Sunny's G51VX-RX05 Review

Technical Specs

Dimensions: Width - 14.8", Height - 1.6", Depth - 10.4", Weight - 7.2 lbs.
Processor: P7350 Centrino 2 C2D @ 2.00ghz
Memory: 4GB DDR2 (8GB Max)
HDD: 320GB 7200rpm (optional space for a second hdd)
Cd/DVD: 8x DVD R/RW DL
Screen: 15.6" WXGA LCD 1366 x 768 max res.
Graphic Card: GTX 260M 1GB GDDR3
Keyboard: Apple-like Backlite
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
PORTS: 4x USB, eSATA, HDMI, VGA, Firewire, Ethernet, Card Reader, Audio, Express Card 54 Expansion Slot.
Wifi: Intel Wifi Link 5100 agn
Battery: 6 cell
Webcam: 1.3 MP
Price: $999

Unboxing



















Design and Features

Love the new design. It has a white robotic style lid with light around the sides and at the logo. The lights stay on constantly when plugged in. The side lights turns off when in battery mode.

The unit has some touch sensitive buttons which changes the Power mode, color/contrast mode, and disables the touch pad. The keyboard has a back light which can be adjusted with the fn key.. It has the apple-like keyboard with the numeric pad which a smaller than the rest of the keys. The keyboard flexes just a tad bit towards the top center of the keyboard where f8 is located. The palm rest is now a rubber finish which to me feels much better and feels like a high quality laptop. The touch pad buttons are not glossy finish like the last model.. It has a brushed metallic finish. The touch pad does not light up like how the rest of the unit.

Asus eliminated the Direct Console overclocking preset features like how the G50vt had. Don't know what the reason behind this was but it maybe due to excessive heat build up? Anyway I just manually overclock the unit with no issues. They also eliminated the 9 Cell battery as how the previously model came with. So as far as gaming goes while in battery mode... forget it! You barely get about a hour and a half on regular usage...

Laptop Experience Rating and Performance

System Rating is 5.0 as the processor being the one that's holding it back. The system runs on 2.0ghz which I have successfully overclocked it to 2.25ghz without any issues and excessive heat. I could easily overclocked this to maybe 2.4ghz.

The processor is upgradable to even a quad core. For those interested, here is a link to where you can get one. The Q9100 would be a great upgrade for this unit and making it a very powerful laptop for under $1200.

What to upgrade anything? Here are the stuff I have listed that you can consider for upgrading:
To install a second HDD you will need this.
Upgrade to a better processor.. Check out the list of them that you could possible upgrade to Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad.
Upgrade to a better resolution screen, here is a possible option but never tested...
Here is the link to the battery : 9 Cell Battery



Benchmark and System Temps

Here as some of the testing I have done using Crysis GPU benchmark, 3dMark 06 Pro 1.1.0, HwMonitor, CPUz, and SetFSB ( pll - ICS9LPR604AGLF ).

Crysis @ Full RES. and Very High Specs running everything stock getting avg 20 fps:




3dmark06 @ max res and no AA



3dMark06 test with 1280 x 720 res and no AA



3dMark06 test with 1024 x 768 res and no AA



3dMark06 test with 1280 x 720 res and no AA and processor overclocked to 2.25ghz




Temp of laptop sitting Idle for 30mins



Temp of laptop after running 3dmark06



Temp of laptop OVERCLOCKED to 2.25ghz after running 3dmark06



Additional Info on the GPU



Deciding to buy?

Wait until after the 26th of June because if bought before that date, the windows 7 free upgrade that comes with the laptop will be invalid.

Want to upgrade your G50vt keyboard?

Here are some pics and info that you may need to see if you can upgrade the keyboard. I do not know if this will work so don't ask me.. If someone wants to let me know who has the two models and wants to check to see if the g51 keyboard will work on the G50 then that would be great, I'll update this post..







Internals

 

The laptop seriously looks great. I am really considering getting this laptop and upgrading to the Q9100. I'm little worried about the battery life with a Q9100 however...

 

Well if you are going to game with it then its best left plugged in but if you want the Extended battery then you can get the 9 cell battery and use that with this unit. The battery that comes with the G50vt will fit this unit.. Check out ebay, they have them..

Here is the link to the battery : 9 Cell Battery

 

good review so far sunnyc90, waiting to see the temps and other benchmarks

 

nice review sunny ... ill be waiting for some benchmarks

 

If you want, you can embed the pictures in the post to make it a bit easier to see them with tags. Just my 2 cents. Doesn't this type of manual OC'ing, though, void ASUS's warranty? Wonder if that means all G51's will have no warranty-covered OC's.

Beast review man; first on the planet, I'm sure! How easy is the SmartLogon thing? Is it decently reliable?

