Ryzeki's Asus G51J-A1 review

Artic silver, but i am not sure, i have never used it before, which one would you suggest?

 

Arctic Cooling MX-2. Best balance of cooling, ease of use, and cost.

 

Artic silver, which one is better?

 

Arctic Silver is way outdated. Almost any new thermal paste is better.

 

mmm, it's weird. I got my asus g51j today and run a 3dmark06 test.

result: 8966
max temp after running 3dmark 06: 86C
I didn't get it past 10k....

edit: my window experience rating is similar to Ryzeki, but 3dmark06 is more than 1000 points lower

 

Did you format and defrag your hard drive? Run optimization programs?

 

i format the OS drive and install window 7 (ultimate) Eternity x64. I did not run any optimization program. where do you download the optimization program?

 

When i mean optimization i meant as defraging your registry, defraging your boot files, installing the motherboard and chipset drivers. Get tune xp, auslogics registry defrag, make sure you back up your registry first before anything else. Use perfect disk to dfrag your hard drive. Also restart windows a few times so you can get the optimal boot performance. I have to get an core i7 i see that in a few months intel is going to launch core i3 and core i5 for notebooks, core 2 duo is being eradicated even though it is still proficient at times. I prefer windows 7 professional x86 or x64. I can't still not get a hold of x64 bit one.

 

yeah, if that's what you mean, I install all the required drivers and software provided by asus. didn't defrag boot file yet. but no need to defrag the hdd, since I just got the computer today, and I didn't install anything or put any files on it. mmm, about tunexp, it seems that it is only for window xp, not window 7, so I can't use it.

 

Thanks very much

 

via power4gear were you in performance/game mode or battery saving/office mode? that'd change your scores.

 

I'm in high performance mode in power4gear

 

Oh, about that: I already have IC24 installed, so I don't get really high temps heh. It is good that you want to keep your notebook well! I do take care of mine a lot too.

Enable Extreme Turbo to get added performance in the score mostly. It will overclock your CPU a bit, and it does give you a boost in points. Other than that the scores should be similar. Unless you were running things on background that caused a small drop in performance?

 

how do you enable extreme turbo? I don't see anything like that when I switch to different mode in power4gear.

 

Here is a picture of Power4Gear Hybrid that you can see where it says Turbo option:

 

I use it for windows 7 it runs great, i never get an problem, if so then right click the setup.exe and then look for combalilty and then see if it plays.

 

Hi Ryzeki! First of all, thanks for your great review. It was key in deciding to get this awesome notebook.

I got mine with the same specs as yours. I've been doing some experiments with the CPU, in order to benchmark and check performance gains with multi-threaded applications. I was focusing on the "Turbo Boost" feature, I wanted to see how some applications would behave with a single core @ 2.8ghz vs multi-thread @ 1.6ghz using some of my own programs. To my surprise, I saw no "boost" in the clock when using a single core. Later I realise that the cores actually never go beyond 1.6ghz. Apart from the power4gear overclock, I haven't been able to push any core beyond it's fixed clock, hence my suspicion.

I've been reading some articles about the i7 cpu's, and learned that although the "Turbo Boost" feature kicks in automaticly, its important for the system to be well ventilated and to have enough power, if this requirements are not well met, the CPU will avoid throttling to higher clocks. Some say you gotta make sure things are enabled in your computer's BIOS.

I'm beginning to suspect that there's a problem, or the feature isn't enabled in our notebooks BIOS (options apparently hidden/locked to the user in ASUS laptops), or the ventilation is not adequate for the CPU to start throttling up the clocks.

So I wanted to ask... Have you actually witness the "Turbo Boost" feature working in your laptop?

I already mailed ASUS reporting the issue, but I'm still awaiting their reply. =(

 

Hi, I am glad I was able to help in your purchase decision! As for the CPU... how are you measuring? Because I use CPU-Z and I do notice the change in the clock frequency.

Use CPU-Z and use a single threaded app, and then a multithreaded app, you will see how it adjusts the core speed depending on the task. Considering that this laptop is equipped with a GTX260M and it can fit a 920QM i7 I think the ventilation is enough to use the turbo boost hehe

Keep in mind that there is no mayor boost with turbofeature, unless you use single threaded apps, and those are not that common nor demanding enough to see much of a difference in every day computing.

