ASUS G74SX Owners' Lounge

OK so i figure ill start a thread for this new model now. Ill post a honest, stright up review on this as im buying the best buy version of this today i had the g73sw-bst6 so ill post comparisons and benchmarks let me know what you all want to know about it

 

Reserved for review

 

Got my G74SX-XR1 a few days ago to replace my G73SW-XR1..



heres the WEI with intel 320 SSD

 

@vexvegaz
What lcd panel does it have? I assume it's either the CMO or Hannstar. You can use HWINFO32 to check.

Nice pics btw, :>


EDITeveryone,

Best Buy gimped GTX560m
The G74SX at best buy for the GTX560m video card. only has a 2gig, 128bit memory bus for a total of 40gb bandwidth. While online and at Microcenter/Fry's, the G74 has the 3gb 192bit bus for a total of 60gb bandwidth. This increase will help games not be bottlenecked on high resolutions. The best buy G74 only has a 1600x900 screen, so it may not be that noticeable, but if you want to game on a higher resolution, thats where the memory bandwidth will come into play. So beware of this major change, it is much worth it to spend a little extra money to get the full 192bit bus the GTX560m is supposed to come with.


Cooling
The G74 is a little bit louder than the G73 by about 1db on idle and about 3 more db on load.





Small review/Gaming vid

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KWdaTITfn38?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='560' height="349">
(video by GenTechPC)


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nj__xoH3JnY?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='560' height="349">
(Crysis 2 on Asus G74SX GTX560M 3GB @ 940/1880/1500 Gamer/Hardcore)


Reviews/Pics of the insides

This is a review of the 3d version, Asus G74SX review – new gaming laptop, more powerful than ever

Pics of the insides courtesy of Ken Lee from GenTechPC - http://forum.notebookreview.com/7657464-post654.html
(Note: As you will see from the pics above^^, the 560m is built into the mainboard of the G74, this means you will not be able to switch out the video card for anything else.)

 

Ordered my G74SX-A1 a couple days ago from newegg. This will be my first experience with ASUS, so I'm anxious to try it out. Coming from an '07 E1705, it should be much faster Also picked up a Crucial SSD to try out with it. I'll post up with first impressions when it arrives.

Question, and I realize this isn't the 3DE version, so no 3D display - but if I run HDMI out to my Samsung 3D LED-LCD TV, can I game in 3D? Also play 3D Blu-ray movies on the TV from the laptop?

 

Yup, you should be able to, it has a 1.4hdmi port, which allows for 3d, as well as the 560m supports 3d. Basically, the 3de model just comes with a 120hz 3d capable lcd panel, with shutter glasses/built in adapter. So the main 3d part is the GPU, which with a 3d capable hdmi port, it should work fine.

 

looks like i have the CMO panel
Monitor Name: N173HGE-L21 CMO N173HGE-L21


EDIT: One thing i just noticed and it may not be a big deal for many, is that there is no longer a sub-woofer. i actually miss it, it was a great feature and made the sound much better.

 

I will be purchasing this before I begin my senior year in Geology. I am getting this primarily for ArcGIS work and Digital Image Analysis. Secondarily for the specifications allowing serious performance while gaming. Tertiarily for the blue-ray movies. Work and entertainment.

I Should have a review up in less than 2 months. I am upgrading from a 2007 HP DV9535nr. This will be a major upgrade.

 

hmm, this or g53sx 3D, keep in mind that g53sx has a glasses free 3d

 

Vesa, I think the real factor you have to decide on first is if you want a 15" or 17" screen. At least that's how I started narrowing my decision down. Personally I would go with the G74 because I dig the new KB layout and I enjoy a bigger screen for my gaming.

 

Really? There's no more subwoofer for the G74? That's kinda sad really. It sounds really great on the G73.

 

I am looking to get one of these, either the 15 incher or the 17.

I have a question in terms of customising the SSD.

As I don't have the budget for two SSDs for the two hard drive bays, I am looking to go with an SSD for the primary drive and a HDD for the secondary drive. This is the best combo for best performance, right? Thanks!

 

Although I'm not an owner of the G74, I do own a G73. My G73 runs with an SSD as its primary drive and the hybrid drive it came with as its second drive. I can confirm that is a really good combo for performance and budget.

 

Thanks mate for your feedback. So obviously you have to install games on the HDD since your SSD capacity is limited?

 

Well, in my case, all programs are on the SSD. I got a 115gb SSD for a sweet deal so it's not too limited. I don't have many games anyway.

The most important thing is that the OS is on the SSD. It really depends on the capacity that you buy.

 

Vergil is spot on on both posts, From what I have read you want to leave about 40% of the drive free. Also a great idea to move the pagefile to the HDD. and disable hibernation. Please see this link for a comprehensive list of tweaks
Kudos to Meetloaf13 for hooking us up!
The SSD Optimization Guide | The SSD Review

If you use steam and the SSD is less that 100 GIG Yes, install steam to the HDD. I have 80 GIG (74.5 usable) and only keep the OS, a few smaller programs and my favorite game - NFS Shift.

