ASUS G50VT-X1 with Nvidia 9800M Review and Initial Impression

This is my first attempt at posting anything longer than a short reply, so bear with me, I know there are lots of you that are excited about the new Asus G50VT-X1 that was just released at Bestbuy, I sure was. Rushed and purchased one, took some pictures and share with everyone.

Intel P8400 Montevina 2.26 Ghz 3mb cache (TDP 25 watts)
4GB 800Mhz Ram
320gb 7200RPM HD
512MB Nvidia 9800M video card with DDR 3 Ram.
15.6 LCD at 1366 x 768.
Intel Wireless-N
Windows Vista Premium 64 bits.

Initial Impression
Silver and Black is very classy, blue LED light accented touch pad and LCD cover remotely reminds someone of Alienware computer, but more classy and subtle. Case was made very sturdy, there will not be any chasis flex if you hold the notebook with one hand. Keyboard (individual key) have slight flex to it but nothing to worry about and the LCD hinge is tight with no flex/play whatsoever.

Weight and Battery
Bestbuy site advertise this to be 7.3 pounds, holding the notebook with battery inserted (6 cell 4800mh), it feels nowhere near 7.3 pounds, I have not weight it, but my feeling is the 7.3 pounds weight is including the power brick which is not so small, but just the notebook itself weight no difference than any other 15.4 inches laptop. With HP DV5T 15.4 in laptop and this Asus in either hand and eyes close, I would not be able to tell which one is heavier. BUT! the width may hinder you from carrying it in a tailored fit notebook bag for 15.4 inches as this one is wider.

Heat and Noise
HW monitor shows idle CPU temperature at 35/33 each core and 9800 GPU idle temperature of 46C and HDD at 38C. I have not tried gaming so I can not gauge the temperature under load. The vent on left hand side feels cool actually. My previous Gateway P6860FX with 8800GTS constant blew hot wind, but G50 wind was barely warm if at all. At bottom of the computer there is a 5 inches meshed opening that resembles a subwoofer or speaker. It is actually a vent that sucks in cold air from the bottom to cool the laptop. Mind you guys, I have this laptop elevated with a DVD box at the back of laptop , I'm sure this helps with lowering the temperature a great deal.

I have owned DELL XPS M1330, M1530, Gateway FX 6830 (sold), HP Pavilion DV5T (returned due to backlight leakage and lag). I can say this notebook is the most quiet of them all. Yes you read it right, Asus G50 with 9800 card that runs cooler and is more quiet than HP DV5T with 9600 video card. I'm not sure how Asus achieved it, but they have been in business as long as I can remember, and being from Taiwan myself, I know the quality and reputation that helped built propelled Asus to top notebook builder. Last word on noise, you can leave this laptop on beside you while sleeping, it is that quiet.

SCREEN
at 1366x 768 this may hold some of the buyers back. I agree I would rather have a slightly higher resolution LCD panel, but at 1249, it can not be beat. Font and picture look absolutely gorgeous and note pixelated. There are absolutely no dead pixel and no backlight leakage. Just my personal opinion, 9800M video card coupled with 1366 x 768 is a smart move. This combination will enable this notebook to play any game any highest setting with no lag. (not sure about crysis) I rather have a good GPU and acceptable resolution that will churn out grate detail and frame rate than to have a super high resolution but lagging game play.

SEAKERS
Altac Lansing speakers do not disappoint, this is the first laptop I have ever owned that has a speaker remotely resembling surround sound and with mid and high. Albeit no base, but this is a notebook. Overall listening to music is a pleasure on this.

VIDEO CARD (YEA BABY! I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE WAITING FOR THIS SECTION)
Per bestbuy web site, this G50 sports an Nvidia 9800M GS video card. I do now know this particular model, but who can keep up with Nvidia? Without making any guess, I tested it via GPUZ you guys can see from the picture. GPUZ shows this to be a 9800M GT???? while I certainly won't complain having a GT but i'm not holding my breath either. Since this is a new GPU, internet database might not have been updated yet. GPU Core 530Mhz, Memory at 1.6 Ghz and Shader Clock at 1.325 Ghz. Of course it is 512MB at DDR 3. Once again, I have not tested this card under with any game, so I can not speak for its performance.

