Asus G72GX RBBX05 Laptop (Best Buy model)

Forgive me if this has already been asked, but does the G72 have two hard drive bays? If so, does anyone know if it supports raid?

 

It has two bays but I dont think it supports raid, might be wrong on that though.

 

It has two bays, but the second (front) bay needs the hard drive bracket assy. Technically it does support raid, well the chipset does but it may not be enabled in the bios, as I see no raid options there, but it is the correct chipset for it.

According to CPUID and Sisoft its reporting the Southbridge as the 82801JR (ICH10R) which is raid capable.

 

Just got mine (see sig) and im loving it so far! Used setfsb and got it stable at 3ghz

 

I just hate it that Asus is no longer doing the OLED on these new G series laptops

When I sell my G50vm-x1 its going to be a sad sight without OLED

 

about the second hard drive, does anyone think it's a good idea to get a ssd or just a regular hd at 7200rpm?

 

Since you cannot enable raid on this I would not bother with an SSD unless you just want a really fast system drive (SSD as primary and applications) and put storate and apps on the original drive as the second bay drive.... I personally would love to try an SSD but right now a 7200RPM drive would be better in the long run not to mention cheaper.

I have a second 7200RPM drive I am going to image my pri drive too then use the orignal for file storage. As soon as I can get a second bracket.

 

Has anyone had any stability issues (at stock clock speeds, I don't overclock), on the G72Gx?

I'm actually interested in the G72Gx-RBBX09 model with the 2GHz quad rather than the 2.53Ghz dual, but I don't see a specific thread for that.

Leaning away from the G51J-A1 because of all the instability issues I keep hearing about, and plus this is over $100 cheaper, and the 25% faster clock speed probably help make up for the older CPU, at least somewhat.

I push my hardware HARD though, Folding on both the CPU and GPU all the time.

My n80nv (with a lowly dual core Penryn and 32 core Nvidia) stands up to it flawlessly. Not ONE crash or issue in 8 months...which is crucial to me.

Oh, while I'm asking random questions-what AC adapter does the G72Gx ship with?

Newegg has two Asus adapters right now, a 180 and a 120 watt one, and neither lists this model as compatible.

 

No, the 1.6 should be much faster than the 2.0 Quad. This is because the 1.6 can intelligently throttle to up to 2.8ghz (single core), or in between steps of somewhere like 2.4ghz (3 cores active), 2ghz (2 cores active) depending on the situation.

For your purposes, it may or may not be the case if all you do is Folding @ Home (which costs you $hundreds of dollars a year by the way in electricity costs...).

 

Yeah, I'll be running it all the time, so it's not going to be clocking up. That's why I'm not sure if the 25% clock speed boost will basically help even out the more powerful CPUs.

It doesn't remotely cost hundreds of dollars though! It's not even noticeable on a bill...I mean my current laptop at MOST can only draw 90 watts, and the only difference is between what it costs at idle and full throttle, which isn't that huge of a deal.

Not to mention, it's incredibly important work, plus in the winter the minuscule extra power gets offset by heating the house a tiny amount bit.

 

hiya folks

does anyone know if it possible to upgrade the CPU to a T9900

I've never owned an asus before

thanks

 

yes, it can

 

Great review. I was thinking about a G71gx refurb, but I was sold with your review. Plus I've been in love with the chiclet keyboard ever since I first used one on my friends MBP. But thats the least of it, the performance is the greatest part of it. And eh, I'll get over fingerprints in a few days. Thanks for your review, helped me A LOT!

 

so guys im still unclear on the heat issue will the p-6915u run hotter then the asus or not?

 

If you mean the 7915u, no, the Gateway will run much cooler. There is no option to overclock the CPU on the Gateway however.

 

yea thats what i mean the 7915 lol

ohh man what a toughy right here lol
i have a 6860fx right now the hottest it ever got was 76c max load gpu on gaming.

do you have any links or reviews where it discuses the cooling for the 7915?

Also, how much cooler are we talking about?

 

No, but it's most likely identical inside with the 7805u, 7811, and perhaps even your old 6860... go to Gateway forums and look through the disassembly guide and reviews. There is a review of the 7908u (which has a slower processor and less storage than the 7915 I think).

