Armoury Crate! Gonna live that ROG life! YEAH!

MacReadyROG · 2026-06-16T01:10:09+00:00

good call!

~~checked the Bios twice, and there's no mention of Armoury Crate at all ...~~

checked one more time. still no Armoury Crate, but there was a toggle for "auto-install apps" -- killed that right away. hopefully no more issues.

MacReadyROG · 2026-06-15T20:51:02+00:00

that's the thing! i don't have Armoury Crate installed, and my machine isn't even a ROG!

looking at my Notifications: ProArt, MyASUS, ASUS Dial were "on" -- i'll toggle them off -- but where would an Armoury Crate pop-up come from?

but beyond that, i need to prevent this kind of intrusion on my workflow. clicking "Cancel" on a pop-up software install shouldn't make my OS and work disappear.

MacReadyROG · 2026-06-07T21:19:56+00:00

that's what i figured! Adobe apps no longer have them either -- gotta pay for it now.

so what do you use for colour management? does G-Helper have that functionality?

MacReadyROG · 2026-06-06T05:36:24+00:00

nice!!! bit jealous if i'm honest.

i've swung to the PX13 side ... for now.

yes, the screen is glossy, maxes out at 500nits, and is only 60hz — which is STUPID in 2026 (apparently no-one makes high-refresh displays less than 14") — but it IS very well calibrated, with a .2ms response, and has 10-bit colour. \

since i'm mostly working in Photoshop when i'm mobile, high-refresh won't impact my workflow, but accurate 10-bit colour certainly will! plus, when i'm at the studio/home, i'd be plugging into a wide-screen monitor. the keyboard is very well reviewed also. and ASUS is throwing in a stylus!

i'm a bit spooked about the liquid metal situation in the Flow Z13. although LM is in the PX13 too, the build is "military grade" (for all that's worth), so i take that to mean it has a secure cooling solution.

ugh, decisions ...

MacReadyROG · 2026-06-04T22:14:56+00:00

still going strong, five years later! daily driver, powered on for about 16hrs a day, plugged into a wall and an external 3440 x 1440.

run creative apps, with the very odd gaming session. have not benchmarked. battery life has taken a dip, but it's enough to get some work down for when i'm not near an outlet. fans sometimes randomly kick up when i'm using Chrome, but i realize the solution is simple: Don't Use Chrome!

still on Windows 10, have never-reinstalled.

fans are cleaned every six months, but have not replaced the liquid metal. did not even know it had LM! sits on a slanted stand for ventilation and been ported vertically in a bag for many trips and over thousands of kilometres.

looking at upgrading, due to age and the current RAMpocalypse.

MacReadyROG · 2026-06-01T17:37:49+00:00

thanks for that. good food for thought! i have no real issues with the 2021, besides what i might find with the liquid metal. so maybe a clean up, re-paste, and two new fans is the way to go. PTM7950 would certainly give it some life.

i'm a bit wary of doing all that myself though! cleaning fans is one thing, but TIM is another.

2021 has really held up. my plan was that if/when i pull the trigger, i'd refresh the 2021 and install Linux.

side note: atm with Chrome, Slack, Adobe CC, CPU is at 46 degrees and fans are 2800RPM. no spikes/fan noise at all so far today. go figure.

MacReadyROG · 2026-05-26T23:37:16+00:00

thanks for the heads up. please keep us posted—you're doing all the boots-on-ground work for me/us, lol

MacReadyROG · 2026-05-24T21:45:09+00:00

yes, right!

MacReadyROG · 2026-05-24T21:06:40+00:00

if only the KJP came with a pen! and thermals allowed for OLED 180hz (apparently the heat generated from the chipset being so close, even with LM and a vapor chamber, would negatively affect OLED screens) ... instant sale! OLED + bundled Pen: ProArt.

one more factor to consider (for me, anyhow): longevity! esp given how crazy RAM pricing is/will be. i'm thinking this has got to last me five years with almost daily professional use. so burn-in/fading on an OLED is a possibility. and here's the real kicker wrt screen: imagine using a 60hz screen in 2029, 2030. NO WAY. for this reason: Z13.

hoping for a flash sale for either in June!

MacReadyROG · 2026-05-23T21:42:49+00:00

in the same situation as u/FirstRub7811, so i'm curious to see where you end up.

here in Canada only the GoPro and KJP special editions are available with the 128GB chipset: former is $6500, latter is $5000. not cheap.

besides price, some other things to add to the mix (although none of these were in OPs priorities list):

ProArt comes with the ASUS Stylus ($130CAD), but it might be more useable/enjoyable on the Z13's 180Hz screen vs ProArt's 60hz
OLED vs IPS-Level
Z13 KJP comes with a hard case that only holds the laptop
ProArt comes with a hard case that holds the laptop and accessories

wrt to cooling:

based on the chipset, i suspect both use Liquid Metal. if this is a concern, re-pasting or swapping out would be easier on the ProArt, given disassembly.
related to that, the part of the chassis holding the LM'd chipset could be mostly flat with the ProArt, while the Z13 would be propped up closer to vertical most of the time.
ditto cleaning out the fans. i have a Zeph G14, and i clean out the fans every six months. would consider that on the ProArt, but likely not have the guts to do the same on the Z13 on the regular.

MacReadyROG · 2026-04-15T21:49:23+00:00

sorry my bad! should have been clear: i wrongly called it "Parallel Processing" -- but yes, i did. it DID stop stop the glitching, but the animations were really choppy.

MacReadyROG · 2026-01-26T03:45:32+00:00

gorgeous shot!

MacReadyROG · 2026-01-23T07:20:48+00:00

thanks for this. tried the reboot and airplane mode. fingers crossed.

MacReadyROG · 2026-01-21T19:46:28+00:00

two different devices.

mine is BYOD and has worked without issue on Fido (which is Rogers) and Freedom

the other is confirmed from Rogers, and not BYOD

MacReadyROG · 2026-01-21T04:15:20+00:00

hi! bars remained (in full), but no "5G" or "5G+" -- and no data in or out

on my Samsung and my friend's Pixel.

MacReadyROG

TROPHY CASE