Asus Strix GL702VSK (7700HQ, FHD, GTX 1070) Xotic PC Edition Notebook Review

[Redaktion]

Hot stuff! The Asus GL702VSK is one of many options for gamers hunting power in a portable package. Equipped with high-end components in a relatively thin and light chassis, the notebook brings high details in modern titles without breaking backs. Can the device keep its cool, or will it melt under pressure?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-Strix-GL702VSK-7700HQ-FHD-GTX-1070-Xotic-PC-Edition-Notebook-Review.207150.0.html

[Law]

Thanks a lot for the review NC! I'm really glad you have put more emphasis on thermals too, especially temperatures at gaming. Keep up the good job!

[Franky]

I had this laptop for about 2 weeks is the Best Buy Edition which is slightly different.. it does not have they 120 hertz screen it comes with a 75 Hertz panel. Also comes with 12 gigabytes of RAM. The model number is the same gl702vsk cost it's about 1650$. I did not get the same temperatures as the one on this review, My overall temperatures where lower especially while gaming on The Witcher 3. I successfully undervolted the i7 7700hq to about -170v maintaining a stability and keeping the temperatures hovering around 80 stress testing and much lower while gaming. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the performance and the build quality for what computer costs.

[Sam Medley]

Review author here. Thanks for the feedback!

Law:
I'm excited about our new stress tests, battery benchmarks, and overall approach to our reviews. We're going to start emphasizing real world use by using things like Cinebench loops and demanding gameplay to measure thermals, performance, and battery life. It makes sense as this is what our readers will primarily be using their notebooks for. Thanks again for the kind words!

Franky:
The temperature disparity could have been due to our specific model. If you undervolted the CPU, that may also be playing a big role in the reduced temperatures you're seeing. While this notebook does get hot (esp. the CPU), it's under the thresholds claimed by Intel. I've been doing some further testing with gameplay sessions, and the CPU temps in our unit hover around the high 80s / low 90s, depending on the game.
You really hit the nail on the head in your last sentence. While temperatures were a small issue, the price/performance for this notebook (especially this SKU) is very hard to beat right now. The build quality is solid, and getting a well-built notebook with a GTX 1070 that weighs under 7 lbs and costs less than $1800 is really hard to find right now. Glad you enjoyed the review!

[Franky]

Review author here. Thanks for the feedback!

Law:
I'm excited about our new stress tests, battery benchmarks, and overall approach to our reviews. We're going to start emphasizing real world use by using things like Cinebench loops and demanding gameplay to measure thermals, performance, and battery life. It makes sense as this is what our readers will primarily be using their notebooks for. Thanks again for the kind words!

Franky:
The temperature disparity could have been due to our specific model. If you undervolted the CPU, that may also be playing a big role in the reduced temperatures you're seeing. While this notebook does get hot (esp. the CPU), it's under the thresholds claimed by Intel. I've been doing some further testing with gameplay sessions, and the CPU temps in our unit hover around the high 80s / low 90s, depending on the game.
You really hit the nail on the head in your last sentence. While temperatures were a small issue, the price/performance for this notebook (especially this SKU) is very hard to beat right now. The build quality is solid, and getting a well-built notebook with a GTX 1070 that weighs under 7 lbs and costs less than $1800 is really hard to find right now. Glad you enjoyed the review!

Thanks so much for taking the time to review this laptop! like always, an excellent in depth review!
I very much like the approach of stressing and testing real world situations as you mentioned; I spent a good amount of time calibrating and trying to find the optimal operation of my particular unit to balance performance/Heat production. I am by no means an expert in the field, here is my experience:
First, I'd like to mention that there are different versions of this laptop. I have the bestbuy version and little did I know is slightly different than the version sold at most other retailers, I believe the version for best buy is GL702VSK-BI7N12 and the regular version is GL702VSK-DS74 anyways the difference with the BestBuy version being inferior but also slightly cheaper are: Screen (is an LGPhillips 1080p with refresh rate of 75hz as opposed to 120hz) G-sync enabled at 75hz works well, RAM (12GB samsung ddr4 installed) cheap MFss, Storage (1tb 7200rpm). so as for my experience so far, Ive run many performance and benchmark tests over the past weeks just to make sure temperatures are within my confort zone which would be as low as I can get them without sacrificing much performance. I swapped out the HDD and put a 850EVO ssd on it, I will be uploading pictures when im home but I did open the laptop obviously and took a few pics of it to debunk the confusion about the internals (2 fans as opposed to 3 on the GL702VM) see reasoning down below. Ive played a lot with undervolting the CPU and performing benchmarks using the typical software, 3dmark firestrike and others, furmark, p95, oCCt etc....games Ive bench marked with are Witcher 3, Overwatch, Paladins, Heroes of the Storm, SimCity and a few others. I dont want to go into detail about each test and temps with their respective undervolt configs since its a waste of time; so ill summarize my experience:

