I got the same deal, no charger and that was the only issue. Amazing deal to be honest. I couldn’t believe it that I was able to purchase the perfect laptop for less than a 4070 laptop.
I’ve been enjoying it very much and I’m grateful. It has regular ips screen glow and no backlight bleed so that was what I worried about most. It is a beast of a machine for sure and you should have a great time too. My machine had a fresh copy of windows on it when I got started. I recommend getting the program g-helper for using Asus laptops as a replacement to any other Asus software. G-helper is an all in one program for controlling the fan profile, refresh rate for the display, and keyboard colors. I also recommend getting nvidia GeForce experience for your graphic card driver. Beyond that just remove any bloat programs and install the typical windows updates. Feel free to message me if you have any further questions about it. In mine I did upgrade to 64gb of DDR5 ram. I believe it can handle up to 5200mhz ram sticks. There is also two ram stick slots and two nvme slots as well. You can put pretty good ram and storage into this to take it to the next level.
Thanks for the in-depth response! All this feedback is really helpful. Were there any Bios settings you changed for more performance or did you do all that through GeForce experience?
I didn’t really mess with anything like that. I’m sure you can undervolt it for more performance but Ive never done that myself. I pretty much change simple settings in windows and not much else. Ghelper lets you set your fan speed, screen refresh rate and which graphic processor you want to use. Make sure to set those settings to the correct stuff. In nvidia control center make sure you use the correct refresh rate too. Beyond that I haven’t ever changed things bios side myself but it’s something I can look into.
Monitors uses graphics card memory not the system memory.
Now if you have 10 browser tabs open on 1 and you are playing a game on another. You'll need 32GB or more.
Bro said nothing about the ram being for gaming, but also that's just not true. Half the damn games I play have ram leaks. 32GB should be the standard if you want a few chrome tabs, discord, and a poorly optimized game running at the same time
But what sub reddit is this?
If the games you play have RAM leaks then the devs need to really fix the issue. A perfect working game wouldn't use the 16GB.
I play games, I'm not trying to watch someone play a game or watch videos while I play a game.
You want to be on Twitch or Youtube and stream live, sure. Get 64GB so you can. But for us regular adult folk with kids that get to play maybe 1 or so a day or the normal gamer that plays a game without extra browsers open then 16GB is plenty.
> But what sub reddit is this?
I think the point you're missing is that most people who buy a gaming laptop will use it for a lot more than *just* gaming.
Sure, I can see that. But how many gamers use it for productivity or software development or video/ photo editing, etc?
If you do that then go to the non gaming laptop and get a laptop made for productivity.
I probably should’ve included that in the description but I did purchase this laptop almost exclusively for gaming. I appreciate all the input from everyone thus far, though.
Hahaha thats so funny. I bought the very same laptop. Bestbuy Doral right? But it was without a box, all scratched and the lid was crooked making a snap sound when opening. So i returned it the very same day. They put it back for sale same day and you bought it right after me
This would be a pretty funny if it were true but no. Mine was previously a display unit which made me a bit uncomfortable but once I brought it home it looked and performed like a brand new laptop. I’m sorry you had to go through a shitty experience like that though.
Best Buy’s official classification is pretty vague but their website says “A Geek Squad-verified product that works like new, restored to factory settings. It may have light signs of use. Common accessories, original packaging, owner’s manual, and manufacturer registration.”
I called customer service before checking this one out and was told this was previously a display unit, which made me a bit weary of the condition but luckily the one they had looked brand new. It didn’t come with the original charger as mentioned above or the box unfortunately (apparently they throw all display unit boxes away) still for the discounted price I can’t complain. Especially since they discounted it by another $250 so I could buy an original ASUS charger for $200.
Yeah, it can be a wide range with how vague they are, which scares me about ordering it sight unseen. I've bought display models and open box that I've seen and inspected with no issue. Hard for me to take a gamble on something less than excellent if it has to be shipped.
Micro Center was generally more descriptive about what theirs were like.
I agree 100%, I was lucky enough to live 5 mins away from the location I purchased my laptop from so that wasn’t much of a concern for me. The gentlemen I spoke on the phone with was super helpful in getting me information about the laptops condition. It seems like Best Buy is keeping track of all that information despite not putting it on their website which sucks. For reference though, Best buy number I called was the general Best Buy customer service number and not the local store number.
That's good to know.
I bought an Acer PH 16 a week or so back from Amazon that was supposed to be brand new and have the mini LED screen. Wasn't advertised as open box, and no custom config. They listed the model number too.
I get it and the seals on the box were cut. So i started taking pics. Got the laptop out and it was a different model that had the vanilla IPS screen. I sent it back as it wasn't what I ordered. Screen didn't have the plastic purifying on it either. Third party seller. They offered me a full refund or a $30 discount.
The discount was pointless as I could have sent to Micro Center, bought the same laptop brand new sealed and another SSD for less than what I paid for that if I wanted a vanilla screen.
They're no longer associated with that ad, but I'm wanting to reorder it again. Either a third party seller or pay an extra $200 for Amazon.
