Asus Zenbook Prime UX32VD Teardown, SSD Upgrade, Ram Upgrade, Gaming Benchmark, and Review

[@hampe1984]

I was blown away by the quality of this video. Really great camera work and the person who did the talking seemed to know everything about the device. An extremely well put-together video!

[@teksyndicate]

you can clone the drives using clonezilla or Acronis. If you do a clean install you will need to DL a ton of stuff from the Asus website... it was like 1GB of drivers!

[@teksyndicate]

It is onboard... and there are several fun things you can do with it... caching and paging... I think someone even has Linux installed on it. So, yes, you get 128GB + 32 GB (24 GB + 8 GB for system backup).

[@TOMO.90]

11:25 lol :) awesome video! subscribed

[@JKLionheart]

This is the only comprehensive review that properly compares the UX31A and UX32VD as well as tell us what we need to know to see if it's a worthwhile purchase, including upgrading it properly. Thanks for covering everything about this new ultrabook! One question: what makes it not unibody? I still can't find any photos between the UX31A and UX32VD showing the differences between the unibody/non-unibody design. They look almost identical to me (probably a good thing for Asus).

[@ghostdogmovies]

Me: "It's amazing what they can cram into these things" Logan: "It's amazing what I can cram into these things"

[@teksyndicate]

@Uuroboros we tired to get that on camera. it was subtle

[@zgmurph]

Love the background on the laptop.. and lol @ Logan using the graphics card as a coaster for his coffee.

[@teksyndicate]

In a quiet room it can be heard... at the office we don't really notice any noise. It's as loud as it needs to be for as powerful as it is... that make sense? lol.

[@luiscanamarvega]

The thing is... on the video they said they achieved good framerates with the game running in ultra with the filters off... it's nearly unplayable. The game runs quite nicely on high settings without AA and 4 to 8x anisotropic filtering tho, but in 720p. It can also run at a playable framerate on 1600 x 900 with the same settings, but past that, it's just too much for the graphics card.. oh, i forgot to say that i achieved these results by slightly overclocking the card with MSI afterburner...

[@ThoughtsInVideo]

So, we bought a UX32VD-DH71 (The one with Windows 8) The bottom panel doesn't fit well on the casing, the left side overlaps the casing and moves(making noise) when you press it. There are some places where it's also smaller and leaves the casing's edge exposed. The Windows Experience index, although not that reliable, gives a 5.4 to the graphics card, so people that doesn't know much will be dissapointed.

[@Lewis5850]

You sir, have the coolest beard I have ever seen. Also great video, this has solidified my want for this model, all I really wanted to know was how easy it was to change it to an SSD. Cheers!

[@Taderbaraeg]

The gaming part of the video, is that with the SSD or the 5400rpm hdd? Great upload btw, highly appreciated

[@redplane]

Wow, thanks for the heads up, I missed that. You're right - Doing some further research it appears there is another difference: The UX32VD-R3001V has the 1366x768 TN screen while the UX32VD-DB71 has the 1920x1080 IPS. So basically the HK model does have the discrete GPU, is about US$200 cheaper, but i5 instead of i7 and the cheaper screen.

[@photographe06]

Hi - are the 500G HDD and the 24G SSD 2 seperate drives? In other words, are you removing the 500G HDD by doing this upgrade or not? I can't see another drive looking at the video.

[@vask8219]

i just got this thing around 2 months back and it runs borderlands 2 and skyrim beautifully on mid(borderlands)-high(skyrim), it gets a little warm after a few hours of game play but doesn't overheat as bad as one would think, and i havent even upgraded this thing yet.... this is definitely a slender little beast

[@487J]

If you keep the 32VD stock, the 31A will have faster boot times and wake up times, as well as longer battery life. However, if you upgrade the 32VD with SSD and RAM, it will be faster boot up faster and more than likely wake up faster. It will always consume more battery though. How much more? I am unsure, but it is an ultra book so somewhere in the 6+ hour range.

[@NobleMarcos]

Two things. These videos are too good to just listen, gotta watch. Also, how much for it and the additions?

[@Baard4Nordvik]

There are two slots for the RAM, but one of them are linked directly to the motherboard, leaving you with one slot which you can modify.

[@gameworkerty]

After you installed the SSD and more ram, what kind of gains did you get in battery life? I know there would be at least some going from a 7200 RPM hdd to SSD, and the ram would help too.

[@thiagohf1113]

Thank you, you just convinced me to buy this. If it can game and be light and portable, it's a great college laptop.

