Question 1

Since you can install an SSD, can you also swap the HDD out for a second SSD and run the two SSDs in raid?

Accepted Answer

I think that won't be possible since one of the SSD has a M.2 port and the other one a SATA port, therefore the speed is not going to match. If it works you may slow downs the M.2 SSD in order to get the data flow correctly. on the other hand it would be kinda hard to find a pair of SSD M.2 and SATA that have the exact same amount of space.

Even if you find a way to make two SSD M.2 and SATA to work in a RAID array, you are not going to get any benefit out of it. It's a nice experiment but it is not practical at all. You better get a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 and enjoy the best SSD out there so far.

Question 2

Is there a second HDD port to put a samsung 128 ssd I already own? I can't believe they built this laptop with such a slow hdd :( It's literally the one thing that is preventing me from buying it.

Accepted Answer

Depends on the port. There's only one SATA port, which the stock 5400RPM HDD takes up. The only free expansion slot is the new M.2 format.

I had a similar problem. I cloned the stock HDD onto my SSD using a USB3.0 to SATA cable, then I opened up the laptop and replaced the drive. I'll look into getting a M.2 SSD when the prices come down a little bit.

ASUS really did mess up with the 5400RPM hard drives. I'll be posting a detailed review shortly.

Question 3

Do the speakers sound good for this laptop?

Accepted Answer

I have no complaints about the speakers. Ive used them mostly for gaming and skype. No movies or anything. They obviously arent going to have epic bass but they get the job done.

Question 4

I don't really plan to game much on it but I will be doing some AutoCAD and Solidworks on this machine and lots of school work. How different are the temps for average simple web browsing compared to gaming on it and doing AutoCAD ? If it is still too hot I'd like to search for a different machine. Thank You !

Accepted Answer

I have had no issues with the temperature on this machine. I don't use Autocad however so I can't speak to performance under those types of loads. I do game heavily though and it doesn't get that much hotter than when browsing the Web. Good laptop overall though I'd look to install a ssd and memory for better performance with cad type programs.

Question 5

Is the fan of the laptop loud?

Accepted Answer

In my opinion (and ive owned 7 gaming laptops), it is so very quiet comparatively!

Question 6

How is the heat displacement in this laptop? Does it heat up a lot while doing anything intensive?

Accepted Answer

It get hot but not too hot that you can't keep your hands on it for a while. I can play league of legends for about 2 hours and it will get hot. I tend to turn off the AC in my room when it gets too cold, so it could be that. The fans are on the bottom so it would be nice to have it on some kind of tray to allow the fans to work better. Overall I intend to get a fan for my laptop some time because I do alot of graphic work and gaming. Just to stay on the safe side.

Question 7

How much of the body is metal (aluminum?), and specifically, is the wrist rest metal?  In general, how is the physical build quality?

Accepted Answer

Top lid and bottom are brushes aluminum, but to keep the laptop light, it has a plastic feel on wrist rest but little flex on keyboard if pressured. I would like to mention that this laptop is fingerprint magnet, sometimes i feel disgusted looking at it. But what i like the most is that it runs quiet and cool, the fan is continuosly spinning but inaudible in normal distance. During gameplay, keyboard gets warm after an hour but not a deal breaker. Battery life is decent, productivity is 5-6 hrs on battery saver 75% brightness while doing some programming and web surfing, and 1.5 hours on gaming (CSGO, Chivarly, Metro:Last Light). Coming from Razer Blade 14(2015), I think this laptop surpasses my previous laptop based on price to performance ratio. Kinda wish theres a GTX 970m version.

Question 8

Do this model have Thunderbolt 3 port ?

Accepted Answer

It has a thunderbolt port, I'm assuming it's a thunderbolt 3.

Question 9

I'm planning on using this laptop primarily for AutoCAD drafting. Would it be good for that?

Accepted Answer

AutoCad, Mastercam, and any cad program will run very smoothly with this computer. I personally purchased this computer so I could run Autodesk, Mastercam, and some video editing programs without buffering or long hours waiting for the computer to change the topography. So far this computer still impresses me of how fast it really is.

Question 10

Is the Battery Removeable? and what ways could i sustain the batteries Durability efficiently? Im a big gamer but not necessarily demanding games.

Accepted Answer

Battery is non-removable. To sustain a durable batt life, i usually put the battery settings to power saver, 25% brightness. From my experience, doing school work with said settings can last me 6-7 hours.

Questions & Answers