-disabling turbo boost doesn't really help --about 5c drop in temps.
-undervolt has been stable at -140mV (had it at -150,-160 and up to -180 but at some point got a blue screen of calm down)
-GPU temps are phenomenal on this laptop never goes past 79c usually sits around 75-77c even lower with the -140 undervolt.
-as a reference out of the box after switching to an SSD and reinstalling windows and all drivers (no BIOS update yet) I found the temperatures to be hot! around 85-89c on CPU and 75-79c GPU this is prior to undervolt with everything stock.
-Examples stock vs -140mV config:
witcher 3 max 1080p nvidia hairworks Stock: (85-94CPU, 75-80GPU) with -140mV (75-83CPU, 70-77GPU)
Overwatch 1080p Epic maxed out stock (88-92CPU, 75-79GPU) with -140mV (79-85CPU, 70-75GPU)
Firestrike Stock (84-92CPU, 70-77GPU) SCORE of 13400 with -140mV (75-84CPU, 66-73GPU) SCORE of 13850.
Time Spy stock (88-94CPU, 75-80GPU) SCORE of 5100 with -140mV (76-85CPU, 66-74GPU) Score of 5248.

Conclusion about Temps:
there seems to be an issue with heat being transferred to the CPU form the more power hungry GPU. basically the GPU fan which is bigger is able to efficiently cool off the 1070 but left over heat traveling through the heat pipes gets to the CPU increasing temps by about 20% when GPU is working hard (when performing only cpu stress tests at stock voltage I was getting about 88c with -140mV im getting about 73c) now, when performing GPU stress tests the CPU climbs to 90c when stock and 82c at -140mV even though CPU usage is very low about 10%....another issue is the way air is intaked by the system...from the bottom sides and middle bottom of the laptop but it isnt enough to dissipate the heat that is built up in the middle of the heat pipes closer to the GPU(right top part of keyboard gets warm and close to the screen bezel gets hot). REASON why the GL702VM had the weird little fan in between to try and push the heat away from the CPU when its being transferred by the GPU through the copper pipes.

Solutions I've found:
-cooling pad reduces temps about 2-6c
-take off the back and temps go down about 10c average (substantial decrease and indicative of poor air flow engineering) just tried it.
-undervolt! mine is stable at around -140 but I had it at -160 for a week benchmarking and stressing and no issues expect days later I got a blue screen while furmark+P95 after 2hrs....so Im at -140mV and its stable, try your CPU to see how well your silicon is and how low you can go. In terms of benchmarks lower Voltage has usually yield better results on scores and much lower temperatures.
-Best solution Ive found is to lower specific settings that make the 1070 draw excessive power making the CPU hot.
for example: Overwatch in Epic maxed out 1080p which is what the geforce experience will set you at will draw temps (at -140mV undervolt) of around 82c on CPU and 75GPU. if you set shadows from ultra to normal or low and the ambient occlusion or something similar to low as well ALL OF A SUDDEN the temps go down dramatically putting the CPU at around 66C and GPU at 60c.....I don't quite understand why so much taxation on the GPU by those parameters, same with the witcher 3 when you lower just a few things so slightly that you cannot tell the difference in graphics quality...
Bottom line is, set games to ULTRA epic or whatever majestic word defines quality for such game, then mess with the shadow quality and perhaps a few other things....It will look the same and lower your temps by 20c!....

Thanks for reading! and please leave feedback so I can compare or correct things about my experience so far.

[Sam Medley]

Franky,

These are my thoughts exactly concerning the thermal pipe design. The GPU and CPU are fairly close together, and I think the GPU is putting out so much heat that some of it is running over the CPU, which adds to its heat. The GPU stays fairly cool, but the extra heat over the CPU really hurts it.
Thanks for adding in tips on lowering temps. Having the bottom panel off sure helps thermal dissipation, but unfortunately isn't practical. Not a knock on you at all; I just find it a shame that such an awesome notebook may have to resort to measures like that to manage heat.

Long term use should be ok, especially if you can add in some good thermal paste (or get it configured with good thermal paste). I still really like this notebook and still think it's a good buy. You also gave some of the best advice for heat management: turn some settings (like shadows) down and tax the GPU less. That'll be the best way to manage heat.

Thanks so much for taking the time to review this laptop! like always, an excellent in depth review!
I very much like the approach of stressing and testing real world situations as you mentioned; I spent a good amount of time calibrating and trying to find the optimal operation of my particular unit to balance performance/Heat production. I am by no means an expert in the field, here is my experience:
First, I'd like to mention that there are different versions of this laptop. I have the bestbuy version and little did I know is slightly different than the version sold at most other retailers, I believe the version for best buy is GL702VSK-BI7N12 and the regular version is GL702VSK-DS74 anyways the difference with the BestBuy version being inferior but also slightly cheaper are: Screen (is an LGPhillips 1080p with refresh rate of 75hz as opposed to 120hz) G-sync enabled at 75hz works well, RAM (12GB samsung ddr4 installed) cheap MFss, Storage (1tb 7200rpm). so as for my experience so far, Ive run many performance and benchmark tests over the past weeks just to make sure temperatures are within my confort zone which would be as low as I can get them without sacrificing much performance. I swapped out the HDD and put a 850EVO ssd on it, I will be uploading pictures when im home but I did open the laptop obviously and took a few pics of it to debunk the confusion about the internals (2 fans as opposed to 3 on the GL702VM) see reasoning down below. Ive played a lot with undervolting the CPU and performing benchmarks using the typical software, 3dmark firestrike and others, furmark, p95, oCCt etc....games Ive bench marked with are Witcher 3, Overwatch, Paladins, Heroes of the Storm, SimCity and a few others. I dont want to go into detail about each test and temps with their respective undervolt configs since its a waste of time; so ill summarize my experience:

