Asus ROG GL702ZC owners lounge

There can definitely be physical impediments that cannot be circumvented with any amount of effort. That is often the case.

When the blockage is only firmware black magic, there can often be workarounds to remove the artificial blockage. The bigger problem is the people. They hear words like "not supported" and they're done already. That is all the manufacturer needs to say to make 99% of them go away with the impression that it absolutely cannot happen. I think they (manufacturers) count on that happening so they can make more money selling new stuff to people that don't actually need it.

Here is an example: https://premamod.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/clevo-pascal-mxm-standard/

 

Obviously, we know that for example AMD Ryzen and newer Intel CPU's work on Windows 7, but it was since clarified that various features won't be functional on 7 for example, making use of new technology to its fullest problematic... or forcing one to use Linux instead (Which complicates matters for some long lasting Windows users due to various programs not existing on Linux, Wine incompatibility problems, etc.).

I'm not disputing the fact that Prema's bios mods and hacks aren't usable... but, not everyone can or will bother with those. Plus there's no guarantee they will actually work as well - especially if people need to do proper modding to make it work.

With 'not supported'... or at least if its coming from Intel, one should probably double check from independent sources to see what actually works and what doesn't... but otherwise, it can be an issue to make some stuff work if its not officially supported.

This is why (at least for the time being) AMD is better than Intel.
They have long standing AM4 support for upcoming CPU's, no Meltdown susceptibility, and their Spectre susceptibility is so low that its next to improbable it can be exploited, unless the person with malicious intent has physical access to the computer... AMD hardware can also be overclocked (maybe not as far as Intel's stuff on v1 Ryzen, but that doesn't mean the same will apply to Ryzen+ [better manuf. process more suited for high clocks'], and besides, overclocking only gets you so far... even on Intel CPU's, overclocking by 500 MhZ doesn't necessarily bring large performance enhancements, or the benefits will be minimal in other cases with more power expenditure).

I agree people shouldn't be quick to dismiss functionality with Intel, but unfortunately, on a larger scale, their backward compatibility is... limited.
Also, there's a possibility that Intel might actually write it into their new CPU's to refuse functioning on older motherboards (but I don't know if they would go so far).

 

It really depends on what you are looking for. Calling it better will not be accurate by everyone's standards or definition of what constitutes better. It would not be suitable for me, or else I would have purchased that already. Not saying it's no good (that would be untrue) only that it's not what I am looking for. I can tell you that there is a huge and obvious improvement in performance when I change my 8700K from the default/stock clock speed to 5.2GHz. I'm not burning any calories fretting about Spectre or Meltdown vulnerabilities, but no point in rehashing that again here.

Is the Ryzen 1700 in your laptop socketed or soldered? Is the GPU MXM or BGA? (I haven't looked into how it is constructed.) Could you drop in an 1800X and, for example, an MSI GTX 1080 to replace the RX 580 if you wanted to do that? If you can do that if you want to, that is a big win for you. If you can't do that, then whatever AMD does for upcoming CPUs and GPUs is totally irrelevant as far as your current system is concerned.

 

Ryzen 1700 is socketed and graphics BGA. I'm quite sure 1800X is locked out. The cooling can't handle the higher wattage. And if I remember correct.... RX 580 is 68W and the cooling use unified design on top.

 

Well, if that is the case, that is sort of the point of my line of questions. Whatever AMD does in the future is totally irrelevant as far as the current system is concerned. It might be loved by one that owns it, and perhaps for good reasons. But, it is a fixed configuration and any argument about AM4 backward compatibility making it better than Intel would have no application here. From a practical application perspective, having it frozen in time is worse than a limited upgrade path for someone that buys an Intel CPU. It does benefit from the CPU being serviceable without the motherboard, so can't hate that. The BGA RX 580 is definitely going to be its Achilles Heel in terms of performance. It's unfortunate they did not go with MXM and a robust cooling system that could effectively handle a 200W CPU and a 200W GPU.

 

It's a good they put in socketed processors. Regardless of Cpu brand. Thing can and should be better. This is maybe the first small steps we can see MORE use of socketed processors instead of soldered trash in notebooks. Thing can of course be better. And have to. And they need to fix the cooling, regardless of BGA graphics. It's 1+ in the book.

 

Yes, definitely. That is arguably its most redeeming quality. A small step in the right direction for an entire market segment that is being maliciously destroyed by sick bastards that ascribe to a defective product model. It is really too bad they did not use MXM. It is also unfortunate for something we once took for granted as totally normal to be viewed as a novel paradigm shift.

