STRIX GL502VM Review - Great all-rounder or toasty dumpster fire?

[D13H4RD]

The ASUS RoG GL502 is one of the first laptops in ASUS’s STRIX line of gaming laptops which mix portability and price with performance, although other GL-series laptops have existed beforehand. The STRIX GL502 was no stranger to issues when it launched, with thermal issues and some general QC issues being raised throughout its lifetime. Now on its 2017 refresh with a Kaby Lake Core i7 processor, a brand new Armor Titanium (or as I like to call it, silver) finish and some BIOS updates, is the refreshed version of the GL502 finally a compelling laptop or one that just reinforces the notion that something thin shouldn’t be so beefy? Let’s find out.

 

DISCLAIMER
This review was done on the ASUS RoG GL502VM equipped with a Core i7 7700HQ and a GTX 1060, running on 16GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD combo with Windows 10 Home running the show. Keep in mind as with everything, this review is based on the personal experiences of the reviewer and as such, your mileage will most definitely vary depending on your unit.

 

DESIGN
The STRIX RoG GL502V, aside from its “Armor Titanium” paint-job and illuminated copper accents, doesn’t really offer much to make it stand out. The laptop is rather large for a 15.6” machine and its display bezels most certainly give it a look that’s reminiscent of laptops from the 2010-2011 era. Now, some people might prefer that, but in the age where the HP Spectre and Dell XPS15 exist, it does look somewhat dated by comparison.

 

The build quality is also solid but unremarkable. While the top cover behind the display is made out of real brushed aluminum, the palmrest and base are made of plastic with a brushed metal-like effect. While it doesn’t conduct heat as well as aluminum, which is a boon for those who play for long periods, it also doesn’t exude that same feel of premium that you would find on something like a GS63VR or an Alienware 15. There’s also some chassis and screen flex, but is very much tolerable and throughout my time with it, the laptop doesn’t feel like it’s about to snap into pieces.

Onto good news, however. If you want a laptop that’s powerful and not overly heavy, the GL502V’s weight and depth is worth a look. Measuring less than 5lbs/2.2kg and less than an inch/23.5mm for the GL502VM, the laptop isn’t overly heavy and thick for one that packs a lot of punch and it’s a worthy thing to look out for if portability is a big factor. Note that the GL502VS is heavier at just over 5lbs/2.3kg and thicker at nearly 1.2 inches/30.1mm in order to accomodate its beefier components. 

 

The display itself is also one of its high points. The 502VM features a 1080p IPS display with an approximate effective viewing angle of 178 degrees according to ASUS and has a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz, while the 502VS will bump the refresh rate to 120Hz to complement the beefier GPU. The display also gets nice and bright and color accuracy, while not the best, is more than decent enough for usual tasks and gaming, although professional work would require a well-calibrated monitor. It’s not perfect however. By default, the display came out too warm for me, which necessitated tweaking of the white balance through the included (and oddly named) Splendid utility, and when G-SYNC is enabled, some flickering can be seen when the FPS drops significantly below the display’s refresh rate. While many might not find these to be outright dealbreakers, this is something to note. 

 

Overall, the GL502’s design is what’s best described as functional. It doesn’t do much to stand out from the crowd and seems to be more focused on what’s functional rather than what looks stunning. 

 

PERFORMANCE
Which leads us squarely into performance. Under the hood (or bottom cover), the GL502 packs some beefy components. Both variants feature an Intel Core i7 7700HQ processor based on the Kaby Lake architecture, clocked at up to 2.8GHz and can be boosted up to 3.8GHz when temperature and power draw limits allow. Both variants also feature DDR4 memory (the GL502VM has a soldered 8GB module of DDR4-2400 memory with a single spare SODIMM slot and can be upgraded to 24GB while the GL502VS has 16GB of DDR4-2400 memory occupying a SODIMM slot and can be upgraded to 32GB when both slots are occupied) and an M.2 SSD plus a mechanical hard-drive (capacity and type varies depending on region and variant). The key difference is that the GL502VM has a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of GDDR5 VRAM while the GL502VS has a beefier GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB of GDDR5 VRAM. 

 

For this review, we’re using the GL502VM featuring the GTX 1060 and 16GB of memory plus a 128GB SanDisk SSD, a 1TB 7200RPM Hitachi SSD and running Windows 10 Home edition on the most recent version of the BIOS as of this time.

