So in my testing of the 2023 M16, I’m running into some inconveniences with Advanced Optimus, which is ironically a feature that is supposed to add convenience. I wanted to see if anyone else could replicate this (preferably on the latest bios 307 and other updates).

So when in Advanced Optimus, or “hybrid”, “standard” whatever you’d like to call it, it seems that the display outs act differently in that they ALL connect only to the integrated graphics. This sucks because let’s say you’ve selected dGPU mode in Advanced Optimus and you go to plug in an external monitor, well now you’re forced into Optimus/hybrid mode and your external monitor is not getting the full benefit of your GPU. Fps will also slightly decrease in games. This goes for both USB-C ports. And what’s weirder is plugging into the HDMI port shows some additional options in Nvidia control panel and acts like it’s going through dGPU (in the little display output chart) but still forces into Optimus with decreased performance.

Now in Asus’ own dGPU mode (Ultimate in Armoury Crate) this is a different story. All display outs run directly through the dGPU as they should (although I liked in past models where one USB-C would run through Optimus and the other through dGPU). But of course this requires a restart each time, which is a fun little inconvenience as you can imagine.

Theoretically Advanced Optimus’ dGPU mode should be no different than Asus’ since they should be doing the same exact thing, disabling Optimus, but that doesn’t seem to be the case and I’m not too sure if it’s an Intel 13th Gen thing, an Asus thing, or an Nvidia thing. Either way though, it’s whacky behavior and makes it really hard to recommend this laptop to people who plug into monitors frequently.

This makes it even worse for those new to gaming laptops, because imagine a scenario where you’ve got your new laptop in Standard, you plug a monitor into your HDMI 2.1 port expecting great performance as you should, and all of a sudden you’ve lost like 30% of your fps (yes it’s that much on HDMI for some reason). Oh and if you’re in Eco mode there’s simply no display output from HDMI at all. A new problem for anyone who might connect to a tv or monitor every so often on battery while still needing decent battery life.

Anyways I just want to make sure it’s not just me first before I put this in my review because I’ve spent hours testing and retesting and it’s not a fun experience 😂