Introduction, Design, User Interface
Ivy Bridge Brings More Grunt To Gaming
Intel has decided to lead its introduction of Ivy Bridge for mobile with its most powerful quad-core parts. Many of these processors will end up in mainstream laptop, but they’re also great for gaming laptops. In our first look at Ivy Bridge we saw that it holds up well when paired with its own Intel HD 4000 graphics – if you keep the resolution around 1366×768. A bit more than that and the IGP just can’t hang.
Gamers will still want a beefy discrete GPU, and that’s what the G75 offers. Inside this beast you’ll find an Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M. Those who were reading our Kepler coverage will remember that this is not based off Nvidia’s newest architecture but is instead a re-work of an older Fermi chip. That mean seem a bit disappointing, and it is – but the performance of Nvidia’s older mobile chips wasn’t lackluster.
So, this new laptop is packing a spanking-new Core i7-3720QM as well as Nvidia’s new GTX 670M. That’s an impressive combination, and ASUS has wisely backed it up with a well-rounded set of performance components.
Yes, we have multiple hard drives here including a solid state OS drive. There’s also sixteen gigabytes of RAM and a plethora of ports. In the past the G-series laptops we’ve had in for review have always been solidly mid-range gaming laptops with affordable pricing, and I always wondered if ASUS did the majority of its business in that segment because the company was unsure about how it’d stack up against the boutiques.
This new G75, however, is a shot across the bow of Alienware, Origin and Maingear. It has the hardware to go up against laptops in the $2000 range. So has ASUS hit the mark, or is their aim wild?
Design
ASUS certainly doesn’t rest on its laurels when it comes to the design of the G-series. Every new model is redesigned subtly but significantly from the one previous, and this laptop may be the most significant change yet.
The profile makes an immediate impact. Gaming laptops have a reputation for being bulky because, well, they are – but as I’ve mentioned in some earlier articles, the lower power consumption of modern hardware indicates that we may be seeing an end to that era. The G75 is 46mm at its thickest point, down from the 62mm thickness of the G74.
Even these figures are a bit deceptive, however, due to the laptop’s tapered design. It’s 30mm thick at the front, and while that’s quite large compared to an ultrabook it’s enough to make this the second-slimmest dedicated gaming laptop we’ve ever reviewed (behind the Alienware M11x).
While the chassis is different, the major details remain the same as previous models. ASUS has stuck with its black stealth-bomber inspired design. I’ve always found it to be sleek yet masculine, and the slimmer silhouette of this model makes it the most attractive G-series yet. The exhaust vents remain at the back, keeping heat away from the user, and the keyboard is trimmed with the same silver accents found on previous models. If you liked the look of older ASUS gaming laptops, you’ll like this – and vice-versa.
User Interface
Since it is a 17.3” laptop the G75 has plenty of room for a full-sized keyboard with numpad. The keys are large and there’s a massive space between the main keyboard and the numpad. Between that spaces are four directional keys that are kept slightly separate from the other keys. I personally can’t remember the last time I used directional keys in a game, but the attention to detail is nice.
Key feel is average. Most people don’t buy a gaming laptop for the wonderful typing experience, so that’s not a surprise. With that said, most people would have no trouble using the G75 for long bouts of typing – the keys are large, easy to identify by touch and have decent travel.
Backlighting is standard on the G-series. There are four different settings (off and three brightness levels) that can be changed using keyboard function keys, for which I can’t thank ASUS enough. Most keys are evenly lit and the light leakage around the key caps is tolerable.
The touchpad is large and has a different texture from the surrounding surface, which makes it easy to navigate in dark lighting. Large individual left/right buttons are provided, and they offer plenty of key travel. Multi-touch support could be better – it has bouts of over-sensitivity punctuated by moments of unresponsiveness – but overall, this is one of the better touchpads I’ve used on a gaming laptop.
I love the design of this,
I love the design of this, the back reminds me of the lamborghini aventador interior. Very nice! If only I had a use for it!
I just purchased my ASUS
I just purchased my ASUS G74SX in August 2011. Wonder if it is a good enough for me to upgrade?
Not unless you have a lot of
Not unless you have a lot of money and not much to do with it. The G74 can still handle just about any game at reasonable settings.
Asus should go all the way
Asus should go all the way and put a gtx 675M in there.
I would call that a desktop,
I would call that a desktop, because I wouldn’t put that thing in my lap.
Neither would I plan on lugging it around town.
Maybe for LAN parties but that’s about it.
yep, that’s the definition of
yep, that’s the definition of a desktop replacement, which is the G75’s category go for the 15″ if it scares your lil arms
MSI GT783 Is still better in
MSI GT783 Is still better in terms of graphics .
Plus MSI GT783 is upgrade friendly for moderate users.
Upgrade cpu et c
Cool laptop, however I would
Cool laptop, however I would consider the MSI GT60/70. Recently played on that one, it had dual SSDs which was extremely fast, other then that I was happily surprised about the speakers in it (dyaudio if I remember..)
The keyboard is from steelseries which was a dream typing on, rest of the specs is pretty comparable with the Asus one.
670m? For the price Asus
670m? For the price Asus charges? It has the hardware to go up against $2000 machines? Nonsense! Sager/Clevo with a AMD 7970m Will blow this out of the water and is well under $2000. Asus prays on the uninformed and best buy crowd and has been resting on the laurels of the G73jh.
It is a looker though
It is a looker though
agreed, if you want pure
agreed, if you want pure performance you buy Alienware, if you want very similar performance for much less $ you buy Sager/Clevo
Asus/MSI/Toshiba are now just overpriced and underpowered choices, none of the last gen with the 560M would actually run games 1080p well let alone in 3D.