 

General performance has been excellent through my time using it. Bootup times are very fast in less than 10 seconds (will be faster still with an NVMe SSD) and overall system performance has been very snappy and fluid, with very few slowdowns attributed to slow storage. Whether that’s editing photos from my Sony a6000 with Capture One 10, or editing videos with Shotcut or just general web-browsing and video streaming plus chatting, the GL502V handles them without any issue whatsoever, which isn’t surprising given that these components are pretty much overkill for many of these tasks, which video and photo editing perhaps being the only ones which saw some major benefit from the horsepower.

 

GAMING PERFORMANCE
Hang on a second. You’re talking about web-browsing and video editing on a gaming laptop?! Well, you didn’t think I’d leave out gaming, would ya? Well, since this is a Republic of Gamers product, of which its target audience is most likely a gamer, I had to make this a separate section. First, let’s talk about the GPUs.

 

The GL502V comes with a choice of 2 GPUs depending on the variant. The 502VM comes with a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM while the 502VS comes with a beefier GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB of VRAM. Both of which are based on NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture, which launched last year on desktops, with the laptop versions following after, with the latter consisting of the GTX 1050 (which replaces the GTX 950M), the GTX 1050 Ti (which replaces the GTX 960M and 965M, even though it looks odd from a naming perspective), the aforementioned GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 (replaces the 970M and 980M respectively) and the GTX 1080 (which, predictably, replaces the desktop 980). Pascal promises better performance per watt and increased overall performance thanks to its use of a 16nm FinFET fabrication process, which is a main reason why the laptop versions of these GPUs basically use their desktop silicon with only minor changes in clockspeeds (the “M” prefix was dropped as a result).

 

For this, I’ve played a total of 5 games; Team Fortress 2, DiRT 3, Grand Theft Auto V, The Crew and GRID Autosport, as these games have varying amounts of demands exerted on the system, with GTA V being arguably one of the more demanding ones due to the massive varieties in environment and stuff to render.

 

With maxed-out settings on Team Fortress 2, I got a peak FPS of 150FPS (240FPS on less taxing scenarios). However, owing to Team Fortress 2’s decade-old implementation of the Source engine and its generally unoptimized nature when it comes to taking advantage of current generation hardware, the game does see drops to as low as 45FPS in huge battles with involved a lot of projectives such as rockets from the Soldier and pipes from the Demoman. This isn’t of much fault with the GTX 1060 but more to do with the nature of how Team Fortress 2 was developed over time. That being said, despite the iffy optimization, for the most part, Team Fortress 2 is a very playable title, but do note that flying particles and projectiles will tank your FPS significantly.

 

DiRT 3 ran a lot smoother even when totally maxed-out. Using the in-game benchmark tool, I got an average of 130FPS with the minimum at 100FPS. Frame drops were barely noticeable as they were still much higher than the 60Hz refresh rate and overall performance was excellent.

 

Grand Theft Auto V is perhaps the one super-demanding title on this list. On very high settings with 2x MFAA and with high-polygon car mods and a graphics mod to make matters more demanding, peak FPS in open areas was around 75FPS, with the lowest hovering around 45 to 50FPS. Grand Theft Auto V is a super-demanding title when you crank the settings up, but the GTX 1060 proves to be a capable performer and very rarely did the FPS drop down to an unplayable level, which only occurs when a ton of projectiles and explosions are rendered all at the same time (drops to 30 in those cases).

 

The Crew isn’t exactly a demanding game to run, although its varied terrains and environment do give some challenge to the GPU. Regardless, the system ran it extremely well at 1080p. So well in fact that NVIDIA actually recommends that I use DSR to downsample the game to make it look better. I instead opted for 1080p maxed-out with V-Sync on and the frames rarely dropped below the display’s refresh rate and when it does, it only lasts for a second and things popped back to normal soon.

 

GRID Autosport might not seem so demanding at first, but when you opt for the high-resolution textures package, it becomes much more demanding to run. With totally maxed-out settings, my FPS was a stable 80FPS throughout. 

 

Your results in other games may vary depending on optimization, thermals, game type and drivers, but from my experience, the GL502VM is a very capable gaming machine, able to handle many current AAA titles at ultra settings at 60FPS, with only some demanding titles requiring some pegging back by a notch. For the popular e-sports titles, the GL502VM is more than capable.

(Note that the beefier GL502VS will see a significant boost in these frame numbers owing to its significantly beefier GTX 1070).

