Asus G75VW Laptop Review!

Following the amazing G74, Asus have come out with the latest addition their uber leet (and uber pricey) G series laptops, the G75!

So as always, let’s take a look at this monster’s internals.

Model: G75VW-T1013V
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM (2.3GHz, 3.3GHz Turbo)
Memory: 16GB DDR3 (1600MHz)
Hard Drive(s):  256GB SSD + 1TB 5400RPM
Optical Drive(s): BluRay Writer
Networking: Gigabit Ethernet
Graphics: nVidia GTX670M 3GB
Display: 17.3” Full-HD LED (1920x1080 Resolution)
Audio: Sonic Master with Subwoofer built-in
Coms: 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Inputs: 4x USB3.0,  1x Microphone, SD Card Reader
Outputs: 1x Headphone Out, 1x VGA, 1x HDMI, 1x mini Display Port
Battery: 8 Cell
Weight: 4.5kg

Comparing with the G74 we see the processor upgraded to the latest Ivy Bridge mobile quad core, RAM speed increased to 1600MHz, a GTX670M graphic processor (Don’t be fooled, it is based on the Fermi architecture, not Kepler) and a change in its audio processor. The G74 featured EAX audio while the G75’s has been changed to something called ‘Sonic Master’. Not sure yet whether or not that is a upgrade or a downgrade.

Last time I was pretty unimpressed with the packaging as it just lacked any fine detail or definition, however it seems as though Asus have listening and crafted a much more appealing internal layout. Removing the unit out of its slick packaging felt a bit heavier than the G74 and rightly so weighing in at 4.5kg, definitely not a ‘portable’ machine. The unit is almost covered in rubber padding from the outer lid the palm rest of the keyboard.

Opening up the lid reveals the full sized backlit keyboard and keys with a dedicated number pad.  The keys feel great to type on and use while keeping the ergonomics uncompromised. Along the top right of the unit you’ll see the power button and the ROG button, which allow you to select difference performance profiles for the machine. For testing purposes, I kept it on Performance (Highest setting)

 

The sides of the unit are showered with all your inputs and outputs including 4 USB3.0 ports. Asus have skipped the slower USB2.0 altogether and probably the wisest thing to do.

Flipping the unit upside down we can unscrew a few places off. I noticed a small screwed area towards the rear of the unit and taking off the plastic revealed a small blower fan. Now, I’m not too sure about this but I assume it is there to allow you to remove the plate when gaming for lengthy periods to allow for better airflow. It would also be very beneficial if you have a notebook cooler. The flow of air would create great thermal results. Another larger panel once removed reveals the memory and drive slots similar to those on the G74. Good upgradable laptop to have on hand.

The display on the machine is fantastic and almost is identical to that on the G74 with the matte finish. I would be surprised if it was even a different screen altogether. The sound on the G75 is a bit better than the G74. The small subwoofer on the bottom of the unit, though lacks any punch, helps reduce that little bit of tinny sounds that come from laptop speakers and add a punch, as minuscule as the punch might be.

Performance
The G75 is put simply the fastest laptop I have used. It boots up in a blitz and performs day to day tasks like browsing, emails, light Photoshop work and other tasks an absolute breeze, and it does it quietly and with style. The G series always had amazing thermal performance and the G75 is no less. Even with the higher end parts which theoretically should be slightly warmer, the rear end exhausts do an amazing job in getting that heat out.

Starting up 3DMark11 I tested the machine under Performance and Extreme settings with results as follows:
X963 3DMarks
P3001 3DMarks

 

Overall, that is quite an impressive result. It managed to score around 300 extra points on Xtreme and almost 1000 more under the performance setting. That’s quite a big leap if you ask me for a laptop!

In our Unigine V2.5 benchmark, the G75 once again proved why it is worth the upgrade:

FPS: 22.5
Score: 567
Min FPS: 6.9

With the heavy benchmarks out the way, it was time to test the unit under real world uses, gaming and boy was it awesome! At no point in time did I feel like it struggled, it just simply and easily breezed through my games and delivered exceptional results! Let’s take a look at some of the details:

Temperatures were amazing. Even under full load the GPU didn’t pass 70 degrees with the CPU coming in even lower. The exhausts at the back however were pushing out a good amount of heat so full credit goes to this design by Asus, the dual fan design they have in the machine definitely gets the heat out. Having said that I would not recommend using this on your lap, this will burn the hair of your legs! A desk and even if you have one, an elevated cooler would be the wisest option.

Conclusion
the G74 was something (and still is in my opinion) special, the G75 is even better. It’s faster and what more does it need to be? It simply performs the way you want it too, however all good things have that little tick that could be removed, and in this case once again it’s Asus partitioned the 2 disks into 4 separate drives. I would assume many people would agree with me when I say nobody enjoys that. It’s unnecessary and quite frankly most people simply remove the partitions when they first get it and do a clean installation to remove the crapware that comes with. I mean let’s face it, this is targeted at heavy end gamers who are 80% of the time well aware of everything computer related and know exactly what they need and want in their systems. Asus provides only the internals while falling short on the software side of things with its crapware.

Having said that a simply uninstallation of it all will fix any issues. Whether you do or don’t doesn’t change the fact this is a marvellous machine! If I had 2k to blow on a system, I’d get a G75.

sahin.s@centrecom.com.au