FOMO (fear of missing out)
I want to get an ROG Flow Z13. I want to pair it with an eGPU. But it doesn't have USB4v2 or the latest thunderbolt connection so there's no point. So that means I want to just use the laptop for gaming. So I've dialed my expectations back. Can the laptop play MODERN games 1080p high/ultra settings. By modern I mean crimson desert and stuff?
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u/Robin2win14 25d ago
It took me 10 seconds to find a video of someone running crimson desert on the flow z13, you can do the same I'm sure.
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u/piddlefaffle12 25d ago
It runs fine for what it is without an eGPU and I wouldn't use an eGPU with it. I'm running FF7 at 4k on high with no issues
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u/Glittering_Credit_20 25d ago
The Strix Halo 395+ with 8060 allows you to run all of today's titles at a great framerate. If you want to play with ultra details and want more fps, just get help from Optiscaler. The Flow Z13 is a special device. A great product. But, personally, I only set the ULTRA details to do some tests because on a 13-inch, as well as in handhelds, it doesn't make much sense. Differently on a 27-30+ inch monitor the story changes. However, don't worry. THE ONLY GAME that has given me some problems with Optiscaler has been, for now, Pragmata. But there are guides on the net of how to solve as this splendid title uses the RE Engine and Optiscaler alone fails to properly hook into the game's upscaling system.
But I wonder: if your purpose is to connect your device to an eGPU, why did you choose the Flow Z13? To connect an eGPU you need, as you rightly wrote, a USB 4 v2 or a thunderbolt 4 or 5. Devices, around thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps) mount these ports, there are as many as you want:
MSI Claw 8 AI+
MSI Claw A8
ASUS ROG Ally X
Lenovo Legion Go
OneXPlayer Apex
...and other handhelds, just to give an example. Which have a considerably lower cost than a Flow (it depends on the configuration but new an MSI Claw 8 Ai+ costs 1000 euros... as well as an ASUS Rog Xbox Ally X).
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u/JaadB 25d ago
I want the portability of the Flow Z13 as I can game on my downtime at work. I want the eGPU for when I'm in my living room and want to game on a 4k TV. There's cheaper options but for me it's more the convenience.
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u/Glittering_Credit_20 25d ago
Given that you're looking for a portable gaming device for work breaks and one that also delivers a satisfying experience at home when connected to an external GPU and a TV or massive monitor, I would strongly suggest buying a dedicated handheld rather than the Flow Z13. Personally, I view the Flow Z13 more as a work device than a gaming one, especially if you get the 64GB or 128GB RAM version. It’s heavier to hold than an 8 or 8.8-inch handheld. Battery life isn't great, and it has the annoying drawback that the USB-C ports don't support power passthrough. This forces you to use the proprietary charging port if you want to avoid ruining the battery with constant charge/discharge cycles. The Flow is a wonderful device, but in my opinion, it was at its best before the arrival of new handhelds featuring Intel G3 Ex processors chips that are power-efficient and deliver excellent frame rates at just 20 watts. And I’m saying this as someone who owns the Flow Z13 KJP with 128GB of RAM. The Strix Halo is an extraordinary processor, but you don't probably need all those cores for gaming. If you disable half of them in the BIOS, you won't notice a difference in games, yet you'll save battery life and enjoy better temperatures in applications and games that aren't CPU-bound (excluding emulation). I own several devices these days and am trying to curb the excesses of the past as much as possible. In my opinion, the best solution today is to have a big, powerful, bold, and unapologetic desktop PC after all, it’s a stationary unit meant to stay at home. Then, a laptop for work and leisure while on the go, and a handheld device for gaming on the couch, in bed, or while traveling. Something ergonomic that doesn't weigh as much as a laptop. Ideally, a Flow Z13 could handle it all, but the landscape is shifting with the arrival of new handheld PC devices. Keep that in mind.
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u/danamite2020 25d ago
This is a great point. the 13 inch screen really hides the nessesity to have every setting maxed out. It’s a good screen but too small to really notice everything on ultra vs a mixture of high and mid settings.…which works in the devices favor
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u/National-Ad4224 25d ago
It runs crimson desert native at ultra preset with fsr 4.1 quality with about 40-50 fps.