 

The GPU as it was noted in gl702zc is bga, but the CPU is socketed and unmodified desktop grade.

On the GPU... Even if it was mxm, having an option of upgrading to a much higher performing one would be good, but ultimately, the inevitably much higher cost of mobile mxm GPUs could easily make that option non viable and as useless as bga itself (not to mention potential issues with compatibility, etc.).

As far as the CPU goes though, if Asus provides bios updates, we should have clear upgrade path towards ryzen+, 2 and 3.
That's nothing to scoff about... And being able to drop a desktop CPU into this thing is really a cheaper bonus on top of that than relying on availability of mobile CPUs that are again usually more expensive.

The cooling should have been a lot better with overall better execution of the unit in that price range (I agree) ... And considering their other Intel/nvidia rog units, the gl702zc seems to run cooler and better overall, so it seems to be slightly better implemented (though that doesn't say much when you consider how Asus decided to use a 17" chassis).

Also my point on backward compatibility was directed more towards desktops exactly because plenty of recent laptops do come with bga CPU's and GPUs (intal/nvidia).
Right now, the gl702zc is the only AMD option on the mobile market with the potential for upgrades in almost every area (sans the GPU... Which is more than enough for 1080p gaming and content creation) and is a perfectly viable mobile solution.... Especially when undervolted.

 

Do we have any stock and/or overclocked Fire Strike and 3DMark 11 scores in our forum for this model yet?

 

There's this, but as you know they're paid shills and know nothing about laptops.





On the other note, there is good news on the fan capability of this model.

I was sim lim city a month back (big computer mall in singapore), tried the GL702ZC (singapore SKU) and ramped the fans to max using manual controls. You can actually hear it in the middle of the crowd which means the fanspeed is quite fast.

Probably even louder than a DM3/KM1.

 

In this case, the Linus video seems pretty accurate. Having the RX 580 (or a GTX 1060 for that matter) is pretty sad and not really worthy of being paired with the Ryzen 1700 CPU. Maybe the objective (for some weird reason) was to go with 100% AMD branding rather than actually striving to deliver compelling performance. Had it been built with MXM and included a 1080 option, along with a 1700X and 1800X CPU option, it would have been a lot more compelling for a gaming machine that doesn't need to overclock the CPU much to make its owner happy. The weak GPU and poor cooling system pretty much ruins it in my mind.

 

Could work with a bigger heatsink.

Though I would imagine it requires KM1 style cooling but only able to cool 1 GPU sufficiently without external assistance.

 

Dude what you are describing is pretty much wishful thinking, people don't understand the point of OC-ing this laptop. As of wright now there is no other laptop in the market that can beat this one in what it's designed for. As most reviews have said this is a workstation on the go, that can do some gaming on the side.
There is no need to overclock the GPU or the CPU in using it for a work laptop. The GPU performs beautiful in every design software, from 3D objects creation to heavy photo and video manipulation, when you take into consideration it's open CL optimization and freesync display, trust me there is no stuttering or lag.
After you finished your project and you need to export your work the CPU completely destroys every competition in this price range, as a comparison, rendering in Vray alongside another same price range Asus 7700hq laptop, this setup was able to render 3 images in 15 hours that it took 7700hq to finish just one.
With the little OC that you can achieve, this set-up at 3.6 GHz stable on all cores and adjust the fan speed to 30% it will hold a 75° temperature on all of those 15 hours of rendering and refuse to throttle. But the performance gains are 30% at most in real world useage, not as impressive as benchmark scores will have you believe, it's nice to have the option but as of wright now it's totally not needed.
The Hardware engineers have been capable of cooling this laptop, however the software engineers have kinda made it not use that feature as it uses at least 50% of it's cooling capacity In order to make it quiet, but you can override their choices seamlessly.
I hope people don't take any offence when I say that this was not made for games but rather a flexible content creation laptop, and every one who trashes ASUS for their build either hasn't tried this laptop in what it was meant for or they made a poor choice on considering it for games. And I know ASUS claims that this is a gaming laptop but they are morons.
CPU upgradability would be great but unlikely because of wattage limitations and GPU upgradability won't have you needing it for at least 5 year's from now if you rely solely on content creation.

