u/_Leviathan_13

Hey I'm a transfer student from the Philly area, and they put me in the RIT Inn. I'm kinda guessing this is what they do after over enrolling. It seems like a decent spot, but my main concern is being able to connect with other students. I can tell it's VERY quiet here, and being off campus definitely makes me feel quite isolated. Not sure if there's anything I should be doing besides trying to spend as much time on campus as possible, really just looking to make friends (metal or hardcore fans please hit me up).

So, I had been shopping for a new laptop since around the start of this year. My previous laptop was an Asus TUF Dash F15 with an i7 12650h, 32gb of ram (an upgrade I made from 16gb), and a 3070. It had two broken hinges that I super glued and it would blue screen if you moved it wrong. I used it for just about everything from school to recording and mixing music to Photoshop to gaming.

First one I tried was the Legion Pro 7i (ultra 9 275hx, 5070ti). The thing was an absolute powerhouse, but it was a bit bulkier than I expected and I was having some MAJOR latency issues whenever I had it hooked up to my audio interface (Black Lion audio revolution 2x2). Couldn't even play YouTube videos without audio dropouts. I actually sent the first one back for a replacement but the issue wasn't fixed on the new one so I sent that back too. Tried just about everything to try and fix it myself but nothing worked.

My runner up was the Zephyrus G16. Waited and waited for a good sale on the 5070ti model with 32gb of ram, never saw anything. Recently the G14 (same spec, ryzen 9 instead of ultra 9) sale came up. I was hesitant cause I felt like I was settling for less. Smaller screen, lower refresh rate, one less m.2 slot, etc.

I decided I'd snag the deal, and if I didn't like it, I'd send it back. I've had it for a few days now, and figure I'd give my thoughts. For the most part, I am absolutely loving it. It is working well with my interface, the screen is GORGEOUS, and it's performing well. I do also really like how portable it is, honestly not something I ever expected to find in a high performance laptop.

It's definitely not perfect. There's not a ton that can be said that hasn't already been discussed in this subreddit, but the big things for me are the fan noise (still need to make some ghelper tweaks) and the lack of upgradeable storage. I don't THINK the smaller screen is as much of an issue as I expected it to be, I'll likely end up buying an external 1440p 240hz monitor to connect it to when I have it at my desk regardless. The keyboard also definitely gets pretty toasty when it's under load, but that's not a huge issue for me since I have it hooked up to an external keyboard and mouse at my desk anyways. Per key RGB honestly would've been great too.

Part of me still wonders if I'd like the G16 more, but I am very happy with the G14. I do wish I could upgrade storage without having to reinstall windows, but it's not the end of the world. Also if anyone has recommendations for specific fan curve modifications / undervolt settings, I'd greatly appreciate it. It's kinda crazy how loud this thing gets even on balanced mode.