ASUS ROG Mothership review: A huge (and expensive) look at the future of gaming laptops

ROG Mothership Source: Windows Key

I dear many things about ASUS equally a company, but at the top of the list is that the Taiwanese hardware maker is never afraid of trying something new. Over the years, ASUS has genuinely broken the mold, with mobile devices like the Padfone and the Zenfone Zoom, or more than recently with laptops similar the outstanding ZenBook Pro with its extra display panels.

Not to exist left out, the Republic of Gamers branch has had a get at creating a wow moment with the ROG Mothership, an utterly bananas, incredibly expensive, impractical, but absolutely astonishing gaming machine. I hesitate to apply the discussion laptop, though it does take a battery, and it's hard to suggest a particular 'need' it fills.

Simply quirks, cost and questions on who information technology'south for bated, ane thing stands tall. The ROG Mothership is a but incredible piece of hardware, and it'due south perhaps an early glimpse at a futurity for gaming portables I can get behind.

Portable insanity

ROG Mothership

ASUS ROG Mothership

Bottom line: A scenic motorcar, but ultimately at over $half-dozen,000, not something you lot can hands recommend for purchase.

Pros:

Insane performance
4K brandish with NVIDIA G-Sync
Desktop-grade RTX 2080 GPU
RAID 0 NVMe SSD array
64GB of RAM
User upgradeable storage

Cons:

Very expensive
Display limited to 60 Hz
Odd trackpad
Can't charge keyboard separately

ASUS ROG Mothership hardware: It has everything

Video hands-on with the Mothership after its starting time declaration at CES 2022.

So, yous're going to spec up the ultimate gaming laptop, are you? Just what does that expect like then?

Hither are the cardinal specs for the ROG Mothership. Hold on to your socks, and so they don't go blown off.

Intel Core i9-9980HK (8-core, xvi-thread, 45W TDP)
64GB 2666MHz DDR4 RAM
3 x 512GB NVMe SSD in RAID 0
17.3-inch 4K display
NVIDIA RTX 2080 8GB (desktop grade, 200W TDP)
Detachable keyboard
Congenital in kickstand

The ROG Mothership is then powerful that since I've had it in my possession, my ain gaming rig has been cowering in the corner, fearful. Where to begin digesting it?

I'll beginning with the just affair that I don't like on the spec canvass: the display. Information technology'south non that information technology's bad, per se, because it isn't. It'southward very nice, and very impressive, with not only 4K resolution but also NVIDIA G-Sync, HDR, and 100% Adobe RGB back up. It looks fantastic, and the games look admittedly stunning,

Just the determination to get with a 4K panel has led to the refresh rate being limited to 60 Hz it seems. On something with an 8-core CPU and an RTX 2080, that'south like getting into the driving seat of a Lamborghini and driving everywhere at 30mph. Sure, on an external brandish, you'll be able to take full advantage, only this a portable auto. Razer has a 120 Hz 4K brandish selection on the latest Bract Pro, so to encounter the ROG Mothership hampered to 60 Hz is a letdown.

ROG Mothership Source: Windows Cardinal

Everything else about the ROG Mothership is absurd, though. The GPU, for example, isn't 1 of NVIDIA's trimmed down, power-efficient MaxQ designs. It's the full fat, 200W desktop RTX 2080, which in function explains the ii enormous power bricks it takes to provide plenty juice to the Mothership to keep it powered upwardly.

And so basically, this is a desktop PC in something much more compact. The CPU is a laptop part, at to the lowest degree, merely it's the all-time you can currently become for this kind of machine, with the 8-core i9-9980HK.

Information technology's as well interesting that ASUS went with RAID 0 across a trio of NVMe SSDs over having one unmarried, loftier-chapters drive. What y'all, the user, gets is a 'single drive' of ane.5TB with high performance (more on that beneath), with information being split beyond all three drives simultaneously. The downside is that if one bulldoze fails, you lose everything, just as you would if y'all only had i drive in the first place. And so, you'll still desire to be careful with backups.