 

Hi again! Thanks for your reply. Well I finally managed to see Turbo Boost is actually active, together with some interesting performance gain, yet there are some major issues.

I see very fluctuating multipliers when Turbo Boost kicks in, so the clock won't stay steady @ 2.8ghz. After a while, the laptop gathers some heat, the multipliers go even more unsteady, and won't reach or stay at x20 for a significant time. When the fans go to full speed, I see the multipliers get quite more steady, yet they keep going up and down, and eventually when the fan drops speed, things get crazy again, so this must be a heat issue, not a terrible one, but it's preventing the CPU from throttling as it should. =( Other users have reported similar experience as well.

Now in Linux, the story is even worse. Although there's complete support for Core i7 architecture, including Turbo Boost, in recent kernels, it seems this laptop's motherboard support with the current acpi modules is broken. All cores do throttle through the various p-states, but they seem capped at 1.6ghz, they won't go beyond this clock. Now if I disable ACPI support, I finally get to see Turbo Boost kicking in. Yet if you disable ACPI support, you loose all OS energy management, hyper-threading, throttling (p-states), idling (c-states) and temperature management support, plus you can only access one core, so you really don't want to disable ACPI! =P

I've been benchmarking using a ray tracer. When using a single core capped @ 1.6Ghz, my benchmark scene completes in 107 seconds, when I get the core to work with Turbo Boost ~2.8Ghz, it will complete the render in only 35 seconds, that's about one third of the time! That's a big difference when some application is bottlenecked by a single threaded process.

I really hope Asus gets Linux support fixed soon, I'm more of a developer than a gamer, and Linux is my main working platform, so it's quite essential for me. In general I would love to get better fan control support. The computer is loud enough, so I wouldn't care to have the fan @ full speed all the time, in order to get steady performance. =)

 

I see, so then linux support is rather limited rigth now. That is important to mention as a lot of users like you mainly use Linux.

As for the erratic performance of the Core i7, I think I read around that the Turbo boost feature is causing kind of erratic performance around, due to fast switching between multipliers and cores. You will rarely see the CPU working at a fixed frequency, mind you.

Other than that, how are you liking your machine?

 

I'm loving it! =D It's really one great laptop.
For the price, I'll say it's by FAR the best option around. I was looking at the Sager 8690, but if you add the FHD screen, 4Gb RAM, 640Gb HD, Win7 OS, the thing bloated to ~2000.00 USD. The same goes for Apple's options, the hardware is way outdated by now, maybe the next Macbook Pro generation (a couple of months away still) will be an interesting option, but the current laptops they are offering are completely obsolete for the price. I wouldn't spend that much for a computer that's going to be outdated and not upgradable in about a year (HW-wise).

I do like gaming, but as I said I was also looking for a decent and development rig, and this machine is just what I wanted, a mix of horsepower and portability. I can really focus in developing multithreaded apps, with cpu's capable of 8-threads we are finally at the dawn of the parallel era for the average consumer, and now it's mobile! =O

As for the GPU, I was really waiting for a laptop with a decent CUDA capable device, this machine is just perfect. I really didn't like the idea of getting an expensive monstrosity with SLI. Still in this aspect, mobile GPU's are quite lagged behind, even the 280m is part of the G92 chip family which in CUDA terms, have Compute Capability 1.1, with the Fermi architecture around the corner, this chips are about to go obsolete (in the developing aspect). Yet I don't think the Fermi architecture will make it to the mobile scene for a while.

Again, I very happy with this machine, it's just what I was looking for. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a gaming/high performance laptop with a ~1500 USD budget. =)

P.S. I just heard about the new 3D display for this laptop, I would have loved getting that! =|
http://bit.ly/1p6cmD

 

Likewise I am throughly enjoying mine! But yeah, notebook hardware is quite outdated (at least nvidia side) so I hope that we se a decen increase in performance next year.

I was looking for info regarding the 3D display, but the dammed 1366x768 resolution is a turn off for me. I am not sure I want to go back to that res again

 

I like this gaming notebook...My brother is now is US so i ask him to buy one for me.....but I'm from the Philippines...do you think that it will run on good temps because my country always have a hot weather?

Thanks in Advance!!!

