Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701

ROG, short for Republic of Gamers, is Asus’ premium gaming brand. Other than gaming laptops, the product line includes desktops, individual PC components, and even accessories. The Zephyrus line, in turn, includes only the most exclusive, high-end laptops including this uniquely designed 17.3-inch Zephyrus S GX701. One of its main competitors is Dell’s Alienware m17, which comes in a similarly slim chassis.

Zephyrus S GX701 Configurations

As per usual with Asus, configuration options will vary somewhat by region, but the North American options –known as GX701GXR, GX701GWR or GX701GVR – sum up the situation fairly well. The main difference between these models is what graphics card is used: the RTX 2080 Max-Q  (GX701GXR), RTX 2070 Max-Q (GX701GWR) or RTX 2060 (GX701GVR).

All models use the same 6-core Intel Core i7-9750H processor, which is the minor 2019 update of the Core i7-8750H that has been used in countless gaming laptops in the past.

There’s also 16 GB of RAM, but some ship with 32 GB. As for the storage configurations, there is room for two M.2 NVMe drives. One of the slots run at PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds, while the other is limited to x2 bandwidth. No 2.5″ SATA drive will fit in the slim chassis.

All models use a 144 Hz 1080p IPS-type display, usually with G-Sync support. However, in the RTX 2080 model of the GX701, it may be exchanged for an HDR display without the G-Sync.

The GX701’s range of ports and connectivity options are identical on all models. Wired Gigabit LAN and Thunderbolt 3 are notably absent, but there is support for charging via USB-C.

GX701 Performance

As always, the general gaming performance of the GX701 will depend entirely on your choice of graphics card (GPU). Asus has opted for Nvidia RTX-series cars only, including the RTX 2060, 2070 Max-Q or 2080 Max-Q. Nvidia’s Max-Q design is power-optimized for laptops, with lower clock rates and power consumption, but also lower performance compared to desktop and non-Max-Q GPUs.

The above scores are rounded-off averages from a range of user-submitted benchmark runs. Exact scores will differ between systems and individual runs.

All of the available GPUs are high-end cards that should have no problems running games from 2019 at high settings and 60+ FPS.

Other Features

What clearly sets the GX701 apart from most of the competition is the unique design. The keyboard has been moved down alongside the multi-functional trackpad to allow for better cooling performance. Other advantages of the design include an 81% screen-to-body ratio and a form factor that is (according to Asus) 23% smaller than comparable 17.3-inch models.

Reviews

Notebookcheck (Core i7-8750H + RTX 2080 Max-Q)

Users can get excited, not only about the color-accurate 144 Hz panel but also, about one of the fastest implementations of the RTX 2080 Max-Q on the market.

T3 (Core i7-8750H + RTX 2080 Max-Q)

Today though, the GX701 is the best gaming laptop in the world, and should be right at the top of your list if you’re currently looking for a hyper-premium upgrade.

Video Reviews

Jarrod’s Tech: (Core i7-8750H + RTX 2080 Max-Q)