ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501? Thoughts?

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LesMizzell
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:26 am

ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501? Thoughts?

Post by LesMizzell » Sat Jul 02, 2016 3:58 am

Just out of curiosity, is anybody running one of these with Ableton, and if so, thoughts and observations?
Studio only, or playing out live with it as well?
Seeing that it's almost $1000 less than a similiar Macbook pro, and fits my budget ...
( I'm NOT interested in a Mac vs PC discussion, I've got BOTH in my studio )

miekwave
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Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:49 pm
Location: Austin, TX
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Re: ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501? Thoughts?

Post by miekwave » Sun Jul 03, 2016 12:28 am

LesMizzell wrote:Just out of curiosity, is anybody running one of these with Ableton, and if so, thoughts and observations?
Studio only, or playing out live with it as well?
Seeing that it's almost $1000 less than a similiar Macbook pro, and fits my budget ...
( I'm NOT interested in a Mac vs PC discussion, I've got BOTH in my studio )
Can you post stats of said system
Proc i7-4xxx or i7-6xxx are usually good - CPU Benchmark of >~8000+ points for best stability and VST usuage is recommended

Examples of higher end Mobile CPU processors:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu ... 40+2.60GHz 8046 Points
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu ... 40+2.60GHz 8074 Points

PCIe SSD is the best option
16GB ram is best option for larger projects

What kind of production are you going for?
Do you intend to do any Video editing?
What is your i/o (Controlers, interface, external displays, external storage media, etc)


An IDeal Setup might be the following

OS Drive: - Temp - Cache - Non-sample VST
C: (stock PCIe drive)

Projects Drive: SSD or RPM drive
P: (Projects folder) Usb 3.0
External Samsung SSD for Project Files
http://www.newegg.com/External-SSDs/SubCategory/ID-2022

Samples Drive: SSD drive
S: (Samples folder) Sample based VST, such as Sample LIbraries, Orchestra, Big Drum Kits

- - -

Interface:
Dedicated USB 2.0 Slot

Controllers:
7 Port USB Hub connected to Dedicated USB 2.0 Slot - Plug up to 7 controllers in dedicated Hub ports

External KB/Mouse:
Bluetooth

Non-usb powered cooling solution

EDIT:
Avoid i7-xxxxU processors, those are horrible - but i7-xxxxK, xxxxMQ, xxxxHQ are good

LesMizzell
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:26 am

Re: ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501? Thoughts?

Post by LesMizzell » Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:16 am

miekwave wrote: Can you post stats of said system
Stats below:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 6700HQ Processor
Chipset: Intel® HM97 Express Chipset
Memory: 16GB DDR4
Display: 15.6 IPS UHD (3840 x 2160) Glossy
Graphic: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M with 2G GDDR5 VRAM
Storage: PCIE 512GB

Interface
3 x USB 3.0 port(s)
1 x HDMI
1 x Thunderbolt port III

I seriously looking at a custom ADK laptop as well, which I can get for around the same price (under $1500)

This will primarily be my live performance system.
Would run Ableton with Push along with two keyboard controllers - Akai Advance keyboards using several Native Instrument plugins inside of Akai VIP. Don't see a very dense track count happening as I combine/freeze tracks down to minimize CPU usage.

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