Asus P16 Thread

mid_gen

mid_gen

mid_gen

Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
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Thought I'd make a thread on this, as it's mentioned a fair bit and seems to be one of the best options around at the moment.

I've got an M4 MBA 15" 24GB/512 which I use for my client work that is mostly cloud-based, VS code etc, and video editing. Fine bit of kit it is for that job.

But I needed a game dev machine, and wasn't really seeing much in the way of good options around. I despise all the 'gamer' laptops with RGB everywhere, something a bit more understated....Mac-like basically.

Spied this Asus P16 for £2159. Specs were : AMD AI 370 12c14t. 64Gb 7500MT DDR5X, nVidia 5070 mobile, 2TB SSD. 3840x2400 60hz OLED 16" display.

Arrived today.

First impressions....

Very nice packaging and unboxing experience. Really solid feeling black slab of metal, just as nice feeling as the Mac laptops. Less finger-printy as well.

Full-size HDMI, USB4-C, 2x USB-A! 1 more USB-C. Full size SD card reader. Amazing connectivity compared to the MBA.

Now, when I start it up and let Windows do it's thing.....I immediately thought....this mouse cursor in *incredibly* smooth for a 60hz display....curious.

Turns out it's not a 3840x2400 60hz OLED. It's a 2880x1800 120hz OLED....which is actually my preferred configuration. More than enough resolution, and easier to drive for gaming, and buttery smooth. The display is a thing of beauty.

Fans are quite audible when it's doing stuff, which is quite jarring after the completely solid state MBA, but this has way more grunt, so to be expected.

Equivalent spec MBP is £4500+....so very impressed with this so far. Has a spare 2280 NVMe slot for more storage.

Will be interesting to see the battery life...apparently it has a good 12 hours if you're just using the integrated GPU....which drops drastically if you start ragging the 5070, which is to be expected.

Impressed so far. Not even had to uninstall much shovelware. Will see how it performs a bit later when I've got some more software installed.
 
Seems like a fair deal considering the amount of RAM and how expensive that is these days.

I like the way you were excited by the USB A ports when compared to your apple laptop.

With a machine like that it's worth getting a laptop stand. It doesn't need active cooling but just having some air around the laptop will make it run cooler and quieter.
 
jp7152 said:
Seems like a fair deal considering the amount of RAM and how expensive that is these days.

I like the way you were excited by the USB A ports when compared to your apple laptop.

With a machine like that it's worth getting a laptop stand. It doesn't need active cooling but just having some air around the laptop will make it run cooler and quieter.
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USB-A, just a little thing, but not having to mess with adapters for my Yubikeys is a minor joy.

Got it all setup now and quite impressed with the performance, feels snappier than my 265k desktop, maybe the faster RAM and display?

Subliminal Aura said:
Wow, thanks for sharing your experience .... did you orgasm too ?
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Independent user review threads like this are much more useful than the ad-infested ai slop garbage review sites that turn up in searches. Someone will find it worthwhile, for something more than just letting the world know you’re a bit of a knob.
 
mid_gen said:
Independent user review threads like this are much more useful than the ad-infested ai slop garbage review sites that turn up in searches. Someone will find it worthwhile, for something more than just letting the world know you’re a bit of a knob.
Click to expand...


Wasn't being sarcy mate... I liked the review, genuine excitement is always welcome ! :D
 
Popped a 4TB SN7100 into the second nVME slot. Bit nerve-wracking opening up expensive new device but was easy enough, two rubber grommets hiding two of the screws but otherwise straightforward to pop off.

Thought I might sell my M4 Mac Air, but tbh I like having my client work and my studio work on separate machines. Plus the Air is that little bit lighter for travel when I don't need the GPU grunt of the P16.

P16 now sporting 64GB ram, 6TB SSD, 8GB VRAM, 12c24t. Similar spec MBP is going to set you back nearly 5k....and tbh for about the same price you can buy a P16 AND a Mac Air.....no brainer for me!

Been doing some editing in Da Vinci and performance is all good....windows feels a bit sluggish compared to macOS, takes a little while to get caches warm...but once the apps are started up everything flies along. Think Windows prefetch is just a bit **** compared to MacOS.

The little jog wheel in the trackpad is actually quite nice for scrubbing timelines in Da Vinci.

Only problem so far.....Windows laptops STILL suffer the problem where they don't reliably go to sleep when you shut the lid. I know I'll just need to poke through the power logs and see what it is that is keeping it from sleeping....but FFS, how hard can it be!
 
mid_gen said:
Only problem so far.....Windows laptops STILL suffer the problem where they don't reliably go to sleep when you shut the lid. I know I'll just need to poke through the power logs and see what it is that is keeping it from sleeping....but FFS, how hard can it be!
Click to expand...

I don't think Windows sleep will ever work properly - other devices/OS have the advantage of having limited hardware / driver variation to contend with and drivers written by people who actually consider things like the OS sleeping due to the ecosystem.
 
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