Asus ROG Zephyrus M GM501

Six cores of pure gaming sizzle

- Jeremy laird

SIX-CORE INTEL CPU? Check. Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics? Affirmative. IPS panel with 144Hz refresh and G-Sync support? Sir, yes, sir. On paper, Asus’s latest ROG gaming laptop, the Zephyrus M, has all the makings of a high-frame-rate portable powerhouse. But like any laptop, what matters is the detailed implementation. Much more than desktops, integration and engineering make all the difference if you’re going to squeeze the maximum out of any given component in a laptop.

As it happens, attention to those details is precisely what Asus claims the Zephyrus M delivers. As a for instance, Asus says the thermal design of the chassis compared to its Zephyrus progenitor has been carefully tweaked. The overall thickness is maintained at 17.5–19.9mm, but the volumes have been optimized, and the number of thermal fin outlets has increased to four to improve heat dissipation.