Asus G73 to G74, worth it? Suggestions?

Hi guys! I purchased my G73JH RBBX05 10 months ago, sold it, and im looking to upgrade, specs of my old system (G73JH)
Intel Core i7 1.6
6GB 1333 ram
ATI Radeon 5870
No USB 3.0
720P Screen 1600x900 on 17.3

Worth the upgrade?

Specs on new G74,
1080p screen,
USB 3.0
Better specs
8GB ram

 

No not really. The performance difference in games is...tiny. The CPU is great though for CPU intensive tasks but not worth it. You should probably go to the Alienware camp for a true upgrade like some uber crossfire setup.

 

For the price you will kick yourself if you did and although you may notice the difference ie new model, USB 3.0, 1080p screen the price for this luxury is hefty compared to what you would get for your JH.

The difference between GPU's is minor and you could spend $300 and stick in a 920XM which is on par and can even be faster than the Sandy Bridge.

Performance wise its not a good upgrade.

 

I played around with a G74 at Best Buy a few weeks ago, and thought that the external build quality was a little worse than the G73JH I currently have. Personally I think it's a tiny upgrade for the money, and would also suggest the Alienware systems with Crossfire/SLI for a 'worth the price of admission' performance boost.

That said, the G73 has handled everything I've thrown at it very well and I don't personally see the need to upgrade, but that's just my personal opinion. The only thing I would do with it, like Dallers mentioned, is the 920/940XM upgrade.

 

Hmm, I have sold my ASUS G73JH as mentioned in the OP, for 950$, so a throwing in 150$ at the most isnt worth the upgrade, from my old one?

ASUS - Laptop / Intel® Core™ i7 Processor / 17.3" Display / 8GB Memory / 1TB Hard Drive - Black - G74SX-BBK7

I could upgrade the RAM, although it isnt necessary, add a better wi-fi card, and a bluetooth card.

Any laptops that can meet this price range, and the power?

The lowest price for a m17x was 1500$ for the 5870 crossfire.
MSI GT780R worth the price at 1400$?

Or should i just have upgraded to the 920/940XM Upgrade.

Guys thanks for replying. Very much appreciated.

 

The MSI GT780R is by far the best buy there. Cross-Fire (CFX) is nice when it works without any problems.

When it comes to AMD GPUs...
#1 reason why people have issues with AMD is lack of CFX profiles for games
#2 reason why people have issues with AMD are CFX driver problems.
#4 reason why people have issues with AMD are CFX hardware problems.
#5 reason why people have issues with AMD are CFX miscellaneous issues.

Go with the single card GTX 570M which can exceed performance of a HD6970M when overclocked.

FYI your former G73JH RBBX05 is a faster gaming machine than the G74SX-BBK7

 

That is the BBK7 model as mentioned it comes with the 128bit much lower powered GPU of the 560M version. It is much weaker than the 5870M so you are paying $150 to downgrade your GPU.

If you are planning to upgrade make sure you do go for Alienware or Sager or something at the end of the day if you intend to game you want performance.

 

Nope. just wait a little while, there will be a new cpu gen + new gpu soon.

 

I recently got an M14x for work (works money), and its a nice machine. My G73jh handles games slightly better @1080p, vs the 900p of the m14x (with the 555m overclocked) but it's more convienent to pull out and use in my living room. I've heard good and bad things about the M17xR3 (driver install issues with the 6970m due to switchable gfx stuff) but it's a quality machine none the less. Just FYI from what I've heard...

The best news for the m17x is upgradable gfx card, something he g73 lacks at the moment...

 

Lots of great information, and great news, i hadn't sold it yet, the person ended up not buying it, so, my former G73JH is still my laptop! Hooray?!?
I noticed how you guys are all, or most RBBX05 owners, amazing.
The thing is, the price which i could sell this for, (have another buyer) is a very nice price, im actually making money +100 dollars.
Im really unsure now on what to do.

Sorry if im putting way too many problems out on the table.
Any suggestions based on my status?

Thanks again, very appreciated.

 

My first question to ask is why are you considering an upgrade? Is there a specific title or titles that you're concerned about your JH being up to the task? I'm assuming you're okay with the G73's size, weight, and form factor as you were looking to go to the G74.

