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    Asus ROG G501 announcement

    Discussion in 'ASUS Gaming Notebook Forum' started by Oxford_Guy, Feb 4, 2015.

  1. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Oxford_Guy, Feb 4, 2015
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  2. imglidinhere

    imglidinhere Notebook Deity

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    Here's to hoping it comes with the 965M instead of the 970M. I personally find the 965M to be more than capable enough in most games today. :p

    Then again, I only care about two or three games right now... >.>
     
    imglidinhere, Feb 4, 2015
    #2
  3. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    The shot of the cooler shows it's not a 192bit design :)
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 5, 2015
    #3
  4. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Maybe, if the 965M runs significantly cooler and draws less power, though if they do this I hope they price it appropriately and offer it in the 4Gb option. I hope they can put a 970m in there if they can manage the cooling okay, though.

    I also hope they offer the 1080p screen model (which I would prefer - lighter, draws less power, avoids Windows scaling issues, and has a matte screen) with 16Gb RAM and a 512Gb SSD .

    I also hope that for non-gaming on battery it would give at least 4 hours
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 5, 2015
    #4
  5. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    What makes you think that? That would mean it's not a 970m/980m, right?
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 5, 2015
    #5
  6. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Meaker@Sager, Feb 5, 2015
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  7. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Okay, well I could live with a 965M if they get the rest of the machine right. Would this also suggest this would have 4Gb VRAM?
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 5, 2015
    #7
  8. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    It could be either since it does not indicate ram on both sides of the board or not.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 5, 2015
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  9. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    BTW do Asus make most of their products available usually in UK/Europe? I was excited about the new 970M Razer Blade announcement yesterday until I realised you won't actually be able to buy it in Europe, nor will the give you any warranty if you somehow manage to import from elsewhere...
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 5, 2015
    #9
  10. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    There is no hard and set rule for Asus it seems, however the UK/europe get a lot of their products.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 5, 2015
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  11. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Here's hoping!
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 5, 2015
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  12. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    Asus's products here in the UK are really overpriced compared to US.. When I imported my G73JH with some tricks ( ;)) from the US, I saved about £400 compared to buying it here.. Warranty was as valid here as in the US so no losses on my side..
     
    TomJGX, Feb 6, 2015
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  13. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    You'd have needed some tricks, otherwise would've got stung with 20% VAT/customs charges when importing...

    Actually, that's one of the reasons why PCs here are more expensive than the USA, as we have 20% VAT on everything, though some suppliers sting us for an even bigger UK mark-up on top of that :-(
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 6, 2015
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  14. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    The prices of the gigabyte and MSI systems can be eye watering in the UK some times compared to elsewhere.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 7, 2015
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  15. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    The prices in the UK for MSI don't seem too bad, but Asus and Aorus, yes.
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 7, 2015
    #15
  16. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    It has been cheaper for me to pay shipping plus vat on an import before with msi ;)
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 8, 2015
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  17. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Blimey! BTW apart from VAT and shipping, were there any other import costs?
    At least MSI offer an international warranty (unlike Razer, which don't offer one at all), all it's one year, not two like normal
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 8, 2015
    #17
  18. Loqque

    Loqque Newbie

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    No the Asus G501 only come with GTX960M.
    I saw on other post the code name is G501JW.
    The JW code only refers to GTX960M in Asus ROG Series.
     
    Loqque, Feb 8, 2015
    #18
  19. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Is the 960M less capable than the 965M?
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 8, 2015
    #19
  20. imglidinhere

    imglidinhere Notebook Deity

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    If memory serves, it'll most likely be just a rebrand of the 860M, which...if true, means that the laptop won't be worth the purchase in any case.

    If I'm wrong, and god damn do I hope so, it'll probably get a fair boost, I'd hope for a few more shaders at the very least. >.>
     
    imglidinhere, Feb 8, 2015
    #20
  21. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Erk! If that's the case I'd probably be better off buying an MSI G60 and switching out the HDD for an SSD, though battery life (and size) is an issue, so I'd probably have to keep my Macbook Air for on-the-move duties.

    Or else get a 2015 Razer Blade imported, though it would cost a hell of a lot to do that and no warranty. I'd be able to sell my Macbook Air, though, so would get some cash back
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 8, 2015
    #21
  22. Convel

    Convel Notebook Deity

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    Yes, the GTX 960M and 950M are both expected to be GM107, since Nvidia's new GM206 is significantly larger at 227mm² vs 148mm². A ~20% performance bump compared to the 860M would be a reasonable estimate, due to higher GPU and VRAM frequencies.
    You could also have a look at the Aorus X5 if you like 4K. It will have two GTX 965Ms (GM204/Maxwell) in SLI. Keen to see a temperature, noise, and battery rundown on that one.
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2015
    Convel, Feb 9, 2015
    #22
  23. sockfish

    sockfish Notebook Consultant

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    Looks like they added the numpad to this one as well, wonder what sparked that change. Maybe to appeal to the business users as well?