 

Hello ZeusueZ. This is a great gaming notebook but it does run hot. I live in México and we also have hot weather so my advise is to at least get a notebook cooler, and try to use it on well ventilated areas to prevent overheating. This is, of course, depending on how hot your ambient temperature is.

With a notebook cooler, you should be fine around 80-100F as long as you keep your laptop clean without dust accumulated.

Good luck and enjoy your laptop!

 

Thanks for the awesome review ryzeki. It really helped me decide to actually buy this machine instead of the VX version. On a seperate note, would the Zalman NC1000 be a better fit or the NC2000, since the heat this machine generates is a bit of a concern for me

 

ryzeki,

Would it be possible to get a JPG of the bottom open, i mean i seen it in videos, but i havent seen a pic of it with good res, mostly of the Heatpipes (cpu/gpu).

Thanks,

 

Just did the typical thing and ran the Crysis demo earlier and it was perfect. Hot air started pouring out the vent almost instantly. But it didn't affect the gameplay whatsoever.

On another note, Ryzeki, are you proud that your thread is the first result when "Asus G5J-A1" is typed into Google?

 

Thanks Ryzeki! What notebook cooler do you use??or what do you recommend???Can you please try Left 4 Dead 2??

 

You are welcome! Thanks for reading my review

I think that either zalman works. I rarely use coolers with my machine but a friend of mine uses the Zalman nc2000 and it works well for him. Don't worry much about the temps, just keep it clean and well ventilated.

You made a great choice! This laptop is awesome and I am really loving it!

I will try to get one tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can check this one out:

Yeah, people bash the cooling but it does its work by keeping the exterior of the machine rather cool and concentrates all the heat on that left exhaust. Consider that you have components over 80C, you will get hot air flowing

But yeah Crysis works well! I personally play at 1920x1080 all medium with high textures for smooth gameplay and eye candy.

And wow, I didn't realize my review was at the top the search! I feel important

I use a regular belkin cooler. I think that whichever cooler you use will be fine as long as you have proper air flow and not cover the left exhaust you will be fine!

As for left 4 dead 2... You can pretty much max it out at 1920x1080 2x AA and 2x AF with minimal hit in performance (although it does bog down to 30fps or so when in large battles vs the hordes of zombies).

 

Thanks for the pic Ryzeki, appreciated.

 

Question about the GPU, I asked a CSR at XoticPC.com if the GPU was MXM3.0b or was it soldered to the motherboard and he said it was soldered. By looking at Ryzeki's pic it looks like MXM3.0b to me. Can anyone confirm?

 

You are welcome. If you need a better one let me know to try and get a good camera and take the pic.

I dont know if it is MXM3.0b or not, but it most probably uses propietary Asus module, even if it looks identical to MXM cards. Additionally the device is modular, not soldered directly to the motherboard (as far as I know) as it is easier for Asus to repair a bad GPU by changing the GPU only instead of the whole motherboard.

We can ask GentechPC to check it out.

 

i ordered mine on fri from xotic pc but have to wait a while for the back orders to come in god the wait is killing me >.<

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my review! Feel free to comment on anything you want regarding the laptop, and ask any questions you want! I will try to answere ASAP.[/QUOTE]


WOWW ! That was an awesome review! THE Best ever I've read on a Gaming RIG with much detail on things which most other websites skip. Hats off! You're a STAR!

I have a request to make. I've only got my hands on the Asus G51J recently and I live in the UK. I am quite an expert in computing however when it comes to overclocking, Im a noob! lol

I would be SUPER grateful if you could pleeease guide me to overclock my system slightly to get better performance. I at least would wish to get the GPU clocks to their default levels as I am aware that the GTX260 on this machine is underclocked. I have been through your guide on overclocking a G51VX but I recon the G51J is much more of a machine.

Please guide or point me to the complete overclocking guide for GPU and also some undervolting may also help but that is not the major priority. Any/all your help would be appreciated all my gaming life! Please don't hesitate as I won't hold you responsible for any disastrous consequences. I am responsible for my own actions and results.

Thanks very much in advance,

Kind regards,
SAM
Email: [email protected]

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=401345

 

I know how you feel! I pre-ordered mine back on October 18 but had to wait until October 22 to get it shipped. The wait can be harsh, but believe me you will be happy once you get this amazing machine!

