RainMotorsports (Clutch's) ASUS G50Vt-X5 (Best Buy) Review

Hey guys. I plan on purchasing a new laptop within the next month. However I'm stuck between choosing the g50vt-x1 vs. g50vt-x5. I noticed the x1 has a slightly faster processor and everything else is almost the same. Both are $899 on Best Buy. (Although the x1 on Best Buy is sold out and the ones on ebay are refurbished ones with only a 3 month warranty). Are there any noticeable differences in performance or anything btw. the two laptops?

 

The X1 is a refurb outlet item last i checked.

Battery life is better in the X5 as it has the extended 9 cell and I don't think you will miss 100Mhz. If you do setfsb can overclock beyond what direct console does.

 

I used setfsb and set it too 2404mhz and a few minutes into Left4dead i got tremendous lag followed by a blue screen crash. The P7450 really isn't meant to stay past 2.3, at least in games. It's 50/50 chance I guess that you'll get the laptop with a cpu that can handle 2.4

 

Its not just the CPU your overclocking your ram as well. @ 2.45Ghz my ram is at a 460 Mhz (920 Rated) Bus speed. Ram will easily hold back an overclock as well.

You can actually get a unit that wont overclock properly to turbo extreme and ASUS likley wont consider it a problem I know they dont on the quad core.

 

yea I just noticed your ram is at 920...I'm so far steady at 2.42 I will probably leave it at this for now. Don't really have the knowledge or guts to overclock my ram lol.

 

Thanks to clutchx2 I was able to get a very stable 2.45ghz. Everything seems to be working well and I was also able to successfully flash my graphics card to the gt. I finished out the evening with a 3dmark score of 9786 w/ the latest dox drivers. Ran 1024 prime and 3dmark about 5x each and got very stable temps so I'm good for now. I think I have pretty much gotten all the juice I can out of this for now. If the processors drop in price (which they will) then I am going to get a new one...

 

Yea, if we were able to detach the RAM OC from the CPU OC, I think we could get better results.

My P8400 @ 2.64GHz doesn't even get that hot at max load. 60C, roughly.

 

You actually flashed it to a GTS not a GT. The software reads it as a GT even when not flashed but it isn't and can't be a GT because the GT has more unified shaders (pipelines) than the GS or GTS. Just wanted to point this out to avoid confusion.

Great job with the performance boosts!

 

The supposed GTS bios is actually an edited GS bios not an actual GTS bios. I was thinking about editing the bios to say gts but im afraid of bricking the card.

 

I was pretty sure of that and that's why I mentioned it would display as GT even without the flash. It would be really cool to edit the bios to read GTS or even GS for the fact. But I understand your concerns, heck I'm even too chicken to flash my bios.

 

thanks for the clarification about gt, gts, gs .... it's all confusing to me

on a good note, I played kotor2 and sw eaw for 4 hours straight tonight with the setfsb to 2.45ghz and the flashed bios and temps were only 79 at their peak per gpuid. seems like the clocks are taking well and have lived through multiple stress tests over the past 24 hours. I can safely say that I am very happy with my purchase now...

 

Anyone had any low volume issues with their X5? My volume is extremely low

 

it's not the loudest volume on mine, but it's audible. I have to turn it down if I am sitting in the living room and the wifey is watching tv.

 

Yeah after some fiddling with it I think I got it to a liveable level. If need be I will invest in another headset though.

Otherwise a great machine. It will take me a while to get use to the keyboard layout but that happens to me with almost all notebooks. I am impressed with the performance in WoW. And I was impressed with the fact the machine still threw down a 89xx 3D mark 06 after 4 hours of stetup and 4 hours of raiding last night.

 

yeah performance is definitely solid with this laptop, that is for at least a year or so. Oh the joys of technology....

 

I'd say a good 2 years to 3 with a better cpu for sure.
O and I played around with the sound and got the volume doubled.
Open up Realtek HD Audio Manager..Open the speakers tab its the first one of three at the top...open sound effects, 2nd on of three in middle of page and check off loudness equalization.

