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ASUS releases high end Zenbook UX501, 15.6" 4K IPS, 16GB RAM, GTX 960M, quad core CPU

AlexGoesHigh
By AlexGoesHigh
in Tech News
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Posted (edited)

201504AM250000011_142991235925548.jpg

ASUS has released a beast recently, a beast disguised as a simple, elegant looking metal laptop, and comes with almost anything one could ask for and a bit more


Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 4720HQ Processor

Operating System
Windows 8.1

Chipset
Intel® HM87 Express Chipset

Memory
16GB DDR3L 1600 MHz SDRAM

Display
15.6 IPS UHD (3840 x 2160) 72% NTSC 100% sRGB 74% Adobe RGB 282 pixel per inch density 178% degree view angles
10 point multi touch capable touchscreen

Graphic
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM

Storage
PCIE 512GB SSD

Card Reader
2 -in-1 card reader ( SD/ SDXC)

Camera
1.2MP HD Web Camera

Networking
Dual-band 802.11ac
Built-in Bluetooth™ V4.0
10/100 Base T

Interface
1 x COMBO audio jack
3 x USB 3.0 port(s)
1 x HDMI
1 x WLAN On/Off Switch
1 x mini Display Port
1 x Thunderbolt port (On selected models)
1 x micro SDXC card reader
1 x AC adapter plug
1 x Volume up/down
1 x Screen switch
1 x USB2.0 to RJ45 Cable adapter
1 x mDP to VGA Cable adapter

Audio
Built-in 2 Speaker(s) And Array Microphone
Bang & Olufsen ICEpower®
SonicMaster Premium
ICESound support

Battery
6Cells 96 Whrs Polymer Battery

Power Adapter
Output: 19 V DC, 6.32 A, 120 W
Input: 100 -240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal

Dimensions
15.1" x 10.0" x 0.8" (WxDxH)

Weight
5 lbs (with 6 cell battery) (with Polymer Battery)

Security
LoJack
TPM (Trusted Platform Module)

sadly this package comes with a hefty price tag at 1800$ USD though once you look at competing laptops like the blade and the 15" rMBP, that's a competitive price, though my main concern with it are battery and heat, its packing a lot of power in it, ASUS claims a 6 hour battery life which is on the low side, after that they are packing a quad core cpu and a 900 class gpu into a case that's a bit thinker that a rMBP (0.10 inches ticker to be precise) so it could get very toasty once you start playing games or using CUDA acceleration on a video render, though if i were doing any of those task it wouldn't be on my lap, i would be on a table

source: The Verge, ASUS product page

 

edit: asus product page change the price to 1799$, so i changed that

Edited by AlexGoesHigh

this is one of the greatest thing that has happened to me recently, and it happened on this forum, those involved have my eternal gratitude http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/198850-update-alex-got-his-moto-g2-lets-get-a-moto-g-for-alexgoeshigh-unofficial/ :')

i use to have the second best link in the world here, but it died ;_; its a 404 now but it will always be here

 

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Posted

Display

15.6 IPS UHD (3840 x 2160) 72% NTSC 100% sRGB 74% Adobe RGB 282 pixel per inch density 178% degree view angles

10 point multi touch capable touchscreen

Graphic

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM

Again 4k screen and crap mobile gpu?

 

tumblr_m26nvnNG5o1qkk10ro1_500.jpg

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"high end" with a 960?

 

I'd expect that from alienware, but really ASUS?

Ketchup is better than mustard.

GUI is better than Command Line Interface.

Dubs are better than subs

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  • Author

Again 4k screen and crap mobile gpu?

 

snip

which is why i want win10 to be ready, it will support res up to 8k, though a 1080p or at least 1440p would be much better for better battery life

this is one of the greatest thing that has happened to me recently, and it happened on this forum, those involved have my eternal gratitude http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/198850-update-alex-got-his-moto-g2-lets-get-a-moto-g-for-alexgoeshigh-unofficial/ :')

i use to have the second best link in the world here, but it died ;_; its a 404 now but it will always be here

 

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Can a 960m run a 4k display?

CPU AMD FX-6300 Motherboard MSI 970A-G43 RAM G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2x4GB) GPU PNY GTX 660 Case NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) Storage1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue PSU Corsair 500W Display(s)AOC and Viewsonic Cooling Enermax ETS-T40-TB Keyboard CM Storm Quick Fire Rapid with Blue Switches Dollar Store Mouse Sound Dollar Store Speaker

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Can a 960m run a 4k display?

Extremely doubtful, especially a mGPU. The 970 can't even really run 4k at playable framerates.

Ketchup is better than mustard.

GUI is better than Command Line Interface.

Dubs are better than subs

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Can a 960m run a 4k display?

If it couldn't, they wouldn't put in a 4k screen lol. Logic.

If you're talking about games it still can, just not well.

CASE: Phanteks Enthoo Pro // CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K @4.2GHz // GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Reference // RAM: 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport @1333MHz // MOBO: ASUS P8Z77-V LK // SPACE: 240GB Crucial M500 SSD ~ WD Black 1TB // PSU: Corsair CX750M //

CASE: Cooler Master Elite 130 // CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 @4.0GHz // GPU: N/A // RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport @1600MHz // MOBO: EVGA Z87 Stinger Mini-ITX // SPACE: OCZ ARC 100 120GB SSD ~ [2X WD Black 2TB in RAID 1] // PSU: EVGA 430W //

 

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Guys, say it with me : "THIS IS NOT A GAMING LAPTOP".