Sent from my MI 5s Plus using Tapatalk

 

It does not need to be wishful thinking. It could be appealing to a wider audience if they (AMD and ASUS) were more in touch with things. ASUS is presenting it as a gaming solution in spite of its lackluster GPU. The pitch that it is a workstation is an adaptation from the review(s) that find it better suited for that purpose. If ASUS would provide a better cooling solution and revise the motherboard as MXM and include better graphics cards as options, this product would appeal to a much broader audience that is willing to pay extra to get more. Good options are few and far between in laptops, so this would be a win for everyone. With the options of selecting an 1800X CPU, an MXM GTX 1080 and a better cooling system, I think we would see quite a few more people wanting one. AMD has made great progress with Ryzen. They're still trailing behind NVIDIA severely in GPU options. As the component most likely to fail before the laptop is old enough to be worn out and too obsolete to be useful, having a weak GPU permanently attached to the motherboard (BGA) is a pretty damning proposition.

 

Since when is RX 580 not a gaming solution or lackluster for that matter?
The mobile version is about 10% slower than desktop, while being 20% underclocked, and has much lower power consumption (limited to 68W in total - its more efficient than the mobile GTX 1060 limited to 80W while giving same or better performance).

You could argue that the Razor laptop with GTX 1060 is 'lackluster' at gaming as well, and yet, its advertised as a gaming machine and costs much more than the GL702ZC.

Come on, let's be realistic here.

The RX 580 (mobile) plays virtually everything you throw at it at high settings (at least) and 1080p... plus, it has Freesync.

As for the GPU being soldered to the motherboard... bring that up with Asus.
Most OEM's solder the GPU's to the motherboard anyway, so you're stuck with that solution either way.
And, I will point out (again) that getting a new (more powerful) MXM GPU can often come at a cost that makes up the bulk of a NEW laptop with possibly better hardware... which makes it a dubious purchase, and there are possible issues with making the more powerful GPU work with the existing system (let alone on the cooling end).

Could Asus have designed a GL702ZC with better cooling and fit an undervolted Vega 56 in there that's replaceable?
Yes.
A properly undervolted and overclocked Vega 56 would draw less power than desktop 1080 while having same performance as GTX 1080 (desktop version).
Further drop the clocks a bit, and power consumption ends up going down dramatically because of the manuf. process being suited for low clocks and mobile parts in general - I suspect the performance loss would be minimal to begin with because Vega is more dependent on HBM bandwidth and raising core frequencies bring minimal gains - which brings me to my next point... lack of availability of HBM memory for mobile versions.

Given the cryptocurrency craze and lack of memory availability in general (or so they say)... would it really be doable to offer mobile Vega 56?
Also, what are the chances Asus would give us an MXM one that doesn't have an inverted interface?

With laptops, its a hit and miss... or a compromise in one or another area.
I'm not saying we should accept everything we are given but some of the 'bashing' the GL702ZC is getting is a bit undeserved. Yes, it has its flaws, I wrote and complained about them to Asus in the first place... so no one's denying that.
But point is that even with other stock systems, you end up with some kind of a trade-off.

Asus might also be inexperienced with AMD hardware as this is a first real attempt at an all AMD laptop for them in a VERY long time.
Yes, it could have been done better, but who is to say they won't do better in the future?
Heck, already, this all AMD laptop runs cooler and is potentially more affordable than most other Intel/Nvidia comparable ROG solutions... so they got 'something' right, and they placed a desktop grade CPU in there as well which can be upgraded if new BIOS is released.

Overclocking the GL702ZC as it was said is NOT necessary... its fast enough as it is.
Point is, we HAVE the option of overclocking the CPU by at least 10% while lowering its temperatures in comparison to how it shipped... that's a bonus if you ask me... and its coming from AMD hardware to boot.

 

You'll get no argument from most of us about that. Razer sells garbage and the GTX 1060 is definitely a lackluster 'el cheapo' product for people with severely limited budgets or a thin and light notebook that cannot accommodate anything more powerful.

RX 580 might be just fine for playing games at 1080p. It exceeds the minimum system requirement of all but a statistically insignificant percentage of the games available. All that is being said is that it's not good enough for people with higher expectations, and some of us won't buy anything with a soldered GPU no matter how powerful the GPU happens to be. When you say it does not need to be overclocked for playing games, no argument there either. It does need to be overclocked (along with the CPU) as far as possible if that's what a person derives pleasure from (competitive benching). It is not suitable for that purpose, and the only thing that is being said is that some of us wish it had more robust hardware to accommodate that. There are hardly any laptops left that can, and it would have been really super nice if this one had presented an alternative to the Clevo monopoly. So, the only complaint that is a take-away here is that it's not going to be a good option for some even though it had promise and potential to appeal to a much larger audience.