 

Hi , i'm from Vietnamese , thx ClutchX2 for excellent review , so i decided to buy X5 . I have some questions and can anybody guide me how to do in details ?
How to OC CPU ?
How to flash VGA Card ?
and any tricks for X5 ?
thx in advanced

 

Ok just an FYI for all of you Venters the on board Mic is completely useless. I can hear myself just fine and all of the computers on my network can hear me just fine but once it goes over the net no one can understand me. Kinda annoying trying to raid with no Vent. I ordered another replacement headset but I was hoping the on board one would at least be useable.

 

Have you even attempted adjusting the mic? Only thing I have heard about it is it tends to echo but an easy adjustment null's that.

It also makes little sense that people on your network can hear you but not on the net as the same signal is going to the network thats being sent to the net. I would look for other issues. I dont use voice chat much used to on my desktop but I have not attempted to test this mic versus my external.

 

I have made various attemps in the realtech audio options and wasn't able to see any results honestly though the problem is trying to make adjustments when the local comps hear me perfectly and remotes don't.

BTW I tested the same setup with a borrowed mic and people were able to hear me.

I also know it makes no sense but that is what it is. I also verified this because I thought everyone was bsing me by going to my buddy's a couple blocks away while my roomate talked on the comp. The wording is so garbled as to be illegible. I could explain this away if I was hosting my own vent server but I am not because I couldn't find a way to host anything larger then 8 clients without buying something like 1000 licenses which I don't need.

Any advice is apreciated.

 

Hey clutch, mind showing me what programs you used to OC your GPU and Memory? I'm running Windows 7 RC1, and whats the difference if i flash my 9800m GS To GT?

 

SetFSB for the cpu and i flashed the "gts" bios (its not actually a gts bios which is more likely to brick the card then overclock it, its an edited gs bios) then in xp used ati tool to test further overclocking and then edited the bios and flashed it again.

WHen u raise ur fsb it overclocks the ram which is a big limitation in overclocking the cpu.

 

Thanks for your review. I'm considering buying one, and you answered several questions I had. I think this might be a bit overkill for my adventure games, but the graphics card should be adequate for at least a couple or 3 years.

Thanks very much!

 

For mid range gaming this should last easily a long time (assuming it physically survives as well). In addition to being a powerful for the money gamer note that the graphics card is useful for other things such as editing high definition video or doing computer aided drafting.

I did a test last night on the battery in entertainment mode I watched a 1 hour 35 minute movie then switched to battery mode and turned on the wifi and worked for an additional hour. The battery can last up to 3 hours or so but real world performance is aaround 2.5 hours and thats not bad.

 

That's pretty good, considering you've done the GTS flash. Maybe movie watching consumes less power than I thought. I only get 2 hours websurfing with wifi on the stock Battery Saver mode, and 3 hours notetaking on ultra low brightness and with everything turned off.

 

Do you mind if I ask a question? Might make me seem ignorant of the more detailed aspects of computers...because I am! (-: This HDMI- does it mean the laptop will play in HD if I hook a blue ray up to it or what? I'm looked it up on the internet, but am still confused. Just wondering as this HDMI is new to me. Thanks.

 

The HDMI port is to connect to a HD TV, HDMI equiped HD Projector or an HDMI equiped computer monitor. Unlike VGA its entirley digital and also carries sound so it is a much better way (and better quality) to connect to a tv or monitor.

The screen in the laptop itself is 1366x768 which is slightly higher than 720P (1280x720). It is considered high definition and equipping the machine with a bluray player wether it be internal or external will allow you to watch movies in the lower of the high definition resolutions just as if you had a 720P or 1366x768 resolution television with a bluray player.

Note that High definition video can often be downloaded or streamed over the internet. An example might be the netflix streaming service.

 

OK, thank you for explaining. My boys have been loudly lobbying for a blue ray and HDTV for a while now, and we've put them off saying we didn't need one. But, after seeing the new Star Trek movie.....LOL

I'm heading to Best Buy in a while, and you've been a terrific help. Mahalo!

 

Not a problem, you can find an internal bluray drive for this for about 100 on ebay, the official source for new ones is about 250. An external is kind of a pain but they are much cheaper. Unless alot of movies are watched on the laptop I wouldnt worry about one at the moment.

