Asus Zephyrus G14 GA401QM Laptop Review: AMD Still Rules The 14-inch Gaming Space

[Redaktion]

The Zephyrus G14 was the only game in town when it launched early last year, but times have changed. Some aspects of the system still hold up well while others are already starting to age when compared to the new 14-inch Razer Blade 14.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-Zephyrus-G14-GA401QM-Laptop-Review-AMD-Still-Rules-The-14-inch-Gaming-Space.547502.0.html

[SoDir]

Battery Life looks amazing, any idea if the 2560x1440 120Hz screen model would have siginficant less running time?

[flankerzo]

im user of this, but R7 procesor, when on battery, audio goes out of sync and its making shuttering noises

[lapnerd]

About the audio issues on battery that is only with Mediatek wifi chip, and can be fixed by disabling power saver on the wifi. For some reason that driver interferes with audio timing. The Intel wifi is unaffected by this bug. This model can have either Intel or Mediatek wifi and it can have either Sharp or Unknown 1080p/144 panel, the Unknown is better than the Sharp.

Manual power profile in Armoury Crate is your friend. You can lower temps and fan noise by slightly reducing CPU wattage without losing FPS in your games. Silent Mode in the Crate works well with playing video games on a 100W USB-C adapter, it runs quietly and does not drain the battery over time. Most games can be run stable over 60fps at 1080p max and a lot of esports titles will reach the full 144fps frame cap. This machine can run Cyberpunk and Metro Exodus Enhanced just fine, but not at 4K obviously. It is suggested to put the laptop on a vented riser for comfort during extended gaming, and don't keep the lid shut when docked.

Dolby Atmos is your friend also, it makes an enormous difference in your speaker system. Movie mode's virtual surround is loud as heck and fairly convincing. Speakers are truly excellent. Also media related the HDMI plug goes to the iGPU/Optimus and the USB-C/Displayport goes to the RTX 3060, this is VERY important for two reasons: 1) HDMI can be used with iGPU-only mode to operate a projector for presentations *with very excellent battery endurance* .   2) The Displayport keeps the 3060 awake at all times, raising temps and fan noise and reducing battery life; however you are linked directly to the Nvidia graphics which generally gives higher FPS and reduced frame lag on an external monitor. Also bypassing the iGPU means all of the 5900HS package power goes to the CPU cores. It works well with a super fast 1080p gaming display.

If you look at the gaming numbers for the g14 vs the Blade 14, you'll see that the Blade should have used an 5900HS instead of the HX model. The Flow X13 was able to tame it but the Blade cannot, and the 5900HX being less efficient actually held the system back. In some tests you can see that while the Blade *should* be faster, some kind of internal limit put it equal to or below the g14. Both laptops have a 1440p productivity screen with better overall quality. So it's worth considering both models, but I think the g14 is still unbeatable in terms of adequate performance vs battery endurance....the Blade 14's selling points are the RGB keys and the improved performance in only some video games but not all.

[BoLee]

Review is decent but have to realize the Blade costs upwards of $2200 while I purchased one of these at Best buy for less than $1200. Not sure where you're reviewing from but that's a massive price difference. Stick on a $30 webcam and you honestly don't miss out on much. Fingerprint reader is decent enough for login. Also with Armory Crate you can manually adjust fans and temps. I have it at 35w and temps are fantastic for the size.

This is no brainer for the size and price. For $2200 I would rather get a larger 15/17in rtx 3070 or 3080 laptop or just a MBP for creative work.