Hope that all makes better sense now. Glad you're super happy with it... that's what matters for you. I can appreciate that 100%.

 

Ditto. I tried the same thing. Pressing down on the case eliminated the vibrations some. I think the problem is the red plastic bit inside the speaker cut-out. The left one seems to have broken loose or come free and rattles around. Anyway, as I am writing this, UPS just picked it up - free of charge - and the replacement Ryzen Strix arrives next week between Monday and Wednesday. So, no real complaints about how the return is being handled. Try placing your hand about three inches above the cut-out and slide the volume slider. letting it 'ding'. On my laptop is sounded unacceptable, like something rattling around a can. Thank you for the suggestions. Keep them coming.

 

But that entirely depends on what people's 'expectations' and usages are.
GTX 1060 and RX 580 are viable gaming GPU's for many people (dare I say that they make up a larger % than those who opt for 1070/1080 solutions).

Fewer people will be able to drop the cash for laptops with GTX 1070 or 1080 GPU's... others will resort to mid-range solutions by focusing on 1050, 1050ti, 1060 and RX 570/580.
In the mobile world, GTX 1060 and RX 580 are a step above 'mid-range'... not 'high end'... but in between mid and high.

Think of the GL702ZC as an 'affordable higher specced laptop'... obviously it won't satisfy everyone's desires in terms of gaming, but it will do the job more than fine for the resolution it has and High settings (and besides, 'Ultra' settings are usually a waste of GPU resources for minimal graphical gains that are barely or at all noticeable, and even then this GPU can run Ultra at acceptable levels as well)... and its not just for gaming... I do plenty of 3d artwork and content creation in general... having a powerful CPU like Ryzen 1700 for that definitely helps (and Ryzen 1700 fits into that category).

Asus also probably went with a specific power budget for this machine...
Just like they opted for an integrated battery to slim down the laptop (a mistake if you ask me, but there you have it).

Competitive benching is not a priority for me, and it's not what this laptop is designed for (how many are exactly?)... the reason I keep the thing overclocked is because the CPU can easily run 10% higher than stock across all cores and produce lower temperatures at the same time if adjusted with Ryzen Master.
It's an extra bonus that gives us a bit of a boost in content creation... it's not a 'must'... but if one can, then it would be advisable to use it.
The CPU can also be overclocked 20% above stock (to 3.6GhZ across all cores) for the same, or slightly lower temperatures when compared to stock (or probably lower temperatures if the CPU has better silicon quality and can run on those frequencies with lower voltages)... being able to drive a desktop CPU that far up in a mobile setting for the same or lower thermal requirements the laptop originally shipped with is quite good for content creation... on stock (or notch or two lower) voltage no less... I don't think all mobile CPU's can do the same.

Again, its not strictly necessary, but if you want to shave off some render time, then, it's a bonus.

 

Right. So, we are in agreement with what I already said.

Exactly. That's what I said.

I think the disconnect is not understanding that some had higher hopes for it as a high-end overclockable beast machine for performance maniacs with its socket-mounted desktop CPU and a high-end MXM GPU. Because it turned out like it did in terms of mid-range specs and BGA GPU, those hopes are not going to be fulfilled. We are still left with only a couple of Clevos to choose from (well, actually mainly just one Clevo option,) that meet our expectations.

That does nothing to diminish the fact that it is exactly what you wanted it to be and that we are happy for you and others that find it well suited for your purposes.

 

Wow...have had so much work/schoolwork I could only sporadically check-in to see how well hmscott and Deks were holding up against the relentless attacks of the "Undefiled BGA-Hating Elitist" Mr. Fox (and his cadre of supporters) - whose opinions, I should add, I respect highly!

That being said, I had to chuckle when I saw the 1700 described as a "bellybutton cpu", because I'm not sure what that means! Is it meant to insinuate that it is a bad cpu? Compared to what?

No...it is not a bad cpu by any means, especially when it is socketed and in a laptop. 8 cores and 16 threads of portable desktop goodness.

Let me see if I remember this right, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Ryzen was released in February 2017. Up to that point, and aside from the aging, end of life P570WM, the max Intel/Clevo was willing/able to give to us was a 4 core, 8 thread mainstream desktop cpu/laptop. Nothing to get excited about - but the overclockers couldn't open their wallets fast enough and pour them out into Intel's/Clevo's coffers. Coffee Lake was released in October 2017 as an answer to Ryzen, and I shudder to think how much longer it would have taken for Intel to release its 6 core, 12 thread offering if AMD hadn't birthed Ryzen. Ah! Now I know what the "bellybutton" moniker should stand for! Ryzen is what gave birth to Coffee Lake! AMD provided the umbilical cord that allowed Coffee Lake to even exist (as soon as it did, at least)!