Author should try a P170xx with a top-range GPU and one of the good screen upgrades before telling people this is the “pick” of anything except bling
And what is the Wi-Fi card in
And what is the Wi-Fi card in your review unit ?
I wonder if this machine or
I wonder if this machine or others of this type is overkill for what I want to use it for, which is Autocad, Inventor and Solidworks? Has any of you used this machine for that purpose?
I’m running Civil 3D on it
I’m running Civil 3D on it right now and it is extremely smooth. It’s a nice change from the crappy laptops they give me to use at work.
I was wondering also if you
I was wondering also if you can use the G75 for hardcore CAD work like Solid works and CATIA 3D modeling. The processor and ram are more than enough but i am not sure if the Nvidia 670M would handle the extreme CAD work. If this is possible, for the G75 price it will be a real victory on other CAD stations like the HP elite book and the Dell precision, since they both cost a fortune to buy ($3000 and above for a decant configuration). I tried checking if the Nvidia 670M can be replaced by a Nvidia quadro 3000M (which is specially made for CAD work) but they told me the the Nvidia card on the G74/75 is built in the motherboard. I would be glade if anyone who used this laptop for CAD modeling would give us an advise.
I went out and got the lap
I went out and got the lap top.it really wasnt that bad priced. it was only 500 more then my old comp witch was a cheese 700 dollar dell that i got for a quick fix at walmart. and trust me the this is alot better then the dell i had.
as for set up it really didn’t take me to get it set up how i want, it got a very user friendly interface. the whole thing just has a really nice feel to it. and grafict are great on it as well.
It nice for long term play, with the dell i could maybe play 1 or hour befre having to shut it off to keep it from over heating (this is with a cooling pad and extra fan on the key bored also) But the Asus G75v i stayed up all night playing every game i owned and hte lap top didnt get hot at all.
It also like said in the review not as big as most gamer laptop. not as heavy (thought it still kinda heave compared to a reg. over the counter laptop) ether witch make it nice since my job makes it so i have to travel alot.
Also another thing i like is it look like it be easy to upgrade if i ever chouse to do so. witch i like because i wont have to buy a whole new laptop in a year or so to play game just do some part upgrades.
so everything about this laptop is great. i think i made a really good chose ingetting this laptop.
I tried this laptop for a few
I tried this laptop for a few days, it is really nice, but graphic solutions are still far behind desktops, and 1080p on 17 inch means too small fonts and details for me, even with my 20-20 eyesight. A 400$ laptop with amd dual graphics is for me the only cost effective laptop gaming solution
I bought this laptop two
I bought this laptop two weeks ago on sale for 1,400.
I love it but it weighs a lot. I run skyrim at ultra high graphics, and have no problem at all.
I really is a great laptop.
Wondering if it’s worth
Wondering if it’s worth upgrading my G73 series to get this? Do you guys think it will be a big improvement worth the cash?
quem veio pelo monark ?
quem veio pelo monark ? KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Monark LOL
Monark LOL
An answer do
An answer do Anonymous.
Sager, i checked up the computer and it cost about 1327 dollars witch is about 10 000 swedish kronor.
I bought my Asus G75V with same spec for 12 000 and that with the swedish tax.
The Sager would cost me around 15000 inc tax and chipping for a computer with a g-card half of mine has.
Sager for 1327 dollar with 3% discount has a gforce with 1,5g memory while my asus has 3g memory.
And the thing that Asus what they dont have is a much much better cooling system. I dont know if it weigh less.
And alienware is really overpriced are you freaking insane? I dont know about your country but in sweden if you want preformance for your money you keep ur ass away from that shit seriously.
I think you need to check ur shit up before talking bullshit.
I max Crysis 2 with max grafic and HD textures.
For a laptop thats insanely good. I dont need more.
And what you need to look for in a laptop is durability how much turbulance it can take before brakeing and the support as well. gee
ok so now ive looked up
ok so now ive looked up alienware, the price WITHOUT tax for a system equal to Asus is 14500 swedish kr, against Asus G75 12000 WITH Tax!!!!
Yeah Asus suck the money out of people, you gotta be employed by some company.
Only computer that ive found has slightly better price tag on their systems are MSI but, MSI is poorly built and dont have as good cooling systems as Asus have.
And for that 1-3 fps in games for a shorter lifetime, or not the possibility of clocking ur systems i say no thank you.
If you want to buy another system than Asus its ur choice but if you choose sager witch is pricetag higher, than its on you. But dont go around and spousing bshit.
Its a good solid laptop im very pleased and im not gonna pay 1000 dollars for the design mark of Alienware “fuckin joke that they are cheap, idiot”.
Alienware M17x
Pris från 14616,00 kr
Exklusive moms och frakt
Exclusive of tax of deliver…….. Almost exacly same spec as Asus.
Don’t buy this crap! A couple
Don’t buy this crap! A couple of years ago we bought an expensive Asus G71 gamer notebook and the screen was defect and went to repair and now it’s already too slow for gaming. Now we – unfortunately – have bought this expensive new G75VW, got it today – and it is not it is not working properly! Never Asus again! Obviously Asus do not have sufficient quality control programs.
calm down man, and tell us
calm down man, and tell us what is the problem with your laptop 🙂
Hi, I just bought this model
Hi, I just bought this model and on the first day the whole screen randomly flickers…it seems to stop when I reposition the computer, but I only use it on my desk so it’s a flat surface always.
Also when watching youtube videos the sound seems to freeze up, or lag and make horrible noises.
Any solutions?
I have the same issue, and I
I have the same issue, and I noticed that it happens when the flash app is present.