's needed for mass production.

The means of production need to be easily available, well understood, and have a low barrier to entry.

It may or may not happen to be necessary to get fancy with those new potentialities given all the steps necessary to implement them on an industry wide scale.

Things move a lot slower in real life than the speed of our thoughts.

I knew what was coming for the internet, at least I could imagine the possibilities back in the 70's, and it took until the '90's for any of it to start to have a glimmer of public awareness, to the point that I could say, "hey, ****'s finally coming together"... and now it's 20 more years further down the road, and for me nothing has conceptually changed since the internet of the '70's.

New names and rearrangement's for the same concepts, faster speeds, smaller physical instantiations of technology, broader awareness - but not much increase in understanding - other than what is necessary to "press the button" or "click the icon".

If you want it to happen, you have to do it yourself.

 

Those are the inefficiencies of living in a monetary system which is slow to the point of moving at a proverbial crawl because something is perceived to be 'monetarily expensive' and 'cost prohibitive' to introduce.
However, technologically, science and resource wise, we CAN make it in sustainable abundance for everyone in a very small time frame with very small impact to the environment.
Cost efficiency and profits have nothing to do with our ability to create something in sustainable abundance for everyone, with minimal impact to the environment and in a very small time frame.

Nasa also developed detailed schematics and methods for creating large fully self sustaining orbital habitats in the 1970-ies using science, technology and materials available at the time. O'Neil cilinders actually... for a cost of about $30 billion back then, which amounts to roughly $200 billion today (or 4.5 times less than what the USA funds its military for) - and it included transportation of necessary materials into orbit, etc.
1970-ies.

The amount of patents we can see on the Internet and what kind of methodologies were created at the turn of the 20th century alone (nevermind the mid 20th century) is staggering in itself and would put many methods we use TODAY to shame.
Maglev trains in vacuumed tubes achieving speeds of 2000 miles per hour were possible to construct in a decade across the globe if we used full scale automation to do it.
Capitalism is playing catch-up... but by integrating more and more automation, it will inevitably eliminate itself by around 2030.
Even now, automation replaced over 90% of the workforce in various factories that make mobile phones, laptops, etc... improving quality and reducing failure rate (that's of course using planned obsolescence and inferior materials we use now).

 

Since you got the laptop has it increased your electricity usage/bill?

 

Apologies if it's been posted previously, but it looks like Best Buy in the US will carry this model. If I still had my GTX 1070 Clevo, I'd seriously consider picking one up.

 

I hadn't received my electric bill just yet.
I get it once every 3 months... It's gonna take at least another 2 months before I see the changes in that.
However, I would imagine my bills would go up by default... but I'm not using the thing at maxed out performance 24/7 anyway.

Plus, I just finished with my personal de-bugging of sorts.

I did a clean Windows 10 install earlier today because numerous games couldn't create saves, and even 3d Studio Max was giving me errors every few minutes because it would refuse to create the autobackups in Users/documents/etc.
I tried taking ownership of the needed directory, but it refused.

I'm thinking there's a chance that 3d Mark and PCMark failing to execute certain benchmarks was tied to that problem as well.. or mainly due to the forced Windows 10 update I did back then which seems to have broken my ability to do a factory reset.
I also found the factory reset partition when I was doing a clean install. Seems to be intact, and I left it as is for now.

I'm in the process of re-installing my software on this clean install and I'll be running some new benchmarks to see if anything changed either fan-wise, performance-wise, etc.

One thing I found to be curious was that the after installing the Asus ROG center (on the fresh Windows 10 install), it refuses to display any information on the CPU or GPU... and of course, I cannot control the fan like before (the option simply doesn't exist).
I don't exactly know why this happened, but a potential theory I came up with is that since I did a clean install and as a result removed any/all traces of ASUS software (even it's power profile), it seems that gaming center cannot read the CPU or the GPU.

Ryzen Master is working fine and it's detecting temperatures without issues, as is HWMonitor, GPU-Z, etc.

So sensors in general seem to function fine, but ROG Gaming Center does not.
Oh well... that version was released months ago.
I'm going to raise a support ticket with Asus stating all their software seems really dated and needs to be either coded to properly recognize and execute, or replaced.
The Asus update utility couldn't be installed at all for example.

 

The Asus Update utility hasn't worked for laptops for a long time.

The stuff from AMD is what I would stick with for now, glad to hear it works

 

Wow, ain't smooth running! Hope Asus can iron out the bumps, not looking like a good advert for that laptop model at the moment - it seems like a rare laptop as no other users have posted in this forum, it would be good to hear from them to get some more perspectives.

 

I know... with such hardware and price, you would think Asus would release updates for this thing on a regular basis and ensure smooth operations.
At the very least, update the GPU drivers so I can use the latest version with Freesync.
How Asus managed to install their obsolete software on this thing is puzzling... let alone making it functional.

 

It may be that Asus does't want follow up the "ugly duckling" They may rather want add up more resources to their main portfolio... Their Fully BGA MACHINES with Intel and Nvidia hardware.

 

It's a potential Catch 22. Asus probably won't put a lot of effort into supporting this particular laptop unless people are buying it in droves. However, because there are so many issues with the software, people who read about them are not going to want to buy it until those problems are fixed.

Since the machine is so new, Asus deserves a grace period to get things straightened out on the software end. After, say 3-6 months, then all bets are off, IMO.

 

The software issues are likely linked to what I concluded was a broken Windows 10 OS I received pre-installed with the laptop.
How it got borked is anyone's guess. Asus could have simply installed Windows 8 for all I know with all their software (not that there was a lot of it) and then updated the whole system to Windows 10 (but why would they bother seeing how Win 10 has already been out for years? - the only thing that comes to my mind is compatibility with their Asus software).

Anyway, games simply refused to produce saves, and then there was the issue with the failed factory reset.

A clean Windows 10 install resolved problems for me (games and software are producing saves without issues now).
I may not have operational Asus software anymore, but I can't say I would find it helpful anyway since I wasn't exactly using it. The fan control would be nice yes, but I'm not overtly worried about it since I can usually slap on some headphones anyway while gaming.

I could have simply received the early version that was the buggiest in terms of software.
I'm gonna put down these problems into a technical support ticket to make Asus aware of it (not sure if they will do anything about it though).

I installed and tested Mass Effect Andromeda btw... seems to work really good. No hangups thus far, but I've yet to get off the Nexus as I completed that first 'Habitat 7' mission. Quality settings are on high, 1080p. Graphics and FPS are great.

Any recommendations for FPS recordrding software?
Never used it before, but I guess I could play about with a few games and upload the FPS with and without FPS limiter.

 

If you're willing to pay for it, Mirillis Action Recording Software is very well regarded. At least the fee includes a lifetime license so you'll never have to re-purchase when they release a new version. I got mine through Steam when it was on sale for half off, so it was a good deal.

 

This BEAST Laptop has 8 Cores! - Ryzen 1700 17" Asus ROG Strix GL702ZC