~Ibrahim~

 

But i did.. I inserted the with the link in between and instead of thumbnails i get just the link??

Smartlogon is not so bad just need some good lightning.. Its easy to fool tho. A simple picture of yours will log into your computer.. Not soo secure..

 

Oh, dang. They've like embedded the picture into a web page. I can't get the direct link to the image, either. I think it has to do with bandwidth issues.Crapola. I think the only way would be to upload the originals to Photobucket or something. That sucks! Hmm....

Ah. lol, that's actually true! Still nifty, tho, I think.

~Ibrahim~

 

ddr2 video memory? u sure?

 

Yea I'm pretty sure he meant GDDR3

 

Yeah, I was about to jump on that as well.

 

woops.. sorry.. Its Gddr3.. Edited.. Thanks! Yea the review is not fully completed yet..

 

This is 1:1 with G50...only with "a little" modification .
The modification included:

-GTX260M 1GB GDDR3;
-New BIOS supported "new" Intel Quad C2D processors;
-Backlite Keyboard.

Q:How watt is Power brick,120W ?
Q:Where is URL to BestBuy ?

 

doesn't seem like it's on bestbuy website yet. Probably after the 26th.

 

yeah man i think that they will only put on their website after the 26th....

in my local BB they have the g51 too

 

The battery sticks out?

 

no its the 6-cell which is flush with the back

 

I am moving this to the Reviews & Owners' Lounges subforum (since that seems to be its appropriate place).

Unless the OP has something against that?

 

Did u use Set FSB to overclock? Wat clock generator (pll) did u use?

 

GTX260M is very powerful graphic chip (and many news games will work fine),but the chip consumpted more watts and generated more high temp...

GTX260 is better then GTS150/160 (or older 9800M GS/GTS).GTX260M have 75% more processors cores (112) than previous Geforces (112 vs 64) (9800M GTS/GS,and currently GTS150/160M).

Maybe this laptop will work ona battery arround ~1;~1.30 hours (in peak consumption)
If laptop comming with C2D Quad...maybe work under 1 hours on battery.
Who knows...

 

yeah this laptop are not made for battery life so dont expect anything more than 2 hours...

 

Yes,6 cell battery is not enough .

 

yeah but i guess that the g71 from BB will have the 9 cell

 

Very Nice +Rep thank you for taking the time to share

 

Your welcome..

 

hey sunny did u see the new pic from the new g71??

its on the g51 thread page 93

Scyiik went to BB and he took some pics

 

Yes thank you and repped

 

Just took a look at them.. For $150 more than the G51 its not bad..

 

Guys I have been following both the original thread where sunny unveiled this monster and this new thread. I have read all 93 pages on the previous thread and something is puzzling my mind. I read about ppl wanting to see if the keyboard can be change, about others that wonder if the GTX 260m card can be put into the G50 and so forth. However, one thing that is a concern of mine and nobody has address and I guess maybe people do not care as much but what about the screen quality.

What I mean by this is can the screen be change to something with a lot more resolution since we all know this GPU is a beast and can handle and push more pixels without breaking a sweat? Here is what I mean >> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=290295825830

Now I am not suggesting that one screen to be the best one for it or the perfect one. Heck is a matte screen and I am more or a glossy type screen guy. However, it is a 1920 x 1200 screen resolution on a 15.4" size. The G51 comes with a 15.6" screen size if I am not mistaken. Can this be change ? Will the .02" of screen real state make it to where it will look funky or what do you guys think ?

The way I see it is that upgrading the screen for $120 and upgrading the processor for $200 to a way better c2d (p8600) or even quad like sunny posted on the other thread it would make this laptop about $1300 to $1400 for an amassing set of hardware for the price. What do you guys think ?

 

I was aware that the screen could be upgraded too but just did not know where to get the higher screen res. I believe you can get a 15.6" screen at that res.. I have seen them before..

 

hey sunny thanks for the temps and readings, the gpu temps seems the same on par with my asus g51 system i got here in washington state, only difference i notice comparing mine to yours is that your cpu temps are 3-5 degrees cooler than mine, what surface did you have the laptop on when you did those temp readings? whats the ambient room temp your in? once again thankyou! i plan on running crysis on high 32-bit mode using dx9 and that should render some dam good fps... ill post info later

 

i think u can change the screen but i dont think that the one that u saw will work

first because it is different sizes
second (im not sure) idk if u could put another brand of screen on that laptop besides the asus one ... the second one i might be wrong

idk either but sometimes the cable from the g51 screen wont be compatible with the one that u saw

idk man u should wait for more answers to see what ppl say

oh by way a lot of ppl dont like the 1900x1200 on 15 inches thehy prefer the 1680x1050 but that is different from each one

 

Oh yeah I love either the 1680x1050 or the 1920x1200. Currently I have or should I say Had a Dell XPS GEN 2. It was a P-M 2.0ghz with a 7800 gtx, it also had a 1920x1200 screen but it was a 17" laptop. It will be 4 yrs old in august and reason why I sold it. Looking for something new and this G51 seems to be the best bang for the $$$.