Thanks for reading my review and your kind words! I received your email and already responded. Good luck with overclocking my friend! I won't overclokc until I get a game I can't run comfortably so!

As Hydeo pointed, you can find much information there.

Thanks for posting the link! This is very useful for general overclocking, altho it most probably won't help for CPU, and so far I was unable to use the GPU bios to flash the GPU.

For now, it is recommended to use nTools to overclock GPU, and ask for help on how to make your own BIOS for GPU in case you want to flash it.

 

i have a question is the 260gtxm running directx 10 or 11

 

All current nvidia GPUs run up to DX10 on a hardware level. DX11 is reserved for the new GPUs coming out next year (though it is still speculation whether they will use DX11 or not).

Only the new ATi Radeon HD5000 series of cards use DX11.

Don't worry! It is still a new features that most people don't have and it is not widely used at all yet.

 

did you get any BSOD problems while playing games?
because apparanty, lots of people are having this problem.

 

wow.. thts one awesome laptop.. unfortuately not available in my country.. *sad sad sad*
anywys.. curious to know its performance in Maya and 3Dmax 2010.. any idea..??? will be glad if u can install the demo version.. do some random .. and let me know about it..
thnks.. and good review.. Happy Gaming...

 

Just once, but it was kinda my fault. I was installing software all over the place, hadn't rebooted, ran Half Life 2 and was alt-tabbing a lot when it happened. It only happened once and thats it. I haven't had a single BSOD other than that, and I play a lot on my machine.

It seems the BSODs are exclusive to certain games, like MW2 but I don't have the game to try it out. I heard the problem was fixable via a BIOS update but since I don't have those issues, I can't say much.

What I can tell you is that all the games in my review, plus All half life episodes, Dragon Age Origins, Street Fighter 4 etc, none cause a BSOD.

I will try the Maya trial 2010 64 bit edition, but I can't try 3Dmax as the trial is only 32 bits. I will let you know how it runs if you let me know what you want me to try and do, as I haven't used this software ever.

Thanks for reading my review!

 

What country you in? Im in the UK and got it from xoticpc they ship worldwide

 

Well.. i am in india.. thnx for the xoticpc.. i am going through that website right now..

 

@ryzeki
thanks.. just do some random stuffs.. load some example files and all.. and see howz it performing..whether there's any lag or not.. thats it..

 

Dear Ryzeki,

I am considering getting the G51J-A1. However I have a few queries that I need to clear. Kindly answer them.

Firstly, My requirements:

01. A home entertainment system - Desktop replacement.

02. Primary display will be an LCD HD TV. (Hence the laptop screen doesn't matter - smaller the better).

03. Primary sound will be external speakers. Hence laptop speakers don't matter.

04. Main power source will be AC. Hence battery life doesn't matter.

05. Will be online 24x7, 356 days - downloading torrents. Hence reliability is a major factor. (Only an occasional restart once in 3 months)

06. An occasional race/rally game on HDTV.

07. Will be used exclusively for playing ripped HD contents (movies, TV series etc using VLC), playing songs and 24hr downloading.

08. The specification should be good enough to do the above tasks for at least 4 years.

After considering all the above requirements, I decided in on the G51J-A1.

However certain aspects are unclear to me. Kindly clarify:

01. Is the audio integrated with the HDMI in this system? Or is the audio always routed to the external audio out ports? (ATI chipsets have their audio routed via the HDMI port).

02. From your posts, it is clear that the system does operate at very high temperatures. Since I plan to keep the system online downloading 24x7 - 365 days, should I be worried about the reliability? Will it last about 4 years? (my current Acer does it without any trouble with only a restart once in 3 months).

03. Can one of the HDDs be later replaced with an SSD as the primary OS drive?

04. Can the laptop monitor be completely turned off when display is routed to HDMI or when HDMI is used as the primary display? (I wouldn't want the laptop monitor coming on every time I move the mouse or touch the k/b).

05. How is the operating sound of the laptop? Does it make too much noise?

06. What is the maximum refresh rate of the laptop monitor?

Regards,
Sushanth

 

I am pretty sure the GPU is not soldered directly to the motherboard, however the GPU is Asus propietary so you can't use standard MXM modules or other manufacturer's graphic cards. Your best bet would be if Asus themselves make an upgrade to the current G51/G60/G72 line using the same slot and size, but with a new 300M series from nVidia.

