Asus Zephyrus Review: Slimmest GTX 1080 Laptop, Ever

[Julio Franco]

The Asus ROG Zephyrus is the flagship model for Nvidia's Max-Q initiative. It packs a fully-fledged GTX 1080 with 8GB of GDDR5, a Core i7-7700HQ and 16GB of RAM, inside a chassis that's 17.8mm thick and 2.3 kg heavy. This makes the Zephyrus the slimmest GTX 1080 laptop on the market, and by a significant margin, too.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/1464-asus-rog-zephyrus/

 

[David Matthews]

I know some folks will balk at the Max-Q versions of the GPUs. I've already heard people say you might as well get a full 1070 instead of a Max-Q 1080. However, as an owner of an Alienware 15 R3 (GTX 1060), this gives me a lot of hope for the future. I'm hoping that Dell makes a Max-Q version of the Alienware laptops to be even thinner and lighter. My laptop is slimmer than the previous version of the Alienware 15 but its still a heavy (albeit more robust) laptop. This is also what keeps me from buying an external GPU like the Razer Core or even the Alienware graphics amp.

 

[oldikes]

I know some folks will balk at the Max-Q versions of the GPUs. I've already heard people say you might as well get a full 1070 instead of a Max-Q 1080. However, as an owner of an Alienware 15 R3 (GTX 1060), this gives me a lot of hope for the future. I'm hoping that Dell makes a Max-Q version of the Alienware laptops to be even thinner and lighter. My laptop is slimmer than the previous version of the Alienware 15 but its still a heavy (albeit more robust) laptop. This is also what keeps me from buying an external GPU like the Razer Core or even the Alienware graphics amp.

yea alienware doubled down on hating maxq - they have a youtube video on their channel as to "why its so stupid"

doesnt make much sense to me though - I think their argument was use a 1070 instead of an underclocked 1080. would not an underclocked 1080 run cooler and use less power though? and as we can see here, it still performs slightly better.

 

[amstech]

Minor complaint but I don't like the writing under the screen...little distracting for me.
Reminds me of the Vizio HDTV's with the glowing Vizio logo on the bezel...super annoying.

 

[Reehahs]

You mean 17.8 mm thin body rather than 1.78 mm on the last page.

 

[Darth Shiv]

This is definitely the sort of laptop I would love to have. The price tag is a little hefty but it absolutely nails the specs. Really happy to see this product on the market.

 

[CaptainTom]

I was excited until I say 15.6". If they could put something like a 1080 (or higher) in a sub-14" package with little to no bezel...I would be all over it!


But otherwise it's still to big for what I consider "portable", and in fact this isn't that insane imo. The capability for this was always there, and I actually had a laptop with a GTX 765m in a 13.3" netbook (I overclocked it a lot too).

 

[koblongata]

This is like the first gaming laptop that I really really want to own... I don't even really play serious games anymore, but the whole package is so sexy and contemporary, almost everything ticks... apart from that angry eye logo... though I can put a sticker on it heh... If I really impulsively bought one that is... I really think this machine will go down the gaming laptop history as a landmark device.

 

[Bao Nguyen]

Am I the only one here more interested in a Max-Q design for GTX 1060 that would be fit in an ultrabook with quad-core Intel Coffee Lake by the end of this year?

 

[Stiqy]

Seems like its trying to hit a non-existent niche. Power gamers will hate the limitations and won't care about an extra centimeter of thickness and half pound of weight to properly cool a proper 1080, and casual gamers don't need a 1080, happy with a stock 1050/60 or Q-Max 1070 that can been cooled and run properly in this form factor. Hard to figure out who they think wants to pay premium for this configuration.