WEB Cam and Miscellaneous Ports.
Web cam is clear and crisp and G50 sports 3 USB port and 1 E-SATA and 1 1394 ports. 2 Heaset plug and 1 microphone plug and the usual multi-card reader is also included.

Bundled Software
Initial impression was there were some bloatware installed, nowhere near what HP and SONY bundle their laptop with. After careful examination, I realized they are utilizes tailored for this laptop. I won't list them all, but there are software that change this laptop to Max/High performance Mode, Quiet Mode, Multimedia mode. This software throttles the CPU usage and speed to a certain percentage for battery and heat conservation. There is another software that enables user to set the OLED panel above keyboard to display RAM, CPU usage as well as MSN MESSENGER and other incoming message should one come in during gaming. One more software changes the lighting to flashing, no led light or constantly on. Overall its very very neat.

HDD/DVD drive
HDD is very quiet, I can not hear it running, it is 320GB but partitioned into two in typical asus fashion. DVD drive is fast and quiet with normal acceptable dvd drive noise, nothing too special here with one exception with 1. at 1249, Asus was able to put in a 7200RPM HD, now that greatly reduces seek and boot up time.

PROS:
Sturdy built, QUIET!!!, quality speakers, top notch design, 9800 video card.

CONS:
Big power adapter, width may not allow this to be accomodated in a 15.4 in laptop bag. Some bloatware.

CONCLUSION:
I'm a tech fanatic, I average one new laptop every 3-6 months, not including the desktops I replace. It's safe to say I have owned about every brand of laptop at one time or another. This particular Asus G50 is very well built. The fit, finish and overall WOW factor beats the Gateway FX, Dell XPS M1530, HP DV5T, Dell Inspiron (yes I owned them all and speaking from experience). Just when I thought nothing can top Gateway FX's price/performance and spec ratio, this Asus comes along and beat them all. I will continue to post picture and update as days go by and after I load COD4, perhaps even red alert 3 and cod5 when it comes out. Once again, this is my first attempt at posting a long review, please correct me if any mistakes were made and I will try to answer any questions. Hope this will help any potential buyers.

 

Is it just me or is this an insanely good bang for the buck deal?

 

9800M GS, 15.6"/7.2lbs, $1250. Yes, I'd say it was. However, I think, after my MSI, I'm done with gaming laptops. They just are not my style.

I must admit I was tempted by this though.

 

It is a great deal.

Yeah I agree, I'd bring a desktop on a plane if I could...

Well, what are you waiting for? - i kidd

 

how does this best the gateway 7811 on 1250$ (sale) ?
without benchmarks or runing games this post seems premature to draw conclusions. give us some 3dmark06 (external monitor possible ?)

nice looking, congrats

 

Well, among other things through the fact that the Gateway P-7811 is no longer on sale.

 

you are right, however me thinks even@1360 the 7811 blows this away@bang 4 buck. but 2 each his own...

some guy posted@gateway forum to buy 7811@1159

 

It would if it were a new laptop, but at $1359, it is an Outlet item --> not new.

 

few more pictures....I'm still loading programs, cleaning out junk programs and stream line the softwares, so probably no gaming review tonight, but I have a few more pictures to share.

 

Excellent review! I'm really digging the color scheme of the G50Vt. I think it looks much more conservative than the G50V, yet more powerful. I'm surprised to hear that it runs very quite. I remember the G50V being quite loud, especially during load.
A few questions/requests come to mind: How's the battery life? Could you possibly run a few benchmarks? ie 3dmark06, HDTune, SuperPi?

 

yep 3dmark06 + hwmonitor temps. orthos32 + temps.

btw

the clocks on this gpu seems very similar to those on the 9700m gts...
and the device id is 10DE - 062 A (9700gts) Device ID: 10DE - 062 B (9800GS)

 

Guys, since I am about to buy a new notebook in the very near future, how do you think ASUS G50VT-X1 compares to the MSI GT735 ( http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009297)?

I think it will ultimately be one of those two that I purchase. Which graphics card is more powerful? I know the ASUS wins on the processor side and has faster RAM, but is it a huge difference in actual practice?

 

running 3D mark, standby for score. And yea.. 9800 and 9700 are not too far apart, but one major difference would be 9800 is 256 bits which doubles the 9700 o 128 bits, its one very noticeable difference bandwidth difference.

 

Doubling the bus width to 256 sounds like it could an impact, yes.