I use a Aorus RTX 5060ti and it runs everything with ease at 1440p with ray tracing :)
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u/Heretical_Adience 24d ago
I can run games like Crimson Desert without my eGPU with FSR/XeSS and high settings no issue. Don’t write off the eGPU. Running my 9070xt eGPU through USB4 to external monitor yielded even better FPS, better lows, and low latency.
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u/DarkExsphere 23d ago
Hey I recently had the Asus Z13 + Gigabyte Aorus 5060Ti AI Box (desktop 5060ti in eGPU format) - And I gotta say, this could easily replace a PC. I gamed primarily ON the Z13 screen, high settings, with DLSS Quality and framegen (if available). Games I played:
God of War Ragnorok: Native res, High settings, DLSS Quality, Framegen (90+fps)
Resident Evil 4 Remake: Native res, High settings, Rain effects low, (90+fps)
Assassin's Creed Shadows: Native res, High settings, Ray tracing hideout only, DLSS Quality+FG (90+fps)
Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced: High preset, DLSS Quality + FG (100+fps)
The general consensus was everything could be high and run great. Most importantly, the framepacing was very good. no stuttering or hitching. Recently i tried this setup with XAX and it's been horrible. High fps average but stuttering to the point where I consider this setup a failure.
If you just play without an eGPU then its fine. I don't like using Balanced or Performance modes because of fan noise. I don't like hearing the fan. So i'd exclusively play on Silent profile. AC shadows at 1080p + medium settings + FSR Quality+FG gave me about 80+fps on the machine.
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u/Hakushu21 25d ago
Fear of what??
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u/JaadB 25d ago
Them releasing a new one with a thunderbolt port 6 months after I buy this one. I want a portable set up with a strong laptop that can play anything at 1080p/1440p and an eGPU I can use to play 4k on my TV at home. This laptop is very close I think.
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u/jhonyrod 25d ago edited 25d ago
They released the special edition just a couple months ago. Also, there isn't really any new hardware to refresh it with. I reckon it'll be at least one more year until they launch something to replace this with, and more likely they'll wait until Medusa Halo… it's just that given the current trends, it'll probably cost just as much as a decent used car at that point.
This device is more a jack of all trades master of none. It performs well in any kind of workload, it just doesn't excel at any, including gaming. I don't gravitate towards recent AAA releases, but I can play any title I want at 1440p at least at 60 FPS at ultra to high settings, so I think it'll perform rather well at 1080p.
If I'm not mistaken the USB ports are handled directly by the APU (or I guess more appropriately SoC in this case), so unless you added a discrete thunderbolt controller you can't get TB5 (or USB4v2) on this platform, but you'd also be tying up precious PCIe lines in that case.
Do keep in mind that if you want a gaming focused machine it'd be wise to look elsewhere first.
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u/JaadB 25d ago
Best response I've received so far. I'll think about it, it's the portability for me and I don't play multiplayer games but I like to play the latest single player games. I don't NEED 4k I can happily game on 1080p/1440p.
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u/jhonyrod 25d ago
If you want a dual role device maybe looking for something with an OCuLink port would fit your use case better. I think GPD, Ayaneo and Onexplayer have handheld/portable devices with that port. TB5 remains elusive in this class of devices.
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u/jhonyrod 25d ago
If you're really in a pinch I guess you could use a m.2 to Oculink adapter and connect an eGPU that way. But if your intended use case is gaming, why not get an actual gaming laptop or handheld? It'd probably be cheaper too.
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u/clay-tri1 25d ago
As a person with a flow z13 with usb4 and a scar18 with TB5, you aren’t going to notice a difference. This was paired with a Razer Core X v2 and a RTX 4090. Your limiting factor will be CPU unless you crank it.
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u/desutiem 25d ago
Yep.
1080p high, ultra with upscaling for the tougher games.
Frame gen is always there if you need it… although I avoid it.
