Inside ASUS VivoBook 15 F512 (X512) – disassembly and upgrade options

The VivoBook F512 (X512) is a revolutionary budget laptop. It has some interesting innovations in it and some expected cost-cutting measurements. Let’s get inside of it.

Check out all ASUS VivoBook F512 (X512) prices and configurations in our Specs System, or read our In-Depth review.


1. Remove the bottom plate

The bottom panel is fixed in place by 10 Phillips-head screws. Bear in mind that the clips of the chassis are pretty tight and you need some patience when prying it up.


2. Battery

As always, the first thing you need to do before upgrading is to unplug the battery connector, so no current is going through the motherboard. The battery itself is a 37Wh unit and is held in place by a metal bracket that you need to remove before you are able to take the battery off.


3. Memory and storage

Traditionally, this is the only upgradable section of a laptop. In the case with the VivoBook F512 (X512), there is only one RAM DIMM for upgrading as there are 4GB of memory soldered to the motherboard. Additionally, the laptop is equipped with an M.2 NVMe slot.


4. Cooling solution

In the cooling segment, we saw the actual innovation, if we may say. The laptop now has something like a heat spreader, that is placed (wait for it) on the place where the GPU would sit, should the laptop have one. In addition to that, there is a heat pipe that connects it to the CPU and a fan that blows towards it. Interestingly, the bottom panel is designed in such a way that it channels the air towards the heat spreader.

Check out all ASUS VivoBook F512 (X512) prices and configurations in our Specs System, or read our In-Depth review.

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shadad
shadad
4 years ago

great article. well done.

Pedro Inácio
Pedro Inácio
4 years ago

I have this laptop. The cooling solution is not a inovation: it is a problem. How dumb ASUS have to be to not know that a physically connected heatpipe to the fan expelling air was a much better solution? The laptop heats up a lot, even doing light work. Tipically the side of the laptop where the heatsink is locatted is much hotter than the side where is the fan wich shows that the heat is not properly taken out. Also tho make things worst, the bottom of the laptop almost have no holes to let the hot air exit.… Read more »

Rafael
Rafael
3 years ago
Reply to  Pedro Inácio

Have same laptop. No problem with heat, i don´t know what are you doing when your notebook heats. This is a basic home/office device, with basic graphic acceleration , for basic game run. Don´t expect too much more.

LuckieSlevin
LuckieSlevin
3 years ago
Reply to  Rafael

i have this same laptop i love i do think they messed up with the lid covering the vents up the i am think there is a fan with heat pips connected i am sure there is a was to swap out fans and heat sink and get one hole part playing games like resident evil i could tell with vents being blocked the laptop does jump to all most 100c cooling pad with high cfm maybe mod the bottom with roto tool make it look clean and top it off with some liquid metal compound it would be cooler

vinayak
vinayak
3 years ago
Reply to  Pedro Inácio

I have I3 model of this laptop and it also have same design as you said.
I can feel the heat on right side of my laptop base and fan is on left side

Rodrigo
Rodrigo
3 years ago
Reply to  Pedro Inácio

I have this model:https://www.lojaasus.com.br/notebook-asus-vivobook-x512fj-ej551t-cinza-escuro.html Same heating problem on the right side of the laptop, over the palm rest with an Intel I7 and Nvidia GPU. The HDD, which is a WD WD10SPZX-80Z10T2, is located right below the palm rest. Could this heat issue somewhow be solved by removing it and placing a M2 NVME SSD? I hear the M2 SSDs cause heat as well, so that might not be effective. Also, I have created power plans with 99% and 20% of the processor maximum clock, but that made almost no difference.Today I’m planning to disable (or uninstall?) the onboard NVIDIA… Read more »

Dallas
Dallas
2 years ago
Reply to  Pedro Inácio

I have the AMD version of this laptop and have never dealt with any overheating.
But I also use it properly. In other words, I gave a small table for it to sit on while ai use it.

Ubaid Ahmad
Ubaid Ahmad
3 years ago

I have a question, i think my laptop’s speakers are damaged, can anyone tell how much would it cost to replace it?

Anders Heile Hass
Anders Heile Hass
3 years ago

What is that other M.2 on the right side? It is so small

Matthew J Thompson
Matthew J Thompson
3 years ago

The one below the fan? That’s the wireless card.

haree
haree
3 years ago

is this laptop support nvme

hawk
hawk
2 years ago
Reply to  haree

yeah that laptop comes with nvme m.2 ssd

satyam patwa
satyam patwa
2 years ago

Which type of ram should I install in it nd which how much 4gb or gb

Maraz
Maraz
2 years ago

Not worth it. My laptop is dead now I need a new motherboard for this.

Brian
Brian
1 year ago

The Intel AX201 wifi card works great on the F512JA the original intel wifi5 card 9462 has a throughput of 433/433 Mbps install the AX201 for a Gbps wifi6 boost. I am currently on a 1.2 Gbps connection and hit 1.6 Gbps peaks. purchased off of eBay for $9 is a very good investment.

Mr Jackson
Mr Jackson
1 year ago

I hate this laptop. Bought it during the first part of pandemic lockdown. The fan emits this high frequency noise that gives me headaches. Whenever I’m watching movies and it’s a silent moment—you can hear it —it’s so terrible and I haven’t the money to just go out and buy another one. The chick at Best Buy says” Oh we dont service them in house with our Geek squad anymore—we have to send it out for 6 weeks” I hate this laptop! But I hate Best Buy even more. I should have known better.

Kevin
Kevin
1 year ago

Can you upgrade the graphics on this laptop?

FeRDNYC
FeRDNYC
1 year ago
Reply to  Kevin

Nope,sorry. There are few laptops with even theoretically-upgradable graphics. (It’s usually not worth it, even in these cases.) Those laptops have a discrete GPU installed as an MXM module. (A removable package, as opposed to one permanently soldered to the motherboard like you find in other laptops.) But this VivoBook doesn’t have any separate GPU at all, it uses the integrated graphics processor in the main CPU. There’s nowhere to install an upgrade. Edit: Maybe I spoke too soon, apparently some VivoBook models do have a separate GPU, in which case it might be upgradable. But if you had a… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by FeRDNYC
Ryder
Ryder
7 months ago

At how many MHz does the Ram memory that is installed on the board work (the one that can be removed)