Da1writers Asus G71GX-RX05 Full Review (Best Buy)

[da1writer]

Technical Specs

Dimensions: Width – 16.2", Height – 2.4", Depth – 11.8", Weight – 8.8 lbs.
Processor: P8700 Core 2 Duo @ 2.53ghz, OCable to 2.8+ ghz
Memory: 6GB DDR2 (12GB Max)
HDD: 500GB 5400rpm (optional space for a second hdd)
Cd/DVD: 8x DVD R/RW DL
Screen: 17.1" WXGA+ LCD 1440 x 900 max res.
Graphic Card: GTX 260M 1GB GDDR3 (underclocked but can be overclocked to REAL Stock or higher clocks via nTools)
Keyboard: Standard Laptop Keyboard
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
PORTS: 4x USB, eSATA, HDMI, VGA, Firewire, Ethernet, Card Reader, Audio, Express Card 54 Expansion Slot.
Wifi: Integrated Asus Wireless BGN
Battery: 8 cell
Webcam: 1.3 MP
Price: $1299 (*Shakes Fist @ Best Buy*)


Unboxing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NgceAe8yMI

























Design and Features

First laptop in my life and will have to say I've seen numerous gaming laptops in my years and some have been drastically pushed toward the gaming community with stuff like bright colors (orange, red, etc.), tons of lights (all over the place), and a design no business person would lug to work (alien like). Honestly though, Asus took a more subtle approach in regards to the G71GX-RX05 with a straight glossy black exterior (aka Fingerprint magnet) and besides the blue lighted Republic of Gamers emblem and a few lights in the front and bottom, it looks like a normal laptop to me. I will say you have to see these bottom lights though, it's very Alienware like in appearance and you can change the lights colors too (via the Direct Console). I simply have it off because I like to keep the laptop's appearance simple rather than a "Hey look at me!!!" appearance.

I would like to mention that despite the G71GX-RX05 being labeled as a 17" laptop, it really looks like a 19" laptop... and I love it for some odd reason (and I know a few people do as well!) Despite what a few people say, it is still portable - even though it is not a 15" laptop or smaller doesn't mean it can't be moved around. Yes, it is about 9 pounds and the giant power brick of course doesn't help its case but if you can't carry tens pounds of anything, you need to go workout or something. It is a desktop replacement not a desktop, anything is better than trying to lug around a giant tower where ever you need to go. It is still a great sized laptop and also shows that Asus still knows how to make a computer look great on the outside and in.

Once you open the laptop, you are greeted with a beautiful, rich in color 17.1" WXGA+ screen with a 1.3 MP camera above it and... yes I said beautiful 17.1" screen. First you need to understand that I'm upgrading from a xga monitor (grabbed one when they first started coming out), so anything looks better than what I've been using. I do know of the two things people complain about the screen: the low resolution and the viewing angles. The viewing angles seem fine to me but I also sit in front of my laptop instead of the sides. If I wanted to show something to my friends or family I'll simply set the laptop in front of them or plug the laptop to my HDTV. I also find the low resolution suits me pretty well because I already game at 1024 x 768 so I can max out my settings in games, so 1440 x 900 is more than enough for me (again, if I want a better resolution, I can simply plug into my HDTV). It's still a good screen on the G71GX that's still easy to read and play games on and that's what's important in my book at least.

Below the screen is a full standard keyboard with numberpad (love that!) used by most laptops but with a black glisten finish. Very comfortable, easy to use, no keyboard flex that I can tell, and none of the keys on the keyboard have been shrunk for some odd reason (looking at you MSI). I have been playing with the keyboard for a few days now, posting in forums, writing this review, and haven't received this double typing issue people have been having. As mentioned though in a few threads online, I believe it is user error (gotta get use to the keyboard) or maybe a few of these laptops have a technical issue but not mine (or a few others). Below the keyboard is the trackpad with a comfortable scale like palm rest but I honestly don't use use the trackpad and if you are a shooter fan you would be using a mouse instead like myself (am I alone on this matter?) The trackpad though is alright with a metallic looking finish, although the buttons are a bit stiff but very usable. It is illuminated by a blue light within but can be turned off by touching the No Track Pad button above the keyboard along with the other touch sensitive buttons.

Speaking of which, There are four touch sensitive buttons above the keyboard along with a tactile ON button. I've only been able to figure out three of the four button so far though: Direct Console, the express Linux program, and [the already mentioned] on/off Trackpad button. I'm guessing the mysterious fourth button (electric looking guy) is for switching power modes, not really sure. Now on the left hand side of the touch sensitive buttons use to be a oled display for functions like battery indicator and such but was removed to cut the price of the laptop a bit. Asus instead put a "indicator" strip on the upper right side of the keyboard that either lights up when certain things are being done. To keep things simple, it's five things: Caps lock, number lock, hard drive access (usually flashing constantly), Asus proprietary mail app, and the Disable Trackpad.