But as TV prices continue to fall should be able to pick one up resonably sooner or later. I have a 22 inch samsung for my room costs only 270 on newegg.com its more of a computer monitor with a tv tuner. It has a 1680x1050 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio common to computer monitors as opposed to 16:9 tv's. It can handle the 1080p (1920x1080) input from a bluray player, game console, or computer though 22 inches is a bit too small for a family room.

 

Do you mind explaining how you got it to 2.45? I'm new to overclocking and want to get the most out of my PC. How did you upgrade the gfx card from gs to gt? Thanks

 

I used SetFSB to raise the fsb speed which in turn overclocks the ram and cpu. The graphics card was flashed with an edited gs bios that brings it up to the voltage and clock speeds of a GTS which is physically the same card only built with the better components that came off the line. (GT it is not).

I just started benching some demo's in addition to the games I own heres some results. Im grabbing DiRT now and will test fear 2 and world in conflict later.
Stock Clocks and Drivers
NFS Pro Street 1280x720 Max No AA - MIN 30 MAX 66 AVG 44
GRiD 1366x768 Auto - MIN 29 MAX 55 AVG 39

 

Clutch... effin great review and follow up.

a little backround on my path to this notebook. I originally purchased a Gateway FX M-6850 strangely also at Best Buy, last year. i purchased it to play WoW and let my boys game as well. It had a ATIHD2600 in it that just didnt quite have enough umph for my liking.

I Ebayed that for $600 and and began to research gaming Laps. Everything I found came back to this puppy as the sweet spot. For lappies and gaming the GPU is what dictates the most in my book.

I took the plunge and could not be more pleased. I thought the screen res would be too low for me but it is honestly just fine.

I have overclocked mine to 2.6 GHZ using setFSB, and I have created and flashed the bios on the GPU to 625/825/1525 with no ill effects (I feel I can even go higher here but Im stopping). Prime95 , WoW and Bioshock all fully stable. Top Temps about 90c never higher..

 

Thanks for the review! It's been added to the ASUS Info Booth and the ASUS Reviews & Owners' Lounges Index.

 

Hello boys.

Does G50VT X5 from BestBuy have internationall waranty for one years or USA warranty??

Can I buy orginal ASUS bluetooth module fot this notebook?

 

BestBuy ASUS models usually have a 1-year BestBuy warranty (which I guess is US-only), as opposed to the 2-year international warranty + 1 year accidental damage warranty that reseller ASUS models have.

 

Clutch,

I have one of these and am concerned about a display issue. I use it at night in a bedroom to stream audio and when the display is turned off there are "patches" or "clouds" of light that seem to be caused by the LED lights bleeding through. Not the Cylon Flashers, I have them off. Do you or anyone else have this problem? Is it something to worry about?

I took one back to BB for this problem already.

 

The bestbuy warranty is automatic on purchase with no extra fee?

 

Im not 100% sure. One thing i noticed is the lights on the buttons at the top of the keyboard can shine on the glossy lcd or with the screen closed you can see light from them or if its off just the expressgate button, the light comes out the hinge. The screen isnt led lit and with it off there shouldnt be any light coming from it itself.

 

I'm not talking about reflections. I'm talking about actual "blotches" of light when the display is switched to off but the system is still running. It's like there is bleed through from those LED's on the top buttons. BB will let me return it AGAIN but I don't know if that is what I'm going to do. The fan It is a little louder than I'd prefer as well. This is my first laptop but I suspect it's because the GPU is a higher one than the Intel 4500 stuff.

 

I have some blotches in the lower left area...it's definitely not from the lit touch-sensitive buttons as they are visible when I cover them. Not as issue for me, since I don't work with mostly black screens in the dark often.

 

Real Geeks often work with mostly black screens in the dark.

But seriously, do you think that is going to cause some kind of damage to the display?

 

Lol, I'm definitely not geek enough. Heh, working in the dark is no fun without a backlit keyboard. Actually, I only use it in the dark with things like Dead Space to improve the atmosphere, but even then I'm not that jumpy unlike my buddy.

