ROG Ally | The FASTEST Dock

[@filt3rless]

Here are the timestamps guys :). Also you'll never see me review something I don't BELIEVE in on this channel, period. 0:00 - Intro 0:58 - Anker 555 1:51 - Anker 341 2:07 - Load Times 3:09 - Transfer Speed 3:57 - Crystal Disk Mark 5:23 - 30W Turbo 5:56 - JSAUX 3.0 6:26 - NO USB 2.0 6:33 - Where is 10Gbps? 7:10 - UGREEN 4K 30Hz 7:47 - UGREEN 4k 60Hz 8:23 - 100W Charger 9:21 - Prices Chart 12:05 - Outro

[@TimeTravelingHero]

It's not a dock is a hub. A dock can hold a device in place and provide ports. A hub is just ports.

[@JustMikeBro]

So the only difference is the stand? Sounds like a dock to me genius. 😂😂😂

[@JustMikeBro]

If anything the “dock” is trying to be a port hub

[@TimeTravelingHero]

@@JustMikeBro You idiot go fight with a dictionary. I don't write the definition of words.

[@xrpmoonwolf]

​@@JustMikeBrobiggest difference is with a hub your normally still using the rog ally you just want the ports or when you do use the HDMI your still using the rog for controlls. A dock your expected to use a controller instead people also use a dock for going into turbo mode which I highly recommend NOT to do. After 15w tdp even at 30w tdp the difference is abysmall maybe few fps while making the rog ally way to hot they try to mitigate it by adding fans on a dock. Imo hub is superior but it comes down to preference and hub mostly is cheaper from what I see.

[@neosmith166]

You sir, are doing God's work.

[@pierreye3322]

J5Create JCD401 might be another option to consider. Reason is the USB-C support Alt-DisplayPort output which is useful for AR glasses such as Rokid Max.

[@DaveKatz1984]

This!

[@filt3rless]

That does look like a good one. It is double the price right now though, but that's a valid point about the AR glasses. The stuff is getting a lot more popular. I haven't messed with it much though. Looking forward to having AR where we can have as many computer screens as we want setup, that would be awesome 😊

[@nikolaikai940]

8:23 I had a couple chargers and cables by UGREEN, no problems so far. Seems like a decent brand. Just one thing to keep in mind, these chargers almost always only provide their full power as long as you only plug ONE cable into it. As soon as you populate more than one port that power gets split.

[@filt3rless]

Hey thanks! Yeah I should have said it more clearly 😅. Luckily on this one you still get 65W on the C2 port even if you plug something else in to one other port. What's weird is if you use all 3 ports, you get 30W on C1, 45W on C2 and 22.5W on C3. That's such a weird way to split the power 🤣. Seems like they would have made C1 the port that always stays the highest.

[@nikolaikai940]

@@filt3rless I agree, with a 100W charger like this it's gonna be good enough for the ROG Ally or most other mobile devices even with secondary devices plugged in. I've seen the same thing happen on other chargers, they do prioritize some ports over others in terms of power distribution and it can seem kinda arbitrary. They never distribute the power perfectly even across all ports, nor do they prioritize just ONE of them to feed one device perfectly as you might expect. I don't know if there's a technical reason for that and these chargers are still great value for the money, it's just something to be aware of.

[@Jankylulu]

Hello again! Are you still using this dock? Do you plan to use it for the Steam Deck Oled? I ask as I am looking to buy one :)

[@rocketskates21]

Would love to know what settings you usually run on games

[@filt3rless]

Hey, I'm planning on doing a deep-dive into all the settings and everything I use on the Ally soon. It'll cover every program/setting.

[@HawkNocturnal]

Second this! 👍🏼

[@bghimself440]

Just bought the anker 555 on Amazon and I can t get the 30w turbo mode with the original dock … frustrating … i bet you can't get 30w with the stock charger and the 555 i just ordered a 100W charger ...

[@paths364]

When you hooked up the Anker dock with the 100W charger, you got the 30W turbo mode on the ASUS ROG ALLY. That was with no SD card in or external SSD. Those are the items that I would be putting into the Anker dock paired with the ASUS ROG ALLY just as you have. Is the 100W charger block enough to have the micro SD and external SSD hooked in and still get the 30W turbo mode? Or would I need to buy a 140W charger to achieve that dream?

[@filt3rless]

Hey, I've had 2 external SSD's plugged in at the same time, and an xbox wireless adapter and it still gives the 30W turbo. I do get a message after an update stating "The current adapter may result in insufficient power supply and battery drain while gaming." However, I get this even if nothing is plugged into the HUB and I know it's getting the required power because I used a wall watt meter to measure. So you'll be able to do 30W no issues and the battery won't drain.

