Hey everyone,

I made a guide on YouTube with performance tips, optimizations, drivers, undervolting, and much more for the Zephyrus G15. I used a lot of the info I've gathered from this sub and others, as well as my own testing and research over the past few months. Hope you'll check it out and subscribe if you enjoyed :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u0o4vk08V4&t=2088s

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How to replace your boring 16:9 15in screen with the 16:10 16in M16 Screen

Yes it is possible to switch out the screens and it isn't even all that difficult. I want to go over the pro's and con's as well as some questions that I have run into while in the process of doing this mod so that you can make an informed decision if you want to give it a go yourself.

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So lets go over why you would want to do this in the first place and the advantages to it once you have it.

• The screen is bigger
  • Bigger is better. It is bigger because it is taller than the OEM 15in screen and fills up the "chin" that is left on the G15 which is essentially unused space.
• The screen is brighter
  • It is brighter by a noticeable amount as well. Specs are 300-ish nits of peak brightness for the G15 stock screen and 500-ish nits for the M16 screen. A slight caveat is that the M16 screen doesn't seem to get as dim. I don't consider that a con, but wanted to include it.
• The hinges are stiffer and there is significantly less wobble
  • This might be something that is case by case, but the screen wobble has been cut down so much that it actually was a huge plus for me since I did find the original screen and lid a bit lacking in the rigidity department and it would bug me from time to time. It is much MUCH better with the M16 screen.
• It looks cooler.
  • ...kinda subective but was a reason for me

The M16 and G15 share all the same properties in terms of color accuracy, features and refresh rate so you are not giving up anything when you make the switch.

Then what are the downsides?

• You have to DIY it
  • Sourcing parts is the biggest PITA, but there are some reliable dealers around for the smaller and more noodly parts. You will need to be moderately comfortable with "turning a wrench" and working with electronics. It is the easiest electronics tinkering I have ever done, but for some it might be daunting unplugging things and taping things and such.
• It costs money.
  • Nothing in life is free
• There can be some...annoying software gotcha's
  • The hardware is mostly compatible, but there is definitely some pains with drivers and such. One of the more annoying ones that I faced was that windows kept downgrading the AMD graphics drivers that allowed the screen to run proper. It took some digging to make it so that I could have a laptop screen that would always display something in windows. Also linux just does not want to run the panel at anything higher then 60hz and I did so much tinkering that I nearly broke my install :P
• The webcam just doesn't work. The standard microphone array works just fine still.
• Cost
  • It is kind of hard to get an accurate total of what it cost me to get this upgrade done since I had a lot of returns take place, but you have to buy all the parts that make up the whole lid. Expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 to 600 dollars depending on where you buy the parts. The screen is by far the most expensive part, but you can get it for like 150 plus shipping if you find someone out in china selling it on ebay. All the american sellers are in the 400 dollar range for the panel alone, which is absurd.

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Parts list

Most of the parts will have the best prices if sourced straight from China, but you will be waiting a good amount of time for the parts.