Hey, maybe it's not what the hardcore overclockers dreamed of, but competition is good for us consumers. It was ballsy of Asus to launch an industry first, and it deserves a lot of credit for doing so, even if the gpu is bga.

Furthermore, I find it interesting that if I want to upgrade my P570WM's gpus to dual 980s, it will cost me more than the GL702ZC. If upgrading is so cost prohibitive, it might make more sense to just buy a new laptop (the overclockers might agree, as long as they can get a decent overclock "fix"!).

Just some thoughts, but not the reason I signed on tonight. I received an email from HIDevolution just before I started typing this, and my unit is on its way. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do anything with it benching-wise until 3/5, as I have a final exam that I must prepare for (and ace!). So I'll be disappearing again for a while.

In the meantime, keep fighting the good fight, hmscott & Deks!

 

Attacks? No attacks here. Resisting fanboyism, maybe. In fact, I have given credit where credit it due to AMD and I have had lots of nice things to say about what they have done with Ryzen. Belly-button doesn't mean no good. It just means it runs almost exactly the same for everyone because it does poorly at overclocking (as in not going very far) and it is only a good product for ordinary consumers rather than an enthusiast product.

Intel makes lots of CPUs like that as well (no K or X at the end of the model name). Intel is also walking both sides of the fence, with one foot in the land of BGA filth, and the other foot on the wild side. It's harder than ever to respect that and I was just hoping that AMD would have sucker punched them (and NVIDIA) a helluva lot harder than they have. Unfortunately, it looks to me like they still have the upper hand on AMD, but there is still another round or two before one of them goes down for the count.

Those that know me well know that I don't care about brand loyalty. That means nothing to me. I'm just waiting for something better to come along so I can boot Intel and NVIDIA to the curb, knock their teeth out, and leave them for dead. But, so far, nothing out there that can do that yet. Closer, but AMD is still not there yet. No point in taking a leap from the frying pan to the fire.

I think the world would be a lot better place if all fanboys would stop making excuses for lameness and start holding some feet to the fire. I'm talking about Intel's BGA panty-waist filth, NVIDIA's dropping support for MXM and producing generation after generation of cancer vBIOS garbage, and AMD's affinity for dropping the ball at the 5 yard line and 2 seconds left on the clock with their new breed of powerful CPUs and GPUs that seem exciting at first blush, but (sadly) don't overclock worth a damn. And, we can throw all of the gamer-boy turdbook vendors into the same slop bucket for their armies of anorexic, disposable, half-assed, mickey mouse BGA garbage that suffers overheating, throttling and similar atrocities that are a direct result of lousy engineering and a mega-dose of just not caring enough to do things right. Maybe someday enough people will pull their heads out, wise up and start saying no to the junk. Toilet paper is thin and light, too. It's only good for blowing your nose and wiping your bottom. If you try to do anything else with it, it just falls apart.

 

I think bouth parties are wright here, but I can't seen the help noticing that this discussion should have been better suited for the desktop forums, I own a alienware m15x and I made the decision of purchasing it based on the fact that I would upgrade it, it never happened of course because of the prices.
You can't talk upgradability on a laptop unless you're a geeky person, there is no need to discuss anything else about what the engineers should have done and so on. it's rather difficult to build the a laptop with desktop components and even harder to build one with everything upgradable. Damn near impossible to do so in this price range. If you configure a clevo laptop you will get near 2k $/€ and at those prices you are better off getting a full class desktop rather then a laptop. The idea that they should have designed this for future updates in mind at the cost of slight increase in price and consider that this way people will consider it more is wishful thinking.
Nobody spends that amount of money on a laptop, just as nobody is considering buying a clevo laptop or an Acer Predator or whatever other powerhouse laptop. Every one likes thin and light mentality and that comes with some compromising factors in order for OEM's to satisfy consumer demand, thus the sottered component's where born.
This laptop is all ready above the consumer price range and only fine people like the one's on this forum will ever consider pulling out the cash for one, and increasing the price more for mxm socket and better cooling would have made it less appealing to everyone because you're better off with a full desktop if you're budget increases.
Smart shoppers like the one's in this forum don't have an impact on OEM's decisions because we give them less then 20% revenue so our interests don't matter that much; 80% of consumer's what a small thin laptop that can game on the side but nothing to demanding on a laptop and that is why an upgradable CPU is a God bless nowadays.
No other company other then clevo will give you this option from now on, time's have changed and upgradability is an exception to the rule and a God bless in this price range.