THERMALS
The one critical thing on any piece of equipment made for gaming is thermals. Not only will overly high temperatures cause issues but can also rob performance due to thermal throttling, even if some high-end laptops are designed to thermal throttle.

 

The STRIX GL502V laptops utilize a “Hyper-Cool Duo” thermal system which uses dedicated copper heatpipes and fans for the CPU and GPU so that they can be cooled independently. ASUS claims that this design “maximizes cooling efficiency to give ROG Strix GL502 the stability required for intense gaming marathons.”.

 

Sadly, all is not roses. The GL502 was the subject of much criticism for its thermal performance when it was new, and some complaints still fly in recent memory. However, after a couple of BIOS updates and some tweaks, here are my results under a more realistic scenario.

 

While playing Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, the CPU was around 80 degrees as a whole package, with the hottest core hitting 84 degrees while the GPU was below 70 degrees. When playing GTA 5, the CPU averaged out at around 77 degrees, with peak temperatures hitting 82 degrees. The GPU averaged 68 degrees and hit 71 at its highest point. While editing video and encoding the export, the CPU hit its high of 83 and mostly stayed there. The lowest I got was 38 degrees on the CPU and 35 on the GPU, in its lowest power consuming state and power plan while sitting in a cool room with an aluminum fan blowing extra cool air into its intakes. While these are quite warm temperatures, the CPU and GPU were still in their boosted state and there was no sign of any throttling, thermal or voltage. Given that the laptop’s form factor is a little svelte for its size, it’s considered to be adequate, though nothing overly special as many laptops in this form factor achieve similar temps. As always, your performance will certainly vary depending on environment and conditions. 

 

While the cooling system’s performance seems quite adequate for a laptop of this form factor, there are 2 pitfalls to this cooling system; it gets a bit musical under load and much like the MacBook Pro and Razer Blade, a portion of the bottom display bezel goes over the vents. While it doesn’t obstruct the vents in a significant manner, it still feels like a silly design move by having exhausted air blow against a display bezel. Strangely, its 17-inch cousin and its successor, the GL503, doesn’t seem to have this design quirk.

 

Overall, at least for this redesign, the STRIX GL502’s cooling system can be considered adequate. Its form factor does it no favors during heavy load but under a light load, temps are low and the cooling system is very quiet in that state, but give it a heavy load and things turn up to 11 in terms of noise. While the load temperatures won’t impress anyone who has used a large desktop-replacement machine and especially those used to desktop rigs, both the CPU and GPU were able to stay in their boosted state, which implies that though it runs warm, it still runs fast.

 

SOFTWARE
The STRIX GL502V comes with Windows 10 Home out of the box, with the Anniversary update running, although it can be updated to the Creator’s Update via the Upgrade Assistant. 

There’s generally not much to talk about. If you’ve used Windows before, you’ll feel right at home. As with the case for most Windows laptops from OEMs, the GL502 comes with a bunch of *ahem* “pre-installed value software” courtesy of ASUS, ranging from those that you don’t want like McAfee anti-virus to stuff that makes no sense like ASUS Giftbox. Thankfully, you can easily uninstall them though the Control Panel.

 

That being said, there are some additions to the software that’s actually useful. The RoG Gaming Center is a very handy way of configuring macros, viewing system operating stats like GPU and CPU temps plus clockspeeds and also allows you to disable the Windows key, trackpad and RoG key to avoid them performing their respective functions if you’re gaming heavily and you accidentally hit them.

 

There’s also Sonic Studio and Sonic Radar, which are sound enhancing software designed to tweak the EQ and add effects for a customized sound profile for the former and more directional audio for the latter. Purists will definitely scoff at this, though they can be disabled if artificial audio enhancements aren’t your thing. ASUS Splendid (weirdly named) is also a good way to help tune your display’s white balance and saturation with presets and a manual white balance slider although a dedicated calibration tool may still be the desired option for those who want proper calibration.

Overall, it’s running Windows with some additions, both good and ones that should be uninstalled, just like many laptops that run Windows that come from a typical OEM.

 

DAILY USE
Now it’s time to talk about the little things, how the STRIX GL502 fares as a daily driver laptop.