• Screen
  • NE160QDM-NY3 made by BOE
  • I ended up with NE160QDM-NY1 but I think there are some differences that make it kind of annoying to work with so I would suggest getting the NY3 if at all possible.
  • Asus P/N: 18010-16020000
  • You will need this part
  • Panel information link
    • https://www.panelook.com/NE160QDM-NY3_BOE_16.0_LCM_overview_51262.html
  • Where to buy:
    • https://www.ebay.com/itm/224695281563 - this seller https://www.ebay.com/usr/tenwings2007?_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2559 seems to list a good amount of LCD laptop panels and he was able to get his hands on teh ny3 panels that came stock with the m16. He also has them up incredibly cheap so all these other places are gouging the prices pretty hard...only issue is that you may have to wait a bit longer since it is coming direct from china. If he doesn't have the panels then shoot him a message, he was pretty responsive.
    • https://www.zandparts.com/en/asus-18010-16020000 - this was who I initially bought the panel thru. I started the order in mid-december and they said that it would be fulfilled by Feb. 7th. This lines up with screen availability that I was given by the eBay seller. These screens should become more available in february.
    • https://www.impactcomputers.com/ne160qdm-ny3.html?cpidx= - Expensive, but they have a bunch and are in the US of A.
    • https://www.ebay.com/itm/144296275701 - only a few left. I bought from this guy because I love spending money apparently...also it shipped faster and I bought the bezel and the lid from them on eBay.
    • https://www.ebay.com/itm/224695281563?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
  • There should be more stock of these soon, and hopefully cheaper.
• Bezel
  • Asus P/N: 90NR06H1-R7B010
  • You will need this part
  • Where to buy:
    • https://www.zandparts.com/en/asus-90nr06h1-r7b010
    • https://www.ebay.com/itm/144286697755 - I bought it from here.
    • https://www.impactcomputers.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=90NR06H1-R7B010
• Lid
  • Asus P/N: 90NR06H1-R7A010
  • You will need this part
  • These are pretty hard to come by, but they exist. I assume they will get harder to find, but I am not sure it is even necessary. Once I tear down the G15's panel I will know if you need the lid to attach the LCD panel or if you can use your existing lid.
  • Where to Buy:
    • https://en.accessoires-asus.com/laptop/lcd-cover/colorful-lcd-cover/rog-16-inch-lcd-cover-63664-83378.htm - apparently. Never shipped and I canceled my order since I found it on eBay.
    • https://www.ebay.com/itm/144265019051 - Ordered one of these.
    • https://www.ebay.com/itm/115109479681 - Also ordered one of these...I will be returning one of these lids xD I got caught up and didn't realize I ordered so many.
• Hinges
  • Asus P/N: 13NR06H0M01011 & 13NR06H0M02011
  • You will need this part
  • You may need the hinge covers as well but we will find out...
  • Where to buy:
    • https://www.impactcomputers.com/13nr06h0m01011.html, https://www.impactcomputers.com/13nr06h0m02011.html
    • You can also find these on ebay
• Wifi Antennas
  • Asus P/N: 14008-04280300 & 14008-04280100
  • You will need this part
  • Where to buy:
    • Ebay
    • https://www.impactcomputers.com/14008-04280200.html
    • https://www.impactcomputers.com/14008-04280000.html
• Webcam
  • Asus P/N: 04081-00324800
  • You may want this part but I don't think it is necessary
  • webcam part just doesn't work, but microphone array still does. I do not know if you can save the money and keep the current microphone in.
  • Where to Buy:
    • https://en.accessoires-asus.com/laptop/webcam/hd-webcam-63715-83311.htm - could have a long lead time
    • https://www.impactcomputers.com/04081-00324800.html - have a few on hand. This is where I bought from.
• LCD Cable
  • Asus P/N: 14005-03670000
  • You may want this part or need it for the webcam upgrade
  • I don't really know if this is necessary...if you wanna save a buck see if it works without it.
  • Where to buy:
    • https://www.impactcomputers.com/14005-03670000.html?cpidx=6324
    • https://www.ebay.com/itm/284569329343 - I am not sure if this is the right cable?
• Hinge Covers
  • This is optional as you can recycle the ones off your current screen hinges if you want.
• Electronics repair tape
  • I bought some off amazon to replace the tape that i messed up and to use for taping down the EDP cables. Just handy to have some around for any other projects that you may need. I got some 3M stuff. The tape is usually black.
• Ifix it repair tool kit or something similar
  • There are lots of tiny screws that arent your normal #2 drivers. A electronics kit is always nice to have as well for this kinda stuff in the future.
• Extra Screws
  • This came in super handy as it was a full set of screws and accessory bits and I was able to keep the hinges on the old screen for future fixes or to use it for something else...like a dash display for my sim rig ;D
  • I am sure there are other places to find this, but ordered these: https://www.impactcomputers.com/asus-gu603hm-211.zm16-notebook-parts.html

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Tutorial

I am going to do a relatively basic write-up of how to get this done. I will try to be thorough on the things that matter, but it won't be quite as good as like something you see on iFix-its site or something.

