ASUS 15.6" Republic of Gamers Strix GL502 Notebook

Similar to our conclusions between the Skylake XPS 13 9350 and Kaby Lake XPS 13 9360 , the Skylake GL502VM and Kaby Lake GL502VM are essentially interchangeable. Even gamers will be hard pressed to find any real-world performance advantages from the Kaby Lake update especially after considering that...

• +

  strong CPU and GPU performance, steady fan noise under low loads, G-Sync standard w/ no Optimus, FHD and UHD display options, NVMe SSD + 2.5-inch SATA III, GTX 1060/1070 options, easy serviceability, relatively thin, rigid chassis

• -

  no 120 Hz/5 ms display options, relatively soft keyboard keys, loud fan noise when gaming, no Killer WLAN options, speakers lack bass, no Thunderbolt 3, short battery life

Performance Summary: Between the Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M graphics, the ROG Strix GL502VT-DH74 is both a capable gaming system, especially at the system's native 1920x1080 resolution, and a good all-around performer.

• +

  Strong graphics performance at the laptop's native 1920x1080 resolution, Bright IPS display, Relatively thin and light for a gaming laptop of this caliber, Accidental damage protection included in warranty, Looks sleek

• -

  Plastic construction feels cheap for the asking price, Ho-hum battery life, Gets noticeably hot when gaming, No dedicated macro keys

Well, what can I say. The GL502VM is generally a good machine with the basic parts in place – 3D performance and keyboard. It also relatively smaller and more lightweight and the cooling system’s noise levels are relatively low no matter what. However, it has some noticeable downsides.

• +

  Excellent gaming performance with a GTX 1060 I7-6700HQ, Relatively quiet, even under high system load, relatively smooth surfaced touchpad (but buttons are prolematic), Keyboard is pretty comfortable, with very good feedback, resistance could be better_ and response. Keys are well spaced.

• -

  Thermals aren't great, with high chassis temperatures and very high maximal CPU/GPU temperatures, No Thunderbolt 3, no USB 3.1 gen 2, no mDP 1.3 (only v1.2), No MXM or an eGPU solution, Maximal allowed fan speed is very limited low noise but high temps, Keyboard keys are not even in their behavior,...

The ASUS ROG STRIX GL502VS is one beast of a gaming machine although it doesn’t come with a bigger 17-inch display and Ultra HD resolution. We totally enjoyed playing on its Full HD display and pair of high-quality stereo speakers.

• +

  Impressive graphics, Fast and responsive, Takes on heavy games, Sufficient speakers, Bundled peripherals

• -

  Bulky and a bit heavy, Noticeable warming during gameplay, Heavy on the pocket

Now, with all this being said remember-take it all with a grain of salt. These could all be one time occurrences, isolated events. I’m sure not all systems will crash 5 times within the first 24 hours of use.

• +

  Beautiful Display, Decent Speakers, Elegant Keyboard Design, Good Specs

• -

  Crashed Quite A Few Times, Windows 10, Heats Up Fast, Expensive

The Strix GL502 series is Asus' answer to the Aorus X5S for a cheaper price and better build quality without all the bells and whistles. Indeed, the system strips away many features that hardcore gamers may find difficult to let go of including RAID 0, multiple SODIMM slots, additional internal...

• +

  very accurate colors; nearly complete sRGB coverage, relatively thin considering the hardware, GTX 970M w/ 6 GB GDDR5 VRAM, no major throttling issues, high quality matte panel, respectable runtimes, easy serviceability, good build quality, NVMe support

• -

  poor bass reproduction; no dedicated subwoofer, PWM on all brightness levels except maximum, slow sequential write rates from Lite-On SSD, no native Thunderbolt 3 support, only two internal storage bays, only one DDR4 SODIMM slot, no dedicated Macro keys, no manual fan controls, no G-Sync options,...

Now, with all this being said remember-take it all with a grain of salt. These could all be one time occurrences, isolated events. I’m sure not all systems will crash 5 times within the first 24 hours of use.

• +

  Beautiful Display, Decent Speakers, Elegant Keyboard Design, Good Specs

• -

  Crashed Quite A Few Times, Windows 10, Heats Up Fast, Expensive

Well, the Asus GL502VT ROG Strix gaming laptop can’t really convince us, no? The machine itself has no too significant caveats for such a price. Performance is good as can be expected. Noise is relatively low. Keyboard and touchpad are quite good and comfortable.

• +

  Very good performance/price ratio with a GTX 970M I7-6700HQ for $1200, Very good keyboard and a nice touchpad, Relatively lightweight at around 2.2kg (except PSU), Quite a quiet laptop, even under higher load levels.

• -

  Currently an (acceptable) TN panel. Can be replaced easily. $1400 and up versions have an IPS display, CPU may throttle under full load of Furmark + Prime95 or gaming scenarios, but only rarely.