[@ballballlin]

Love your video… it really helps a lot!!

[@AloushMan]

Great video! Thank you! I'm thinking about gettingthe Anker 555.. i see it has an SD card reader, would that work as an alternative for the Rog Ally (instead of using the Ally's SD card reader?)

[@filt3rless]

Yes it works great :). I'd recommend looking at external SSD's for more performance, but the SD Card will still work well through the anker dock (and you don't have to worry about it getting ruined).

[@MetoHaydar]

can you do a video of best battery save AMD Software settings to do and also Best Performance

[@filt3rless]

I use 13W / 17W / 25W for my performance modes. In AMD I use RIS (radeon image sharpening). I try to stick to 13 watts for battery, but sometimes need to bump it to the 17W. Then plugged in I use either 17W or 25W depending on the game. I also use a program called G-Helper that you can see here, that allows me to easily set any wattages I want: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4azl6ajj91_qdU

[@Ballfade90]

Keep at it, boss! Hopefully you will get more subs and some of that youtube money.

[@filt3rless]

Thank you :)👍

[@teddym2808]

So effectively it becomes a powered hub? Will a portable drive have any issue hanging off the USB C port do you think? The thing stopping me buying the Ally, period, is the SD card issue (which can sort of be worked around now) but more so, when I am at home which is 75% of the time wanting to either stream my xbox or play my PC games in bed, if I have this plugged in, there is not even one single spare USB port. I think this is a huge miss on Asus's part, as I also think they were very silly not offering a 32GB ram and 2TB option for say $300 more. I'd rather buy that than an Aya Neo for example, due to real landscape screen in the Asus (the only small Windows handheld to have that) and very high TDP when plugged in. I just am at a complete loss how they offer something with max 512GB and yet don't offer a single proper USB port.. It's kind of nuts. The reasoning of "it's available in battery mode" is a silly one, and in any case, it's only a gen 2 port. Pathetic really. Sigh. So stuck on which handheld to buy. But a small USB C hub with 65W pass through charging could possible re ignite Ally interest for me, if I can feel confident in having my 1TB Sandisk SSD Flash drive plugged into it, or even maybe my 4TB Sandisk extreme portable SSD.

[@filt3rless]

Yes, with a 100W charger it'll pass enough power through to give you the max power pass through to the Ally. The original charger will also work, but will show "25W Turbo" instead of "30W Turbo". From my tests however, it still draws 65+ watts and is giving the ally most of that. Hubs are usually using around 5 watts or less (depending on the HUB). And that's how I run mine, with a 4TB Samsung T7 drive like in the video. I have about 100 games loaded on it, then keep the ones I like the most on the 1TB NVME in the Ally. It's a great combo and allows for really fast transfers between them. I wouldn't use the SD card slot at all though. I personally would have still bought the Ally even if it didn't have an SD Card reader. If you're wanting a handheld right now, it could be worth getting the Aya Neo, or another device that you know you'll like. I personally think VRR, and the LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) that the Ally has is unmatched right now and is what really separates it from the other handhelds. But at the end of specs, pricing, etc, you'll want to get the device you want and think you'll like the most. If you don't need one right now, I'd wait for the next round of handhelds, hopefully ones with more efficient chips that get decent battery life.

[@glovedcop69]

I recently bought the 737 and hooked up my external SSD. I noticed my download speeds on steam would always fall off a cliff! As soon as I hooked up my external direct it would give me great speeds over 500mbps. It doesn't appear the hub is so great in the area.

[@filt3rless]

Hey, you said the 737? That looks like a powerbank from what I found. If you send me the link to what you bought I'll let you know what it could be. The one I recommend is the Anker 555.

[@glovedcop69]

@@filt3rless sorry I ment anker hub 555 with ugreen charger UGREEN 140W USB C and the ASUS ROG STRIX Arion now I'm noticing issues running some games with the hub unless I run the external ssd direct

[@filt3rless]

@@glovedcop69 Hey that is really strange. It could be worth replacing it. As long as you're using the same cable it came with the dock should go up to 1,000MB (if the drive supports it). I have 2 of the 555 docks and both the T5 and T7 both run at full speed no issues.

[@glovedcop69]

@@filt3rless yeah it happens more often than not.. At this point I think it's the hub cause it's multiple games first it was download speeds now it's every game. I've already ordered a replacement hopefully that's the issue because it's registering the charger.