[@canariesend]

It really depends on whether you care about thickness the Samsung series 7 is like $500-$700 cheaper for a bit more thickness with comparable hardware. Sadly it does not ship with an ssd but it's not too terribly difficult to install one with the money saved. And there are probably more deals out there. Just look around thoroughly.

[@MidouBanChan]

you guys are great, i came here to see how to replace the screen, but never mind, it was great!

[@NickSinghSG]

were the benchmarks achieved before or after the upgraded ssd and ram? I'm wondering whether it does well for video editing without upgrading anything since I'm a tech noob.

[@gydeme]

you will either need an external cd drive, or use another computer to download windows onto an external hdd or memory stick. You will likely also need to install the usb drivers onto the external memory drive so it will be recognized. I'm not the best at this stuff, but there are forums to peruse about this

[@deezeejoey]

So glad I found this video. I have the SSD and the RAM, I'm just waiting on the computer to come in. I would have been disappointed when my SSD wouldn't fit.

[@Mitchseen]

Is the fan quiet? Would a RAM drive with the upgraded memory improve the performance much more?

[@Mitchseen]

Much thanks, dream machine and upgradable. Asus likely to continue to build on and refine this product.

[@linkyyay]

The Samsung 830 SSD series is the ideal choice for the UX32VD as it's one of the few SSDs fitting right out of the box.

[@superchanyi]

One question, the games you played on the zenbook were after you modified it or before?

[@MrBenutzrname]

after you changed the HDD for a SDD you of course had to reinstall Windows do you really have to download and install the the drivers (for e.g. the touchpad) one by one from the asus website or is there an easier way? also: is it possible, if you transfer all your data with a program like acronis, that you can just go on using your current installation?

[@Mackovitch]

Thanks for the video ! I've just bought a ASUS Zenbook UX32VD like the one on the video and I have a few questions about the SSD upgrade because I wish to do it ! First, don't you do anything BEFORE removing the HDD ? I mean I've been using this beauty for a couple of hours and thus I have installed a couple of things (chrome, Firefox etc...).

[@SSJHF]

I have the touch screen version of this. High resolution screen, GB ram, and a graphics card in an ultra-book no less; for under $1500 was a sweet buy.

[@ThisBoy91]

I have this ultrabook. The keyboard flex is negligible. The only time I notice it is when I actually try to flex it by pressing down unreasonably hard. Theres some pretty bad blacklight bleed when brightness is high but its not really a problem because you don't really notice unless you're on the windows start up animation. Touchpad can be better-- its not very smooth. Other than that, this ultrabook's performance is great especially with an ssd and ram upgrade. Display and sound are great too

[@thiagohf1113]

Oh, and have you done any battery tests on this?

[@austinwachukwu]

Subbed, loved this video.

[@SergioBlackDolphin]

So, a Samsung 830 should fit pretty well. Good to see it can be upgraded. I wonder when the UX32VD will be available in the UK..

[@Hildoz2]

A little extra information for those wishing to replace their HDD with a SSD: You need a torx T5 screwdriver for the outer screws, and a PH00 (or 0) for the battery and disk. Note about the SSD: If you buy a Corsair SSD like I did, the fix shown here wont work, because the Corsair SSDs are "reversed" so to say. I fixed it by adding the double-sided tape to the bottom and placing the SSD on top, securing it with tape and the metal brackets on the side. I got the 8 GB stick he mentions too. ROCKS!

[@GmodMark]

One more thing I forgot to mention is that it DOES void your warranty on your SSD.

[@luiscanamarvega]

just got this baby today.. i'll upgrade both the ram and ssd next week :)

[@redplane]

Well I hit the stores in Hong Kong within 30 minutes of this video confirming this was the netbook to buy (and modify). I'm crushed to report that Asus decided to exclude the UX32VD from their Asia line-up and only offer the UX32A (IE 1366 x 768 TN display rather than a 1920 x 1080 IPS display).

[@Igbf]

Just a quick question... maybe I missed some explanations here but... Why do you not remove the integrated cache? Is it soldered to the motherboard maybe? And there is any way to disable it via software? Is for sure a heave bottleneck with fast SSD's

[@KickerHandle]

I also found out that Lenovo Y510 is an awesome choice too because it has modular systems means easier to upgrade GPUs etc.

[@andrearovenski]

Damn it, another epic video to watch!

[@ShinHolyAyato]

I'm just wondering, the newer Windows 8 UX32VD-DH71, is exactly the same as the UX32VD-DB71 right? Just that the DH71 uses Windows 8? I just want to confirm because I'm planning to buy the DH71 since the DB71 ran out of stock

[@videobserver22]

How hot did the top get when you were doing the game benchmarks?