And even then, it is a long shot.

Alright, it hasn't finish downloading but I will post some impressions when I get it, doing the set examples etc.

I will try to answer with the best of my abilities.

1) You can route the Audio from the speakers to audio ports to the HDMI out. So yes, you can use external speakers connected to the laptop, or use the HDMI audio to connect it to your LCD TV (I use it like that, to my HDTV).

2) Yes the laptop runs on the hot side, and the most I have used my laptop without turning it off is 4 days. Didn't experience performance issues in those 4 days, but I can't say much about long periods of time. I am fairly sure you can use it that way, but you will need to keep it on a well ventilated place with cooler preferable, and even perhaps with bottom panel off for extra cooling, which should shave off a lot of the temperature. However, you must also give it maintenance, cleaning dust etc (with the computer turned off, of course).

3) Yes, HDDs can be replaced for SSDs, and several users already did. There is no RAID controller, so your best bet would be one SSD and one high capacity normal HDD to get a decent mix of performance and space.

4)Yes, FN+F7 turns the LCD off.

5)The laptop runs on the siltent side, but it will turn on the fans high when doing hard tasks like video games etc. Getting your CPU over 70C or GPU over 80 will start to get noticeable on a silent room. If you have sound etc, it doesn't sound that much more from, lets say... a video game console. Only when playing video games gets rather loud, but not very bothersome.

6) The maximum refresh rate of the included screen is 60hz

After reading all through your requirements, I must ask you to reconsider a desktop. You can probably build a silent, strong desktop with decent power consumption and better cooling for far less $$

Additionally, you don't need high end parts to achieve so. Even cards like the Ati HD5770 can completely trounce the G51J, at a small price, with little power consumption.

And also, since gaming won't be of much concern either, you can look for more option in laptops (in the case that a laptop is a must). The main heat issue with this machine is the GPU, other than that the components run on normal temps, or even cooler temps (I have seen HDDs on sagers on the 50C range, whereas I rarely get to 40C unless on heavy use). So any other Core i7 notebook with less graphic horse power can probably work for you well too.

And for reliability... there was a recent study that showed Asus to be the most reliable notebook maker right now, so I think that this machine can definitely be up to the task if you want it to. I just don't see much point in getting a laptop for what essecialy will be a desktop job.

 

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

Yes, I do understand that my requirements are truly that of a desktop. I've been using an HP EliteBook 6930p for over a year as my work machine and it serves me very well. After analyzing your reply I will reconsider my decision of buying a laptop for my requirements.

Since you mentioned, graphic chipsets with lower HP, what kind of mobile chipsets and memory would be sufficient to run the latest versions of games like:
01. Colin McRae
02. Richard Burns
03. NFS series etc

There is also a version of G51J-A1 which supports 3D glasses. Did you ever consider that? I think the refresh rate there is 120Hz.

I some how feel that the G51J-A1 is a highly portable and a VFM combination of [ XBox + PC + Home Entertainment System]. Hence the inclination. What are your thoughts?

 

Hmmm.... The latest versions of racing games on a 1080 display might actually require a GTX260M to have fluid gameplay. I didn't consider that.

Yes, I know there is a version with 3D glasses and a 120hz display, but the screen is only 1366x768 resolution, and it hasn't come out yet on the US. I bought my computer on October 22 when it launched, so I would have been left waiting for basically the same computer with a different display. 3D gaming might be nice but I likfe my 1080 resolution screen

And yeah, this laptop is certainly capable of anything from gaming to movies to productivity. I can see your interest in the machine alright, and don't get me wrong, I love mine, but I believe you can somehow find more value for your needs in a desktop. If you are like me that move around a lot and need portability then yeah I would recommend the G51J easily.

Well I already installed it and messed around a bit. Made a bunch of figures and objects (cones, squares etc) and all went smoothly... I couldn't find examples to load, and whatever I did would render in 1 second because they were a bunch of static figures (that's my guess). If you can find me a file or something to run, let me know and I will check it out for you.

 

thanks for your reply ryzeki

 

You are welcome!