[@filt3rless]

@@glovedcop69One other thing you could do is use a program called "Crystal Disk Mark" and run a speed test on the drive. Then you can see if it's pulling the proper speeds, and see how fast it goes plugged in to the system directly vs through the dock.

[@Wyse-Gaming]

Oh hey we I have the anker one. Unless it's different but it has the same profile. It's hdmi 2.1 too.

[@Bohoragamar]

Can we use keyboard for rog ally using anker dock 552

[@diddymohd3701]

What you done with your joystick?

[@Dextren1990]

Hello. Nice video. Does freesync work with this dock?

[@filt3rless]

Hey, the only dock I've found that allows FreeSync is the one I covered in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIjJY42GoayqpdU

[@donebk]

Do I need 4tb or is 1tb enough?

[@andyandy6525]

Thank you for video. Could you please compare 720p and 900p resolution on the device (fps etc). There is possibility to enable 1600x900 resolution, which is little bit better than 1280x720 and not so high as fhd.

[@filt3rless]

Hey, I'm assuming you're talking about using CRU (Custom Resolution Utility)? I've looked into it and installed it, but right now it's not something I'd recommend most people do. Also the 30Hz Freesync hack doesn't actually work on the Ally. You can even set the range to 1Hz-300Hz and nothing will happen. I tested it in-depth for about 10 hours or so across 4 freesync devices. It did work on the other devices, just not the Ally. If there is an update where the Ally is supported it's something I'll definitely be looking into again :)

[@ninhosensei]

O would Love To use lower res, like 480p. There is a way to use?

[@andyandy6525]

Yes, there is reg file in reddit e.g., which enables all resolutions. But I can’t get good performance with that. 720p + RSR seems like better

[@filt3rless]

@@andyandy6525 Okay thanks for the info, I'll look into it more :)

[@filt3rless]

@@ninhosenseiHey, I'm looking into it to see :)

[@AllesTorte]

using the Anker 343. no fixed cable and to be able to use an extra long one helped with my use case - lying in bed with dock on nightstand :)

[@filt3rless]

Nice! That's a great way to do it :)

[@bboyalanleung123]

But 4k 30fps and they are 5 GB/s ports. Sigh

[@AllesTorte]

@@bboyalanleung123 like i would use 4k on such a device

[@bboyalanleung123]

@AllesTorte I would .. just having an option although it does not run most games on 4 k 60fps

[@teddym2808]

Hey what stick extenders are you using? I am wondering which Kontrol Freek ones might be compatible for example. If you tell me which console you bought them for and they fit, I can apply that logic to the KF ones and buy accordingly.

[@filt3rless]

Hey, they're called "Skull & Co. Skin, CQC and FPS Thumb Grip Set Joystick Cap Analog Stick Cap for Nintendo Switch Pro" on Amazon. They're meant for the Switch Pro controller, but I found they work good enough. I've had them for a while though and there could be better options out there now :)

[@Jankylulu]

Dude, thank you! Like really, loving the videos! Gonna check out that Anker Should I get an NVM2 with enclosure vs a T7? I ask because I have the Jsaux that has the nvme slot. So I’m thinking if I get the anker plus an enclosure then I can move my NVME around. Makes sense? 😊 I’m looking for top speed

[@filt3rless]

Thanks man! :). So at 10Gbps you're limited at 1,000 MB/Sec or so. So the T7 is already pushing that, you won't get much more speed if any using an NVME SSD (because of that 10Gbps dock limitation). The reason I mentioned that, is if someone had a desktop/laptop with an extra NVME they wanted to use, then they'd definitely benefit from the 10Gbps Anker 555 dock. Because an NVME is a LOT faster than even that Anker dock can accept. So either one works and you'd be about the same speed. That's why I really recommend getting the Anker 555 or any dock that's 10Gbps, because if you used a regular USB 3.0 dock, you'd be limited at around 400MB/sec, which does affect game load times, transfers, etc. Hope that helps :)

[@Jankylulu]

Yes this helps a lot! Thanks a million! You deserve way more subs and I’m rooting for you 😊

[@filt3rless]

@@Jankylulu Thank you, that means a lot and helps give me some motivation😊👍

[@Jankylulu]

Pleasure! By the way, check out hand held control panel! ETA is showing casing it and I think once it’s released, it will be the one to try. Check it out 😊

[@HawkNocturnal]

Yo I have the same t7 for my series x. If I remember correctly it can go usb c to usb c right? Can I just plug it into my ally and transfer a game fast like I would with my series x? Great video as always 💪🏻 Would be cool if you showed your setup, would be dope ✌🏻

[@filt3rless]