 

First of all, the keyboard is great. I’ve used a lot of keyboards over the past few years and I really liked the AccuType keyboard on my old Lenovo Y410P with its great feel and feedback. Many other laptops I’ve tried either didn’t have an ergonomic feel or felt really mushy. The STRIX’s keyboard manages to walk a good line between the 2. While it doesn’t feel as nice as the AccuType, it is nice to type on and also gives a very solid tactile feedback. It only took me a few minutes to adjust to how this laptop types differently from the Lenovo. One pitfall however, is that the RoG gaming key is located just beside the backspace, and it is very common for new users to accidentally hit the key. While I have disabled the key in the RoG Gaming Center itself to avoid this, I have yet to accidentally hit the key while typing after getting used to it.

 

The trackpad on the other hand is typical for a Windows machine that’s not dead-set on build quality. The tracking is…..fine, and it is reasonably accurate, but its feedback isn’t quite as strong and it doesn’t feel nice to swipe and move around on. I would prefer a touchpad with dedicated left and right click buttons (and perhaps a fingerprint sensor in the middle), so it’s good that ASUS packs a Sica gaming mouse in the box, because this trackpad, once you’re used to something great, is just average.

 

Battery life can be described as “fine” for a beefy gaming laptop, but this is not a choice for those who live their lives away from power outlets for extended periods. At best, you’ll be getting 3-4 hours out of it. You can stretch it to 5 if you’re supremely frugal but if you’re looking for great battery life, this is not it. The battery life can be linked to Optimus being disabled due to the use of G-Sync, which means the GeForce GPU is constantly rendering, which can consume more power even when clocked at a low clockspeed.

 

The machine can be upgraded somewhat easily, but the bottom cover can be a chore to remove, requiring a prying tool to unclip the plastic clips which affix the cover to the machine. The RAM and storage are easily accessible, along with an M.2 drive.

 

The port selection is also quite healthy, with 3 USB 3 ports, a USB-C port that may support Thunderbolt, a headphone/mic jack, gigabit ethernet, a Kensington lock port and power-in. The 502VM ships with a 180W adapter while the 502VS ships with a 230W adapter since the refresh.

 

Oh yeah, the speakers. They’re clear, but they ain’t that loud.

 

CONCLUSION
The ASUS STRIX GL502 gaming laptop is one laptop that divides opinions depending on experience. Some with good units say that it is a wonderful laptop while others who have those which don’t feature adequate cooling say that it’s a dumpster fire and should be avoided.

 

Personally, my own GL502VM has been a great experience. It runs many games without issue, does basic tasks just fine as well, and also doesn’t throttle under heavy loads (although it does tend to get musical). However, the build quality isn’t exceptional, the battery life is not great and the speakers, while clear, are not loud.

 

If all you want is a laptop with a GTX 1060, you can find cheaper options like Acer’s Predator Helios 300 for less, or Lenovo’s Legion Y720. However, those will have their own set of compromises owing to their lower price point, so it’s always best to do your research. That being said, the bang-for-buck on those is incredible.

With all that being said, the GL502 is a fine laptop. It does what it does well and offers some extras like G-SYNC to sweeten the pot. It’s by no means perfect, and cheaper options with near-identical hardware exist, but if you have one and you’re happy with it, so am I.

 

I think it’s nice, but you definitely have options and some of which may even be better than the STRIX in some aspects.

[D13H4RD]

A small update.

 

I undervolted the CPU by -85mV and did some gaming on Forza Horizon 3.

 

So far, it seems that temperatures are all well and good. Average CPU temperatures are around the 74 degree mark and GPU temps hover around the low 60s.

 

The reason why I don't post numbers from programs like AIDA64 and Prime95 is because these are designed to stress the system far beyond what they are going to be used for in the real-world. It's a useful way to see how far you can go and how absolutely stable your system is in the absolute worst-case scenario, but it is very unlikely that you will push a system that far to the point where it will kneel down and beg for mercy. 

 

I prefer keeping my reviews as close as possible to real-world scenarios. There could be benchmarks sometimes, but I generally prefer to focus on games and other tasks like Premiere Pro export times in order to keep it as close to real-world as possible. 

 

Of course, such details are nice, but I feel that a lot of reviews touch a bit too much on synthetic data. I don’t think that is wrong but at the same time, mixing it with real-world tests would have been appreciated.

Edited September 12, 2017 by D13H4RD2L1V3

[Roshan Jay]

On 9/11/2017 at 9:03 AM, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Onto good news, however. If you want a laptop that’s powerful and not overly heavy, the GL502V’s weight and depth is worth a look. Measuring less than 5lbs/2.2kg and less than an inch/23.5mm for the GL502VM, the laptop isn’t overly heavy and thick for one that packs a lot of punch and it’s a worthy thing to look out for if portability is a big factor.

