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Windows 11
- Thread starter AutomaticApple
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I have two laptops with Intel Core Ultra 7. Both thin and light laptops with NO dedicated GPU. They will not run fans unless I am in high performance mode. Then when I log in fans will run for 30 seconds and go to normal.
In balanced mode fans are generally off unless under heavy load. The laptop will get warm even when at idle but nothing crazy. Compared to previous gen Intel chips these are much more efficient but compared to M3 they still have a way to go.
I think it really depends on the cooling system and the load. If you are pushing the GPU and CPU then you are going to run HOT. Specially in the Zephyrus which is a really cool laptop but they packed way more power than it can practically handle. I would recommend a larger gaming laptop if you are getting the Ultra 9 and 4090. You really need an adequate cooling system and as much as the Zephyrus is a great laptop it just can't handle the heat in a small space.
Windows needs a lot of settings adjustments before it is really optimized and useful. I wrote a quick start up guide you might want to try.
Also see if you can get a recovery usb back up drive with the full original ISO. That way instead of resetting your laptop which will not resolve persistent issues you can wipe the drive and reinstall Windows properly and have it like you bought it new. You can make a recovery drive in Windows but this is NOT what you want. After a wipe and reinstall and deletion of Mcafee then you a few other tweaks and you will be good to go.
If you are using the GPU for anything intensive then I wonder why you care about the fans?? I know and MBP with M3 might not run fans but a 4090 is pretty intense GPU??
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Thank you for all of the information!
I have the 16-inch with a 4070. After the reset, the laptop is still running quite warm with basic tasks (using Word, streaming, and browsing). For basic tasks, I use the Silent setting; the fans rarely turn on, but the laptop does get quite hot. I really like this laptop otherwise. I will be using this laptop primarily school work and light gaming.
I currently have an M1 MacBook Pro (16-inch). I've had it for a few years, but I am absolutely tired of the weight and I really just don't like MacOS. Since I prefer Windows and I like to game, this Zephyrus seems like a no-brainer, especially with the new Ultra chip. I like the minimalism (so many gaming laptops are just ugly and thick), and the weight. The games that I have been playing have been running great with the 4070. I'm not a huge gamer, so I'm not concerned about having the best graphics card.
If I really end up liking this laptop, I will consider getting the 4080 with 32GB of RAM for future-proofing.
I don't have a laptop as powerful as the one being discussed (H series CPU and Nvidia RTX graphics) but I do have one with a P series CPU and Nvidia quadro GPU (ThinkPad P14S). When the laptop is doing light work and using integrated graphics instead of discrete gpu it is pretty quiet (the fan is probably only running at a low trickle spread) but the vented air is surprisingly hot given the light load. When I run an application which engages the discrete GPU the fan does sometimes properly kick in and produce high levels of noise even when the load remains light. I suspect the issue for me is the relatively high level of baseline heat produced by P series CPU in a fairly thin laptop, which then requires only a small increase in additional heat to cause the fan to ramp up to a high speed. The thermal challenge posed by H series CPU and RTX graphics will be even higher than P series CPU and quadro graphics.
In my case, whilst I do need the Nvidia graphics I don't really need a P series CPU and wish I had opted for a configuration with U series CPU (the type most commonly found in thin and light laptops, and which produce less heat). Actually when I bought the laptop I didn't even pay attention to the letter at the end of the processor name, not realising the significance.
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For me, using a 4+ year old laptop, the fans are noticable on idle, but as soon as any action occurred, not just a heavy load they ramped up. It may be an apples to orange comparison given the age of my laptop and perhaps different cooling of yours.
Download and use HWInfo, it will provide metrics of your system including temps of your cpu and gpu
Download and run Cinebench this will stress your CPU, and allow you to see how the temps are as the CPU is worked
Download run run 3DMARK Demo this will stress your GPU and allows you to see if the fans are spinning up due to CPU, or GPU or both
Here's a review of the G16 and the reviewer does mention fan noise, so your issue may be "normal" Whether you want to live with that is totally up to you. If it were me, I'd look at ways of trying to run it in silent mode, as fan noise does bother me
Edit: here's a reddit thread talking about this as well:
I have had a few Zephyrus gaming laptops over the years and I have loved every one of them. I mostly bought AMD systems but I really like Asus as a brand. The laptops always have a strong quality build, decent speakers and screens, and generally offer good specs at reasonable prices.
Honestly, I don't think you can get a better gaming laptop unless as I said before you are really pushing the GPU and CPU a lot of the time then a larger gaming laptop might be better but the Zephyrus has a pretty good cooling system.
I would not but the Nvidia 4080 unless you get a big discount. It is a very expensive card and I don't think you will notice much of a difference except in the wallet. The other thing to consider is the 40 series GPU have been out for a while and a new 50 series is probably going to be released soon. So buying a 4080 in hopes of future proofing right before a new release is not a good idea. The 4070 is very capable and offered at a much better price more often than the 4080.
If you really like this gaming laptop keep it as it is. Then when Nvidia releases a new GPU within a year or so you can just upgrade your current laptop(sell on Swappa) and then get a 5080? And then try to future proof. Generally buying up to future proof is always a bad idea. New technology outclasses even the best older tech on entry models sometimes. Say you got the best Intel i7 2 years ago and now it would be rather dated compared to the best Ultra 7 today and that happens every year or two. So I always recommend buying in the middle. That way you never overspend on something you may never use in hopes of future proofing and instead have a higher turn around. I buy a new laptop every year or other year. I don't worry about future proofing. I worry about having just a little more than I need now. Then in a couple years or less I upgrade to a similar mid grade model and I will always have the latest tech. I try to buy on sale and then sell as high as I can before the resale value starts to plummet. I have been pretty successful using this strategy.
Buying the M1 Max 16" MBP with 32gb ram made me realize this. I had bought the m1 max and 32gb ram but it didn't future proof me against M2/3 and although M1 is still good, compared to M3 there is a huge difference in performance, efficiency and other features added to the newer chips. I decided then that I would start buying middle tier specs or even an air over a pro because future proofing doesn't work when tech develops so fast and new features and technologies outclass older ones sometimes in a single generation.
Anyway, just my opinion. You are a very smart and capable person and I am sure will make the best decision for you!
This is great advice. Thank you.
I honestly really like this Zephyrus. It does everything I need to, including gaming (I game less than an hour a day, and only a few days out of the week, so I don't need a more capable graphics card). I also really like the keyboard. I prefer it to the keyboard on my 16-inch M1.
So for, the Zephyrus is a keeper. I will start looking into insurance options. Also, have I mentioned how much more light this laptop is in comparison to M1? As a student, I have gotten so tired of lugging it around to classes because of its weight. My arms literally hurt because of the M1 (I'm a woman, and I don't have muscles, lol).
(There's also just something about MacOS that I don't like as an Apple user. I especially prefer how Windows handles full-screen apps in comparison to MacOS.)
Definitely, Apple's full screen implementation, its kludgy. I hate it and its frustrating as hell as I tend to use full screen but also many tabs open in chrome
Fullscreen in MacOS could be ok... but at this point I lost any hope, that Apple ever admits it's faults.
the current implementation sucks without shortcuts to switch between app instances and fullscreen screens / virtual desktops. It's simply impossible to use for me with multiple monitors and multiple Windows of the same app running at the same time. It's a shame, it could be so good.