Gaming Hardware Review Asus ROG Zephyrus gaming laptops

[Awesomesauce3ds]

Hey gbatemp! I was recently looking at Asus gaming laptops so I could upgrade from my old laptop. And I went down a wormhole looking at used Asus ROG Zephyrus laptops on eBay and Mercari, and I decided that I wanted an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop. Specifically the 2023 model because it has the AniMe Matrix panel on the back for those that know. (Basically just a light up led panel on the back shell that you can customize to show different animations, its actually kind of cool). And I have a quite a few questions; 1; Are there any other good laptops under around $1200 (used ebay/Mercari or new on other trusted platforms) that would be worth the money? 2; The gaming laptops I'm looking at have at least RTX 4070/4080 laptop GPUs, and I'm just wondering what the equivalent of that would be to a desktop GPU (RTX series). 3; Is a Ryzen 9 7940HS a good gaming choice for a CPU? (mid to slightly demanding tasks) 4; I was just wondering (not really that important), but what are some of the extra features/benefits of Windows 11 Pro?? 5, and final; I can't seem to find any black models of these gaming laptops on Mercari or eBay ( not including the obvious $2500 scams for these on eBay of course (wouldn't consider buying it if it's more than $1500)) for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 laptops. So could anybody help me find one maybe? I'm looking for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 2023 model - 1TB SSD - 16 to 32GB RAM (cheaper the better in this field Really) - Ryzen 9 - RTX 4070, 4080, or 4090 (not 4060/50) GPU - AniMe Matrix - and obviously the black color with the one-zone backlit rgb full spectrum keyboard. Thanks to anyone who decides to helps!!

*If you made it this far thanks for reading this abomination of a paragraph lol.

 

[C_2_T]

I own one. it's the best laptop I've ever owned. I was exclusively buying Dell laptops, but after a Dell died in less than two years, I decided to make a change. I got mine from Best Buy, when it was on sale for $500 off, from $1500 to $1000 or technically $999. I had to borrow money from my parents though, since I only get about $600/month. it took four months to pay off, but it was worth it.

 

[Awesomesauce3ds]

Thanks for the response! Is it the 2023 model? If not, do you happen to know what year the laptop was from and what the specs were?

Edit: Also, how much did you purchase it for?

 

[C_2_T]

it's a 2023 or 2022 model, can't remember for sure. I bought it for one reason, to compile stuff, really. when I transferred my wslv2 version of ubuntu 20.04, it took the Dell four hours; this laptop-20 minutes. that should say something.

 

[TheStonedModder]

I own one. it's the best laptop I've ever owned. I was exclusively buying Dell laptops, but after a Dell died in less than two years, I decided to make a change. I got mine from Best Buy, when it was on sale for $500 off, from $1500 to $1000 or technically $999. I had to borrow money from my parents though, since I only get about $600/month. it took four months to pay off, but it was worth it.

Their build quality kinda varies to be fair

I also own one and its GPU died in just over a year. And asus wants practically the price of a new laptop to get it repaired

Was a waste of 1200$

 

[C_2_T]

Their build quality kinda varies to be fair

I also own one and its GPU died in just over a year. And asus wants practically the price of a new laptop to get it repaired

Was a waste of 1200$

unfortunately, that's probably true of most companies, but I've personally been burned by Dell one too many times, same with Samsung and their tvs. my uncle's tv failed a couple days ago after having owned it for 18 years. good luck having a tv now that lasts that long.

 

[Awesomesauce3ds]

Speaking of GPUs is the RTX 4080 laptop GPU good enough for gaming?

 

[AlexMCS]

RTX 4080 is overkill for most current games.
My sister owns a 1-2yo Zephyrus and loves it.

If I was into laptops, I'd get a ROG STRIX x3d though.
Desktops are waaay cheaper for dedicated gaming, and for portable gaming a decent handheld PC is good enough (I'm currently using an AYANEO 2, and I'm considering migrating to a GPD Pocket 4 sometime next year, since it's amazing for work too)

 

[Awesomesauce3ds]

Yeah, I have already decided that a want a laptop because it has the keyboard and bigger screen than a console, and is generally more powerful. I'm just stuck because I don't want a white ROG Zephyrus but I rather want a black one because I'm not really a white colored devices kind of guy. But there are no white ones that are in my budget of $1000ish on Mercari or eBay so I'm stuck.

 

[C_2_T]

I can't guarantee a good deal but check best buy. it's cyber Monday after all.

 

[Kioku]

Speaking of GPUs is the RTX 4080 laptop GPU good enough for gaming?

More than enough. I have a 2023 model with a 4070 and it works well.

 

[C_2_T]

by comparison, my older Dell ran dq xi at like 15fps, maybe 10, but the asus zephyrus runs at max speed. dell just plain sucks. you're paying for the name in that case. same price in a lot of cases too. it's up to you what you want to do though.

 

[Awesomesauce3ds]

Ok thanks! I think I'll try and get a used 2023 model with the RTX 4080 and AniMe Matrix panel.