Zephyrus G14 - Best bang for buck?

chrismscotland · 8 Jul 2020 at 09:24

Folks - I'd really been looking at ultrabooks but ordered a Surface Book 3 and its gone back as there was just a few too many compromises; however one thing I did like was the ability to game as it has the Nvidia 1660 Max-Q.

All I really want is good battery life (7+ hours) and something powerful enough to do anything I need it to do (Coding, Photo Editing) but the ability to game would be nice!

I'm now looking for a replacement and almost every article online suggests the Zephyrus G14 in one guise or another - probably the Ryzen 4900HS and GTX 2060; aside from the keyboard backlighting issue - is the laptop the best bang for buck gaming?

Battery life seems to be great and power isn't going to be lacking; I'm also comfortable that on battery mode (or charging via USB-C) its lower powered - day to day on the move that's not a problem; I really would be using the 2060 when I'm home or maybe plugged in in a hotel.

krooton · 8 Jul 2020 at 09:45

I've been helping a friend look for a 1-1.5k laptop, and it seems they all suffer from sub-par cooling at the moment :/

Personally I would look at a slightly chunkier offering from the likes of XMG or other barebones builders, but he is dead set on a 'proper' brand.

The MSI Bravo seems to have decent cooling, but currently has weaksauce graphics cards.

pc-guy · 9 Jul 2020 at 16:04

krooton said:
I've been helping a friend look for a 1-1.5k laptop, and it seems they all suffer from sub-par cooling at the moment :/

Personally I would look at a slightly chunkier offering from the likes of XMG or other barebones builders, but he is dead set on a 'proper' brand.

The MSI Bravo seems to have decent cooling, but currently has weaksauce graphics cards.

are you sure? G15 is the one that has cooling issues. Not heard G14 being problematic

chipps101 · 9 Jul 2020 at 16:57

Just do the disable boost fix bob does in his review here and the laptop will run much cooler and still perform well.

When i disable the boost on my 4800h in my A15 i dont really get any performance drop in shadow of the tomb raider at 1080p highest default settings and it takes the cpu temps from the low 80's to the high 60's.

https://youtu.be/6oS8kbG-oZU

Super Tigers · 12 Jul 2020 at 20:00

I received my G14 GA401II Ryzen 4600HS laptop today, and I am well impressed. The 14in screen is lush and kicks my old ASUS FX504 with it's TN screen out of the park. I have only loaded up WOW on it so far and updated Windows and installed Office and I am very impressed. The only hitch I have found is that I cannot get the Windows May version 2004 update to install as it gives an error that it isn't compatible. It won't run off Windows update and I tried the standalone installer and that gave the error message, has anyone else got the 2004 version to install?

MiSJAH · 12 Jul 2020 at 20:23

pc-guy said:
are you sure? G15 is the one that has cooling issues. Not heard G14 being problematic

My lad has the G15 with R7 4800H and GTX 1660Ti, I can't even on a full stress test get the temps above 81°C.

Image after 15 mins of 100% usage of all cores:

First temp column is max and the next is average.

chipps101 · 12 Jul 2020 at 21:29

MiSJAH said:
My lad has the G15 with R7 4800H and GTX 1660Ti, I can't even on a full stress test get the temps above 81°C.

Image after 15 mins of 100% usage of all cores:

First temp column is max and the next is average.

I think he meant A15, the 4800h with 2060 version of that can get toasty, i have the A15 version with the 4800h and 1660ti and that isn't to bad.

spike2011 · 15 Jul 2020 at 21:50

Been looking at the G14 and G15 today both look good after Bob youtube fix, still waiting for stock on all Amd gaming laptops like Legion 5 and the new HP Omen 15.
This stupid virus must be slowing everything down will be Christmas time they get in stock.

Want 1660Ti or RTX 2060 not low end 1650's not buying Intel either.

Like the G14 it's a lot smaller and lighter then my old Dell XPS 15" laptop.

benparker · 17 Jul 2020 at 13:54

Which desktop GPU would a 1660ti be equivalent to?

chipps101 · 17 Jul 2020 at 15:44

benparker said:
Which desktop GPU would a 1660ti be equivalent to?

From what I have seen from the one in my A15 probably close to a desktop 1660 non ti or maybe even the super depending on the game.

benparker · 17 Jul 2020 at 21:40

chipps101 said:
From what I have seen from the one in my A15 probably close to a desktop 1660 non ti or maybe even the super depending on the game.

And qmax variant?

chipps101 · 17 Jul 2020 at 22:22

no idea but will be a little slower as it has less power available.

chrismscotland · 18 Jul 2020 at 11:24

Still keeping an eye on the G14 but stock obviously still an issue!
Half contemplating just building a desktop and buying a cheaper less powerful laptop to chuck in my bag at this point

spike2011 · 19 Jul 2020 at 22:05

Been waiting over two months to buy a Amd gaming laptop the only one I'm interested in now is HP Omen 15 the 2020 version no stock in the UK stupid virus, all other laptops seem to have major problems or Intel junk lol.

G14 would have ok but it's Asus and they suck as a company have zero trust in them.

benparker · 20 Jul 2020 at 10:51

spike2011 said:
Been waiting over two months to buy a Amd gaming laptop the only one I'm interested in now is HP Omen 15 the 2020 version no stock in the UK stupid virus, all other laptops seem to have major problems or Intel junk lol.

How much is the omen going for?