[@cynthia8591]

Great vid, thanks. I bought it, bought an ssd, but had shopped the ssd's so strenuously, picked up the wrong one (sandisk, not intel), and the measurements were off by 2mm. Your method of adjustment lessened my self annoyance. Now I can dismantle it confidently... Blondie will prevail.

[@joyoussound]

Should I replace the hard drive BEFORE turning the Zenbook on for the first time? Would this save me from the hassle of installing Windows again, since the Windows is on the other internal drive?

[@M4ttNet]

Are there any numbers on how much swapping the SSD improves the battery life (if noticeably at all)? Also I'm curious of there are any batteries that can be swapped out that would fit but have a larger capacity?

[@ThoughtsInVideo]

Also, as a side bad thing, the sleeve is much cheaper than the one shipped with the 31A, which I've bought(from asus website) to use with my macbook air and works great.

[@NickSinghSG]

It takes 72 seconds to reboot the UX32vd after upgrading the ram? That's really really long despite the ssd upgrade.

[@Mythricia1988]

Heyo! Just some quick questions if you could be bothered. I've seen some conflicting specs on the SATA version on the UX32VD, but since you mention you got far beyond the 300mb/s specs of SATA-II, I assume it has a SATA-III interface, yes? And do you know if there's any difference between the Wind7 / Win8 versions of it, because if not, I'll just get the Win8 one and install Win7 either way... Cheers!

[@peterdoa1]

I like his collection of vintage games

[@LincolnFStern]

The desktop i5s are usually quads, no HT, while the laptop i5s are usually duals, with HT. Other than the model number, there's not much in common in the two.

[@iRiskPvp]

Thanks

[@superchanyi]

The games you tested were tested before or after the hardvrive was changed?

[@Skunk2K20]

Just throwing this out there, but I believe mobile i5s are hyper threaded along with mobile i7s. Then its the desktop where i5s are not hyper threaded and the i7s are. At least that's what I thought. Great show, by far my favorite KZbin channel!

[@flippybitzo]

I subbed because of this great video!

[@zekaje]

Great review, thanks! At around 9:00, you talk about replacing the HDD with an SSD. Do I have to unscrew any part of the SSD case if it is 7mm? Also, why won't Norton Ghost work, and do you guys have a guide for Clonezilla? Sorry about my confusion.

[@gBarsihahahaha]

That coffee on that graphics card... I stared at that in disbelief the entire time.

[@simon4shizzle]

UX32VD-DB71 has been out of stock on Amazon - I wonder when they'll come back in stock? Crossing my fingers!

[@GeordieHalma]

Do you think with the upgrade the 10 gb single channel ram would outperform 8 gb dual channel?

[@ajazz102]

Hi there Thanks for the video, would replacing the ram with , lets say 8gb, and a new SSD will make the machine heats up quickly?

[@TheFoxxDen]

Pretty damn epic! Good review guys

[@GmodMark]

No, it doesn't void your warranty. Just make sure if something does happen to your laptop, you put back your original parts back into the laptop when you take it to Asus.

[@ddz49]

Will the UX32Vd's RAM run in dual-channel if the speed per module is the same, but the amount per module isn't? So like, for this situation, we'd get a 1600MHz 8GB module from Corsair, making the operating speed the same.

[@b0b0pizza]

i bought it because i wanted to stop gaming and start study, but this zenbook can launch all the recent game with really good ratio graphism-performance, so... for the school use it is very helpful, because the pc is small, have a high resolution screen, and the keyboard do light, so you can continue to work during the night! but i also think that you can found a lower price pc who can do the job, because the hig resolution and the i7 won't help you to learn faster, personal experience!

[@Lachris94]

will the garanty be void once you open up the cover, and i mean just opening it, not replacing any parts

[@eddstagram]

fantastic review, been eyeing this ultrabook for a while and im also planning to upgrade its hdd to ssd.. what would be the best 512gb or 256gb to pair with this laptop? the one im eyeing now has windows 8 on it.. will that be an issue? thanks

[@moxalis]

Yup, it'll do fine on medium-high settings at 1080p.

[@hquegr]

9:27 he mentions that if the ssd is 7mm thick then you can just fit the ssd untouched in the laptop ?

