AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX is a Mobile Beast: Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE GX551QS Laptop Review

[bobwillbuythis]

Thanks very much for your work and review, been waiting for this, might be swayed to buy now. As a remote worker, digital nomad and once a decade laptop buyer this ticks all the boxes.

[Reaper69]

I thought this was a good review, especialy the thermals.
I hope you write the ROG strix17" review.

[Radost]

Who cares? You can not buy it anywhere now or in the future! 
I hate apple but maybe only they can supply us with hardware. AMD NVIDIA INTEL are proving us they can not run a business and supply their clients.

[amorek]

Not sure what's more impressive - performance or low noise level

[Ryzen]

This is the most comprehensive review I've seen so far, fantastic article.

If the 551 is run at a display resolution of 2k or 1080p, is it possible to select 120Hz via the display panel properties?

Thanks!

[rocky2]

CPU and integrated GPU utilization would each sit at single digits as expected from such high-power components. A typical Core i7 Ice Lake Ultrabook would typically stabilize at around 40 to 50 percent GPU utilization in comparison.

Maybe you need to find better video player software. I have lately been using mpv in linux mint with my 'high powered' i3-8130u UHD620 (2 core/4 threads) and can play 4k HEVC 25pfs 20mbs videos with processor running <=10% at 800Mhz.

These guys (mpv) really know how to get the most out of an intel  processor and can probably do just as well with an AMD and/or Windows. . Give them a try .. just incredible.

[mage]

i wander mostly if you can take the fans out without needing to disconet the all the cooling system so we will be able to clean dust without needed to apply new thrmal paste....
+ i would love if you can added it to the reviews, the ability to clean dust without needed to repaste the laptops...


just wish that all of the bottom would have been a screen with a active pan support, and touch keyboard, it would have make this asus duo 10 times better

[Jonnyrad]

Thanks for a really great and comprehensive review. I have personally preordered this model and cannot wait for it to arrive.
I don't know if anyone can help, but ideally I'd like to swap one of the SSD's over for a larger one to increase the storage when I receive the laptop. With the SSD's being in RAID0, is it just a case of swapping the SSD's over or is it more complicated?? Any advice is appreciated.

[S.Yu]

CPU and integrated GPU utilization would each sit at single digits as expected from such high-power components. A typical Core i7 Ice Lake Ultrabook would typically stabilize at around 40 to 50 percent GPU utilization in comparison.

Maybe you need to find better video player software. I have lately been using mpv in linux mint with my 'high powered' i3-8130u UHD620 (2 core/4 threads) and can play 4k HEVC 25pfs 20mbs videos with processor running <=10% at 800Mhz.

These guys (mpv) really know how to get the most out of an intel  processor and can probably do just as well with an AMD and/or Windows. . Give them a try .. just incredible.

You mean worse? The best processing never comes cheap, many settings (12bit processing, 4:4:4 oversampling etc.) are not even available through hardware decoding, so the CPU and GPU are supposed to be heavily taxed, especially on resolutions above 1080P.

[Oss]

Hello
With a greater 80w gap, could you take the gpu to work up to 150w, in your opinion? Through bios of course.

[dragonking]

If they put this CPU and GPU combo in an updated ROG S15 it'll be an absolute winner, and it seems like a no brainer as it'd probably decimate Razer's blade sales as well. Fingers crossed as I'd buy that straight away (as long as they don't give it a low wattage 3080...)

Cool story but my Blade 17 out performs the duo in most of the games tested. Yes, that's with the Intel cpu and 100w gpu. This is concerning from Asus if these benchmarks are correct.

Cool story but you're comparing a 17" notebook to a 15" for some reason. The same components in a 17" design with decent cooling would annihilate that Razer running its Intel CPU.

Also, lol @ this tortured turn of phrase from the article:
"AMD may be finally catching up here and then some"
Seriously, "may" be? Jeez! It's a clear win on single-core performance.

I'm comparing it because they are directly comparable. Asus's flagship vs Razer's flagship for the Ampere launch. Both with 120hz 4k displays, touch screens and 3080 cards.

Look at the stress tests - as the Asus is running cool and pulling higher wattage, chassis size is irrelevant. Size and cooling is not the issue here. It's something else. Could be Ryzen's lack of pcie bandwidth, could be lack of a MUX. Look at Jarrods latest video too and draw your own conclusions.

You can't tell me you'd be happy with that performance?

Does seem like Asus has dropped the ball here. But the issue does not seem to be with the CPU. The 5900HX performs as it should.
The power delivery is what seems to be the major bottleneck here. And it does not consume more power vs. the Razer Blade 17 (2021).

The Zephyrus consumes 197W at stress (Furmark + P95) compared to the 223W of the Blade 17, despite the Blade only having a 230W charger and the Zephyrus carrying a 280W one. And the vapour cooling chamber in the Blade keeps the system much cooler at 223W peak load. Nice job there.

There are a few 15'' laptops with a 5800H and 130W 3070 that are 5-8% within the Blade 17 (100W 3080) so Asus has definitely not optimized the system.