Sunny's G51VX-RX05 Review

Well.....if you turn up AA.......then you probably cant run stuff at 1080p. Most of the times when we say that 1080p is playable at maxed settings, we mean with very little or no AA at all.

 

I believe he is suggesting running high AA at lower resolutions instead of using higher resolutions.

 

Hi everyone again !

I received my G51VX-RX05 and its an awesome machine, i couldnt test all its capabilities but i'm sure that it worths every dollar i paid for it

I have a couple of questions, maybe someone here can help me with a few things.

a) Should i change the OS of the machine for XP 64 or Windows 7 64 ?

b) i have installed the latest Nvidia drivers (1.89 i think) for the moment so i can test a few games , which is the recomended settings for having a good graphic quality and a good performance ?

c) When testing L4D @ Max settings i noticed that there is some kind of "rain" that dissapears when i change de Texture Mattifier (sry is this is not the correct translation) to medium or low .. but when i play @ high or VH in this options it appears that rain .. Can it be solved ? why it appears ?

d) This may sound more like an stupid question than a real doubt but here i go Which is the native resolution in the desktop ? i mean the resolution that is default for the notebook ? because when i set the res @ 720 and not to 768 it looks really bad .. i'm asking this because when i exit L4D (just happened one time) the desktop resolution changed to 720 and i dont know if it is a problem of drivers or its really that at this res the image quality is very poor (not in games, just in desktop)

Thanks a lot for the pattience and i'm sorry i cant express myself correctly with a few things but i'm somehow "hidden" using internet @ work xD

 

a) def. Win7, it can virtualize XP, and winXP 64bit has a lot of compatibility issues.

c)there should be a "film grain" setting, take that to the lowest and the "rain" you're seeing should disappear.

d) the native resolution is 1366x768, so yes, 720P will require scaling and this reduced quality.

 

Thanks for your help =) and about (C) yes, there is a film grain setting i will try to take it all to low , but do you know why it happens that effect ? that option is not at max, is at default.

 

by default there is some film grain in L4D (which causes the 'rain' effect). just turn it down until it is off

 

Thanks ! it works .. now i have a clear image =) .. btw someone knows how to configure the GPU in a way i can get more constants fps ? i get over 120 - 100 - 80 fps and when the hordes appear or fps sink like the titanic @ 40 aprox .. or is this normal ? What i have noticed is that even if i use MSAA at max and AFiltering X16 there is no considerable lowering of FPS ... Strange Huh?

My settings are.

1280 x 720
All VHigh
MSAA X4
AFiltering X4
Vsync OFF
Power 4Gear Hybrid @ High Performace Extreme Turbo Mode.

Another thing is cause me a bad impression is that when i turn on my NB the desktop resolution is totally changed yesterday it appears @ 1280 x 720 and today @ 640 x 480 xD hahahahah. Is this probably a problem of this awful SO (Vista 64) ?

 

Why dont you use the native resolution of the LCD: 1366x768. run both your desktop and L4D in that resolution, things will look nicer

As for the framerate drops in L4D, thats normal! its still quite smooth at 40fps anyway

 

yes, i noticed that .. it shows 40 or 30 fps's but it runs the game as 60 maybe .. i think i can't expect to have 100 fps always, afterall Left 4 Dead is a big game with lot of shadow details.

And the reason i dont run the game @ 1366 x 768 is because i used to play CStrike and most of FPS games in low resolutions cause i never had a good GPU so i get acostumed to play games @ 640 x 480 xD and seeing things @ 1280 x 720 is something abnormal for me haahahaha.

what i it would be cool is if someone can make a short guide of the recomended settings of the gpu to have an smooth game sensation and a constant framerate ... anyway i have to install dox drivers yet , i'm still downloading win 7 -.-'

 

For Left 4 Dead? Any resolution, any graphics settings, any AA settings, will give you smooth gameplay. The 260m is that leet.

 

...or the Source engine from Valve is REALLY OLD. You can have a 8xxxm card max out any Source game with no problems, Valve needs to wakeup and get with the times...

 

Source isn't a bad engine. It's no Crysis, but for the games it supports it's a good piece of coding.