[@gydeme]

Samsung and vertex are solid brands. Remember to get a 7mm drive so it will fit into the notebook. In terms of Ram, they all work as long as they run CAS11 latency and run at 1600mhz. If you do not have one with CAS11 latency it will downclock to 1333mhz and not perform as well

[@Person62]

If you open it up you void your warranty and I've heard people having issues with the earlier version (UX31) within the first year. Can you customize it (add SSD + RAM) without voiding your warranty?

[@YouAreTheAverage]

Is this the best ultrabook of june 2012? Will it be topped in performance category by August for under $1200?

[@thiagohf1113]

I have a question about this. Is the SSD cache on the motherboard or in the hard drive? Like, if I install a 128 GB SSD and remove the hard drive, is the total storage going to be 128 GB or 128 GB + 24 GB Cache?

[@555hihello]

I'm going to College this year, so I'm looking for a new Ultrabook since my Laptop is going under. I'm debating between this, Samsung Series 9, HP Envy 14", or the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga. Thanks for any recommendations.

[@MrSteveenn]

It's still too thick, so your still going to have to do the same modifications, or you could buy a Samsung 840 or an OCZ Vector Series will work as well.

[@darkrasen]

PCMark Vantage - 6129 points PCMark 7 - 1934 points 3DMark 06 (1280x1024) - 7459 points 3DMark Vantage - 4268 points 3DMark11 - 1141 points Source notebookcheck(dot)com Could you please let me know the specs of your system and how it compare to the scores of the UX32VD? Thank you.

[@iILuZioN]

The benchmarks were measured after the upgrades?

[@echtvergoldet]

Still using this beast to type this comment. Keyboard is still like day one, still less wear than on my 1 y/o logitech keyboard. This Ultrabook is this good, I can't deside on what to upgrade. Any Ideas of a similar, yet better Ultrabook?

[@Kahilg]

can we have links to the items you upgraded to? Especially the Ram used ?

[@rickende]

is this still one of the best ultrabooks to get? would this be the one laptop for me which is able to play games but still be good for school use? please respont!

[@darkrasen]

Any SSD that has a height of 7mm can work with this ultrabook. If it's bigger, you'll have to take off the SSD's plate and maybe void your warranty.

[@retromelon123]

does upgrading the storage and RAM void your warranty?

[@scenekal92]

If you change the RAM to a new one must u install anything back after switching on the ultrabook? Not too sure how this works :/ but thinking of getting one soon.

[@sande6]

Good review. Hows the boot up time both from turned off to windows and sleep/standby to, With the default hardware

[@MarkTaeKim]

This laptop is awesome. It is basically dedicated graphics in a macbook air running on windows. This will run star2 diablo 3 on all max settings. You are even able to overclock the GPU giving u even more beast performance. I would like to see the nvidia drivers mature as well as see how this thing does on crysis 3 overclocked. The SSD and memory upgrade are a must. Only downfall is that it does not run in dual channel mem mode. But that was only to save space. This is a panera bread laptop son.

[@sleepup7931]

which ssd did you put in the 128,256 or the 512g ad how much ram can you put in ? and lastly with the SSD how was the battery life , thanks

[@thatdesignerguy0]

did you guys test this ultrabook with battlefield 3? If so what were the frames funning on med and high? I would really appreciate it, considering this ultrabook and one other for mobile work and gaming needs.

[@lokii2000100]

So if you take out the stock hdd of a laptop then put in an ssd, how do you get windows onto the ssd? I've heard you don't wanna copy windows from a hhd to something that its bad. So is Pirate bay all the way or....???

[@Crysisdude1]

Woah, I was just looking at reviews on this laptop and I see this in my subscriptions? Coincidence much?

[@lionintu]

great vid guys. I'm sold. now to get rid of my M18x

[@Mackovitch]

Thanks for the answer. Although I heard I need a T5 Torx ... and I have a T3 which is too big. Which one do I need ??

[@asianx7]

If I don't care about gaming do you think the UX31A (i7, 128gb) replaced with a 256 ssd would be just as fast?

[@GmodMark]

Quick question: What are the dimensions for the 500GB drive from this laptop? It would be great to have a 500GB backup drive, so I am looking for a HD enclosure case.

[@seveneightm5]

Yes, it is possible. I just did it exactly as in the video. The hardware inside is the same. Good luck and have fun :-)

[@teksyndicate]

@SgtSiff yes! works great.

[@ljerka5023]

wow, i can't remember when i subbed so quickly

[@exosfear512]

What is the background on that right monitor on the background looks really cyberpunk and awesome.

[@GiannisTsolakidis]

I wanna know how hot it gets as well !! At normal usage (Web pages and stuff) and at gaming!