Damage? I suppose it depends on what the cause is. Perhaps there's some component there which is putting out an EM field that affects the orientation of the liquid crystals in that area. Otherwise, maybe the backlighting is uneven and is a little bit stronger in those spots? However, I would expect that those things should also be noticeable under normal usage conditions like web surfing.

Anyone else have this "problem" and/or suggestions as to its cause?

 

It's like the light from the button LED's is bleeding through the screen.

 

Speaking of the warranty, I forgot to ask about any forms or whatever when I picked it up at Best Buy. If I have a problem some time down the road, I should be able to get it online(I bought it online with instore pickup) or would they have records in the store?

 

Clutch , great job on the review I check this posting every so often for new updates and feedback. I have had my eye on this bad boy for a while now and I am just waiting for the right online offer (they are currently offering a free TV tuner but I wont use it) from BestBuy to pick one up.

I do have one concern that I hope you can assist me with.

I recently saw the post for the G51 and was wondering if I should hold out for the release of that one. I was going with the G50 for price and gaming and the game I am planning on playing the most isn't out yet (new star wars mmo). They havent announced a launch date or released any minimum comp specs for me to compare. The game has been in developement since Dec 05 using the Hero game engine and the devs have stated that most pcs shouldnt have a problem running their game.

In your opinion and best guest, will the G50 be able to run it with all game settings to max or near max?

 

The initial release of G51's will be in the 1200-1600 price range most likely though no prices have been announced and I would not expect best buy to get any models until later of which would not be less then 1,000 to start.

The G51's 260M is only a little above what the 9800M GS/GTS capable of. The initial posting of specs lists processors which could make a best buy model almost as weak as the current offering. It is a nice and natural upgrade but I do not expect anything to replace the 899 X5 until it itself is replaced and sometime in 2010 when prices drop. If your looking for something more look at the Gateway FX or something.

No clue on your game there but as a guess it will run it decently.

As far as the post goes I have more to add, I am officially done with testing and reviewing as I have started the upgrades. I just havent gotten around to adding the "long term" review portions and the battery testing and all.

 

Thank you Clutch, I really appreciate the info and I look forward to your new updates.

 

Hi!

I've been interested in puchasing this laptop for the last month and now since I'm going to America at the end of june I may finally get the chance

I will be using it for some gaming at home occasionally and for college and was just wondering if a laptop cooler will be necessary if wanting to o/c and play games for at least a few hours at a time... have read that the laptop gets quite hot and want to make sure it doesn't get fried on me... thanks in advance

 

Before I got my cooler I ran in 20-27 degree Celsius environments and the laptop ran within acceptable temperatures. redguardsolder runs his in vietnam and worries about temps a bit might want to talk to him he ended up getting a cooler.

You can get a 5C drop in laptop temps using the zalman cooler and while the zalman fits it best the G50's cooling system is designed to do its best job on its own. Trying to force air into it doesnt help it and thats why the zalmans act of creating a cold air pocket under the laptop does serve this particular design best where as a NZXT Cryo LX serves other laptops better.

Before I upgraded the processor and especially after I got my zalman the GPU temps where comfortable even after 3 or 4 hours of playing crysis. If the temps are a bit high and you are playing an older game thats getting over 60 fps force vertical sync this will take a load off the graphics card reducing heat.

I dont play often in my lap but just once after the cpu upgrade I purposely played Grid in a hotter room with the GPU at a very hot but still 20C below max of 90C and it did not burn me. The hottest part is on your left leg but they put a thermal barrier on the panel (see the black circle) to help make the user more comfortable.

Stock equipment overclocking in a 20C room did not really increase temperatures and using rmclock to undervolt the processor helped the cpu run at near idle temps at 100% load (see my zalman review in sig for a chart of temps). Less cpu heat helps the gpu a little as air cools the cpu first then the gpu.

 

Thanks for the reply Clutch

I'm actually in Ireland and it's never hot here so I dunno if it's even gonna be worth getting extra cooling... If it is as you say and the laptop cooling system is supposed to be sufficient then it might just be enough. Although I will test it once I've got the laptop to see whats what and make a decision then, $60 is quite a lot to pay if it only makes the laptop a couple of degrees cooler.

Can't wait to try it out though, sounds like a beast of a laptop from what I've seen