 

well mine was buggy as hell so i just wiped out both hard drives and reinstalled windows 7 fresh with the drivers. One thing though, i seem to not be able to update the new graphics drivers via nvidia's site. everytime i attempt to update them it said it cannot fine a compatible gpu. so im stuck using driver version 268.37 any clue why ?

 

same score with my G73SW mine scored 7.3

same screen too with my G73SW. CMO lcd quality is great. very contrast

 

you can try the beta drivers
NVIDIA DRIVERS 275.50 BETA

 

@vexvegaz

Will you be making a full review of your new machine?

Would love to hear first hand experience with the machine.

 

no way..im not much of a reviewer. im sure there will be someone more capable that reviews this laptop

 

Thanks for reply g53sx is 15,6 inch and g74sx is 17,3 inch so the difference is 1,7 inch which is not a deal breaker issue (at least for me). The KB is really great (thats what i call a gaming KB!!) but glasses free 3d is very charming. I haven't decided yet but i am at %55 g53sx, %45 g74sx so iam still not sure, actually not sure at all

 

I think the main reason to stay away from the 53SX is the fact it will have a 128bit 560m. I seriously can't believe they did that. Maybe they will change, but if you see that it has only 2gb of vram, do NOT buy it, that is the gimped 128bit bus gpu. Basically you lose 20gigs of bandwidth, 8 ROPs, and about 5 GPixel/s and 2 GTexel/s all because of them going 128bit vs the standard 192bit bus the 560m is supposed to have.

 

OMG I did not know this, and was thinking of getting the G73 over the G74!

Did they also do this with the previous gen with the 460M cards?

 

yes i know that, and if gtx 560m in g53sx has a 128 bit bus i will NEVER buy it, but i heard that they can put 64 bit memory controllers instead of 32 so it still can be 192 bit, we'll see when they release it. (thanks to gpu-z)

 

no exept some best buy models, also i would suggest waiting till they release g53sx

 

Looks good so far, should be a worthwhile replacement for my almost 3 year old G71.

 

Concerning the review...
Mid to high 80's is what I expected, although I would of liked to see it reach 88% just to quiet the G73 owners...hehe! Still a very good rating as new drivers are released we should see some improvements over the review model.

I wonder why they used the Sentelic Touchpad instead of the normal Synaptics pad? Hopefully the multi touch issues will be addressed in the updated V9.0.6.2 driver that is now available from Asus.

While the bench marks are slightly behind the GT780R...once we over clock our GPU it should surpass those numbers easily.

Throttling or built-in governor mode on CPU. Seems to not affect game play so much anymore but only during stress testing. But the other reviewer (gaming rig) did notice some throttling during game play, so time will tell.

Emissions may be on the higher side compared to G73 but so long it cools the components...all is ok with me. Rather hear the fan than suffer from higher temps.

@Chastity....Seems you have a challenge on you're hands! Break out the paste....and if necessary the LN2!!! Haha!! was watching some extreme over clocking vids..

 

I think you meant to post in this thread climo, http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/557761-asus-rog-g74-coming-69.html

But s'all good :>, just wanted to point out that throttling WILL affect games, just not all games like the G73 throttling. So far I haven't heard any complaints from BFBC2 players about throttling on the G53/73SW. Yet games like GTA4, SC2, WoW, and even L4D2 definitely have it. So I just think the reviewer didn't do much testing. Either way, Asus will prob roll out a BIOS to fix it like they better/should be doing with the SW.

So yeah, other than that, the review was a pretty good read, still hard to believe Asus made it louder, and put the 560m onto the mainboard(IE, no switching it out).


@everyone else, this is the review we are referring to.
Review Asus G74SX-3DE Gaming Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

@dkillone
Yeah, I was going to post it there, but since we have our own Lounge now, I figured it was better here. No worries!!

Upgraded drivers, over clocking of the GPU, and faster 1600/1866 ram will definitely improve the performance of this system. Can't wait for mine to arrive, URGH!!!

About the G73SW...Has anyone been successful upgrading the GPU? I read somewhere that it uses a proprietary board only used by Asus.

Here's another review, not detailed as above..but good read. I would like to see a screen review of the glossy, not the matte version.
http://www.gamingrig.com/asus-g74sx-3d-review-44/

 

@climo,
Ah, I see, understood then. Yeah, overclocking the gtx560m is where you'll see the most shine out of it. I don't think anyone with a SW has even tried to swap out the gpu, but I know JH/JW owners have semi switched it out for a 6970m. However, they do have to use a modded heatsink, I think the card itself fits fine though. So not 100% how the asus proprietary board ends up changing things, but guess not enough to stop other cards from fitting. It's just a matter of the card fitting the heatsink and then having a compatible BIOS/vbios.

So, I guess while the G74 will not even have a chance of upgrading, it doesn't really seem G73 owners have had much luck switching out cards anyways. It's just nice to have hope, rather than know it will never happen.