Now the only minor nitpick of the design of the G71GX-RX05 is these weird (magnetic) flaps on each side of the laptop. Unlike the rest of the laptop's other ports which are labeled well and open for the public to see, there are magnetic flaps that hide all four of the usb ports, audio ports, and 1394 port. I can understand their reason in trying to keep the laptop looking sleek but labels would have done fine here too Asus. Unlike a few others, I don't have to always open the flaps in order to access my usb ports because my usb ports are always in use but I can see this being a problem for a few people. Overall though, this laptop looks great and I like how it looks like a normal laptop instead of a screaming (red or orange) Gamers laptop when it actually is, props Asus.


Laptop Experience Rating, Performance, and Software

After looking at the outside exterior of the laptop it's time to look at the internals of this laptop (non- hardware related of course). When it comes to the Experience Rating of the laptop, I've taken a pic when it comes to me using stock settings and another overclocking the CPU and GPU, you can easily tell which one is which.




Asus does preinstall alot of their propriety software but two are the most essential items to use: The Direct Console and TurboGear. Direct Console is what messes with your lights of the outside of your laptop. The side lights can be changed to flash in sequence to CPU loading, fanspeed, or be constantly on. The bottom lights can be changed as well to how the volume of base speaker is, have the lights constantly on or have the colors flashing - which you can change the colors of the lights yourself (choice of 16 colors). You can also have both of these light features turned completely off as well if you like but the only thing that bugs me is that you can't turn off the Republic of Gamers emblem or the light strip below it either - no option whatsoever, and is a minor nitpick because I do like how it is lighted up though. All those option though are accessed through the advanced tab of Direct Console, they did make things simple for those who just a one button switch. The main menu of Direct Console consist of Fancy Mode (Flashes lights constantly), Interactive Mode (alternates between flashing, pulsing, and changing colors), Power Saving Mode (Turns off almost all lights), and Advanced Mode - I prefer power saving mode.

The other software I mentioned is TurboGear, it's - how can I put this- Asus overclocking/underclocking program for people who are new to overclocking and underclocking their laptop. It's pretty easy to use and you simply have four buttons that are pretty self explanatory: Standard, Overclock, Power Saving , and Settings. As mentioned, pretty easy to follow - if you want to use stock settings use Standard mode; to conserve battery life use Power Saving mode; To speed up the cpu past it's specs, grab Overclock mode. Now The overclock is a bit tricky because when you click on the Settings button, you have the choice to either go 3, 5, 10, or 15 percent overclock - it gives you the freedom of how fast you want the cpu to overclock. Fastest (safe) overclock through the TurboGear app is 2.8+ GHZ from the standard 2.53 GHZ. Minor note is that the Settings button can only be accessed when in Standard or Power Saving mode. It's a neat feature but I don't overclock the cpu due to the fact I don't see any up in frames in my games, only when I overclock my GPU is when I see some up in frames.


Benchmarks

Speaking of the GPU, The GTX 260M may be a notch below the GTX 280m a bit but it's no slouch. It can pump out some awesome graphics and great frames! I will note that Asus only put a Band-Aid on the downclocking issue the G71GX-RX05 had in the beginning of its life with the bios update 1201 but kinda didn't fix the problem fully. It now only downclocks whenever you wake the computer up from Sleep Mode, but I usually restart my computer often to have more available resources for my games. Besides that quirk, below are a few benchmarks for ya'll to enjoy ! These are maxed out settings and resolutions with no anti-aliasing and the CPU and GPU are being overclocked. I also reserved a post below this review just in case anyone wants me to do more benchmarks of games. No Source games will be done whatsoever, so don't ask - those games run max on just about anything. Anyway, hope ya'll like the benchmarks !

3DMark 06 Underclocked (Asus stock) GTX 260m


3DMark 06 True (Simliar to Sager NP8862) GTX 260m


Crysis DX9 High


Crysis DX10 Very High


Crysis DX9 CUUDATS 2.21 Mod w/ Tod Custom (EVERY CRYSIS OWNER MUST INSTALL! Averages 30+ Frames!)
http://www.incrysis.com/forums/viewt...p?id=23117&p=1


Resident Evil 5 DX9


Resident Evil 5 DX10


Street Fighter IV


Devil May Cry 4 DX9


Devil May Cry 4 DX10



Conclusion

Now a few people on this forum knew what I was going through in trying to choose between this laptop and it's 15" sibling (G51VX- RX05) but not only that but the G71GX-RX05 is a highly sought item and was really hard to find, sold out in just about every Best Buy I went to. I literally had to drive 30 minutes from my local Best Buy to another one in another town that had ONLY ONE in order to get my hands on mine. Despite the up in price (yeah, that upset me but I got over it) and difficulty in finding one, would I recommend it? With an Enthusiastic YES! I would have to say that with this being my first laptop (always been with desktops) and first in store computer purchase (always bought online), this has been the best computer I've bought in a while! Love the size of the laptop, like having a gaming rig I can move around the house instead of being chained to a room, specs are great, just an overall awesome laptop purchase anyone can make! If you have the money and can find the laptop, don't hesitate to make the purchase.