My 2 cents on the matter

Sorry for my English is not even my 3 used language.


Sent from my MI 5s Plus using Tapatalk

 

Sorry for the delay I wanted to get a usb C hard drive, to test out but I didn't had luck, as the one I ordered came with a flaw.
Attached is a picture I took of copying a 18 GB raw video file from a local news camera. As you can see the speeds are consistent over usb 3 type A, sadly in couldn't get to test the USB c input.
Both back and forth copy / cut paste from internal SSD to external HDD Seagate where consistent with 120+ mb/s speeds. Moving to internal HDD the one that came from ASUS i was able to get a solid 10 mb/s, as I was ashamed to even take a picture.
I hope this helps a little, and as soon as o can get a usb type c storage device I will come back with an update.

Sent from my MI 5s Plus using Tapatalk

 

The SSD that comes from the factory does not compare to a 960/961. In fact, I opted out of it when I ordered my unit from HIDevolution, as the laptop has only 1 NVMe slot. Saved me a few ducats that way by not having a piece of tech lying around that I had no intention of using.

It appears that my unit should arrive Wednesday, which is the day that I have chosen to take my final exam...so hopefully I can start delving into this laptop on Thursday. I plan on running some benchmarks on it as is, then again after upgrading the SSD and RAM. Cant' wait to see what kind of temps I get, considering I opted for HIDevolution's proprietary top-notch cooling solution.

Speaking of memory - prices are a bit ridiculous, but since I didn't spend a fortune on this laptop compared to most of our Clevo-advocating friends, and since I can pop it out and use it in something else down the road, I'm still trying to make up my mind on what RAM to get before I pull the trigger later today, monetary costs aside. CAS latencies; voltages;...so much to consider. And then, what if the memory isn't compatible? So while I'm still considering GSKill 3200, Corsair's new 3800 and 4000 kits also look intriguing. Any educated opinions are welcome - including any from the Clevo crowd, who are some of the most knowledgeable people on these forums (yes, Mr. Fox, that entreaty is aimed at you, and others).

 

AMD says DDR4/2666MHz is the maximum it will support.

We have heard that before from manufacturers, so we tried DDR4/2800MHz and it only runs at 2400MHz. Then we tried loading the AMD Ryzen Master application to adjust the memory but all settings are locked.

 

Does 2400Mhz vs 2666Mhz make a big difference?

Edit: Can you also explain the Active Member Discount?

 

Any idea why the 2800 didn't (couldn't?) run at 2666?

EDIT: Also, I think Deks may have said that there is a Ryzen Master for Threadripper that must be used (IIRC - IF not, please correct me). Is that what was used?

 

It really shouldn't make much of a difference, truth be told...but since I haven't done any testing, perhaps Donald@HIDevolution can tell you for certain.

As for the discount, it's not much (mine was $20 - it may depend upon the price of the laptop), but any little bit helps. I was hoping that they also offered a student discount, but they don't.

However, HIDevolution is a company that has a rock solid reputation, as you can check for yourself in these forums. I have been quite pleased with the level of service that I have received thus far, and look forward to being ecstatic once I receive the laptop!

 

They probably used the Threadripper Ryzen Master... otherwise, the regular Ryzen Master software would refuse to start up (at least it does for me, both on the OEM Windows install and my clean Win 10 install).
But regardless, even in the Threadripper version, clicking on 'Memory Control' does not allow for RAM adjustments... the settings are indeed greyed out.

More to the point, we should ask HIDevolution which BIOS they used to test the RAM.
The 303 BIOS comes with Agesa 1.0.0.7 which should support higher RAM frequencies... but that's for desktops... not sure if the same applies for GL702ZC... though I don't see why it shouldn't (unless Asus did't include support for higher ram frequencies)

 

For a good read on speed vs. CL, see http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/memory-performance-speed-latency

The Notebookreview discount is between $20-70 depending on what you are buying.

We do have a student discount, in the same amount, but it cannot be stacked with the Notebookreview discount...you can only get one, or the other. Either can be stacked with the 2.5% cash discount...payment by check, ACH or EFS, Bank Wire Transfer (T.T.), Transferwise (for international customers), or a direct deposit of cash or cashier's check into our Chase bank account.

For more detailed information, please email me at [email protected].

