Inside ASUS Zephyrus G14 GA401 – disassembly and upgrade options

This is one of the smallest true gaming notebooks on the market. But what does it have to offer, when it comes to its insides?

Check out all ASUS Zephyrus G14 GA401 prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.


1. Remove the bottom plate

This guy has a total of 14 Phillips-head screws holding its bottom panel in place. If we have to be honest, even most 17-inch gaming laptops have less, but it’s good to see that ASUS is thinking about rigidity here. Moreover, the higher the number of screws, the fewer clips they need, which means it would be easier to remove the bottom panel, itself.


2. Battery

Battery-wise, there is a 76Wh unit, which is something impressive to see on a 14-inch gaming laptop.


3. Memory and storage

In terms of upgradability, there is one RAM SODIMM slot and a single M.2 PCIe x4 drive. However, there is a caveat with the memory. Some models come with 8GB of soldered DDR4 RAM, while others are equipped with 16GB. Additionally, ASUS says that the maximum supported memory is 32GB of DDR4, working at 3200 MHz. On the other side, you can configure it with a total of 40GB, if you have the 8GB soldered and you put another 32GB in the slot. However, this would result in only 16GB working in dual-channel. On the other side, when you pair the 16GB of soldered memory with a 16GB module, you’ll get the full 32GB in dual-channel mode, marginally increasing the performance.


4. Cooling system

Another interesting solution here concerns the cooling. Instead of going for two or three heat pipes, ASUS actually has gone all the way of designing an entirely new cooling system for this notebook. We can see a total of five heat pipes. Two of them are shared between the processor and the graphics card, while there is one more for each of them. Not only that, but you can see an additional heat pipe, cooling the memory modules and the VRMs, and is also connected to one of the four heat sinks.

Check out all ASUS Zephyrus G14 GA401 prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.

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vrfanoculus
vrfanoculus
3 years ago

I have the 8GB model and was able to install a 32GB stick for 40GB total

othercargo
othercargo
3 years ago
Reply to  vrfanoculus

What RAM did you purchase?

SavageMatt1
SavageMatt1
3 years ago
Reply to  vrfanoculus

Why did the article say that even if you install the 32 GB stick, you will only be able to use 16GB on the dual channel? What does that mean?

lemons
lemons
3 years ago
Reply to  SavageMatt1

Basically, if you put a 32gb stick into the Zephyrus, only the first 8 gigs of that stick will run at full dual channel speeds as it matches up with the soldered on 8gb. The remaining 24gb runs single-channel, but your OS should notice the split and prioritize heavily-used stuff in that dual channel portion.

Brayden
Brayden
3 years ago

Is there a way to upgrade the gpu? I would like in a couple of years to upgrade to something like the 2070 mobile graphics card. I have not been able to get an answer so I am doubtful, but I would like a clear answer. Thankyou.

PsychicFireSong
PsychicFireSong
3 years ago
Reply to  Brayden

It is not possible to upgrade the graphics or CPU for most(if not all) modern laptops. Due to how the power delivery and cooling is designed it wouldn’t be possible.

lemons
lemons
3 years ago

There’s some that are upgradable, but generally they’re expensive, heavy workstation laptops where being able to fully swap out a dead Quadro card may be needed in the field.
src: I used to have a Precision 7710, which fell in this category.

ChickenFried
ChickenFried
5 months ago
Reply to  lemons

Really, the new Framework 16 (coming next year) is the only laptop with any gaming potential that can truly be said to be upgradable.

aref
aref
3 years ago

is ryzen 7 4800h works good for 6-7 years ( long time using)?

edo
edo
2 years ago
Reply to  aref

yes it will

Kevin
Kevin
3 years ago

If I have the 16GB model, can I add a 32GB stick to get 48?

edo
edo
2 years ago
Reply to  Kevin

nope 8 gig is soldered you can max do 40gb

Matteo
Matteo
2 years ago
Reply to  Kevin

what’s the point 32 GB enough just install 16Gb

Josh
Josh
2 years ago
Reply to  Kevin

Depends. Some 16GB have a single 16GB stick onboard plus a free slot. There you could add a 32GB stick. Other 16GB models have 8GB onboard and 8GB in the slot. There you can only upgrade to 40GB (with a 32GB stick).

Sahev
Sahev
2 years ago

I want to upgrade my CPU from Ryzen 7 (8 core) to Ryzen 9 (12 or 16 cores). Is it possible to do? Please help me. Thank you for any valuable comments.

Justin
Justin
2 years ago
Reply to  Sahev

If you wanted to upgrade cpu, I suggest a desktop.

Dib
Dib
2 years ago

Hello! so If i undertood right, the is 2 slots for storage ssd, one is already installed and the is another one available for one upgrade is that right? 🙂

Alexander
Alexander
2 years ago
Reply to  Dib

No.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The laptop has only one memory slot with other portion of RAM soldered on the board.

Valentin
Valentin
2 years ago
Reply to  Dib

I would like as well like to know if we can upgrade the SSD storage?
I have this laptop and I’m very pleased with it. I just need more space, my 512 GB it is not enough

Last edited 2 years ago by Valentin
BorrisInABox
BorrisInABox
2 years ago

Is it possible to allocate any of the system memory to GPU in BIOS? I am running some applications that require a minimum of 8GB GPU, and this RTX2060 only has 6GB. The additional memory allocation would be no big deal if I upgraded the RAM to 32GB.

Roland
Roland
1 year ago

Hello. I Have G14 Ga401Q. I want to upgrade my ssd but which ssd should i buy? Gen 3 or i can buy Gen 4 for a higher speed. Thx

anirudh
anirudh
5 months ago

can i upgrade the storage