 

Should be called Left 4ge Dead.

 

You already said that.

Coolness -1

 

Actually, I never said that before. I just came up with it right now.

 

Oh, you deleted your post in the gaming forum, you devious man.

 

...or it's pure laziness on Valve in regards to their Source engine. Think about it, if other people thought like them imagine how games would look. Take for example the original Unreal engine, I like Mcgee's Alice and Barker's Undying but image that engine on Gears of War or the recently new Batman game, yuck (good thing Unreal 3 engine came out). With that comparison, I don't know why people bother to ask, "Will L4D or Half Life 2 be able to be maxed out while being smooth on the G51vx?" Duh, it will because the engine those games run on was made before 2004, any laptop with a 8xxxm card will run the games just fine. Sorry to be a stick in the mud, I've had a bad experience with Valve (and still do due to their PS3 laziness, bad first experience due to steam forcing me to be online, etc.) If people would just wake up and stop asking this dumb question [above], I wouldn't take offense. Any laptop made a year or so ago will run the games fine, even a mac notebook will as well. The G51vx will obviously play them well and smoothly...

 

Yeesh.

10chars

 

I think they don't update their engine so much because overall its a pretty good engine, and its an extremely undemanding engine. That opens up their market so that most everyone can play source games, even on some integrated graphics cards. It's not like Crysis where the game is limited to exclusively gaming PCs. Basically, you dont have to spend 7-800 dollars on a new PC every few years to be able to play source games.

Its the same thing with World of Warcraft...you can play World of Warcraft on a mid-range Pentium 3 processor, and thats how Blizzard has over 9 million people playing the game in a time where PC gaming is continuously losing market-share to console games.

 

Gameplay > graphics and that's where Valve (source engine) games excel.

 

Very much indeed. The incredible amount of gameplay imaginable from the Source engine has made it worthy of standing the test of time.

 

Ok , i found out something that is very useful .. it's not a great thing but all the drivers that came in the CD are totally compatible with Windows 7 .. except the Splendid Video Utility that display an error and the hotkey to change the brightness of the screen dont work =( but is really a minor thing in comparisson with the stability and the smoothness it runs

If someone try to autorun the CD it display a message that says that is no compatible, what i recommend is to copy all the drivers to the desktop and set one by one (zad thing) the compatibility with windows vista SP2 including the Auto Install Aplication. I recommend also to set on the option to run as administrator mode.

 

Has anyone found a way to have the Extreme turbo setting stay on? Every time I reboot or change power profiles it goes off. Rather annoying. Also... Kudos to Forge and Sunny et al for the guides and suggestions to overclocking. Has anyone else noticed that when using setFSB that almost any O/C causes the PCI bus to drop to 8Mhz, yet when using the Extreme Turbo setting this doesn't happen?
It could be a reporting issue and I don't know what effect it really has on performance, but I wondered if anyone has looked at a way to hack the Extreme Turbo setting to change it's O/C.

 

The way P4GH is set up, you can't run the overclock at anything other than performance profile. You can still run it on high performance battery, but you'll drain your 6-cell in like a minute.

I haven't used SetFSB in ages, so I can't help you there.

Speaking of which, are there any other generally reliable FSB overclocking utilities out there?

 

Sorry my bad LED screen earlier, I haven't been checking back here since this thread seems to be dying off

 

anyone with the g51 play League of Legends? i just got into the beta, tried it out. Put all the video settings to very high... 15 minutes later i decide to minimize and check temps. 100c max. =\ I don't see how the game was putting so much stress on the gpu. Even with everything maxed out, the fps didn't drop below 60. Must be bad coding.. or a certain option that really heats the gpu up.

 

Way overdue with quoting this, but I'm trying to read through this topic. >.> Anyway, what cooler did you use?

Also.. *pokes missing pictures*

 

OK just picked up this model from BB yesterday I am impressed. Now what should I do to it to get all the performance I can from it? I dont know if I should update the bios or not I have seen people who did. I was looking at the website and all the updates it scares me I wish there was a utility that already grabbed them from asus.

I have not noticed this laptop getting extremely hot. Also does anyone know what I may monitor the temps with?