 

That is a good question for Vivian, our Production Manager @thattechgirl_viv

 

AMD limits the speed at 2667MHz and the AMD Ryzen Master application is very limited with what we can adjust as far as CPU and RAM go.

 

My apologies...I stand corrected!

 

So....it looks like we need a Prema-type to crack this bios wide open! Since this is more than a bit outside of my expertise, I wonder who we can enlist for such a task? I'd be willing to chip-in a few quatloos, and I'm confident that others would be willing to respond in kind!?

Two questions for you, thattechgirl:

(1) Since you have experimented with RAM, have you had the opportunity to experiment with different CPUs on this rig yet? If so, have you found anything "juicy"?

(2) What does "HID" in HIDevolution stand for? Does the "D" stand for "Donald" by any chance?

 

Did anyone try running PlanetSide 2 (free to play game) on this laptop yet? If not, wanna help a friend out?

 

To tag thattechgirl_viv (or any member here), you need to put the @ sign in front of their name...thusly @thattechgirl_viv. Otherwise they will not know you are asking them a question.

We are doing R&D on the 1700X and 1800X CPU, but the ASUS firmware limitations make it very unstable, shutting down within 5 minutes of running a game or benchmark. We will not be offering it.

HID = Human Interface Device (a computer)...once you get that part, the evolution part makes a lot more sense.

 

Considering the machine appears to POST and boot with 1800, I would surmise the reason it shuts down within 5 mins of gaming or benchmarking is because its TDP is way over the designated limit of the laptop... and therefore, its temperatures skyrocket pretty fast.
The cooling simply can't cope with it.

Now, I wonder if HIDevolution tried testing the 1800x with Ryzen Master and undervolted on stock clocks... if not, then that might be the problem.
Furthermore, I'm not sure if its really that good for us to be spending cash on 1800x for GL702ZC when we can simply overclock 1700 to boost across all cores already to 3.6GhZ (the 1800x base clock) under stock voltage it ships with or a notch or two lower (depending on silicon quality).

But if people were hoping for more than 3.6GhZ across all cores, that might be wishful thinking for Ryzen 1 in GL702ZC.
At best, I think we need to wait for Ryzen+ (refresh) to come out so we can see their final base and boost clock rates (across all cores) and TDP's... and then there's the question of whether Asus will release BIOS support for Zen+ (their lack of releasing an unlocked BIOS for desktop replacement machine is discouraging at best).

 

From @thattechgirl_viv who is our Production Manager:

The temps never exceeded 75c even with the 1800X.

Running Windows 10 RS3/64 - BIOS 303

• Ryzen 7 1700 - We cannot OC no matter what. After trying to OC the CPU with AMD Ryzen Master application, we started having stability issues with the system I'm collecting data from. Every time we run anything CPU/GPU intensive tests, the application crashes. The CPU voltages can be tweaked for optimal cooling but we can't tweak the core clocks on the CPU. This CPU runs at 3.7 GHz on some cores and on certain applications.

• Ryzen 7 1700x - This CPU has the same issues as the 1800x. Read below.

• Ryzen 1800x - Even with stock clocks this CPU turned out to be unstable, the system completely shuts down when running Firestrike CPU/GPU combined tests. It spikes up to 4 GHz on certain tasks like PC Mark 10 and Battlefield 1 but takes like 5 minutes for the system to shutoff. Also, on certain tests it does take longer for it to fail/shutoff unexpectedly.

We tried what we could for now but...

These AMD motherboards are not anything like the Intel boards. Even though the CPU is interchangeable on this GL702ZC model, it doesn't mean we can just slap a new upgrade to it and hope it runs stable.

That being said; I have concluded that this system's CPU cannot be upgraded due to firmware limitations.

 

Which makes it an Asus problem in that case because they locked the BIOS.
Still, even with an unlocked BIOS, what could be done to prevent the system from shutting off when using 1800x in that case?
As for the temps not exceeding 75 degrees C... wouldn't more accurate readings require more than 5 mins of running say Prime 95 and Blend stress test?

Also, I can easily overclock my 1700 to 3.3GhZ and above.
Voltages for specific frequencies do need to be played around with to find a suitable one and prevent crashes, but usually, I apply those settings in Creator Mode tab in Ryzen Master Threadripper (if that helps).

 

First of all, we NEVER run Prime95 or Furmark. There are other stress tests that don't brutalize the components.

Yes, it is true that if they would stay on for longer than 5 minutes those temps could go higher...but the point is they were not shutting down due to high temps.