 

ok cool thanks, which would you buy the g72gx or the 7915u if money wasn't an issue?

 

Neither... if I had to get a 17", I'd get an Alienware running a Quad Core over 3ghz... or a 15" Alienware M15x.

Between the two choices of G72 or 7915u (both are budget gaming laptops), I would get the Asus if you intend to overclock or upgrade the internals, the Gateway if you want to stay stock.

 

Wait, I thought Asus had better build quality and cooling than those Acer/Gateway's? I know I haven't heard of issues with Asus' stuff, except for that new G51j, which sounds like an unstable mess :-/

Personally I'd go for this g72gx any day over the Gateway. LED backlit screen and I'd trust it more, after how great my N80's been, and the lack of complaints about these.

 

yea thats what i like about the asus looks like a better build quality, the screen is better, and the back lit keyboard, but again the temprature thing scares me lol.

 

Hey eclypse can you please post tempratures while gamming on high settings?

thanks

 

Would the G72's backlit keyboard be compatible with the G71GXs? Im wondering about the dimensions and whether the backlit keyboards have any extra electrical connections...?

 

Sorry, I think I've asked this before, but does the G70 180 watt PSU sold on Newegg work with this model? I'm guess it must, but it ships with a 150 watt one, and for all I know it's yet another separate connector.

 

I don't know why people are saying the G72GX gets hotter than the Gateway P-78xx and 79xx...

From my experience, they are wrong. I just upgraded from a P-7805u (the 79xx uses the same exact chassis) and it got a LOT hotter than my Asus G72GX. Even under normal use my Gateway's touchpad and palmrest areas were warm to the touch.

The Gateway got much warmer, and to game with it I always had it on my Cryo NZXT. My Asus can game for hours straight without my cooler and it never gets warm to the touch at all, and the CPU/GPU operating temps are well within normal limits.

Also, I think the build quality and design features of the G72GX are far above the Gateway line (I absolutely loved my 7805u until I got my Asus). They are still still using the same chassis as the P-68xx... The Asus really is a better laptop all around.

Here's a chart I made. These are overclocked speeds: CPU 2.9Ghz / GPU 550/950/1375 (instead of 500/800/1250). I only use these settings when I'm on my NZXT, but the regular temps are listed also.

 

How do you think this stacks up to the G60VX?

 

whats everyones windows 7 rating?

I get
6.1
6.1
6.7
6.7
5.8

 

Mine is 9,000.

What were the actual numbers, though, if you can remember? Warm to the touch and warm as reported by monitoring programs can be different.

 

I don't think I kept any of the temperature screenshots I had...

But if I used it on a table or desk by itself, I know the GPU posted over 90C. The laptop just sits so close to the table it's hard for the fans to pull air. If I propped up the back of the laptop with a book or something, then the temps went way down. That's why I always used my NZXT when playing games. But still, the surface was uncomfortable to the touch. I think it was partly because of the HDD too. That spot on the palmrest was always pretty warm, even under normal use.

 

Those temps seem high to me 85 c on gpu...
darn i thought the Gateway had way better cooling..i dont doubt your personnel experience..but why do must people claim Gateway is cooler?
still trying to decide between the new Gateway and your asus model,
tx

 

Remember that those were overclocked speeds, not stock. That's why I use my NZXT whenever I run it overclocked.

If it's not overclocked the GPU temp peaked at 78C and the CPU at 62C with stock cooling.

 

The below is stock clocks, running wow on all high settings accept no full screen glow effects, death effects, and shadows on second to lowest setting.

CPUID HWMonitor Report
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

HWMonitor version 1.1.5.0

Monitoring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model G72GX (0x0000014F - 0x00028500)

LPCIO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware monitor ACPI
Temperature 0 49°C (120°F) [0xC96] (TZ00)

Hardware monitor Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700
Temperature 0 40°C (104°F) [0x3C] (Core #0)
Temperature 1 41°C (105°F) [0x3B] (Core #1)

Hardware monitor NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
Temperature 0 66°C (150°F) (GPU Core)

Hardware monitor ST950042 0AS
Temperature 0 33°C (91°F) [0x21] (Assembly)
Temperature 2 33°C (91°F) [0x21] (Air Flow)

Hardware monitor Battery 1
Voltage 0 16.58 Volts [0x40C2] (Current Voltage)
Capacity 0 74000 mWh [0x12110] (Designed Capacity)
Capacity 1 72135 mWh [0x119C7] (Full Charge Capacity)
Capacity 2 72135 mWh [0x119C7] (Current Capacity)
Level 0 3 pc [0x61] (Wear Level)
Level 1 100 pc [0x64] (Charge Level)

 

do you think it is worth it to overclock the 260m gtx to its stock settings,
and is it a good idea to even overclock it beyond that?