 

Welcome to LTT, where everything needs to be about gaming! 

This laptop will do fine in 1080p gaming. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with people on this site. It takes a couple of DESKTOP GRADE GPUs to properly power 4K gaming, and they get pissy that a laptop chip can't do it. 

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Again 4k screen and crap mobile gpu?

 

 

 

 

"high end" with a 960?

 

I'd expect that from alienware, but really ASUS?

 

It's not a gaming laptop. This is Asus; if it was a gaming laptop it would have their edgy gaming design all over it.

 

EDIT: Even aside from that, you should be able to tell from the specs that it's a media device primarily.

 

Can a 960m run a 4k display?

 

Yes. It's more than enough.

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Welcome to LTT, where everything needs to be about gaming!

This laptop will do fine in 1080p gaming. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with people on this site. It takes a couple of DESKTOP GRADE GPUs to properly power 4K gaming, and they get pissy that a laptop chip can't do it.

They could also just, you know, run games at 1080p. 1080p scales well on 4k so I don't even see the problem. But as said, it's not for games anyways.

Wishing leads to ambition and ambition leads to motivation and motivation leads to me building an illegal rocket ship in my backyard.

 

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It's not a gaming laptop.

 

Then why wouldn't the igpu or a much lower end mobile chip wouldn't suffice then?

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Then why wouldn't the igpu or a much lower end mobile chip wouldn't suffice then?

 

Ask Asus.

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Oh look, it looks exactly like my N550jk, except the lid. Are Asus designers really that lazy?

The ability to google properly is a skill of its own. 

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Ask Asus.

 

If JJ is ever around in the WAN show or something maybe I will, perhaps he will surprise me with the answer

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If JJ is ever around in the WAN show or something maybe I will, perhaps he will surprise me with the answer

 

JJ is a member of the MB/GPU divisions of Asus. Not from the laptop division.

 

Anyways, my 2 cents regarding the matter: the iGPU is not enough for hybrid hardware decoding of h.265/HEVC encoded videos, especially at 4k. It would be kinda silly to have a laptop with a 4k display and not be able to efficiently play 4k videos. You should read this article regarding the matter:

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9152/futureproofing-htpcs-for-the-4k-era-hdmi-hdcp-and-hevc

 

It would also help with photo and video editing, which is probably one of the main selling points of this very portable workstation. It even has thunderbolt. If that doesn't scream Macbook Pro competitor, I don't know what does.

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Its such a shame 1080p doesnt scale on a 4k screen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s

[ Cruel Angel ]:     Exterior  -   BENQ XL2420T   |   SteelSeries MLG Sensei   |   Corsair K70 RED   |   Corsair 900D  |                                                                                                    CPU:    -   4.7Ghz @ 1.425v             |

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Posted

 

JJ is a member of the MB/GPU divisions of Asus. Not from the laptop division.

 

Anyways, my 2 cents regarding the matter: the iGPU is not enough for hybrid hardware decoding of h.265/HEVC encoded videos, especially at 4k. It would be kinda silly to have a laptop with a 4k display and not be able to efficiently play 4k videos. You should read this article regarding the matter:

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9152/futureproofing-htpcs-for-the-4k-era-hdmi-hdcp-and-hevc

 

It would also help with photo and video editing, which is probably one of the main selling points of this very portable workstation. It even has thunderbolt. If that doesn't scream Macbook Pro competitor, I don't know what does.

 

The 960m is then wasted if it's gonna be only for video. Yes intel graphics are fucking crap, they haven't catch up to 4k. That doesn't means that Nvidia or AMD couldn't provide one of the many other cheaper fucking chips. This just inflates the price unnecessarily if you ask me.

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The 960m is then wasted if it's gonna be only for video. Yes intel graphics are fucking crap, they haven't catch up to 4k. That doesn't means that Nvidia or AMD couldn't provide one of the many other cheaper fucking chips. This just inflates the price unnecessarily if you ask me.

 

Again, photo and video editing benefit from a more powerful chip iirc. The only cheaper versions of maxwell that are still available to OEMs are the 840m and the 950m. The 950m isn't much cheaper and the 840m doesn't make much sense in a 2000$ laptop. It strikes a good balance between price and performance and it also ticks the "more better specs than the MBP" mark. 

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Again, photo and video editing benefit from a more powerful chip iirc. The only cheaper versions of maxwell that are still available to OEMs are the 840m and the 950m. The 950m isn't much cheaper and the 840m doesn't make much sense in a 2000$ laptop. It strikes a good balance between price and performance and it also ticks the "more better specs than the MBP" mark. 

 

If you plan on editing video on a slim laptop you're an idiot in my book.

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Where does it say that this is a gaming laptop?

My PC: i7 3770k @ 4.4 Ghz || Hyper 212 Evo || Intel Extreme Motherboard DZ77GA || EVGA Hybrid 980ti || Corsair Vengeance Blue 16GB || Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB || WD Black 1TB

 

Peripherals: Corsair K70 RGB || Sentey Pro Revolution Gaming Mouse || Beyerdynamic DT 990 Premium 250 Ohm Headphone || Benq XL2420Z Monitor

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