So, the insides are pretty bananas. Merely it'southward what's outside that offset catches the center. Information technology's off-white to say that the ROG Mothership looks like a Surface Pro for gamers. The kickstand and detachable keyboard give information technology a course factor we've not seen earlier in a gaming laptop, and naturally, there's also RGB galore.

The keyboard operates very similarly to that on the Surface Pro as well. It attaches via magnetic pins and has an angled position for typing. Where it differs is that you tin can disassemble it entirely, switch it to wireless fashion, fold the excess away, and use it equally you lot would a regular desktop keyboard.

For typing, information technology'southward pretty good, and you eventually get used to the right-aligned trackpad, which can too double upward as a number pad. Information technology'south too small, though, or rather, information technology feels that way with its vertical design. In practice, it's about the same size as the one on my MateBook D, just the lack of width makes information technology awkward to use. And then you'll desire a mouse. It also feels like an oversight that you can't charge the keyboard separately; you accept to connect it back to the Mothership to top it up.

It'southward not exactly portable with its two giant power bricks!

The big elephant in the room, though, to this "Surface Pro for gamers" is that it isn't very portable. It's likewise why I hesitate to telephone call information technology a laptop. It'due south non a 2-in-1, since it has no touch display, and it's so large and heavy, accompanied by its two enormous power bricks, that you can hardly call it a laptop. Sure, it has a battery, but it doesn't last long, and no bag I ain tin accommodate the Mothership and all its belongings.

This is a portable all-in-one PC. That's the fairest way to describe it. Assuming you take the means to accept this on the road with yous, you'll have unprecedented power, while at dwelling house, it'south as the high-powered desktop gaming rig with all the ports you need to create a total setup, including Thunderbolt 3.

ASUS ROG Mothership performance: Got it where it counts

ROG Mothership Source: Windows Cardinal

If you're fifty-fifty remotely interested in the ROG Mothership, you know information technology's packing the sort of performance you usually reserve for desktop PCs. The specs speak for themselves, and whether you're working, gaming, or creating, the Mothership will take your tasks, chew them up, spit them out and and so ask for more.

ASUS has included some apps that can help you tweak your experience a footling, but I'chiliad not a fan of such things personally, and information technology's not every bit if y'all really need to squeeze any more out of this thing. It has an RTX 2080, after all.

Top course operation isn't limited to the GPU, though. For starters, the storage is exceptional. Write speeds are express to essentially the write speed of a single SSD (which is nevertheless impressive), merely the read speeds are sufficiently off the charts, thank you to how RAID 0 works.

SSD performance Source: Windows Key

RAID 0 certainly helps the Mothership excerpt the very best from its trio of NVMe drives, and information technology's hard to option error anywhere. Whether y'all want your games to load rapidly or you're treatment large files, the Mothership is in the upper echelons.

The CPU is also impressive, though perhaps less remarkable since y'all tin also find information technology inside laptops similar the Dell XPS 15. Nevertheless, the Geekbench four and Cinebench scores are every bit excellent as you'd look from such a chip. The Cadre i9-9980HK scores most the aforementioned my vi-core desktop Ryzen 5 3600X in Cinebench R20, then it's not likewise shabby at all.

Geekbench 4 - 5520 (single-core), 29484 (multi-core)
Cinebench R20 - 3461

But games are why you're going to be interested in the Mothership, so what's information technology like there, then? Predictably, excellent. However, only if yous're not shooting for 4K. Sure, y'all can play most current games at 4K, and usually at more xxx FPS, but it's a flake of a waste turning downwardly settings. The display is still reasonably small in the grand scheme of things, so I've sacrificed resolution for these tests and, in nearly cases, went with one step down from 4K in the respective titles, usually around 2560 ten 1600 and RTX was turned off.