I just got my GL502VM. I came from 2016 HP OMEN 15 laptop. It's significantly bigger & heavier than my previous laptop. weight is noticeable. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm just saying the difference. I'm loving it.

[genexis_x]

On 9/12/2017 at 3:07 PM, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

I undervolted the CPU by -85mV

You can try -125mv or more for 7700HQ

 

[D13H4RD]

1 hour ago, ZM Fong said:

You can try -125mv or more for 7700HQ

 

I wanted a small headroom just in case.

 

I can bump it to -100, but lately, its thermal performance has actually settled to an average of around 73 in Horizon 3, with the GPU settling between 64 and 66.

 

I've been experimenting, but my undervolt is settled as of right now. That being said, I hope future STRIX laptops feature upgraded cooling. The cooling system on the MSI GE Raider laptops is excellent for its form factor and I'd like the RoG team to respond with something just as great.

 

On the 502 since the 305 BIOS update, thermals are good (at least on this one) but not great like on the Raider. It won't throttle while gaming, but the fact that a portion of the bottom bezel partially obstructs the exhausts is rather silly.

[Roshan Jay]

On 9/11/2017 at 9:03 AM, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

The ASUS RoG GL502 is one of the first laptops in ASUS’s STRIX line of gaming laptops which mix portability and price with performance, although other GL-series laptops have existed beforehand. The STRIX GL502 was no stranger to issues when it launched, with thermal issues and some general QC issues being raised throughout its lifetime. Now on its 2017 refresh with a Kaby Lake Core i7 processor, a brand new Armor Titanium (or as I like to call it, silver) finish and some BIOS updates, is the refreshed version of the GL502 finally a compelling laptop or one that just reinforces the notion that something thin shouldn’t be so beefy? Let’s find out.

 

DISCLAIMER
This review was done on the ASUS RoG GL502VM equipped with a Core i7 7700HQ and a GTX 1060, running on 16GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD combo with Windows 10 Home running the show. Keep in mind as with everything, this review is based on the personal experiences of the reviewer and as such, your mileage will most definitely vary depending on your unit.

 

DESIGN
The STRIX RoG GL502V, aside from its “Armor Titanium” paint-job and illuminated copper accents, doesn’t really offer much to make it stand out. The laptop is rather large for a 15.6” machine and its display bezels most certainly give it a look that’s reminiscent of laptops from the 2010-2011 era. Now, some people might prefer that, but in the age where the HP Spectre and Dell XPS15 exist, it does look somewhat dated by comparison.

 

The build quality is also solid but unremarkable. While the top cover behind the display is made out of real brushed aluminum, the palmrest and base are made of plastic with a brushed metal-like effect. While it doesn’t conduct heat as well as aluminum, which is a boon for those who play for long periods, it also doesn’t exude that same feel of premium that you would find on something like a GS63VR or an Alienware 15. There’s also some chassis and screen flex, but is very much tolerable and throughout my time with it, the laptop doesn’t feel like it’s about to snap into pieces.

Onto good news, however. If you want a laptop that’s powerful and not overly heavy, the GL502V’s weight and depth is worth a look. Measuring less than 5lbs/2.2kg and less than an inch/23.5mm for the GL502VM, the laptop isn’t overly heavy and thick for one that packs a lot of punch and it’s a worthy thing to look out for if portability is a big factor. Note that the GL502VS is heavier at just over 5lbs/2.3kg and thicker at nearly 1.2 inches/30.1mm in order to accomodate its beefier components. 

 

The display itself is also one of its high points. The 502VM features a 1080p IPS display with an approximate effective viewing angle of 178 degrees according to ASUS and has a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz, while the 502VS will bump the refresh rate to 120Hz to complement the beefier GPU. The display also gets nice and bright and color accuracy, while not the best, is more than decent enough for usual tasks and gaming, although professional work would require a well-calibrated monitor. It’s not perfect however. By default, the display came out too warm for me, which necessitated tweaking of the white balance through the included (and oddly named) Splendid utility, and when G-SYNC is enabled, some flickering can be seen when the FPS drops significantly below the display’s refresh rate. While many might not find these to be outright dealbreakers, this is something to note. 

 

Overall, the GL502’s design is what’s best described as functional. It doesn’t do much to stand out from the crowd and seems to be more focused on what’s functional rather than what looks stunning. 

