Does Max-Q Evangelize?

The Asus ROG Zephyrus is an first-class instance of great engineering. The power to have a powerful GPU like the GeForce GTX 1080 and slot it into a laptop chassis previously restricted to GTX 1060s, while hitting reasonable thermals and outstanding noise targets, is a huge step frontward for gaming laptops.

Anyone who purchases a Zephyrus should be very happy with the product, and I can't await to encounter what other Max-Q products nosotros get in the futurity.

Plainly the large drawback to a laptop like this is the size. We're talking virtually a 15.6-inch display, 2.3 kg (v.07 lbs) of weight and merely a one.78mm thin body. Typical GTX 1080 laptops are 17-inch monstrosities, but the Zephyrus is comfortably the size of slim GTX 1060 systems similar the Razer Blade and MSI GS63VR. The by and large-metal pattern looks fantastic as well, certainly amend than most other ROG laptops.

At that place are some merchandise-offs withal. The keyboard has moved to the front end of the laptop, which is a little awkward, though the typing experience isn't bad. The trackpad on the side of the keyboard doesn't bother me but is not typical either, though gamers will certainly employ a mouse and Asus includes an external mouse for gaming as part of the package, which is a prissy touch.

Performance has besides been somewhat compromised as Max-Q constraints don't allow for the total functioning potential. Slotting almost exactly between the GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, information technology's non terrible. A beefier GTX 1080 laptop will be around 10 per centum faster, just we oasis't even seen GTX 1070 levels of operation in a chassis like this earlier.

The brandish is fantastic for the hardware inside, providing 1080p resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and Thousand-Sync. The GTX 1080 often pushes frame rates above 60 FPS, so the extra refresh rate is certainly appreciated. Equally for productivity performance, the Core i7-7700HQ inside is basically identical in functioning to other laptops I've reviewed with this CPU.

The Asus Zephyrus with a GTX 1080 inside, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD volition set you dorsum $2,700. That'southward more expensive than mid-tier GTX 1070 laptops, but cheaper than other GTX 1080 laptops past several hundred dollars.

Shopping shortcuts:

  • Asus ROG Zephyrus on Amazon
  • Asus ROG Zephyrus on Newegg

There's no doubt the Zephyrus is an expensive laptop, merely for what it provides, it's hard to think of a better product on the marketplace correct at present.

Pros: Performance never seen before in such a slim chassis. It's pretty quiet nether full load. Nifty 1080p 120Hz Grand-Sync brandish.

Cons: It has a GTX 1080 within, just you're non getting total GTX 1080 performance. Somewhat bad-mannered keyboard and trackpad