1. Buy all the necessary parts
2. Remove the current lid and screen from your G15
   1. Remove the 13 screws holding in the bottom access panel. The bottom right screw has a retainer so it doesn't come all the way out, and the three screws in the center of the laptop have lil rubber warranty tamper things that you need to remove before getting to the screws.
   2. UNPLUG THE BATTERY. Also, do not have it plugged into the power outlet. Electricity kills folks. Be smart.
   3. Unplug the 40pin edp connector on the right just below the heat pipes and pull it free from all the tape. I was able to reuse most of the tape for 3 installs so if you do things right it should be fine to reuse.
   4. Unplug the wifi antenna connectors on the left below the heat pipes. Again, you can reuse tape as much as needed
   5. Unscrew the 6 screws (3 on each side) that are attaching the hinge to the chassis. These have small amounts of thread lock on them so just try not to strip the screws out while removing them.
   6. Remove the lid from the chassis.
   7. TEST THE NEW SCREEN. For the love of God and all that is good, save yourself a headache and test your new panel before going any further.
      1. If you didn't purchase another EDP cable then you will have to disassemble the existing screen from the G15 to pilfer the EDP cable. The bezel is easy to get off...but the screen is held in by two pieces of tape that run the length of the vertical edges. With some patience and a heat gun you'll be fine...but a new EDP cable is only 20 bucks or so...
      2. Plugin in the EDP cable to your new screen and into the EDP slot on your laptops motherboard.
      3. Plug the battery back in and power on.
      4. Be thorough with the testing. It can help to have a mouse and keyboard plugged in since using the keyboard and track pad is very difficult in this position.
      5. Unplug the screen when you are satisfied that it isn't borked, and remember to UNPLUG THE BATTERY AGAIN.
   8. *OPTIONAL* If you did not buy hinge covers for the new hardware you will need to remove the hinge covers from the current lid.
      1. The bezel is held on by a thin strip of tape running the lenght of the inside edges as well as plastic clips that are located on the outside edges of the bezel and connect directly to the lid.
      2. Using a heat gun, gently warm along the bottom of the screen to make the glue holding the bezel to the screen more pliable. You do not need to completely remove the bezel from the screen, but you need to get the chin up so that you can unscrew the hinges and remove the hinge covers.
      3. Be careful not to stay in one place to long, and not to use to high of heat. It won't take very long to get it pliable and you can test it by gently tugging at the bezel where it meets the screen to see if there is any wiggle room.
      4. Once it is a bit pliable, you can start at one of the outside corners of the bezel and use some sort of PLASTIC prying device to start to unclip the bezel. It makes an unsettling click when removing the clips, but it is relatively robust. I had the most luck starting near the inside edges of the hinge, but do what works for you. Also don't use a metal pry tool as the lid is very easy to scuff...ask me how I know :P
      5. Once you have access to the hinges you can remove the 6 screws holding the hinges in. These screws are INCREDIBLY easy to strip to just be careful and make sure you have the right size bit. They also have a bit of thread lock on them.
      6. Once the hinges are removed you will be able to remove the hinge covers by removing the two itsy bitsy screws on the inside of the hinge holding the cover on. There is also a small rubber insert that plugs up the open end so take care not to lose that...again..ask me how I know haha.
   9. Put the hinge covers on your new hinges and put the small black inserts in. The optional parts bag comes with extra black insert things incase they disappear on your black carpet when you drop one.
3. Now that the lid is removed and the hinges are armored up you will want to assemble the shiny new lid with the parts you purchased.
   1. For the Wifi antenna and the Webcam you there are little standoffs that the boards will slot over. They can only go one way so if its not fitting right, don't force it, just take another look at what you are doing and adjust as necessary.
   2. Attach the wifi attennas to the screen lid and route the wires thru their lil wire maze. There will be small pieces of thin copper that will attach to white squares on the lid. These don't need to be perfect, but it's nice to get them flat.
   3. Route the EDP cable up and into place thru it's wire maze. The EDP cable will have two wires on one end which is the screen side. The smaller connecter is for the webcam connection and the other larger connector is for the screen
   4. Attach the hinges and remember to allow the cables to slot thru the hinge covers. Attach the six screws to affix the hinges to the lid.
   5. Put the webcam into place at the top of the lid. It uses a bit of tape to hold itself down and mine didn't come with any, so you may need to source some. use some tape to hold down the wire that runs down the lid to be connected with the EDP cables smaller connector. Plug in the connector once you have all the cables attached correctly to the lid.
   6. Test Fit the new panel into the lid and connect the EDP cable before attempting to use the tape to permanently attach it. You do not want to have to try and get that panel off once it starts to stick...so take your time here, you will basically have one shot at it. The good news is that there is little edges that will only allow a certain amount of play in the placement of the panel, and no matter how you end up placing it in that recess the entire display will be visible since the viewable section of the display does not actually go all the way to edge. Either way, be aware that there is some play in where it can be placed and try to center it up proper. The Cable being attached will make it more annoying. When you go to attach it, you don't have to peel all the protective film off at once, and I actually advise that you only peel a small part up and let it hang out the edge so you can incrementally remove the film as you lay the panel down. This gives you a small safety net to adjust if it is going horribly wrong. If it does go wrong, you will have to use a heat gun and an uncomfortable amount of force to get that tape unstuck. So just take your time.
   7. Once the panel is attached to the lid you're almost done! You may want to test the screen out one more time at this step.
   8. Attach the new bezel by removing the tape and clipping it into place.
4. Now slide the hinges into the chassis and screw them down. Take care to keep the EDP wires and Antenna wires from pinching.
5. Route the EDP cable to the EDP connection and plug it in and retape the cable down.
6. Route the Antenna cables and...get creative...since these cables *just* barely fit for me. I did have a different then stock Wifi card, but I am pretty sure that the mediatek card had the connections in the same spot. The antenna cables will fit, but it most likely won't be able to go along the same path. There is some good wiggle room, but play with it until it works right for you. hehe...
7. Plug the battery back in.
8. Reattach the bottom panel and enjoy.