Hey, yeah you can plug it directly in to the Ally. That's how I was transferring games before as it's super fast 👍

[@HawkNocturnal]

@@filt3rless awesome why haven’t I thought about this. Just installed a 1tb though. But awesome. Was using my t7 to transfer games when full on the series x and yeah that went very fast. 💪🏻

[@HawkNocturnal]

@@filt3rless hey champ! 😁 Hope u can help. I just tried plugging the t7 directly into the rog ally wanted to transfer some games to it, so I could install some new ones on my internal. But I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I use the cable that came with it. Don’t know if it’s because I need a 100w cable? Dunno what the cable that followed is. Or do I have to remove everything from the t7 before. Cause I know there’s some Xbox games on it. ;) Man hope u can help. 🤞🏻🙏🏻

[@filt3rless]

​@@HawkNocturnalHey, it's because the drive is formatted to the xbox file system and won't show up in windows. Here is a video I found that will show you. Just be really careful :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGbIqGmor996kNE

[@Curtiscr859]

Thoughts on the Anker dock 575?

[@filt3rless]

Hey, that looks like a good dock, however it only has 2 10Gbps port and they're both USB-C. So all the normal USB-A ports are only 5Gbps. It could work, I personally wouldn't get it as it looks like you can't run dual 4K @ 60Hz either, only 1 display can be at 4k @ 60Hz. It really depends on what you're going to be using for. The extra ports could be nice. Especially if you're running 2x 1440p monitors, or it even shows 3 monitors at 1080p. And the display port could be useful to have. It's really up to you😊

[@Curtiscr859]

@@filt3rless thank you for the reply. I did some research and decided to go with the Anker 555. Your video steered me to that direction. I just found the 575 when looking on Amazon. Also got the charger and cable you recommended. Thanks for the video!

[@filt3rless]

@@Curtiscr859 Awesome, I think you'll be happy with it for sure. I still don't know of a better hub that you could just throw in a bag like the Anker 555, and for $50 right now is a steal IMO. Also I've been using a second 555 on my MacBook for over a month and not a single issue. My recording mic is plugged in, a 4k monitor, an external hard drive and external mouse. So far solid as can be 👍

[@Curtiscr859]

@@filt3rless that was kinda my concern was how well that other one would fit in my case. I bought the tomtok carry case and it does have plenty of room but I'm going to have a large portable charger on top of the charger you recommended, a mini BT keyboard and also other cords.

[@jaxplw]

Hey, can you Show us how to set Up the best Manual TDP Mode with max Performance for the ones using the Ally in Docked mode? :)

[@filt3rless]

Hey, I use a program called G-Helper and I use 13W / 17W / 25W: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4azl6ajj91_qdU. Even when docked I still usually use 17W (as it's silent), but will jump to 25W here and there. Also I am planning to do a video at some point showing all the settings/programs I use.

[@jaxplw]

Thanks for the response. So you don't use a 35 W Mode when you are Docked?

[@filt3rless]

@@jaxplw I've never seen a 35W mode. Does Turbo show up with 35W? The max I've seen it hold is 30W. And I don't use Turbo at all, I like to keep the system running cooler. I've done a LOT of testing of different watt levels, and going from 25W to 30W is very minimal and for me isn't worth the extra heat/noise.

[@alexanderyusti5424]

When you set all options on manual to max you can see that by moments the system will go up between 42w-53w and then it will drop stable to 29-30w. Depending on the moment of the game. But those ups will only last seconds.

[@bboyalanleung123]

Oh 4:07 there . I don't get it . 10 GB/s is 10000 MB/s ? So 5 GB/s is 5000 MBps. So even the 5gb port should be enough for that hard drive read and write ? Why would it be limited to 500 mb/s when transferring? And when using the 10GB/s dock . The speed improved ? It shouldn't be as even the 5GB/s isn't any near to limit it ? It should be 5000mb/s not around 400 ?😅😅

[@teddym2808]

Why use a UGreen charger instead of the included Asus one? Just curious.

[@filt3rless]

It allows for the "30W Turbo" mode to show up and switch between power profiles depending on if it's plugged in or unplugged. The Asus charger will still work and keep the device charged, but when you unplug it or plug it in, it won't automatically switch between profiles (say 15W unplugged / 30W Turbo).

