Asus ROG Flow X13 and XG Mobile: a double blow from AMD and Nvidia

Some people like their small and light laptops, some like them powerful and others, flexible. Asus takes a neat approach in its $ 3,000 attempt to be everything to everyone with its ROG Flow X13, a 13.3-inch, 2.9-pound two-in-one laptop paired with the new XG Mobile, a compact external-GPU-plus -dock combo device.

The new surprisingly fast AMD processor in the laptop and the new Nvidia GPU not surprisingly fast in the external module combine to make a machine that transforms seamlessly from a mobile workhorse to gaming power. And unlike The light and thin Lenovo gaming laptop with an external graphics processor, you can still get decent gameplay without the eGPU, because it doesn’t dispense with the internal GTX 1650.

I managed to do some tests in the few days I had the pair so far. I enjoyed using it – until I encountered problems that seemed like the technological equivalent of backing up in spikes of traffic. I am waiting for an answer from Asus, but I suspect the problem is that there is a lot of new stuff here and possibly a poorly configured or very early evaluation unit.

The laptop incorporates one of AMD’s new generation of mobile game processors, in this case, the Ryzen 9 5900HS with 35 watts and eight cores, in a new design two in one and with a new proprietary architecture to connect the combined external GPU XG Mobile and dock. The model I tested is the cheapest option at $ 3,000 (yes, $ 3K is the cheapest option; converts to around £ 2,185 or AU $ 3,875). Asus will also offer a Ryzen 9 5980HS and UHD display option.

XG Mobile uses the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 mobile chip and its own 280 watt power supply that can drive the laptop. Those are too many cutting edge pieces to fit. By using the Nvidia mobile part, the XG Mobile is relatively small: 55 by 208 by 29 millimeters and 2.2 pounds (1 kg).

During my preliminary testing of both systems, the GPU performed at least as well as the same RTX 3080 on the Origin PC Evo17-S. Sometimes I got over it. This is partly expected, as the GPU does not have to worry about the same cooling problems it has with the thin (but still substantially larger) Evo17-S. And that before the expected BIOS update from Asus, which will enable support for scalable BAR and should give some games a good boost.

The Ryzen 9 5900HS processor featured normal AMD multi-core stellar performance, as well as excellent single-core performance, even compared to the Intel Core i7-10870H on the Evo17-S. The Ryzen 9 5980HS model must go beyond it completely. (I have no results for Core i9-10885H, which is a more direct competitor.)

How do the two parts of this package connect? The cable between the laptop and the eGPU has two connectors: There is a dedicated PCIe path between the RTX 3080 and the laptop, plus a USB-C port with power supply and DisplayPort support. When not connected to the XG, the USB-C half of the connector works like … a USB-C port.

There are a few reasons why Thunderbolt would not work for an eGPU. On the one hand, it limits the connection between the GPU and the main system and divides the bandwidth between the other connections. This means that it could not power the hub without taking a hit. In addition, when the eGPU is connected, the system disables the integrated GPU, so it can allocate energy savings to the eGPU. And there is an even more notable reason: AMD does not support Thunderbolt.

The laptop and eGPU also have nice physical designs. You don’t get as much lighting as you would with a dedicated gaming laptop, just a red glow from the fan on the eGPU. The keyboard is much more work-oriented than game-oriented.

I have to go miles before I put a comment to sleep on this one, starting by solving problems with my test unit. But stay tuned. When it works, it is an excellent, albeit expensive, solution for people who want to balance work with playing heavy games on an external monitor. You can sign up for a notification when it is available on the Asus website.