Thanks for the tip on Creator Mode...I will pass that on to @thattechgirl_viv

 

I actually did use Creator Mode on the AMD Ryzen Master application.

What settings did you use to easily overclock your 1700 to 3.3 GHz and above? We had a bad time trying to overclock the stock CPU on this GL702ZC model.

Can you run any benchmark and post the results here?

Thanks!

 

Thank you for sharing that information, it is very helpful

@Deks mentioned OC'ing using the ThreadRipper (Ryzen / Threadripper Master Application - are they the same binary?) version of Master a while ago. @Deks method might be worth trying again on the same CPU's.

The long shutdown time might be related to problems in the hibernation / soft-shutdown / fast startup features, so perhaps try disabling Hibernation which that code depends on - hibernation disabled will force them to also be disabled.

In cmd window Start As Administrator:

powercfg /h off

powercfg /h on => to restore operation.

Perhaps you can share your findings with Asus, and follow with the question, will Asus release updated BIOS to support upgrading the CPU to Ryzen series 1 CPU's (1xxx) and for the soon to be released Ryzen 2xxx series? Maybe Asus will take your vendor request more seriously?

That would be a great selling point for boutique vendors to offer custom CPU options for the GL702ZC

 

If disabling hibernation works I owe you lunch and dinner.

I’ll have this potential fix worked on tomorrow.

I will report back soon after with results.

 

HUH!?!? Lunch and dinner? THAT'S small potatoes! If it works, give @hmscott a GL702ZC with an 1800X installed with the top-tiered proprietary cooling solution, a 2TB NVMe, 32GB 3800 RAM, and an infinite warranty !!!

 

I like your thinking, +rep.

Disabling Hibernation is actually a good solution for many Windows woes, that and disabling the pagefile, as long as you have enough memory. Disabling both saves C partition space on the boot SSD, by default.

Turning off everything in Windows you don't need is the theme behind it all, only enable what you use, saving memory, storage, and CPU. Same goes for services, scheduled processes / tasks, telemetry, etc.

Windows / driver updates often make hibernation / sleep unstable, so I learned long ago to enjoy cold boots - optimizing them - so Windows was stable consistently.

I hope it works for the GL702ZC + different CPU stability, but there's likely "more to it" for overall stability with a different CPU.

There might be easy additional tweaks that Asus can do in the BIOS to allow a wider range of supported current and future CPU's, I really hope Asus "get's it" and understands that allowing AMD's long socket support cycle is an advantage to take advantage of fully.

Maybe Asus will work with a HIDEvolution to enhance the CPU options now and going forward?

I also hope Asus / MSI are thinking of "whitebox" AM4, and even TR4 laptop / portable solutions. Like the MSI 16L13 and future 18L14(?) with z390 support, AMD needs the same opportunities.

 

I think we already ran some benchmarks before and posted them earlier in the thread.
Anyway... I took a screenshot of Ryzen Master for Threadripper with my current settings.

Also worthy of note might be that I'm running a clean Windows 10 installation - the OEM version was giving me way too many issues for some reason (games and software produced errors during installation and wouldn't generate saves).

P.S. The reason I use Prime95 is because it stresses the CPU to the maximum and gives me an indication of what kind of temperatures I could expect if I were to render a long scene in 3d Studio Max (which usually stresses all cores to the max) and provides a great insight into votlage stability... otherwise, some other programs might not be as demanding on the CPU while stressing all cores and certain voltages might hold but wouldn't be stable in all usage scenarios.

 

I'm not familiar with the software, though I hope to be soon (my rig should be arriving today, according to the tracking info). But I have a question: are two cores disabled in your test?

 

Disabled? Nope open ryzen master threadripper edition, there you will be greated with a locked stock preset, from there you switch to creator mode from the bottom of the window and adjust the slides to your desired frequency, adjust the voltage with the arrows which will give you some steps, and hit apply/save. That's it.
You can disable cores if to you wish but by default you adjust one slider and you affect all cores at once.
The default voltage can get you 3,6 GHz on all cores, however 5+ hours rendering with Vray on that setup gives me mini freezes, it never shuts down but it's annoying so my silicon lottery gives me 3.5 GHz 100% stable and reliable. Also lowering the voltage bellow 1 has the same effect, so testing is the key.
Nice to see 1800 being tested.

Sent from my MI 5s Plus using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the info. I asked because the "2 cores" button in Deks' photo, which appears to be related to the "Cores Disabled" field, is selected - which to my mind would indicate that 2 cores were disabled...but again, I'm not familiar with the software.