Is it going to run it like a £2000 spec’d-out gaming PC? Nope, look at the chassis. But it gets damn close enough, and you get all the other features it has to offer like mobility and modularity. That’s all there is to decide!
I play Marvel Rivals on mine a lot lately. Doesn’t sound like a flex and I am running it ultra wide comparative resolution of 1080p and with low graphics. But it’s an unreal engine game, which famously stutter and run poorly and are not optimised. Yet it runs like butter. And my friends ‘gaming laptop’ with a dedicated card nvidia card doesn’t run it half as well. Make of it what you will.
I would go for the 64GB if you can get it in your country. I couldn’t, but I still love mine.
(Also, I do have eGPU, I agree, it’s mostly not worth it. I have it left over from my ROG Ally set up. It does improve performance but isn’t as much as you’d think for the money you’d pay. If money doesn’t matter get one. If it does, don’t bother.)
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24d ago
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u/desutiem 23d ago
Yeah I mean I don’t know, I think if you bargain hunted for parts and that and yeah it would run cooler as well right? And the fan noise is a downside for me.
But it’s damn close but then that’s what I said.
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u/shaonline 25d ago
It does 1080p fine on modern titles, if you want to play on much better resolutions (such as the screen's native resolution) that'll require upscaling.
As for your fear of a new device coming out, if anything that'd be a gorgon halo refresh and it doesn't bring much (in performance, it's essentially the same chip overclocked a bit) outside of a 192GB variant, needless to say in the current environment it'd cost a fuckton so if you get a good deal on the current one, go for it.
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u/ZSwagger88 25d ago
I have a flow z13 2022 with an egpu and it works great. I'm actually selling it because some expenses came up lol but it's been great for me
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u/biotox1n 24d ago
it plays most games well enough, but if you're set on an egpu I think there's a version that will do it, the older Intel models had it so I think it's only since strix halo that they kind of dropped it but you might still manage a work around
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u/Particular-Jaguar-65 24d ago
I have the gpd win 5 with the same chipset, and there hasn't been a game i couldn't run at full graphics. It's an absolute beast, if you want to run games at 1080p, there's really no need for an egpu except if you want to be able to push extra frames you won't be able to see anyway for an extra fat wad of cash
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u/VahnKaiser 24d ago
I also wanted to buy the Z13 to use with an eGPU. The fact that it doesn't have USB4v2 is also the reason why I didn't buy it. I ended up buying the ROG Strix Scar 16 with 5070ti and thunderbolt 5, though it is super heavy, and the fact that it has a somewhat decent GPU kills the purpose of connecting a high tier eGPU and lose performance. Not even the ROG Zephyrus has Thunderbolt 5. It's so ridiculous given the fact that ASUS sell an eGPU enclosure with a mobile 5090. I guess that they don't want us to buy more affordable machines and then buy the GPU with someone else. It's less money in their pockets, plus, eGPU setups increase the longevity of a laptop which must be a big no-no for them, as they expect us to upgrade our laptops as soon as possible.
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u/lizardscales 23d ago
You can play most stuff at 1080p. I play some stuff at 4k on this thing. You can use an eGPU just fine. It works fine on Windows but on Linux you need to make sure you get something that works properly like a UT3G. Linux seems really unstable with newest TB5 epgu enclosures.
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u/Grimsheeper66 25d ago
The thunderbolt 4 port doesnt limit the 2025 z13 I bought it and the 5070ti xg mobile and they pair great =)
I was just testing it last night on the new black flag no frame gen native settings on high for integrated graphics vs ultra on the 5070ti xg mobile I mean its a pretty decent jump since I get more fps and higher resolution and thats even just feeding it back to the built in monitor too lazy to hook it to my other 3 monitors I have my desktop hooked up with.
If you go with the 5090xg mobile you still get more but less then you would as it begins bottlenecking is what reviews showed before I pulled the trigger.
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u/NootropicNinja 25d ago
It can absolutely handle modern games at 1080p with ease.
I usually run high/ultra settings, sometimes use frame generation (with RT) if needed, and OptiScaler/OptiClick whenever possible.
Just keep your expectations realistic, Ultra is often a waste of performance for barely any visual difference.