 

Overclocking the CPU to 2.9Ghz and the GPU to factory speeds, 3DMark06 went up to 11,561. At stock speeds it posted 10,191. Going beyond that would be fine as long as you stay within normal temps.

The change wasn't that huge, but it may allow you to bump up the resolution or maybe increase the AA one setting. Almost certainly you could re-tweak the in-game settings to get something better.

Are you sure those are load temps? Did you save a log and pick out max temp? Or did you quickly jet out of game and look at the temps? My CPU idle is 36C, GPU idle is 62C. Compared to your CPU load of 41C and GPU 66C??? Doesn't seem right at all.

They just look really low for load temps... or maybe WoW isn't a very demanding game??

 

In WOW with everything turned on my GPU hits 82-83c max but mostly it stays at 78c. Thats at asus stock speeds on my Asus G72GX RBBX09 with a Antec notebook cooler.

 

what is better for gaming the asus rbbx05 duel core or the asus rbbx09 quad??

 

thanks man for the advice, I think you are right
good luck : )

 

anyone know what is better for gaming the g72 rbb09 model or the g72 rbb05 model tell me please!

 

So can you tell what is the maxim frequency that the 260M GTX can be safely overclocked to?

and also what program can i use to measure the temperature of cpu/gpu ?

 

Well all cards are different so whats safe for some might not be for others, always do small OC at the time and test for stability n temps, just dont pass the memory pass 1000mhz which is the rated spec for it.

EVGA Precision 1.8.1 for in game temp display (you have enable it in the options) and HWmonitor 1.15 (dl 1.15setup and run it) just open it before you play, go game and it will record the highest temp you had while gaming.

 

what model is best for gaming rbbx09 or the rbbx05??

 

First off, stop spamming.

Secondly, I believe that most will say the X05 is because of the higher clock speeds. Most games do not yet take advantage of Quad-core CPU's, so a higher clock will yield a better result. The X05's Core 2 Duo can reach 2.9Ghz with the Asus utility. The Quad will not get anywhere near that... so for the most part, the X05 will give a better gaming experience.

 

thanks man for the info, I'll try to overclock and see the best frequency for me.
take care and good luck : )

 

i just got this laptop overthe weekend and love it.

you didnt metion this in the reviw but the touchpad is awesome. it senses multitouch. so similar to the macbook pro. two fingers acn be used to scroll down and up and four fingers can swipe forward and backwards (like if yo usipe backwards it goes back a page in your browser)

overall i like it alot and the touchpad was the only feature i really likes on the macbook. now its also on the asus so yeah ... i never ahve to go back. lol

 

What have you thought of the display? I love the computer itself, I just notice that next to my dell XPS that the display isn't as .. I want to say clear? as the Dell. Like maybe it's got a slight washed out look to it, and no amount of adjusting has gotten it to where I like it.

 

okay thanks alot for the information i guess ill be getting the x05 lol

 

Still haven't had this question answered...
When I put lid down to put it in sleep mode, my mouse still lights up and the case blinks, how can I make sure at least the mouse won't light up? ...without unplugging it of coarse.

 

My mouse (MX-518) shuts completely off when the computer is asleep, so I really don't know what's going on there. As for the lights on the LCD lid, I don't think there is a way to disable them (other then going in and physically unplugging them).

 

do you know what is the maximum safe temperature allowed for the 260M GTX so that i don't exceed it or at least stay at it when overclocking?

and also how can I test for stability when overclocking so that I stop at the highest potential of my 260M GTX?

 

Hey guys, I ordered the RBBX09 over the weekend (can't wait to get it!). Is the warranty on these things a standard 1 year warranty or does it come with the better, Asus covered warranty?