 

PERFORMANCE
Which leads us squarely into performance. Under the hood (or bottom cover), the GL502 packs some beefy components. Both variants feature an Intel Core i7 7700HQ processor based on the Kaby Lake architecture, clocked at up to 2.8GHz and can be boosted up to 3.8GHz when temperature and power draw limits allow. Both variants also feature DDR4 memory (the GL502VM has a soldered 8GB module of DDR4-2400 memory with a single spare SODIMM slot and can be upgraded to 24GB while the GL502VS has 16GB of DDR4-2400 memory occupying a SODIMM slot and can be upgraded to 32GB when both slots are occupied) and an M.2 SSD plus a mechanical hard-drive (capacity and type varies depending on region and variant). The key difference is that the GL502VM has a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of GDDR5 VRAM while the GL502VS has a beefier GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB of GDDR5 VRAM. 

 

For this review, we’re using the GL502VM featuring the GTX 1060 and 16GB of memory plus a 128GB SanDisk SSD, a 1TB 7200RPM Hitachi SSD and running Windows 10 Home edition on the most recent version of the BIOS as of this time.

 

General performance has been excellent through my time using it. Bootup times are very fast in less than 10 seconds (will be faster still with an NVMe SSD) and overall system performance has been very snappy and fluid, with very few slowdowns attributed to slow storage. Whether that’s editing photos from my Sony a6000 with Capture One 10, or editing videos with Shotcut or just general web-browsing and video streaming plus chatting, the GL502V handles them without any issue whatsoever, which isn’t surprising given that these components are pretty much overkill for many of these tasks, which video and photo editing perhaps being the only ones which saw some major benefit from the horsepower.

 

GAMING PERFORMANCE
Hang on a second. You’re talking about web-browsing and video editing on a gaming laptop?! Well, you didn’t think I’d leave out gaming, would ya? Well, since this is a Republic of Gamers product, of which its target audience is most likely a gamer, I had to make this a separate section. First, let’s talk about the GPUs.

 

The GL502V comes with a choice of 2 GPUs depending on the variant. The 502VM comes with a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM while the 502VS comes with a beefier GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB of VRAM. Both of which are based on NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture, which launched last year on desktops, with the laptop versions following after, with the latter consisting of the GTX 1050 (which replaces the GTX 950M), the GTX 1050 Ti (which replaces the GTX 960M and 965M, even though it looks odd from a naming perspective), the aforementioned GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 (replaces the 970M and 980M respectively) and the GTX 1080 (which, predictably, replaces the desktop 980). Pascal promises better performance per watt and increased overall performance thanks to its use of a 16nm FinFET fabrication process, which is a main reason why the laptop versions of these GPUs basically use their desktop silicon with only minor changes in clockspeeds (the “M” prefix was dropped as a result).

 

For this, I’ve played a total of 5 games; Team Fortress 2, DiRT 3, Grand Theft Auto V, The Crew and GRID Autosport, as these games have varying amounts of demands exerted on the system, with GTA V being arguably one of the more demanding ones due to the massive varieties in environment and stuff to render.

 

With maxed-out settings on Team Fortress 2, I got a peak FPS of 150FPS (240FPS on less taxing scenarios). However, owing to Team Fortress 2’s decade-old implementation of the Source engine and its generally unoptimized nature when it comes to taking advantage of current generation hardware, the game does see drops to as low as 45FPS in huge battles with involved a lot of projectives such as rockets from the Soldier and pipes from the Demoman. This isn’t of much fault with the GTX 1060 but more to do with the nature of how Team Fortress 2 was developed over time. That being said, despite the iffy optimization, for the most part, Team Fortress 2 is a very playable title, but do note that flying particles and projectiles will tank your FPS significantly.

 

DiRT 3 ran a lot smoother even when totally maxed-out. Using the in-game benchmark tool, I got an average of 130FPS with the minimum at 100FPS. Frame drops were barely noticeable as they were still much higher than the 60Hz refresh rate and overall performance was excellent.

 

Grand Theft Auto V is perhaps the one super-demanding title on this list. On very high settings with 2x MFAA and with high-polygon car mods and a graphics mod to make matters more demanding, peak FPS in open areas was around 75FPS, with the lowest hovering around 45 to 50FPS. Grand Theft Auto V is a super-demanding title when you crank the settings up, but the GTX 1060 proves to be a capable performer and very rarely did the FPS drop down to an unplayable level, which only occurs when a ton of projectiles and explosions are rendered all at the same time (drops to 30 in those cases).

