Asus Zephyrus memory configurations

[hhamama66]

I apologize in advance if this isn't the correct category for this question, but I'm in the market for an Asus Zephyrus g15 at the moment and the ram configurations that Asus is offering right now have left me confusing. I'm looking to run a bunch of virtual machines on this computer and I wanted to get it with 32GB of ram. I used to own a Zephyrus gu502 (9th six core i7, rtx 2060) and it only came with 16GB of ram soldered on which made expanding memory very easy as all I needed was to buy one more stick of ram. With the G15, most of the G15 configurations on sale it seems have 8GB soldered on. The only exception is the top end rtx 3080 model with 32GB.

The difference between the 3070 model with 16GB and said 3080 model is about $600 and I don't really need a 3080 and I honestly don't want to pay the premium for that GPU given how low the tdp is on it. 

Should I just buy the 3070 model and deal with the mismatched ram or pay the premium for the 32GB?

[SupaKomputa]

not worth it. probably you won't even see the difference in a laptop.

[hhamama66]

Just now, SupaKomputa said:

not worth it. probably you won't even see the difference in a laptop.

I know the 3080 is absolutely not worth it regardless of the laptop. But I'm just curious if the ram situation is worth paying the premium

[SupaKomputa]

Well if you're not considering the gpu, then $600 for the ram is ridiculous.

Get the 16gb and just add another for less than $100.

 

[hhamama66]

5 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Well if you're not considering the gpu, then $600 for the ram is ridiculous.

Get the 16gb and just add another for less than $100.

 

Thing is though, half the ram is soldered on all zephyrus models. The 16GB configuration would come with 8GB soldered and 8GB on a so dimm module. Whereas the 32GB configuration is 16GB soldered and 16GB on a so dimm module. If I bought the 16GB model and upgraded, I would end up with 8gb in one channel and 16 or 32 in another. Is this OK, or is it a bad idea?

[Zando_]

4 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Well if you're not considering the gpu, then $600 for the ram is ridiculous.

Get the 16gb and just add another for less than $100.

 

I don't think you read the post correctly. For these ASUS laptops 16GB RAM = 8GB soldered, 8GB normal SODIMM. 32GB = 16GB soldered, 16GB normal SODIMM. On the 16GB model you can put in a larger SODIMM, but once you use over 16GB RAM, you're now running asynchronous dual channel (vs normal synchronous dual channel where both sticks are the same) and lose bandwidth which hurts performance. Probably not to an unusable degree, but kind of a shitty situation. 

Just now, hhamama66 said:

Is this OK, or is it a bad idea?

How dependent on RAM bandwidth is your workload? Or do you just need sheer capacity. Though IIRC they only support up to 16GB DIMMs, so adding a 16 + the soldered 8 on the lower model would only get you to 24GB, not 32. Unless they support larger SODIMM and you can get a 32GB stick. 
 

[hhamama66]

10 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

How dependent on RAM bandwidth is your workload? Or do you just need sheer capacity. Though IIRC they only support up to 16GB DIMMs, so adding a 16 + the soldered 8 on the lower model would only get you to 24GB, not 32. Unless they support larger SODIMM and you can get a 32GB stick. . 

I'm buying this to run a bunch of virtual machines and attend zoom meetings (at the same time). In my class my workload would be as follows: anywhere from 4 to 8 virtual machines with some of them installing software, 3 or 4 word documents, a couple browser tabs and a zoom window running at the same time.

 

Of course, I wanna play games on this but I already know games are unlikely to use more than 8GB of ram in dual channel.

 

And did Asus limit the size of the so dimm module? Damn, that's unfortunate. I might actually have buy the 32GB configuration then.

Edited May 19, 2021 by hhamama66

[SupaKomputa]

13 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

you're now running asynchronous dual channel (vs normal synchronous dual channel where both sticks are the same) and lose bandwidth which hurts performance

Yes, you're right, 8gb are soldered, that means it will be using flex mode when using mismatch capacity.