The powerful hardware allows this model to run most games at high to maximum settings. In addition, Nvidia G-Sync enables smoother processing of frames. At load, the laptop gets really loud and the case gets noticeably hot. Overall, we like the GL502VM better than the GL502VS.

• +

  matte IPS screen, fast SSD, lot of storage space thanks to the extra HDD, G-Sync, slim case, fast WLAN module

• -

  relatively high power consumption while idle, during times of high usage, the laptop gets loud

Our fears of a throttling system can be put to rest as the GL502VY performs at its maximum when under gaming loads. Both core and surface temperatures are kept in check by louder and faster fans, so headphones are recommended even more so than on the GL502VT.

• +

  faster display response times than GL502VT, Nvidia G-Sync; no Optimus, 2x DDR4 SODIMM slots, no system throttling, USB Type-C Gen. 2, good build quality, easy accessibility

• -

  non-replaceable or upgradeable CPU and GPU, GeForce GTX 980M w/ only 4 GB GDDR5 VRAM, narrower color gamut than GL502VT, shorter battery life than GL502VT, louder fan noise than GL502VT, touchpad a fingerprint magnet, moderate backlight bleeding, no Thunderbolt 3, no RAID options, no subwoofer

I loved the laptop a lot and enjoyed it. The performance was amazing but after a few weeks of owning it my laptop started acting up and was later forced to trade it for a different laptop.

• +

  Had a higher benchmark score then my desktop with an I5-4690 and GTX 970 slightly OC for a CPU/GPU combined score Very great performance in games for a laptop G-sync was a nice thing to see in this laptop

• -

  The only downside I saw with this laptop is the internal heat. With the programs I ran I saw temps run 80C+ without cooler pad on ultra for modern titles (with battlefield 1 beta going past 86C). I get the laptop is pretty thin but I thought I would put this out there the temps I saw.

The laptop is decent overall. The only issue is that out of the box, it overheats both CPU and GPU >90 degrees. If you're willing to do a few hacks, buy it. Or look elsewhere. I'll give you few pointers which I tried and I was able to bring temperature under managble range.

I's suggest purchasing an M.2 ssd and clean installing windows on the ssd. Boot time is less than 5 seconds. The hdd is slow but will work great for storage.

• +

  Featherweight champion. Can run most current games at 1080p on ultra. The g-sync IPS looks superb with no visible light bleed. The build quality is great (yes it is mainly plastic but it is sturdy plastic).

• -

  Minor: Fingerprint magnet (keep those hands clean). Speakers are not great but decent enough for casual listening.

I purchased a slightly different version of this laptop off of best buy the only difference with there being no ssd (and the screen being a tn panel). I love experimenting with technology so the first thing I did after updating this laptop was download cpuz.

Max GPU temp of 76c in timespy (scored 3560), 75c in firestrike (scored 9603). Max CPU temp of 82c in intelburntest Mine was received with hynix 2133 DDR4 and 7200RPM hitachi 1tb drive CPU and GPU heatsinks are connected via heatpipes, so it doesn't allow for individual temp control

• +

  Small and light considering how powerful it is G-sync Screen displays fantastic colors Fast GPU and CPU Super easy to remove bottom cover and swap ram, repaste, or replace hard drives Works well with oculus rift ( but uses all 3 USB ports and HDMI)

• -

  not quite as fast as my overclocked 980ti/6700k desktop, but good enough to game comfortably on-the-go Could use one more USB port, as connecting the oculus rift uses all the available ports

This laptop is INSANE. Just using this thing, you can feel the power pulsing through it. There are a few minor issues that go along with it, but they are far outweighed by unbelievable thinness and weight of this laptop. You'll be able to play most games on very high settings.

Really great value for the money spent. While you can definitely make a stronger desktop for the same price, I bought mine for my frequent trips away from my desktop. Runs all my games very well and I haven't played a game that I can't max out and get better than playable frame rates.

• +

  Powerful Doesn't run too hot IPS display w/ gsync Desktop grade GPU Solid construction

• -

  Bezels on screen are a little annoying 1060 version only has HDD not SSD (is expandable) 3 hours non gaming battery life, 1-1.5 hours gaming (expected)

Amazing system, best system I have ever owned Pros -plenty of power for gaming and whatever else you might do -battery life is surprisingly good -lots of ports -lightweight -style -backlit keyboard Cons -Preinstalled bloatware Regarding the "hot keyboard problem", heat is shifted away from the wasd...

- With this price, this model is pretty good.

• +

  - G-Sync Screen - GTX 1060 GPU is a beast, better than my desktop GTX 780 - M.2 interface for non-SSD model provides a upgrade option

• -

  - BIOS options are very limited (i.e cant disable intel speedstep) - GPU is soldered, not MXM slot

Very good laptop, only thing to be wary of are you need to install the basic Intel wireless driver to get consistent wifi and the Asus gameready software will mess with your ping in games so uninstalled it. Also there is no ethernet port. Love the laptop.