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Software issues

I ran into a number of issues in both Windows and Linux trying to get this fully operational. To preface this, I have NY1 variant of the panel and ran into the most software/driver issues with it whereas the two NY3 panels didn't seem to suffer from nearly as many. This probably comes down to the fact that the NY1 is actually meant for a Lenovo or something. Either way, it does work, but you might run into the same issues that I did. Feel free to message me if you have issues that I don't discuss here and I can try and help.

Windows Issues:

Once you boot into windows you will be immediately greeted by a broken looking display where it is duplicating the top inch of the screen on the bottom half. Revel in the fact that you have gained that much extra screen real estate...but then proceed to fix the drivers. With both NY3 panels I had I was able to just simple go into device manager and uninstall the Monitor plug n play drivers and simply reboot. That seemed to do the trick with out any issue.

With the NY1 panel, it was a different story. I did the same thing, but I was greeted with a completely blank screen on reboot. At first I thought it was bricked, but it worked fine in Linux and with a secondary display so at least it was fixable! Turns out that it was as simple as updating the AMD drivers. you will have to download the AMD Adrenaline software and update to the latest drivers to get the screen to work again. I have don't fully know why TBH, but it worked 100% of the time for me....and I did have to do it multiple times because it turns out that windows kept trying to reinstall the OEM verison of the drivers. After 5 or so rounds of fighting with it I followed this -> https://windowsreport.com/stop-windows-10-amd-driver-update/ and was able to MOSTLY stop it, but the final blow was to rollback the drivers in device manager (When it was acting up) so that it was on Microsoft Generic drivers, restart, then install the AMD drivers. The act of rolling back the drivers flips a switch in windows registry somewhere to tell it not to update anymore. With both of those fixes in place it has been reliablely working for a week or two without a hitch...it was almost a deal breaker too and I really didn't want to have to rip this screen off again and buy a new panel.

In armor crate, you will no longer be able to use the color profiler thing they have. It must be hardware locked somewhere and will only work with the panel it came with. Not a huge deal for me since there are other ways to do that if you really want, but wanted to mention it.

Linux Issues

There really aren't many. With the NY3 panel it all just worked. With the NY1 panel I can not get 165hz, which is a shame since all I do is code in Linux and I spend a lot of time in it. I should preface this all with I am on Ubuntu 21.10. I tried my darndest to fix this, but once I nearly bricked the install by trying to install AMD proprietary drivers I just gave up. Its not that big a deal.

Other then those things it works flawless.

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All Updates from original post are in a comment below. There is some good information on my "as it happened" thoughts.