Monday, June 25, 2012

Asus Zenbook Prime RAM & SSD Upgrade Investigation - UX31A Teardown

I picked up the new 1920x1080 resolution Zenbook Prime on Amazon for $1k and some change over the weekend as part of my recent ultrabook research.

I'm trying to find the most cost effective, upgradeable, feature-rich, etc. light & thin laptop. I figured I'd give the Asus a try even though it's heavier and thicker than the Samsung Series 9 because 1. I was curious what such high resolution would look like on a 13" and 2. I really liked the original Zenbook (except for keyboard + RAM limitations).

Here are photos of the innards of the new Zenbook Prime. As you can see the SSD is not normal mSata, and the RAM is nowhere to be seen, likely soldered on the underside of the board. Both attributes make this one hell of a tough machine to upgrade.











I'll take some photos later comparing the Asus Zenbook Prime's screen to the Samsung's 400 nit 1600x900 panel.
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16 comments:

  1. pdechentJune 26, 2012 at 1:35 PM

    That SSD looks very simular to a 2011 Macbook Air. Check out macsales.com for their SSD configurations. I wonder if an OWC SSD will swap over, they are supposed to be pretty good quality build SSDs

    ReplyDelete
  2. Olav Alexander MjeldeJuly 3, 2012 at 7:37 AM

    Hi, the UX32VD has one RAM slot, as well as you can swap the drive on it. The samsung 830 ssd should fit in the UX32VD. The UX32VD also has a geforce 620 M. Its not unibody though, so you have the keyboard flex and you have a slightly thicker and heavier UX

    ReplyDelete
  3. Olav Alexander MjeldeJuly 3, 2012 at 7:39 AM

    btw. did you look for light bleed on the UX31A? Ive seen some vids on youtube with light bleed and it seems that the displays beizel is not attached correctly on the ones I've seen videos of.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tribixbiteJuly 3, 2012 at 7:55 AM

      I didn't see much light bleed - are you talking about behind the computer, around the keyboard, or around the screen?

      Delete
    2. SnopAugust 14, 2012 at 11:47 AM

      My UX31A has alot of light bleed but is only really noticable during startup.

      Delete
  4. q-jinAugust 21, 2012 at 7:12 AM

    Can you answer me a few questions please?
    On one of your photo is visible sandforce chip on SSD drive. It looks like the Adata XM11.
    Can you confirm that please?
    Do you have 256GB or 128GB?
    And which concrete type do you have please?
    I am asking because there are two versions, with Sandisk U100 and Adata XM11, since are solved problems with sandforce chipset then Adata XM11 is much much faster. But there is no change to know what type you get before unpacking...

    Many many thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tribixbiteAugust 27, 2012 at 11:14 PM

      I returned it sorry :( had the 128gb

      Delete
    2. DarrenSeptember 17, 2012 at 8:59 AM

      Hi, I bought this model, and am happy with it despite finding it's going to be more difficult to update. Ordered mine through Amazon US, and it has the Sandforce Adata XM11 SSD drive.

      The box now has a sticker on it saying which version of the SSD is inside.

      Delete
  5. DarrenSeptember 17, 2012 at 9:01 AM

    OP, thanks for this post. I thought this was going to have similar internals to the UX32, was disappointed to see I'm going to have to take it completely apart to upgrade the RAM.. sigh, oh well! Other than that I quite like it! :-)

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    Replies
    1. tribixbiteSeptember 17, 2012 at 9:06 AM

      hey glad it could help- what did you think of the Samsung Series 9 (np900x3c)?

      Delete
  6. DarrenSeptember 17, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    Ah, and just to kill this thread completely, found out that the RAM is soldered on... there goes that plan then. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5887/asus-zenbook-prime-ux21a-teardown

    ReplyDelete
  7. davidJanuary 28, 2013 at 12:52 AM

    hi. i have asus zenbook ux31a and i wanted to ask for replacement ssd for it. the original one is a-data xm11 my question is if aura pro ssd can be fit in it and if it will work well with it? or...if u can guidw me how to get xm11 or any other hdd for it. mine has stopped working and i need a replacement. thanks for all helpers

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJune 24, 2013 at 4:12 AM

    If you don't know how to solder. You hold he hot iron on the solder it then softens which allows you to remove the ram and replace it. If it was built it can be fixed and where there is a will there is a way.

    ReplyDelete
  9. SuginamiNovember 26, 2013 at 8:09 PM

    Hi, I wonder if anyone has attempted to de-solder the RAM and install another module. I have the UX31A and it's perfect for me in every way except I'm needing 8GB RAM nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tribixbiteNovember 29, 2013 at 9:35 AM

      not that i'm aware of - let us know how it goes!

      Delete
    2. UnknownDecember 19, 2013 at 1:00 AM

      Hey man did you ever try to unsolder/solder a new stick o' ram? 8gb is so necessary these days ...or multitasking is god-awful. Also does anyone know if you can replace the SSD on the ux31a?

      Delete

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