And Indeed, that review is pretty nice as well, I actually PMed the guy since he posts here, and thats how I found out about the G74 throttling. He was kind enough to run the test, and it acted the exact same as the G73sw, so I know it will have real world throttling problems. It's just a matter of getting Asus to recognize that and then roll out a new bios to fix it. For now though, ThrottleStop 3.001 stops any throttling, so problem is self fixable.

Those upgrades will indeed be nice, but I'd suggest a SSD over upgrading ram to 1600/1866 first. That would be a much more noticeable change.

As for the glossy screen, seems it will be about the same as the SW. You can either get the CMO panel, or the Hannstar, hopefully you/everyone will get the CMO panel since that has the least amount of bleed. While still having the great blacks/colors and viewing angles the Hannstar did. Guess you'll find out when you get it. :>

 

Can an owner comment on the fan/operational noise of the G74, as it was mentioned in the NBC review? I don't particularly care about it under load, but I get the feeling that noise at idle would drive me crazy given how much it will be on.

 

Unless you're an extremely nitpicky individual, the "fan noise," if you can even call it that, wont bother you. I feel like some people on these forums are a bit too overly critical. Yes, if all is silent and you focus only on the fans you can hear a slight hum, but compared to my macbook or my desktop I consider it non existent.

 

I have got 2 questions

1_ Why did g74sx fall behind of the Msi GT780r
2_ How does gtx 560m beat hd 6970m in some games and benchmarks?

 

From what I've read here on NBR:
1. The GTX560m is slightly over clocked from MSI resulting in higher scores
2. I think some games are optimized for Nvidia therefore will perform better than Radeon graphic cards. Not sure about the benchmarks but could be related to driver versions.

 

hmm so how much does MSI o.c the gtx 560m?

 

Here's the MSI GPU-Z screen from page 56.

 

for some reason the realtek software does not have the option to change the enviorment. you know like stadium, lobby, auditorioum, live, rock, pop. any clue why?

 

G74SX-A1 arrived this afternoon. It's purdy My first Asus so anxious to dive into it. Played around with it for a little bit, but decided to jump in and get the SSD installed. This thing seems very quick coming from an old '07 dell e1705.

It will take me a bit to get used to the large touchpad. I'm used to resting both hands on the machine and my left palm keeps touching the pad area screwing things up.

I've seen a few asking about fan noise. At idle I really have to be looking for it to notice anything. To me it's very quiet. Haven't got it under any load yet so can't speak to that. That'll come tomorrow

 

My G74 should be here next week! When I get the chance I'll make sure to post some impressions as well. XD

 

I just received my Asus G74sx-A1 today. The unit is pretty nice

Couple issues unfortunately:

1. 50% of the time the "0" key doesn't doesn't register.

2. A green Stuck pixel in the lower center portion of the screen :/

I've installed a OCZ Vertex 3 120gb so far so good.


However I'm not sure if I should RMA unless I can fix the pixel and the key.

 

stuck pixel or dead pixel my nightmare about screens

 

hey when you guys are getting a ssd are you reinstalling windows fresh on that drive? if so dont that remove the recovery partiion? also i assume you all leave the regular drive for your games or do you use the ssd for that as well ?

 

Something defnitely up with the wireless.. playing around with speedtest with both the asus and the old dell side by side, I can't get the asus to pull down a download speed of more than 1.5Mbps, where the dell is pretty consistant at around 9-10Mbps.. Think I may have a bum card in here. I first noticed something was up while trying to update steam games on this machine. Low dl speeds and lots of stop/starts. hmm..

edit: must just be something that it doesnt like about my wireless router. N mode works fine with the dell lappy, but not with the G74. Forced the G74 wireless config to b/g mode only and speeds are back up to match the dells - 9-10Mbps.

 

Yeah it's complete BS. I tried using software, the massage, tapping and pressure methods none of them worked on the stuck pixels.

 

drinkjetfuel; It's a hassle of having to wait longer but can't you get a free screen replacement due to the "ASUS Zero Bright Dot 30 Day Pixel Guarantee"? Btw, if you don't mind me asking where did you buy your laptop?

 

Amazon once they get some in stock they'll replace my unit.

 

saw this on notebookcheck (nvidia gtx570m)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

This gpu got the same 75 Watt (TDP including the MXM board and memory). Same category as with 460 and 560m model's.

I'm just wondering if this GPU can fit with an asus g74 (for future upgrades). If in case 560m (with 128bit only) cant handle games with high res at high fps.

 

The 560M in the G74 is part of the motherboard, so unfortunately not.

 

Yes Gpu's is part of the motherboard but Asus uses mxm boards for their gaming series laptops, G73's uses an mxm board (ati 5870m, nvidia 460m), and some people who owns a g73 swaps their gpu's from ati 5870 to nvidia 460M and vice versa.

That's why I don't see why G74 series cant be. Unless you going for an ati 6970m card. Its got a different layout design mxm board.