Metro Exodus (DX12 Ultra @ 2560 x 1600) - 51.6 FPS avg (31.four FPS low)
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12 Highest @2560 x 1600) - 74 FPS avg
Borderlands 3 (DX11 Ultra @ 2048 x 1152) - 77.6 FPS avg
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra - xi,155 (Better than eighty% of results)
F1 2022 (DX12 Ultra High @ 4K) - 68 FPS avg (lx FPS low)
Ashes of the Singularity (DX11 Farthermost @ 2560 ten 1600) - 66.5 FPS avg

Naturally, being an RTX GPU, you also accept the opportunity to feel ray tracing in all its glory. As on whatever other PC with an RTX card, yous'll take a performance hit overall. Even so, games similar Control and Metro Exodus expect stunning, peculiarly paired with a high-quality brandish similar the one on the Mothership.

ROG Mothership Source: Windows Fundamental

Thermals aren't too much of an issue when gaming, either, though obviously, compared to a desktop, it runs hotter and much noisier. More than importantly, I haven't seen any examples of throttling when pushing information technology difficult in gaming, and the location of the exhaust vents on the top of the device means no hot air lingering around nigh your hands. Stressing the CPU with Intel's Extreme Tuning utility saw temperatures go a piffling over 80C (176F) where power limit throttling began, merely when gaming, the CPU rarely reaches these extremes.

Of course, the design too means that fifty-fifty if y'all are using the included keyboard, information technology never gets hot, so all is dandy. Every bit a class factor for a portable gaming car, the Mothership makes a huge amount of sense. No matter how good the cooling is on a traditional gaming laptop, the heat is being generated beneath your easily; in the Mothership, it merely gets pushed out of the top and into the atmosphere.

Should you buy an ASUS ROG Mothership?

ROG Mothership Source: Windows Central

Honestly, no. Because in the U.S., y'all'll exist paying in excess of $6,000. Anything that costs that much isn't something you can simply recommend because it's practiced. How many of us have ridiculed the cost of Apple'southward new Mac Pro?

In many ways, the ROG Mothership is the virtually bizarre PC I've reviewed, probably ever. I admittedly admire it, despite its impracticality and some of the issues I notice with information technology similar the trackpad, non being able to charge the keyboard separately and the foolish decision to have a 60 Hz brandish in something like this.

Only giving something a high review score usually ways information technology's a product nosotros recommend yous buy. The ROG Mothership doesn't autumn into that category. Information technology's worthy of high praise because, despite its faults, it's a breathtaking portable gaming PC. But I'1000 not going to tell you to get out and spend six grand on one.

Instead, the style I see the ROG Mothership is every bit a tantalizing glimpse at a futurity for gaming laptops. The Surface Pro is an iconic device that has shaped an entirely new genre of portable PCs, and the Mothership shows that it's possible to clasp a gaming laptop into that kind of design.

A breathtaking portable gaming PC

This is an ultimate scenario, an accented technical exercise where the best of the best has been squeezed inside. But imagine a future production from ASUS that has this same course factor, merely trims back a little, perhaps using an RTX 2060 or a GTX 1660, a 6-core CPU and 16GB of RAM. One that is smaller, more portable, and crucially, simply has one ability adapter.

That's a futurity I could become behind for sure. And hopefully, this is just the beginning.

Glimpse at the Time to come

ROG Mothership

ASUS ROG Mothership

Utterly breathtaking, supremely expensive

The price makes it almost impossible to recommend to most, but that doesn't change what a feat of design and engineering the ROG Mothership is.

We may earn a committee for purchases using our links. Learn more than.

An internet connection will soon be required when setting up Windows 11 Pro

UH OH

An cyberspace connexion will soon be required when setting up Windows xi Pro

Microsoft has announced that later this year, users will be required to connect to the internet and sign-in with a Microsoft Account during the out of box setup experience on Windows eleven Pro. Microsoft has already been enforcing this requirement on Windows 11 Home since launch final October, and Windows eleven Pro is now expected to follow arrange soon.

The RTX 3080 laptops you should buy right now

Ultimate power

The RTX 3080 laptops yous should buy right at present

The RTX 3080 is the about powerful gaming GPU you can arrive a laptop correct now, and there are some really skilful laptops with one from which you can choose. Here's what y'all should exist buying.