The ASUS ROG Strix GL502VS Review: Mainstream GTX 1070 with G-SYNC
by Brett Howse on December 9, 2016 8:00 AM EST
ASUS offers a wide assortment of gaming laptops under “Republic of Gamers”, or 'ROG', with models such as the G752 lineup, the liquid cooled models in the GX800 series, and a few models for those who need more gaming per dollar. Today we are looking at the ASUS ROG Strix GL502VS, which ASUS labels “Compact and Potent”. The Strix branding has morphed a bit over the years, and now tends to signify the more economical products from ASUS, and the GL502VS certainly fits that bill, with quite a bit of hardware packed into a reasonable budget.
There are a couple of models of the GL502, and the VS version here for review is the top end version, featuring an Intel Core i7-6700HQ, NVIDIA GTX 1070, and up to 32 GB of DDR4. There are both 3840x2160 and 1920x1080 displays available, and both feature NVIDIA G-SYNC for a smoother gaming experience. SSDs are available for the boot drive, up to 512 GB, and ASUS also includes a 1 TB 5400 or 7200 rpm HDD for bulk storage to cope with the size of today’s games.
The laptop is fairly compact for a 15.6-inch gaming laptop, with the GL502VS model being 30.1 mm (1.18 inches) thick, and 2.34 kg (5.15 lbs) in weight. But it is not the thinnest or lightest gaming laptop of this size. The lower powered GL502VM model drops the GPU down to a GTX 1060, shaves 7 mm off the height, and 140 grams off the weight.
| ASUS ROG Strix GL502VS | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C/8T 2.6-3.5 GHz 6MB Cache 45W TDP |
| GPU | NVIDIA GTX 1070 4/8GB 2048 CUDA Cores 1442 - 1645 (Boost) MHz |
| Memory | 2 SODIMM Slots, 32 GB Max DDR4 |
| Display | 15.6" 1920x1080 IPS 60 Hz w/G-SYNC Optional 3840x2160 IPS w/G-SYNC |
| Storage | 1 TB 5400/7200rpm HDD Optional 128/256/512GB M.2 SSD, SATA or PCIe |
| I/O | 3 x USB 3.0 Ports 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C) 1 x HDMI 2.0 output Port (with HDCP) 1 x mini DisplayPort 1.3 output Ports SD Card Slot 1 x Headset Jack 1 x Realtek PCIe GbE RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000Mbps) |
| Dimensions | 390 x 266 x 30 mm 15.35 x 10.47 x 1.18 inches |
| Weight | 2.34 kg / 5.16 lbs |
| Battery | 62 Wh, 180W AC Adapter |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC8260 2x2:2 with Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Price | $1650+ As Tested: 6700HQ, 16GB (1x16) DDR4-2400 , GTX 1070, 256GB SM951 M.2, G-SYNC FHD $1650 USD |
Although I’m not a huge fan of ASUS’s laptop naming schemes, I am a fan of them putting in the latest and greatest technology into their devices. They were very quick out of the gate to transition to SSDs, PCIe SSDs, and USB-C, and that’s the case here as well. The GL502VS features an NVMe Samsung drive, along with a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, but they’ve also kept plenty of older I/O as well, including three USB 3.0 ports, mini Display Port, HDMI, RJ45, and a SD card reader.
Wireless is supplied by the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 card, which has been a strong performer on all laptops this year. The 62 Wh battery is certainly on the small size for a gaming notebook, but as with most gaming notebooks, they are mostly designed to be plugged into the wall for almost all scenarios, with a battery for the odd time where you need to be a bit more mobile.
The GL502 lineup is quite a bit of performance for not a lot of money, with the GTX 1060 based GL502VM starting around $1300, and the higher performance GTX 1070 based GL502VS starting around $1600.
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sundragon - Thursday, January 12, 2017 - link
There isn't a 4K screen offered on the GL502VS. I agree with you on the keyboard color, the orange is nice but it can be a bit much.Ethos Evoss - Friday, January 6, 2017 - link
Why they still bothering with HDDs ??! they should stop it and put rather bigger battery !sundragon - Thursday, January 12, 2017 - link
I have 6 games on mine and it's taking up over 200GB of space. The 1TB HDD is perfectly fine performance wise vs paying more for a 1TB SSD. The battery is of little consequence on a 1070 equipped laptop with G-Sync. The GPU is so hungry that even a larger battery will make very little difference in overall battery life.danwat1234 - Wednesday, April 19, 2017 - link
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?88253-GL...Amazing. MSI tried to pull this stunt with "NOS" , where it would drain the battery because they used a 180w AC adapter on a 980m GT72 or whatever laptop.
Alienware doesn't borrow battery power AFAIK but would throttle with the 180w adapter and they soon offered a free ~240w replacement.
Now Asus.
What is wrong with laptop manufactures. MSI and Alienware didn't get away with it, why did Asus think they could?
Some people use their gaming laptops for work that uses the CPU cores and GPU cores for days at a time at full load.
Curious if the 180w 6700HQ 1070 Asus laptops can have that corrected with a firmware update possibly to overdraw from the adapter/accept a ~240w one? Or maybe just throttle, which really doesn't help things.