Pros:
+ Great design
+ Great specs out of the box
+ Comfortable Full keyboard with numberpad
+ Eats games for breakfast
+ Some will like the size of the 17" of being big (looks like a 19")
+ Large 17.1" screen will satisfy most

Cons:
- Trackpad buttons a bit stiff
- Low Resolution and viewing angles may not please a few
- Side flaps might annoy a few people
- Some may not like the big size of the laptop (15" prefered)
- Downclocks GPU after waking up from Sleep Mode


Side note: The speakers on the computer are good but I'm a fan of EAX (Sort of reverb, I know...), Alchemy (Enabling Direct Sound 3D in some games), and my 5.1 Headphones (don't knock it until you try it). I chose to grab the external X-FI 5.1 Surround to satisfy my wants and It is definitely a big improvement over the on-board sound card. Very good purchase in my opinion (be sure to grab the beta drivers though, stable drivers are crackly) and it doesn't hit your frames as hard as some people say. You lose about maybe 5 frames or less but I overclock the cpu to compensate, still recommend others to give the external sound card a go.

Thanks goes out to bob1182006 and Sunnyc90 for your reviews, I kinda meshed your review's formats together in order to have a sort of outline when writing my review.

[da1writer]

TEMPS

Idle Temps


Heavy Temps w/ Crysis - 5 loops, DX10, Maxed everything even AA

[Soviet Sunrise]

Now here's a real review that isn't all benchmarks or links to other guides. This is a well done review told straight from the user's mouth. Great review, da1writer. 8/10.

[da1writer]

Thanks , I tried to get this review done as soon as I could, apologies go out to those who were waiting...
Now if only E.B.E notices this review and adds it/updates his review index !

[MasterShake89]

thanks for the review, it seems pretty accurate according to my experiences with my g71gx. just wish i could get the clocks on my card up to the sager's clocks..

[Abula]

Nice review, im glad you finally gor your G71.

Btw hows your temps, whats the highest you seen while gaming/benchmarking?

[da1writer]

Originally Posted by Abula

Nice review, im glad you finally gor your G71.

Btw hows your temps, whats the highest you seen while gaming/benchmarking?

Wish granted, look above and you should see two tests so far.
I'm not too familiar with furmark and when I tried the stability test (maxing out the AA), the temps started to scare me ! I don't believe ANY game will ever give me those temps furmark was, Crysis seems to be the heaviest I've seen in regards to temps when it comes to the games I have...

Thanks for answering my pm by the way, NZXT is now on order ! I'll do some more Temperature tests after I get it.

[Abula]

Originally Posted by da1writer

Wish granted, look above and you should see two tests so far.
I'm not too familiar with furmark and when I tried the stability test (maxing out the AA), the temps started to scare me ! I don't believe ANY game will ever give me those temps furmark was, Crysis seems to be the heaviest I've seen in regards to temps when it comes to the games I have...

Thanks for answering my pm by the way, NZXT is now on order !

well yea, furmark will push your gpu beyond what any game might. Hope you try it again once you get your cooler, i also got scared past 10min, but with the cooler seem fine.

Backpack- Still deciding

BTW, when i had my G71 i bought 2, Targus TXL617 17 XL Notebook Backpack and Kensington 62348 Contour Roller Carrying Case, the Roller case is what i endup using for all day moving, it fits tight on the laptop slot, but still fits fine and very secure. The XL Bagpack is also good, just also needed one to take gaming stuff around n the cryo so i used it for that, but it works fine also for laptop, its cheap and huge, for $45 i don't think there is something better for a 17''.

[da1writer]

To everyone who checked out the unboxing video, I'm sorry that Youtube killed my Audio, I had Disturbed's Indestructible song in the background :/...

@Abula: The Targus IS what I'm eyeing right now actually , haven't picked it up yet because wife says I've spent enough accessories on the laptop so far (External soundcard, Headphones, and now the cooler). She says maybe next month or so I can get the backpack, lol.

[da1writer]

Thanks E.B.E for replying to my PM, hope to see my review in your index soon. Oh, and as requested, all pictures have been reduced to about 70% of their original size and have been reuploaded to the review !