-disabling turbo boost doesn't really help --about 5c drop in temps.
-undervolt has been stable at -140mV (had it at -150,-160 and up to -180 but at some point got a blue screen of calm down)
-GPU temps are phenomenal on this laptop never goes past 79c usually sits around 75-77c even lower with the -140 undervolt.
-as a reference out of the box after switching to an SSD and reinstalling windows and all drivers (no BIOS update yet) I found the temperatures to be hot! around 85-89c on CPU and 75-79c GPU this is prior to undervolt with everything stock.
-Examples stock vs -140mV config:
witcher 3 max 1080p nvidia hairworks Stock: (85-94CPU, 75-80GPU) with -140mV (75-83CPU, 70-77GPU)
Overwatch 1080p Epic maxed out stock (88-92CPU, 75-79GPU) with -140mV (79-85CPU, 70-75GPU)
Firestrike Stock (84-92CPU, 70-77GPU) SCORE of 13400 with -140mV (75-84CPU, 66-73GPU) SCORE of 13850.
Time Spy stock (88-94CPU, 75-80GPU) SCORE of 5100 with -140mV (76-85CPU, 66-74GPU) Score of 5248.

Conclusion about Temps:
there seems to be an issue with heat being transferred to the CPU form the more power hungry GPU. basically the GPU fan which is bigger is able to efficiently cool off the 1070 but left over heat traveling through the heat pipes gets to the CPU increasing temps by about 20% when GPU is working hard (when performing only cpu stress tests at stock voltage I was getting about 88c with -140mV im getting about 73c) now, when performing GPU stress tests the CPU climbs to 90c when stock and 82c at -140mV even though CPU usage is very low about 10%....another issue is the way air is intaked by the system...from the bottom sides and middle bottom of the laptop but it isnt enough to dissipate the heat that is built up in the middle of the heat pipes closer to the GPU(right top part of keyboard gets warm and close to the screen bezel gets hot). REASON why the GL702VM had the weird little fan in between to try and push the heat away from the CPU when its being transferred by the GPU through the copper pipes.

Solutions I've found:
-cooling pad reduces temps about 2-6c
-take off the back and temps go down about 10c average (substantial decrease and indicative of poor air flow engineering) just tried it.
-undervolt! mine is stable at around -140 but I had it at -160 for a week benchmarking and stressing and no issues expect days later I got a blue screen while furmark+P95 after 2hrs....so Im at -140mV and its stable, try your CPU to see how well your silicon is and how low you can go. In terms of benchmarks lower Voltage has usually yield better results on scores and much lower temperatures.
-Best solution Ive found is to lower specific settings that make the 1070 draw excessive power making the CPU hot.
for example: Overwatch in Epic maxed out 1080p which is what the geforce experience will set you at will draw temps (at -140mV undervolt) of around 82c on CPU and 75GPU. if you set shadows from ultra to normal or low and the ambient occlusion or something similar to low as well ALL OF A SUDDEN the temps go down dramatically putting the CPU at around 66C and GPU at 60c.....I don't quite understand why so much taxation on the GPU by those parameters, same with the witcher 3 when you lower just a few things so slightly that you cannot tell the difference in graphics quality...
Bottom line is, set games to ULTRA epic or whatever majestic word defines quality for such game, then mess with the shadow quality and perhaps a few other things....It will look the same and lower your temps by 20c!....

Thanks for reading! and please leave feedback so I can compare or correct things about my experience so far.

[Tyler]

 8)

Read this great review and ended up buying the laptop because of it (well, and it was on a flash sale at BestBuy for $1350) ... I since have overclocked the display to 100hz (BestBuy version comes with only a 75hz monitor and no SSD, I opted for the Samsung 960 evo NVMe m.2) ... great laptop, though the heat is pretty flawed on it.

I posted a video on how I repasted using liquid metal and have seen 20-30c difference in temps (while undervolted to -0.130. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7glBCZr8ntI

[Bryan]

Instead of taking the bottom cover off why not put holes on the bottom?  Bunch of little ones or big ones and poxy on mesh. Use that with a cooling pad, do the undervolt -140 and better thermal paste/liquid. Probably have have a cooled system that isn't half bareless.