During the Computex tech convention in Taipei, Taiwan, Asus held a press conference to reveal a batch of new products hitting the Computex floor and heading to stores soon. What we’re covering here is the gaming laptop portion of the company’s Computex rollout, including a super-thin solution packing the beefy GeForce GTX 1080 graphics chip. Asus has an AMD Ryzen-based laptop in the works, too.
Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501
For starters, this laptop measures just 0.66 inches thick despite having Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1080 graphics chip inside. That’s likely due to Nvidia’s new “Max-Q” optimization of the chip’s architecture, which allows it to run better than before while maintaining minimal power usage. The result is maximum performance with less heat generated by the chip, which allows it to reside within a super-slim form factor.
Cooling the GTX 1080 and the Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor is the laptop’s Active Aerodynamic System (AAS). It consists of a dedicated heatpipe, radiator, and AeroAccelerator blower fan for each chip — the GTX 1080 has an additional radiator that kicks in when gaming. Two more heatpipes are shared between the two chips, and another heatpipe is used to pull heat away from the power circuitry.
Rather than having the keyboard and touchpad placed above or below one another, they both share the same space at the front of the input area. According to Asus, this is to provide better cooling of the major components underneath, and to reduce the amount of heat felt when typing. The keyboard itself provides per-key RGB illumination, and owners can even customize the WASD and QWER key groups with special effects.
| Screen size: | 15.6 inches |
| Screen resolution: | 1,920 x 1,080 @ 120Hz Nvidia G-Sync support |
| Screen type: | IPS |
| Processor: | Intel Core i7-7700HQ |
| Graphics: | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 |
| Memory: | Up to 24GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz |
| Storage: | 4x M.2 PCI Express SSD slots 256GB / 5122GB / 1TB |
| Connectivity: | Wireless AC Bluetooth |
| Camera: | HD camera and array microphone |
| Ports: | 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A 1x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz) 1x headphone/microphone combo jack 1x SD card reader |
| Keyboard: | Sits at the front of the laptop Aura RGB lighting Pre-key illumination Supports 30 simultaneous presses Customizable WASD and QWER keys |
| Touchpad: | To the right of the keyboard 10-key function |
| Battery: | 4-cell 50 Watt hour |
| Size (inches): | 14.95 (W) x 10.31 (D) x 0.66 (H) |
| Weight: | 4.85 pounds with battery |
| Operating system: | Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro |
| Availability: | Soon |
| Starting price: | Unknown |
Asus ROG Strix GL702ZC
This laptop is based on AMD’s Ryzen processors and discrete Radeon RX 580 graphics chip. It’s due to arrive this summer, and while we don’t have the full list of hardware, customers will see configurations based on the Ryzen 7 1700, the Ryzen 5 1600, and the Ryzen 3 1200 processors. This laptop won’t be as thin and light as the ROG Zephyrus GX501, measuring a meatier 1.3 inches thick and weighing less than seven pounds.
As for the screen, this laptop will be sold with configurations based on three resolutions: 3,840 x 2,160 at 60Hz, 1,920 x 1,080 at 75Hz, and 1,920 x 1,080 at 120Hz. All three will support AMD FreeSync, which synchronizes the output frames of the Radeon RX 580 graphics chip with the refresh rate of the display to eliminate screen tearing. All three will also be based on In-Plane Switching technology, which provides rich colors and wide viewing angles.
| Screen size: | 17.3 inches |
| Screen resolution: | 3,840 x 2,160 at 60Hz 1,920 x 1,080 at 75Hz 1,920 x 1,080 at 120HzAMD FreeSync support |
| Screen type: | IPS |
| Processor: | Ryzen 7 1700 Ryzen 5 1600 Ryzen 3 1200 * No overclocking |
| Graphics: | Radeon RX 580 (8GB GDDR5) |
| Memory: | Up to 32GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz (2x SO-DIMM slots) |
| Storage: | M.2 slot for NVMe SSDs up to 512GB (PCI Express) Open slot for a 2.5-inch drive (HDD or SSD) |
| Connectivity: | Wireless AC (2×2) (Up to 867Mbps) Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Ports: | 1x Gigabit Ethernet 1x DisplayPort 1x HDMI 2.0 1x headphone jack 3x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C 1x SD card reader |
| Keyboard: | Red backlighting Colored WASD key caps 30-key rollover 1.6mm key travel (press to actuation) |
| Size: | 1.3 inches thick |
| Weight: | Less than 7 pounds |
| Body: | Black exterior and brushed aluminum lid |
| Availability: | This summer |
| Starting price: | Unknown |
Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition and Hero Edition
These two laptops are built for esports gaming, with the Strix Scar Edition tweaked for competitive first-person shooters and the Strix Hero Edition tweaked for MOBA games. Both ship with a black, brushed-metal design, although the Hero Edition sports a diagonal camouflage-type design across a portion of its lid while the Scar Edition does not.
The Scar and Hero Edition laptops are actually based on the company’s new ROG Strix GL503 and ROG Strix GL703 laptops. Each of these laptops will be sold in Scar Edition, Hero Edition, and traditional non-themed versions. We don’t have the hardware specifics for either model just yet, but both will include seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processors, Nvidia GeForce GTX 10 Series graphics, and screens with a 120Hz refresh rate and a five-millisecond response time.
Asus ROG Strix GL702VI
Finally, Asus mentioned this laptop but didn’t provide much in the details department. It will serve as an “affordable” solution for those looking for a GeForce GTX 1080 graphics chip in a 17-inch gaming laptop. Configurations will consist of an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor, and up to 32GB of DDR4 system memory. Also thrown into the mix will be a 120Hz display refresh rate, and storage based on stick-shaped SSDs connecting to a speedy M.2 port (PCI Express 3.0).