 

3Dmrak 2006 score is 8566 at 1280 x 720 resolution, I'm using the free version so I could not custom tweak it, and its set to this default. Plus I did not put computer in extreme turbo mode (overclock) to test it, gonna give this computer time to break in also I think score will be higher if i did a clean install.

HW Monitor right after the test shows CPU at 49/48C respectively and GPU at 75C, not bad at all. During the test, fan was pushed to high gear but still not considered loud at all.

Verdict: so far so good

 

here's proof

 

Good stuff!

 

theres only 3 usb? i was hoping 4 (one in the back)

 

OPS I stand corrected, just looked at the back, there is #4 USB! hahaha total 4 USB ports. Whoa. my gateway FX at 17 in only gave me 3....

 

haha cool!

does this laptop support bluetooth?

 

no blueooth.......cant have everything at 1249, but since god gave you 4 USB........1 of them for bluetooh adapter?

 

um.. that's a new G71 on your wallpaper

 

do you know how long the battery life is? say like internet surfing, gaming when you get some time?

 

oh cause the G50Vm-X1 i thought had blue tooth so i was thinking this one would also but its no biggie

 

FYI guys ... Gentech will have the G50VT-a2 in Nov.

"Hi David,
Yes we will, the G50Vt-A2 will be available on November.

Ken

David wrote:

Hello,

I was wondering when you will have the Asus G50Vt-a2 in stock. I saw that Bestbuy already has the scaled down G50Vt-X1 version for sale, but I wanted one more along the lines of the G50v-A2.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050279&type=product&id=1218012519873 <http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050279&type=product&id=1218012519873>

Thanks,
David
"

Also, can you confirm that it has HDMI? Thanks. I also like the styling allot better. I work at a law firm so the orange would look weird meeting with clients. I am going to get a sticker to cover up the lid on this one. I don't care about looks, but I love Asus build quality. Great company.

 

1) Can't say about battery life, battery gotta charge a few cycles first so Ill comment on that later. But dont expect a miracle. P8400 sips power but 9800 is usually quite power hungry.

2) HDMI? Check. I'm looking at the HDMI port right now, its on the left side...

 

Please do post your thoughts on battery life! I prefer the looks on the G50VT, but if battery life is going to be worse, then I'd rather get the G50V now. I really do need a new laptop!

 

I have a question - does the 2 year asus warranty apply to the best buy purchases?

I want to get it tommorow, but.... not if warranty sucks.

 

The G50Vt has nearly the same gpu (just slightly downclocked) and weighs what, a full 2lbs less? I'd take a 5% cut in GPU performance (OC it to GTS clocks if you really need to) to save 20% in weight. Just my opinion. Plus, the Asus is likely better built.

 

Sounds almost exactly like the G50v but with a different case, how much does it actually differ from the G50v-X1?

Resolution is good, I just got the G50v-A2 but if this had been available I might have gotten it. Both powerhouse laptops though. I like my BD-rom I suppose.

Price seems unmatched for what you get.

 

wait wait wait!!!! didnt anyone notice? His benchmarks say 9800m GT!

 

2) HDMI? Check. I'm looking at the HDMI port right now, its on the left side...

thanks for checking

 

read his previous posts. that was the first thing he noticed about his comp. . he attributes that to maybe nvidia not updating their database. the 3dmark scores prove this is lower then GTS. probably a last minute effort by NV to fix the overheating problems.

 

Also, when you get a chance, can you please screen shot the mainboard tab in cpu-z. I want to know if it has the same revision compared to the G50V.

 

i get 8700 on my GTS 3dmark so something is wrong the gts must really be called gs now.

 

BUT WAIT WAIT WAIT RED DRAGON (sorry for the caps, i had to ), he got 8500 at the lowest res possible for 3dmark06. Thats good, but that translates to about 7300 at the normal res (1200*1000) 3dmark06 uses. And keep in mind the 9700m GT got 7200 at 1440*900 for 3dmark06. Thats not a huge upgrade. Hell, even the 9700m GTS is more powerful than the 9800m GS. Curse Nvidia's naming scheme!

 

To answer a question on the previous page, no, BestBuy does not offer the 2year global ASUS warranty, nor the 1 year Accidental Damage Protection.

This is replaced by a BestBuy warranty of 1 year, I think.

Just to make it very clear, so that people know what they're getting.