But it won't hurt that much, virtual machines are not that memory intensive (well depend on the programs running inside).

7 minutes ago, hhamama66 said:

4 to 8 virtual machines with some of them installing software, 3 or 4 word documents, a couple browser tabs and a zoom window running at the same time

Virtual machines aren't memory intensive, so you won't miss all dual channel bandwidth.

16gb will still run at dual channel, 8gb at single channel (in 24gb config).

The drawback is you can't upgrade moret han 24gb, unless there's a 32gb dimms.

I think having a single slot is the norm for todays laptop, not just asus, for space saving measure.

They soldered the onboard memory on the keyboard side.

[hhamama66]

17 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Yes, you're right, 8gb are soldered, that means it will be using flex mode when using mismatch capacity.

But it won't hurt that much, virtual machines are not that memory intensive (well depend on the programs running inside).

Virtual machines aren't memory intensive, so you won't miss all dual channel bandwidth.

16gb will still run at dual channel, 8gb at single channel (in 24gb config).

The drawback is you can't upgrade moret han 24gb, unless there's a 32gb dimms.

I think having a single slot is the norm for todays laptop, not just asus, for space saving measure.

They soldered the onboard memory on the keyboard side.

Yeah, I definitely understand why Asus did this. Having some upgradeable ram is ultimately better than no upgradeable ram as it seems to be the case for many other high end slim laptops. I think there are 32GB dimms out there, the only problem is that Asus doesn't explicitly guarantee you can expand those 16GB models to more than 24GB (8GB soldered+16GB so dimm)

[SupaKomputa]

2 minutes ago, hhamama66 said:

Asus doesn't explicitly guarantee you can expand those 16GB models to more than 24GB (8GB soldered+16GB so dimm)

Yeah no guarantee, but it doesn't mean it can't. Usually because there's no such dimms available at the time.

I remember old core 2 duos motherboards stated max memory up to 4gb because when it came out the max dimms are 1gb, turns out you can use 2gb modules (8gb total), even 4gb if you can find one, without any problems.

[Zando_]

27 minutes ago, hhamama66 said:

And did Asus limit the size of the so dimm module? Damn, that's unfortunate. I might actually have buy the 32GB configuration then.

Sort of I think? From what I'm seeing it's either a) the laptop only supports up to 32GB total or b) it can only use up to 16GB SODIMMs. Either way you're looking at 24GB max on a 16GB model, and ofc 32 on the one that ships with that. If you absolutely must have the 32GB RAM then going with the more expensive model seems the only option if you're set on a Zephryus. Otherwise go with the 16GB and upgrade to 24, as @SupaKomputa noted, shouldn't hurt the VMs too much. 

 

[hhamama66]

17 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Sort of I think? From what I'm seeing it's either a) the laptop only supports up to 32GB total or b) it can only use up to 16GB SODIMMs. Either way you're looking at 24GB max on a 16GB model, and ofc 32 on the one that ships with that. If you absolutely must have the 32GB RAM then going with the more expensive model seems the only option if you're set on a Zephryus. Otherwise go with the 16GB and upgrade to 24, as @SupaKomputa noted, shouldn't hurt the VMs too much. 

 

Honestly, I did consider other models. The strix edition for example looked like a better value because of the cooling, but the 1440 screen was only available on the hideous looking "scar edition." I would've gladly sacrificed the premium build of the zephyrus and the portability for the greater performance and better upgradeability of the strix had Asus not created the scar edition. MSI didn't have a single AMD model (which I won't compromise on as Intel gaming laptops have atrocious battery life), Lenovo I don't trust because they were caught selling their devices with adware baked right onto the motherboard and then there's Dell (and Alienware) who I will absolutely never purchase a product from under any circumstances. Finally there's the HP Omen which I feel is just really cheaply made and I don't mean that it's made out of plastic, I mean that it's just very mediocre. 

Ultimately, the zephyrus was the only device I felt comfortable taking to school and work that wouldn't make me look like a child.