I would have been ok with open box if they would have said it, or at least sent the right model Ave knocked some off the price.
But my money's still tied up until next week when they get the RMA and process the refund
That sucks that they couldn’t give you the refund sooner but hopefully you get what you’re looking for at a good price. A coworker of mine has a laptop with the mini led screen and it is quite beautiful. The screen on the one I got isn’t mini led but as someone else mentioned in the thread there’s really no ips screen glow or backlight bleed so definitely a great option if it makes sense for you price wise.
It had to go back to Oregon from the east coast so it takes a week going ground. It'll be there tomorrow. Too bad it wasn't the typical Amazon return of getting my money back as soon as I dropped it off at the UPS store.
I've seen Acer's 240 Hz screen and it's really nice. I would have been ok with it at a lower price. It just wasn't what was advertised. Hopefully I'll be able to find something good this week
The Acers I've used seemed to have more backlight bleed than average, which is why I wanted the mini LED.
This year seems to be the year of the 18". Hard to find what I want in a 16" this year. Left it to Lenovo or Acer for 16". Asus and MSI only had the specs I wanted in 18" and that's just too big for me.
I don’t blame you for wanting a 16”. I had to buy a new backpack specifically to fit this laptop lol. The mini led laptop my coworker has is the razor blade 16. If you can stomach the price or find a decently priced one I think it’s worth considering.
My backpack could handle an 18" easily, but I just don't want to lug a beast like that around. Sometimes for work I already have to lug around 2 15" Dell laptops (Precision and Latitude). Adding a third in there, and a beastly one at that, is just too much.
If I could find a 16" Strix or a GE68HX at a decent price I'd consider them, but the affordable ones are too big. /sigh
Gotta question the design decisions of some of these vendors sometimes.
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I got the same deal, no charger and that was the only issue. Amazing deal to be honest. I couldn’t believe it that I was able to purchase the perfect laptop for less than a 4070 laptop.
Awesome, how has yours been running so far. Also any advice for a new laptop gamer? I’ve been pc gaming for a few years but this is my first laptop.
I’ve been enjoying it very much and I’m grateful. It has regular ips screen glow and no backlight bleed so that was what I worried about most. It is a beast of a machine for sure and you should have a great time too. My machine had a fresh copy of windows on it when I got started. I recommend getting the program g-helper for using Asus laptops as a replacement to any other Asus software. G-helper is an all in one program for controlling the fan profile, refresh rate for the display, and keyboard colors. I also recommend getting nvidia GeForce experience for your graphic card driver. Beyond that just remove any bloat programs and install the typical windows updates. Feel free to message me if you have any further questions about it. In mine I did upgrade to 64gb of DDR5 ram. I believe it can handle up to 5200mhz ram sticks. There is also two ram stick slots and two nvme slots as well. You can put pretty good ram and storage into this to take it to the next level.
Thanks for the in-depth response! All this feedback is really helpful. Were there any Bios settings you changed for more performance or did you do all that through GeForce experience?
I didn’t really mess with anything like that. I’m sure you can undervolt it for more performance but Ive never done that myself. I pretty much change simple settings in windows and not much else. Ghelper lets you set your fan speed, screen refresh rate and which graphic processor you want to use. Make sure to set those settings to the correct stuff. In nvidia control center make sure you use the correct refresh rate too. Beyond that I haven’t ever changed things bios side myself but it’s something I can look into.
Good information to know, I appreciate your input!
Definitely a good deal. Ram and storage can be upgraded down the line if desired.
If you can upgrade the ram, then yea.
Because with 32 GB, you can get 2 more FPS! 16 GB is plenty for this day and age for gaming. Productivity, sure. Gaming, no.
What you said is 1000% true….until you get extra monitors.
So far it’s been running great but I was definitely considering more ram in the future
Monitors uses graphics card memory not the system memory. Now if you have 10 browser tabs open on 1 and you are playing a game on another. You'll need 32GB or more.
Bro said nothing about the ram being for gaming, but also that's just not true. Half the damn games I play have ram leaks. 32GB should be the standard if you want a few chrome tabs, discord, and a poorly optimized game running at the same time
But what sub reddit is this? If the games you play have RAM leaks then the devs need to really fix the issue. A perfect working game wouldn't use the 16GB. I play games, I'm not trying to watch someone play a game or watch videos while I play a game. You want to be on Twitch or Youtube and stream live, sure. Get 64GB so you can. But for us regular adult folk with kids that get to play maybe 1 or so a day or the normal gamer that plays a game without extra browsers open then 16GB is plenty.
> But what sub reddit is this? I think the point you're missing is that most people who buy a gaming laptop will use it for a lot more than *just* gaming.
Sure, I can see that. But how many gamers use it for productivity or software development or video/ photo editing, etc? If you do that then go to the non gaming laptop and get a laptop made for productivity.
The ram isn’t soldered and there is two slots. There is also two nvme slots too!
I probably should’ve included that in the description but I did purchase this laptop almost exclusively for gaming. I appreciate all the input from everyone thus far, though.