And by the way, nice review. Moving it to the Owner Lounges and Reviews subforum.

 

That silver is looking good.

I'm not sure whether to be happy I bought the G50V when I did. I was against the colour scheme but so totally for the twin HDDs and GPU that didn't completely suck.

Then again, if I waited, I would have to pay much for a laptop now due to the crappy exchange rates that happened not long ago.

 

exactly my thought, I took the 2-3 pounds weight reduction in exchange for from 9800GTS to 9800GS. I had the FX which was an awsome machine but in most cases simply not portable , might as well have a desktop instead.

OK important info here. Most of the ASUS i know have 2 years warranty standard, but this one from bestbuy very clearly stated on a label at bottom of the laptop says WARRANTY 12 MONTHS. This one has 12 month warranty not the usual 24 month asus people are used to. No worry for me, I purchase all my laptop and expensive gadgets with american express. They double the warranty for up to either 2 or 3 years I forgot, so I have 2 years warranty on this laptop.

It does, however, come with 24/7 tech support for the duration of the warranty.

 

Hi, I'm new on this forum. I'm seriously considering buying this laptop, but real game benchmarks would be really useful. Synthetic benchmarks like 3dmark usually don't translate too well to real game performance.

 

You are right on the benchmark, but they remain synthetic. I will try it out this weekend (im at work.. on saturday), but 9700 card, even GTS is still 128 bits. Whereas 9800M is 256 bits, pure synthetic benchmark doesnt tell the whole story. Ill take 9800 with 256 bits anyday over a more benchmark friendly 9700M GTS. 256 bits improves real life game play.

 

do forgive my curiosity, how do you know you have 256bit bandwidth ?

********edit
seems the 9700m gts has 256bit bandwidth aswell, look here

 

I stand corrected on one account. 9700MGT is 128 bits but 9700M GTS is 256 bits. I can't pinpoint exactly where I saw it before but the X800 series like 8800, 9800... thats designated with 800 at the end are all higher end chips and support 256 bits. Whereas lots of the X600 X700 (i.e. 8600 9600, 9700) are all 128 bits, once again with 9700M GTS being the exception in X700 series chip.

hey just suddenly saw something.. check this out. 9700M GTS spec, the core, memory, and shader speed are all the same spec as 9800M chip in the Asus. ONE difference being 9700M GTS chip has 48 stream processors. Normally 9800 series chips sports 64 stream processor, now I wonder whether 9800M in asus is a downclocked 9800MGTS and has 64 processor or a remake, or a slightly improved 9700M GTS ? key point would be to find out the number of stream processor, hope Nvidia will publish the spec soon.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9700M-GTS.9899.0.html

 

thats my suspicion, a re branded 9700m gts. not to say its a bad card, quite the opposite. but those nvidia marketing tricks...

 

FIRST slight problem

Keyboard feels nice, but for some reason, some keystrokes are not registering. Meaning during typing a document or email, I would have to press harder on some keys in order for the letter to show, if I just use normal force as I use on regular keyboard and laptop, I would be missing some letters here and there. Seems like I would have to press down harder on this keyboard. I'm hoping this is just a break in period, will update.

 

Isn't this the wellknown M50/G50 keyboard problem? It has something to do with the touchpad driver, if so. Check the G50 Owner's Lounge 1st post, there is a link there to a thread discussing it, as well as the M50 keyboard thread -- both these are linked from the info booth.

 

thx for the post...just saw the M50 problem thread,,,, that sucks! hope i'm not gonna have the same issue, will try after work after I get home. I'm kinda anal about computer, I rather get a new one than to try to fix it, as long as it's within the 14 day return/exchange period.......lets pray..

 

If this is the problem, you're better off trying to fix it as the new one is just as likely to have it.

 

my bad, new one as in do all kinda test and game on this one and test the ability then return it within the allowed period and get a different gaming laptop

 

WoooW great laptop for 1250$

I was thinking about getting the gateway but this one might be my new laptop

I just need to sell my acer....ooooh

The only annoying thing is why they didnt include a DDR3 ram instead of DDR2

Ist gonna cost mush more??.....also does it really improve the performance?

Geat review by the way + Congratz + Need some (CRYSIS) benchmarks

Also if you can try to overclock it a bit and get another 3dmark06 score that would be nice

peace...