 

Read Tev's optimization guide first. However, note that you should subsitute the Dox 185.85 driversfor 186.82 WQHL.

You don't need to update the BIOS.

You can monitor general hardware temperatures with HW Monitor, and GPU temperatures specifically with GPU-Z

 

first off, HWMonitor to measure your temps. secondly, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=401345 will be your G51 optimization bible. and lastly, www.google.com=<3


*edit* damn you forge <.<

 

does anyone know if the lcd covers that they sell on the asus estore will fit on my g50vt-x5
i am looking at this one ( http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=4923&catid=606)
i called in and they said "it should fit"
but they also said no refunds once i open the package

 

I was just wondering really quickly is 87c on the gpu normal for this laptop? Thats the highest I have seen so far while playing CoD4.

 

For most games you will max out at 86-87. At 86C the fans kick in and lower your temperatures. If we could control the fans we wouldn't be getting higher than 83 or 84 for most games.

 

!? your fans kick in @86C? no wonder you have lower max temps than I do! My fan doesn't kick in til 90C!

 

The fans are in normal mode below 86C. They go to medium speed at 86-ish, and finally uber-high-power at 90C.

 

I don't think I have a "medium" speed then. because mine goes straight from normal (quiet) to uberfastzoomzoomzoom speed. I think this is why I get my high fluctuations in temperature.

 

You guys are funny lol yeah this thing kicks out some major heat.

I was also wondering if putting a new processor in there voids the warranty? Also where can I get it for less than $400.

 

Yes, putting a processor in will void the warranty in most cases, because you'd need to remove/puncture the warranty sticker on the heat sink to change CPUs. and "where can I get it for less than 400$" where can you get what? the laptop? a cpu? WHICH cpu?

 

Oh sorry i was looking at the quad core 9000 one. I may just wait till the warranty is up.

 

A quad's not going to work in the RX05, and the jury's still out on the X1/2A.

And if you can move your sticker without breaking it, you can replace the processor without any warranty voiding.

 

186.82 on Lv2go best driver out for RX05 at this time? I read some stuff on LV2go forums that they weren't the most stable? Any thoughts? I'd appreciate the help, looking to upgrade and then OC in hopes of gaining some ArmA 2 frames.

 

I'm using 186.82 and everything's fine.

And before you overclock, make sure you're temperatures are looking good.

 

Thanks for the quick response. Should I go Nvidia WHQL or Lv2go with a modded inf?

 

I think they're the same if the're WQHL, right?

Go for Laptopvideo ones, to be sure, though.

 

I'm going to buy this laptop either today or tomorrow and was wondering about the warranty. Is there a default warranty or do i have to pay extra for that? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I have never baught a computer before or anything this expensive.
Also, I'm guessing World of Warcraft is really considered a graphically demanding game, so this laptop should be able to play it on max settings easily right? I'm getting this lappy mainy for WoW, Diablo III, and probably Star Craft II too.

 

Its comes with whatever Best Buy warranty you get with it. It does not comes with the normal (awesome) Asus warranty.

 

What do you guys think about using NVidia's latest driver vs. what ASUS has on their website? I'm having some graphics problems with Red Faction: Guerrilla, objects sometimes disappear and reappear randomly, usually when there's a lot going on. But I don't want to risk screwing up other programs that work fine right now.

 

Nvidia>Asus website definitely.

 

hey, sorry i can't answer your question, but i was wondering how red faction guerilla plays on the g51. i want to get it, but i'm a bit afraid of the cpu requirements and recommendations (why is there not a demo?!). how does it play? can you run everything on max? etc. and do you oc at all?

 

Runs fine with no tweaking/overclocking. I didn't max out the resolution thou, used a medium setting, something around 1400x900 or so. Tried taking it down to 1024x768 but still got the disappearing objects in some areas of the map. Still playable, when the problem gets bad I quit and restart later. Could be GPU temps, but they're not getting above the low 90's.
Now I have the X1A version from Newegg if you have the BestBuy version it may not run as well (lower clock speed).

EDIT: I just ran the game at max resolution with no problems.