[@teddym2808]

ta@@filt3rless

[@teddym2808]

I ended up buying the 150w Hunda charger cause it does 100w from a single USB C port, or 85/65 from the top 2. This means the ally can get its full 65W and I can have plenty of power for my Dockcase hub all off the one main power cable. I found I can also easily charge the ally and charge my powerbank at the same time, and even charge my phone from the 18W usb A port. Very good product.@@filt3rless

[@jesterwaterwizard2917]

Could I charge my ally whilst watching my Xreal off this dock ? Thank you 🙏

[@filt3rless]

Hey, I'm not too sure how AR glasses would work through a dock. I haven't messed with any AR stuff yet, I might do that in the future and then I'd have a better answer for you :)

[@ONealskey7]

Just bought this because of the video. Actually don't like the way way it plugs in and hangs from the top. It seems it's creating stress on the USB c port. The wire needs to be longer.

[@Vegan_Lifting]

I am using another much longer cable. Works greate!

[@yuyumon2]

Hi can i still use the original ROG charger on Anker 555 to charge? planning to get one dock which having micro sd card for storage expansion, appreciate if you are able to confirm, thanks.

[@filt3rless]

Yes, but it won't automatically switch in Armoury Crate. Basically it doesn't "see" it as a 65W charger since some power is being lost through the dock. However, I've used it and the battery doesn't drain at all, so you'll be good as far as that goes. Just it won't go from Turbo to Performance. I use G-Helper though and in G-Helper it will switch between the profiles. Which is somewhat funny that a 3rd party program could figure it out, but Asus can't. Here is a tutorial on G-Helper if you're interested :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4azl6ajj91_qdU

[@valjaysonabalos2096]

can we use external ssd on this docks?

[@filt3rless]

Yes, that's how I run most of my bigger games. You'll want a fast external SSD as well, like a T5 or T7. I have around 2.5TB of games installed on my T7 and it loads pretty quickly through the dock :)

[@valjaysonabalos2096]

@@filt3rless thanks a lot this is what im going for then :D

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

With drives that can move more than 4 gigs a second.... Games should not be taking more than a couple to a few seconds to boot.

[@filt3rless]

Hey, this is gigabit's per second. Same thing with internet providers, they provide the Megabits per second of let's say 250 Mb (megabits). However, your actual download speeds in steam will be around 25 MB (Megabytes) per second. It annoys me that companies do that. Even with hard drives, when you buy a 4TB you actually get what appears to be way less because 4 terabytes only = 3.63 or so tebibytes. So it's more of a marketing thing I'd say. Hope that helps :)

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

@@filt3rless modern SSD read/write at gigabytes a second. 4800 MB/s on my current. Zero reason any game should take more than a few seconds to boot. That's just poor optimization

[@filt3rless]

@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 Right, NVME's can run that fast. Docks and external drives however don't. This video is specifically about running games off the docks and why a 10Gbps (1,000 MB/sec) dock is much faster then a 5Gbps (500MB/sec) dock. All these tests are running through the dock to external drives. So if someone is looking to buy a dock, they know how much of a difference a faster dock can make.

[@Tspherez]

Why not post videos of the load times? It's hard to believe these claims when all you have is just numbers

[@filt3rless]

Because sitting and watching 5 minutes of load screens wasn't the purpose of this video. Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gX-nZaywpreGpdU I have no problem recording videos and doing side by side comparisons as you'll see in: LOW Watts | ROG vs Steam Deck: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIbFfIaJa9OqhcU ROG Ally | THE VRAM Test: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIGxp6CdbdycZqM ROG Ally | BIOS 323 | Performance BOOST!: kzbin.info/www/bejne/amPKqHawos2Xfdk ROG Ally | 4GB vs 8GB VRAM: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZrGn2ubfJl6rtk ROG Ally | RSR ON vs OFF: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnusYWBueKiJa7c Do 0.1% Lows Matter? | Benchmarks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4awi5xoh9qieKM ROG Ally | CPU Boost ON-OFF: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYbHdKRsjd19i80 ROG Ally | Cyberpunk 2077 (BENCHMARKS): kzbin.info/www/bejne/maiyinqLhrZsbLc ROG Ally | TDP Issue?: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaWTaJJrh617p8k Diablo 4 IN-DEPTH Graphics | ROG Ally: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZW7aauknbeBbrc

[@filt3rless]

Also if you're interested in seeing all the transfers of the games in Steam, as well as the Crystalmark tests, I have those as well. It's about 46 minutes of footage, and I'll timestamp it, but I don't have time to cut the video up in-between the pauses after transfers are done. It's 16 transfers total (8 to and from the 341 dock, and 8 to and from the 555 dock), as well as the Crystal mark tests which are about 5 minutes each, and 4 of those. Let me know 👍

[@maillardsbearcat]

I always wonder, do you make enough money from the video to at least pay for the items you're reviewing?