 

The Crew isn’t exactly a demanding game to run, although its varied terrains and environment do give some challenge to the GPU. Regardless, the system ran it extremely well at 1080p. So well in fact that NVIDIA actually recommends that I use DSR to downsample the game to make it look better. I instead opted for 1080p maxed-out with V-Sync on and the frames rarely dropped below the display’s refresh rate and when it does, it only lasts for a second and things popped back to normal soon.

 

GRID Autosport might not seem so demanding at first, but when you opt for the high-resolution textures package, it becomes much more demanding to run. With totally maxed-out settings, my FPS was a stable 80FPS throughout. 

 

Your results in other games may vary depending on optimization, thermals, game type and drivers, but from my experience, the GL502VM is a very capable gaming machine, able to handle many current AAA titles at ultra settings at 60FPS, with only some demanding titles requiring some pegging back by a notch. For the popular e-sports titles, the GL502VM is more than capable.

(Note that the beefier GL502VS will see a significant boost in these frame numbers owing to its significantly beefier GTX 1070).

THERMALS
The one critical thing on any piece of equipment made for gaming is thermals. Not only will overly high temperatures cause issues but can also rob performance due to thermal throttling, even if some high-end laptops are designed to thermal throttle.

 

The STRIX GL502V laptops utilize a “Hyper-Cool Duo” thermal system which uses dedicated copper heatpipes and fans for the CPU and GPU so that they can be cooled independently. ASUS claims that this design “maximizes cooling efficiency to give ROG Strix GL502 the stability required for intense gaming marathons.”.

 

Sadly, all is not roses. The GL502 was the subject of much criticism for its thermal performance when it was new, and some complaints still fly in recent memory. However, after a couple of BIOS updates and some tweaks, here are my results under a more realistic scenario.

 

While playing Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, the CPU was around 80 degrees as a whole package, with the hottest core hitting 84 degrees while the GPU was below 70 degrees. When playing GTA 5, the CPU averaged out at around 77 degrees, with peak temperatures hitting 82 degrees. The GPU averaged 68 degrees and hit 71 at its highest point. While editing video and encoding the export, the CPU hit its high of 83 and mostly stayed there. The lowest I got was 38 degrees on the CPU and 35 on the GPU, in its lowest power consuming state and power plan while sitting in a cool room with an aluminum fan blowing extra cool air into its intakes. While these are quite warm temperatures, the CPU and GPU were still in their boosted state and there was no sign of any throttling, thermal or voltage. Given that the laptop’s form factor is a little svelte for its size, it’s considered to be adequate, though nothing overly special as many laptops in this form factor achieve similar temps. As always, your performance will certainly vary depending on environment and conditions. 

 

While the cooling system’s performance seems quite adequate for a laptop of this form factor, there are 2 pitfalls to this cooling system; it gets a bit musical under load and much like the MacBook Pro and Razer Blade, a portion of the bottom display bezel goes over the vents. While it doesn’t obstruct the vents in a significant manner, it still feels like a silly design move by having exhausted air blow against a display bezel. Strangely, its 17-inch cousin and its successor, the GL503, doesn’t seem to have this design quirk.

 

Overall, at least for this redesign, the STRIX GL502’s cooling system can be considered adequate. Its form factor does it no favors during heavy load but under a light load, temps are low and the cooling system is very quiet in that state, but give it a heavy load and things turn up to 11 in terms of noise. While the load temperatures won’t impress anyone who has used a large desktop-replacement machine and especially those used to desktop rigs, both the CPU and GPU were able to stay in their boosted state, which implies that though it runs warm, it still runs fast.

 

SOFTWARE
The STRIX GL502V comes with Windows 10 Home out of the box, with the Anniversary update running, although it can be updated to the Creator’s Update via the Upgrade Assistant. 

There’s generally not much to talk about. If you’ve used Windows before, you’ll feel right at home. As with the case for most Windows laptops from OEMs, the GL502 comes with a bunch of *ahem* “pre-installed value software” courtesy of ASUS, ranging from those that you don’t want like McAfee anti-virus to stuff that makes no sense like ASUS Giftbox. Thankfully, you can easily uninstall them though the Control Panel.

 

That being said, there are some additions to the software that’s actually useful. The RoG Gaming Center is a very handy way of configuring macros, viewing system operating stats like GPU and CPU temps plus clockspeeds and also allows you to disable the Windows key, trackpad and RoG key to avoid them performing their respective functions if you’re gaming heavily and you accidentally hit them.