I never seen a 15" with 1920x1200 in person but I do know that some big boys use it as Alienware and Sager. So i hope is not too bad, regardless of whether a 1650x1050 or a 1920x1200 the upgrade would be worth is screen size in gold. At least to me, I am a freak with screen real state. I need to have 3 or 4 windows going and doing 10 things at once. Truly Multitasking.

 

+1 rep for cpu ebay link, and very nice review

 

Testing on a glass surface.. Maybe thats why i am running a little cooler.. Room Temp is 74F.

 

Guys, I am comparing this and the Sager np8662 and I must say that even changing the screen and the CPU the price hovers around $1300-$1400 and a comparable sager np8662 with a 1680x1050 screen a p8700 and with NO OS runs $1427 from xoticpc and that does not include shipping.

The more I research the more I get excited about the G51. Sunny thanks for bringing this laptop to the forefront and your reviews, truly outstanding work.

 

Sunny a quick favor if you can. Please post the dimensions of the laptop, Width, Depth, Height. Thanks. Trying to figure out how much smaller this is compare to my old behemoth.

 

this aint good! Crysis 32bit mode all settings on high at full res screen is capable of in windows vista 64 sp1 playing for 10 minutes and gpu got up to 97c cpus got up to 63c.. what is going on with this gpu did asus even QC these before sending them out? hey sonny can u post yer temps after running crysis for 10 minutes playing it? thanks, these gpus or cooling solution for em might be defective
or the temp readings are way off?

 

Here maybe a possible option to upgrade the screen.. updated the first post...

PaPoTe, I will post the dimensions in a min..

 

The temperatures do sound a bit high..I'm actually a bit confused why they're so high, as it doesn't make sense. It isn't the GPU itself, as someone with a Sager or something reported I think a 70C or so load in the original G51 thread.

Truly, though, if it function at that temperature, it's OK. But, long-term usage might be iffy, with some dust build-up especially. I feel there is something amiss here; I don't think ASUS intended them to run so hot. I guess it would be out of the question to call them, lol?

Run DX9; you'll get much better FPS.

~Ibrahim~

 

sunnyc90 ,how watt is Power brick,120W ?

 

Your specs are consistent with mine even after playing it for 20 mins..

 

yes sir.. its a 120W power brick.

 

Man this thread exploded lol, nice review. Interesting to see they plugged the antenna port this time around.

If you get a chance to run on external please do a 1280x1024 3dmark so we can get an idea how it stacks up to desktops and what not. Most people dont do a 1280x720 to help the laptop folk compare. I always use the default which requires an external of course.

 

im so curious to know about the backlit keyboard and if it will fit in the g50.. hmmm

 

sunnyc90 can you run at 3dmark test with the newest drivers? also can you record the temps with the newest drivers as well. thanks

 

hey sunny it looks like your temps are identical to mine, so this means one of two things..

1. this is normal for this gpu and laptop although its alot hotter than the 9800m in the g50's for the most part

2. the cooler is defective or the paste/thermal pads they used.

I inspected mine closely for an half an hour, tightened all the cooler screws more, pushed down on them to make sure flush which they were, the cooler fan is working great and sounds like its working like it should..

IM using 185.85 whql nvidia mobile drivers with a custom modded .inf file i did myself..

here are the crysis benchmarks using crysis 32bit, ver. 1.21 dx10 mode 1366x768 res everything high with blood enabled, NO AA, using crysis built in benchmark .bat files..

Crysis Bench Cpu 1:


Crysis Bench Cpu 2:


Crysis Bench Gpu :


will try dx9 mode in 32bit later in vista!

 

seriously those high temps are scaring me. i could make some coffee there!

i thought the sager's high hdd temps were bad, this is just ridiculous >.<

 

I did not install the new driver yet.. The ones available from nvidia wont install because the laptop was released after the drivers were.. Only way of installing those drivers is if i mod the ini file..

 

It may not be defective; it may just be some weird cooling by ASUS. But, as the saying goes, if it isn't causing problems, it should be fine. Alone, the temperature means nothing.

You don't get any artifacts or anything, do you?

If you're really feeling brave, attempt to run Furmark. I'm serious now: those temps are pretty high and FurMark is known to be excessively hot. You could burn the chip. Or something might fry. I don't know. But, if you're feeling brave. lol...if it runs fine there, no one has any need to worry. But I personally would run it very quickly. If the temps get too high (100C+), I'd shut it down immediately.

~Ibrahim~