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The Asus ROG Flow X13 (2023) is a 2.9 pound notebook with a 13.4 inch IPS LCD touchscreen display, a 360-degree hinge, and an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor and an Asus ROG XG mobile interface for connecting an external GPU.
When Asus first unveiled the notebook earlier this year, a key selling point was that the notebook would pair that chip with the latest NVIDIA mobile graphics. But a model with discrete graphics is expensive, with a list price of $2500. Now there’s a cheaper option: you can pick up an entry-level ROG Flow X13 without the discrete GPU for half that price.
Best Buy is selling a Asus ROG X13 (2023) with integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD for $1250.
This model has the same AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor as other models, which means you get a 35 – 54 watt CPU with 8 Zen 4 CPU cores, 16 threads, and Radeon 780M mobile graphics with 12 RDNA 3 compute units.
But if you want discrete graphics, you’ll have to connect an external GPU. This is basically a gaming laptop that’s designed for gaming when stationary rather than gaming on the go (although the Radeon 780M integrated graphics are actually good enough for some gaming – this proving fairly popular with handheld gaming PC makers this year).
Still, I think this laptop might be even more interesting for folks who want the power and performance of a Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, but don’t necessarily need the high-performance (and high-priced) graphics that you’d get with an NVIDIA RTX 40 series GPU.
It’s not just the lack of NVIDIA graphics that makes this version of the ROG Flow X13 cheaper though. It also has 1920 x 1200 pixel display with a 120 Hz refresh rate (pricier models have 2560 x 1600 pixel, 165 Hz screens). And RAM tops out at 16GB instead of 32GB.
Theoretically the computer could handle more memory than that. It’s just that it ships with LPDDR5 memory soldered to the mainboard and Asus only offers 16GB for this model.
The 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is user-upgradeable though, since it a removable M.2 2230 card.
Ports include:
- 1 x HDMI 2.1
- 1 x USB4 Type-C (w/DisplayPort & USB Power Delivery)
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1 x ROG XG Mobile Interface (with USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port)
- 1 x 3.5mm audio
The laptop has a 1080p IR webcam, a backlit keyboard (with single-zone lighting), stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos sound, and 3 mics with support for far-field voice detection. Wireless capabilities include WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, and the laptop has a 75 Wh battery and comes with a 100W USB Type-C power adapter.
The Asus ROG X13 Flow (2023) measures 299 x 212 x 18.7mm (11.8″ x 8.4″ x 0.7″) and weighs 1.3kg (2.87 pounds).
via NotebookCheck
This actually makes a lot of sense since the older models had a Nvidia 3050 as the discrete option. Anyone wanting to do serious gaming would have it connected to external graphics anyway. I think this will be a pretty desirable laptop when they go on sale for 900 USD.
When you add the 4090 XG Mobile eGPU, $3250 seems like a lot to spend on a gaming laptop which is really only a gaming laptop when it’s docked at home. Unless you plan on packing up the eGPU and taking it with you, it makes no sense to buy this.
The eGPU costs $2000. For that price, you could actually build an entire desktop gaming PC with 1tb SSD, 32gb RAM, and with a 4070Ti desktop GPU (which actually outperforms the 4090 laptop GPU). You could actually build it for about $1800. It would be better in every way.
That leaves you free to buy whatever laptop you want, and not compromise your purchase on needing their fancy eGPU support.
So you could buy a better laptop, AND you can build a better desktop gaming PC for the same price as this laptop+eGPU. 2 better computers for the price of 1 inferior computer.
The only way this laptop makes sense is if you plan on taking the eGPU with you (but being tied to an electrical outlet). So the only advantage it offers is that it’s more transportable than a gaming desktop. But that’s still a huge price to pay for that benefit.
pretty sure they still support the rx6850m and rtx 3080 16gb external gpus, which have gone on sale recently for $1000 and $1200 respectively. it’s also a port dock and a high wattage charger, so you aren’t getting nothing for the extra cost, especially with the 16gb 3080 model, that’s enough vram to not have to worry about anything running games at high resolutions and max settings. if you need an Ultrabook, a wacom cintiq, and a powerful gaming desktop, the x13 plus the xg mobile makes financial sense, especially if you grab the 6900hs plus 3050 ti model for $899/999 on sale, then get the older xg mobiles instead of the new 40 series one.
The value doesn’t really get any better with the 3080 model either. I don’t see any $1200 prices for the 3080 model, it looks like it’s currently $1500.
For $1500 you could build a desktop gaming PC with a 7900 XT GPU. That would outperform a 3080Ti desktop.
For a total of $2750, I would personally rather buy an M2 Macbook Air AND a 7900 XT desktop.
However, the 6850M XT model is currently $799 at Best Buy. That is pretty decent value, considering the 3080 model and 6850M XT model have nearly identical performance. A total cost of over $2000 with the Flow X13 is more reasonable. It would be comparing in value to gaming laptops priced around $1500.
This product is not for me because it is indeed too expensive, but gosh is it pointless to compare such a mobile device to a full fledged desktop. Some people move a lot. I moved 3 times in the past year and it was hell to carry around my two monitors and mini fridge sized PC with all the peripherals all those times. Also, I’m now living abroad for 4 months. Would I ever take a desktop and monitor with me abroad for such a short term? Hell no. Would having this machine with the eGPU that can be carried in my backpack and left at my apartment while using the tablet as my regular on-the-go device be absolutely amazing? Hell yes.
It’s still too expensive but there’s a reason it’s more expensive than a massive, fully sized desktop machine. The smaller you go, the more expensive it gets.
Someone who moves often is definitely a use case that makes sense for this product, and that was the exact exception that I offered in my comment. I said the only advantage it offers is that it’s more transportable than a gaming desktop.
And I don’t think it’s really pointless to compare this to a gaming desktop, because the eGPU needs to be plugged in to work. So it’s essentially a desktop at that point.
So if you need a laptop that doesn’t suffer the battery loss of an onboard GPU, and you also need to do desktop-only gaming, it seems obvious to me to compare the gaming part to a desktop computer. Especially considering the overall price of the Laptop+eGPU is the same as a better laptop AND a better desktop.