 

There’s also Sonic Studio and Sonic Radar, which are sound enhancing software designed to tweak the EQ and add effects for a customized sound profile for the former and more directional audio for the latter. Purists will definitely scoff at this, though they can be disabled if artificial audio enhancements aren’t your thing. ASUS Splendid (weirdly named) is also a good way to help tune your display’s white balance and saturation with presets and a manual white balance slider although a dedicated calibration tool may still be the desired option for those who want proper calibration.

Overall, it’s running Windows with some additions, both good and ones that should be uninstalled, just like many laptops that run Windows that come from a typical OEM.

 

DAILY USE
Now it’s time to talk about the little things, how the STRIX GL502 fares as a daily driver laptop.

 

First of all, the keyboard is great. I’ve used a lot of keyboards over the past few years and I really liked the AccuType keyboard on my old Lenovo Y410P with its great feel and feedback. Many other laptops I’ve tried either didn’t have an ergonomic feel or felt really mushy. The STRIX’s keyboard manages to walk a good line between the 2. While it doesn’t feel as nice as the AccuType, it is nice to type on and also gives a very solid tactile feedback. It only took me a few minutes to adjust to how this laptop types differently from the Lenovo. One pitfall however, is that the RoG gaming key is located just beside the backspace, and it is very common for new users to accidentally hit the key. While I have disabled the key in the RoG Gaming Center itself to avoid this, I have yet to accidentally hit the key while typing after getting used to it.

 

The trackpad on the other hand is typical for a Windows machine that’s not dead-set on build quality. The tracking is…..fine, and it is reasonably accurate, but its feedback isn’t quite as strong and it doesn’t feel nice to swipe and move around on. I would prefer a touchpad with dedicated left and right click buttons (and perhaps a fingerprint sensor in the middle), so it’s good that ASUS packs a Sica gaming mouse in the box, because this trackpad, once you’re used to something great, is just average.

 

Battery life can be described as “fine” for a beefy gaming laptop, but this is not a choice for those who live their lives away from power outlets for extended periods. At best, you’ll be getting 3-4 hours out of it. You can stretch it to 5 if you’re supremely frugal but if you’re looking for great battery life, this is not it. The battery life can be linked to Optimus being disabled due to the use of G-Sync, which means the GeForce GPU is constantly rendering, which can consume more power even when clocked at a low clockspeed.

 

The machine can be upgraded somewhat easily, but the bottom cover can be a chore to remove, requiring a prying tool to unclip the plastic clips which affix the cover to the machine. The RAM and storage are easily accessible, along with an M.2 drive.

 

The port selection is also quite healthy, with 3 USB 3 ports, a USB-C port that may support Thunderbolt, a headphone/mic jack, gigabit ethernet, a Kensington lock port and power-in. The 502VM ships with a 180W adapter while the 502VS ships with a 230W adapter since the refresh.

 

Oh yeah, the speakers. They’re clear, but they ain’t that loud.

 

CONCLUSION
The ASUS STRIX GL502 gaming laptop is one laptop that divides opinions depending on experience. Some with good units say that it is a wonderful laptop while others who have those which don’t feature adequate cooling say that it’s a dumpster fire and should be avoided.

 

Personally, my own GL502VM has been a great experience. It runs many games without issue, does basic tasks just fine as well, and also doesn’t throttle under heavy loads (although it does tend to get musical). However, the build quality isn’t exceptional, the battery life is not great and the speakers, while clear, are not loud.

 

If all you want is a laptop with a GTX 1060, you can find cheaper options like Acer’s Predator Helios 300 for less, or Lenovo’s Legion Y720. However, those will have their own set of compromises owing to their lower price point, so it’s always best to do your research. That being said, the bang-for-buck on those is incredible.

With all that being said, the GL502 is a fine laptop. It does what it does well and offers some extras like G-SYNC to sweeten the pot. It’s by no means perfect, and cheaper options with near-identical hardware exist, but if you have one and you’re happy with it, so am I.

 

I think it’s nice, but you definitely have options and some of which may even be better than the STRIX in some aspects.

About G Sync. I was playing Ghost Recon: Wildlands & Rise of the Tomb Raider on my GL502VM while G Sync on. Everything was good. FPS was good. Thermals are good. But the problem was I've seen some tearing. The whole concept about G Sync is tear-free gaming experience. I guess something's wrong with my settings. If you can gimme some hints that would be really helpful.