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Reviews
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ASUS Eee Pad Slider review
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ASUS Eee PC X101CH Cedar Trail netbook review
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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 business notebook review
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ACER Aspire S3 ultrabook review
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Asus G53SX review – gaming on Nvidia GTX 560M
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Review: ASUS ZENBOOK UX31 (Video)
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Review: Macbook Air 11.6 mid-2011
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Review: Asus Lamborghini VX7
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[Review] Panasonic CF-53
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Lenovo ThinkPad W520 review
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Review: Asus G74Sx 3D gaming laptop
This is it! Asus’ latest gaming laptop has arrived in our office and it’s ready to tell us all its secrets. The G74SX 3D was announced back at CES 2011 and we’ve been waiting it for quite a while. Join us in our quest of finding the best features of the Asus G74SX 3D gaming laptop.
In a few words
So what exactly is a gaming laptop? Aren’t desktops supposed to do gaming? It’s true but a laptop gives you the chance to face your friends in Mortal Kombat… literally! So the Asus G74SX 3D comes with an Intel Sandy Bridge Core i7-2630QM, up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 1.25TB of storage with two HDDs and Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M graphics. If it’s not tempting you by now you should know it’s got a Blu-Ray drive, USB 3.0 port, HDMI 1.4-out and digita audio-out. The display is a beauty: the Full HD 3D screen benefits from the Shutter technology and it’s nothing we have seen.
The design has also evolved. The old Republic of Gamers laptops seem a bit rude compared to the G74SX 3D: the lines and edges are smoother and the overall thickness has been reduced. At 7.72 lbs. it’s not what you’d call portable but you can look at it at a perfect desktop replacement… and it’s totally worth it showing it to your friends and then smashing them with your favourite game character.
What we did like:
- build quality;
- very good specs;
- full keyboard, including the Num key;
- big palm-rest;
- Asus cooling feature.
What we did not like:
- Weight;
- Price (although we weren’t expecting something cheap): about $1900
Specs:
Processor: Intel Sandy Bridge i7-2630QM – 2.0GHz
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Display: 17.3 inch 1920 x 1080
Memory: 16 GB DDR3-1333 DDR3
I/O : 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA, 1 x audio, 1 x RJ-45, power-in
Weight: 10.62 lb.
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M (Nvidia N12-E) – 3 GB DDR3 memory; Intel GMA HD
WLAN: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Storage: Seagate (750 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II + 500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray
Keyboard: full size spill resistant + numpad
The Geeky Stuff
Lets look at the design. You may remember the older G74S laptops from ASUS but this one is a bit more stylish. Although it maintains its predator looks the lines and edges are smoother. Looking closer there’s the display attached straight above the speakers and ASUS has managed to do that and make the lid open more. The vents on the back have also changed since the last generation. Now they look bigger and meaner, but in a good way.
The ASUS G74SX 3D can be the perfect desktop replacement: it has the power (you’re gonna see that in a minute), the presence and especially the weight: 10.62 lb… you’re not going to pop it in your backpack too often, aren’t you?
Even though it has a nuclear bomb under that keyboard the ASUS G74SX 3D kept itself cool thanks to a new ASUS cooling technology: there are four coolers inside, the first two grab the cool air from the front of the laptop and the other two push the heat out through those mean vents we mentioned early. It may sound complicated but in our tests the temperature didn’t go past 149 F.
The back of the lid and the palm-rest have a special rubber feeling. The chiclet keyboard rests on a metal frame capable to withstand any pressure from hardcore gamers. The keyboard is also backlit and the arrow keys have a special place of their own. We loved the keyboard on this laptop, our only concern was the “Windows” key that sometimes got in our way.
What about connectivity?
Looking on the left side: Kensington lock, 2 USB 2.0 ports, Blu-Ray Drive and the audio-in and out.
On the right side: card reader, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, 1 VGA-out, 1 HDMI-out, RJ-45 and power-in.
On the back: the vents.
Accesing the hard drives and the memory is fairly easy. With just a coin you can remove the cover and see the beauty on the inside:
The Really Geeky Stuff
You’ve been probably waiting for some official tests, especially when considering the ASUS G74SX 3D has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M graphics solution. We were very pleased to see how it performed during our tests:
3D Mark 2006
3D Mark 2003 – 1024 x 768
Booting time took only 40 seconds for the ASUS G74SX 3D:
HDD Tune Pro results:
Good results on CINEBENCH also:
Earlier we mentioned the maximum temperature achieved by the G74SX 3D: 149 F. The mimimum was 98.6 F and that amazed us. Turns out ASUS’ cooling technology really works.
ASUS G74SX 3D features a 6-cell battery (5200 mAh, 74Wh) and scores 55 minutes on the Classic test and 2.5 Hours in the Reader test.We used Battery Tester to also see how much it would take to charge the battery. Turns out it takes more than 2 hours.
Windex gave a 5.9 mark for the slow HDD. If it only had SSD instead…
Related Posts :
Why is it $2400? i thought the 3D model is $1900
Yes, thanks for the tip! We verified it and the price will be around $1900
Wow thanks for this info
Would you mind if i posted this on my blog: http://thegamecheats.net ?
As long as you give credit where credit is due, sure
Wow looks great. Been waiting for over a month for the g73 3d when I got a call yesterday saying that they are unable to fill the order but wil upgrade me to the g74 3d model instead for my patience. Again waiting for xmas in July. Hopefully I get the unit soon as looking at these specs make me even more excited.
Hey do you any news on the release date as of yet? I pre ordered the Asus g74sx 3de on July 8th and it still has not been releashed. If you have any news if it will be out soon that would be great!
Nice performance, unfortunately all ports, power, hdmi and ethernet, the most I use are on the right, right in the mouse area
…still waiting on mine also. Ordered on June 23rd.
Let us know what’s it like when you receive it.
“As long as you give credit where credit is due, sure”
@dan
Also please give credit where credit is due in the news section of your website. I’ve noticed news posts on laptopreviewshop without links to the original source. Can you please fix that? Also, it would be nice to have a contact page on this site.
Anyway, nice and useful review.
Regards.
I got if for 1300. UR mad tottally worth it.
I bought myself one of these 2 days ago. I purchased it at Staples for only 1400. http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=66%2C67%2C68,3369&webid=343099&affixedcode=WW
Its a great laptop so far, as many of you can probably predict.
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Got one…well worth it. Wow. Thanks for the review
Don’t buy it!!!
I just got one two weeks ago and, because it is covered with rubber, the surface is already stained and getting worse day after day! And I always wash and dry my hands very well before using it.
Sent many messages to Asus and that is their latest answer, even after many complaints from me making clear that they are responsible for that:
“Dear valued customer,
Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
Sorry for the convenience.
I don’t have any idea for your case, I haven’t meet this situation ever since. Thank you for understanding!
If you have another problem, please get contact with us ASAP.
Best Regards,
Lily
ASUS Customer Service”
Bought one, love it it handles everything flawlessly
Replaced System HDD with SSD drive so performance is good.
Windows Rating went from 5.9 to 7.3 (Graphics Card is the lowest score now)
Fabio: Stop putting your oily mits on the laptop, I have no idea what you expect ASUS to actually do for you. That would have to be one of the craziest complaints I have seen.
Do you complain to the car manufacturer when a bird craps on your car? I mean really, come on man.
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