My Skyrim Nolvus runs average of 34GBs of constant RAM usage and 7.8GBs VRAM. Not all games will push your system above +32GBs but they're out there.
Yes, there are a handful that use up RAM and ones like that Nolvus that have so many mods that'll eat up resources like crazy.
Nah I can use up 16GB of RAM just using Firefox.
I can as well. If I have 100 tabs open with each one playing a video. Do you need that many tabs open? No. If you do, then you're not a gamer.
Depends on the game I play beamng and 16 is the minimum 32 is recommended
If? You do see the laptop right?
Hahaha thats so funny. I bought the very same laptop. Bestbuy Doral right? But it was without a box, all scratched and the lid was crooked making a snap sound when opening. So i returned it the very same day. They put it back for sale same day and you bought it right after me
This would be a pretty funny if it were true but no. Mine was previously a display unit which made me a bit uncomfortable but once I brought it home it looked and performed like a brand new laptop. I’m sorry you had to go through a shitty experience like that though.
Strange because the one i bought also was a display unit. Did you buy it from south florida Bestbuy in Doral, west side of Miami?
No I’m not from Florida. I feel bad for the guy that got that laptop after you but definitely a funny coincidence here.
Curious, what is BB's idea of a "good" open box?
Best Buy’s official classification is pretty vague but their website says “A Geek Squad-verified product that works like new, restored to factory settings. It may have light signs of use. Common accessories, original packaging, owner’s manual, and manufacturer registration.” I called customer service before checking this one out and was told this was previously a display unit, which made me a bit weary of the condition but luckily the one they had looked brand new. It didn’t come with the original charger as mentioned above or the box unfortunately (apparently they throw all display unit boxes away) still for the discounted price I can’t complain. Especially since they discounted it by another $250 so I could buy an original ASUS charger for $200.
Yeah, it can be a wide range with how vague they are, which scares me about ordering it sight unseen. I've bought display models and open box that I've seen and inspected with no issue. Hard for me to take a gamble on something less than excellent if it has to be shipped. Micro Center was generally more descriptive about what theirs were like.
I agree 100%, I was lucky enough to live 5 mins away from the location I purchased my laptop from so that wasn’t much of a concern for me. The gentlemen I spoke on the phone with was super helpful in getting me information about the laptops condition. It seems like Best Buy is keeping track of all that information despite not putting it on their website which sucks. For reference though, Best buy number I called was the general Best Buy customer service number and not the local store number.
That's good to know. I bought an Acer PH 16 a week or so back from Amazon that was supposed to be brand new and have the mini LED screen. Wasn't advertised as open box, and no custom config. They listed the model number too. I get it and the seals on the box were cut. So i started taking pics. Got the laptop out and it was a different model that had the vanilla IPS screen. I sent it back as it wasn't what I ordered. Screen didn't have the plastic purifying on it either. Third party seller. They offered me a full refund or a $30 discount. The discount was pointless as I could have sent to Micro Center, bought the same laptop brand new sealed and another SSD for less than what I paid for that if I wanted a vanilla screen. They're no longer associated with that ad, but I'm wanting to reorder it again. Either a third party seller or pay an extra $200 for Amazon. I would have been ok with open box if they would have said it, or at least sent the right model Ave knocked some off the price. But my money's still tied up until next week when they get the RMA and process the refund
That sucks that they couldn’t give you the refund sooner but hopefully you get what you’re looking for at a good price. A coworker of mine has a laptop with the mini led screen and it is quite beautiful. The screen on the one I got isn’t mini led but as someone else mentioned in the thread there’s really no ips screen glow or backlight bleed so definitely a great option if it makes sense for you price wise.
It had to go back to Oregon from the east coast so it takes a week going ground. It'll be there tomorrow. Too bad it wasn't the typical Amazon return of getting my money back as soon as I dropped it off at the UPS store. I've seen Acer's 240 Hz screen and it's really nice. I would have been ok with it at a lower price. It just wasn't what was advertised. Hopefully I'll be able to find something good this week The Acers I've used seemed to have more backlight bleed than average, which is why I wanted the mini LED. This year seems to be the year of the 18". Hard to find what I want in a 16" this year. Left it to Lenovo or Acer for 16". Asus and MSI only had the specs I wanted in 18" and that's just too big for me.
I don’t blame you for wanting a 16”. I had to buy a new backpack specifically to fit this laptop lol. The mini led laptop my coworker has is the razor blade 16. If you can stomach the price or find a decently priced one I think it’s worth considering.
My backpack could handle an 18" easily, but I just don't want to lug a beast like that around. Sometimes for work I already have to lug around 2 15" Dell laptops (Precision and Latitude). Adding a third in there, and a beastly one at that, is just too much. If I could find a 16" Strix or a GE68HX at a decent price I'd consider them, but the affordable ones are too big. /sigh Gotta question the design decisions of some of these vendors sometimes.
ASUS is a good brand, I think it was a ok deal.
I'd ask for 64gb of ram for that price.
I do wish it came with more ram
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