My personal opinion is that the G73 has a great price/performance ratio for a gaming rig, and I'm quite satisfied with mine. I've got about $1200 into the machine with all my upgrades, which is a pretty good deal for me. The NVidia version of the G73 and the G74 just don't offer too much more punch in the GPU department, and I don't do anything all that intensive CPU-wise. I'm tempted to get a 920/940XM for future-proofing, but that's about it.

It'd take a pretty good chunk of change as well as selling your G73 to get a good improvement, and we're talking about jumping up to something like the Alienware M17x or M18x.I'm not too well-versed on other gaming rigs out there, so maybe someone else could chime in with other alternatives?

 

Hello,

Still the same here: I don't think it is worth the upgrade. Wait for significant increase in GPU performance which may come a generation after the G74. Keep it or upgrade to Alienware. Besides I find the G73's overall design better than the G74. The current model has somewhat lost a bit of its stealthiness which I really love.

 

I agree with most people here... The G73jh is a good laptop, and still carries it's weight (pun intended). The best solution would be a side-grade to another machine that allows upgrading the video card, and the CPU, but is it really worth the cost now vs a year+ down the road when you have an upgrade opportunity at the same time? I don't think it really is, and I've been mulling over selling the G73jh to rebuild my desktop to something current, which still doesn't make sense for me on a personal and on a performance level (more of on the personal level).

 

Alrighty guys, i think i found my replacement for my laptop,
Key features that make this the one i want over the options of buying G74SX, keeping my G73JH RBBX05 with specs in the OP, and buying the MSI GT780DXR

GenTech PC - MSI MS-1761 (GT780DXR Barebone) Gaming Notebook

So is the upgrade worth the ~320$ extra i'll be plopping on after selling the G73? I know the BestBuy version of the G74 has a lower spec'd video card.

I'll be improving alot of the laptop, a key feature i want is the keyboard, the body, and mainly the sound, but more or less the screen.

So what i can do right now, to sum it all up is, Keep my G73JH RBBX05, buy a G74SX non-bestbuy priced at ~1300$ or bestbuy to save money, or buy a GT780R for around 1300$.

Would i be getting more or less?

Sorry if im asking MSI questions in the Asus forums!

Guys, thanks for all the information you guys provided me with, it ultimately helped me look further to find a better laptop for the price,
Thanks.

Total price with customized to have 1tb in raid.
97$ TAX +
1257$ Configuration

 

I'd get the MSI anytime. Its better speced then the G74 and hell the G74's 560M is weaker in any case.

 

Yeah, i thought about that too. The MSI looks better in my opinion, no red line, and no silver on the exhausts

One downside is that opening the laptop in anyway voids the warranty, that is a small problem though, the sound, the screen, and the keyboard win it for me, the one fan thing makes me weary.

 

Opening the MSI will not void the warranty. It's designed for enthusiasts. MSI made it so you can easily open up the machine, do your upgrades, repaste or clean. If you've heard otherwise, it's not true. MSI forum is filled to the brim of users who have upgraded their thermals, upgraded hardware modded etc with no issues with warranty.

The one fan solution? You should read more about it. It still has two separate heatsinks for CPU and GPU. The CPU and GPU have their own individual EXTRA LARGE radiators. The radiators for them are as big as they are on the Asus. And the fan is dual venting and EXTRA LARGE. You should have ZERO problems with cooling.

MSI FYI also has full afterburn fan if you are worried, which will cool your CPU/GPU better than Asus. It's button you can press that makes the cooling system go into full throttle mode.

The G660 MSi with HD5870M for example runs nearly 10c cooler than it does on my G73jh which I have done everything possible aside from lapping the heatsink. And that's without the full throttle mode. And the MSI has high overclock than mine.

 

I envy your US prices, that would be an ideal replacement for me in the UK up until the next models in 6 months time.

Blast our currency exchange rate!!

 

Ah, great, i'll be buying the MSI for sure then, all i care about is price.
Im looking at 1300$ the lowest i can find for a GT780DXR

EDIT: Agh, i guess i'll have to live with no backlit keyboard... the barebones dont have the steelseries keyboard, instead a generic keyboard. How sad. i'll have to pay 100$ more to get it.

 

Looks good to me now, i guess.

Any new insights on what i should do?