    Despite the branding numbers being only 5 apart, the 970m is significantly faster than the 965m. I mean, 870m performance with 860m temperatures is not bad, but you have last year's performance in tier 1. Seems like a step behind everyone else offering 970m in thin and light, and we all pretty much know this thing won't be cheap. If they put the 960m in this, it's going to be dead in the water.
     
    sockfish, Feb 9, 2015
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  24. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes, I'm not too happy about the numpad, adds unnecessary bulk and usually means a larger screen bezel to match the top half of the case with the lower, I can live with it, but I really don't understand the need for a numpad on a portable computer - if you need this, you can use an external keyboard.
    Maybe they have another GPU in mind? They seemed to imply they're waiting for it, but the 965M is already out in some computers already being sold
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 9, 2015
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  25. sockfish

    sockfish Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah the keyboard isn't a deal breaker for me either. But even the 965m is already significantly less powerful than the 970m. Nvidia won't be releasing anything new with chipsets anytime soon, unless there's an MX version in the works. Seeing how the NX500 is priced, it will be around $2k or more. At around $2k, you have the gs60 pro, X3+, P35X and Razer Blade, all which are thin and light, good build quality, and 970m.
     
    sockfish, Feb 9, 2015
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  26. iaTa

    iaTa Do Not Feed

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    No more 100% NTSC 4K panel. Shame.
     
    iaTa, Feb 10, 2015
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  27. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    What's the point of a 4K panel unless you have at least a 980M GPU? It sounds like the G501 is not even going to have a 970M GPU, so it wouldn't be able to make the best use of a 4K panel, and it would just increase the price and power consumption
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 10, 2015
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  28. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Oxford_Guy, Feb 10, 2015
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  29. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    They do say a currently unreleased Nvidia GPU while the 965M is out...
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 10, 2015
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  30. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    If it'll only have a 960M (or worse), I'm not sure that it'll be worth buying...
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 10, 2015
    #30
  31. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    No in the UK there is no duty at least, so it's just VAT + shipping.

    The 960M should be able to get by ok, the cooling should be really good to get some clocks out of it too. It makes sense for a machine of this design.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 10, 2015
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  32. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Okay, thanks - I'm still considering the Razer Blade as an option then. If something does go wrong with it, would I still be able to get it repaired (at mu own cost), as it won't be covered by international warranty (Razer doesn't have one) somewhere - either through Razer, or by a third party (or would a third party not be able to repair a machine of the Razer Blade's design)?

    Maybe., though the anticipated performance of the 960M is well below that of even the 965M. It's a larger machine than the Razer Blade, which has an 970M in it, strange that they wouldn't be able to even put a 965M in it (Aorus manage to get one of these into a 13" machine!)
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 10, 2015
    #32
  33. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Asus might be going with the fans not screaming in your face approach and temperatures not on the red line constantly to improve reliability ;)
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 10, 2015
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  34. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Well there is that! :)

    I assume battery life in this is going to be better than the MSI GS60 etc., which seems to barely manage 3 hours for non-gaming use?

    Though the GPU shouldn't really affect battery life, as should normally only kick in when gaming
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 10, 2015
    #34
  35. Benhurra

    Benhurra Notebook Enthusiast

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    What i cannot understand is why the ROG brand would sanktion a 4K screen driven by a 960m.
    It would be unplayable in any setting at that resolution.
    Could it be a 975m?
     
    Benhurra, Feb 10, 2015
    #35
  36. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Would also have to deal with bad scaling issues in Windows :-(
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 10, 2015
    #36
  37. Er1c87

    Er1c87 Newbie

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    I am extremely disappointed in this change. I really thought the design was sleek without the numpad.
    Here's to hoping Asus will release another version without the numpad
     
    Er1c87, Feb 10, 2015
    #37
  38. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    I totally agree, but I doubt they'll change this now, unless they release a 13" or 14" model (a 14" model would great)
     
    Oxford_Guy, Feb 10, 2015
    #38
  39. iaTa

    iaTa Do Not Feed

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    Goodness me, not this again.

    Does anyone force you to play games at 4K?

    Do you think you will notice any difference playing at 1080p on a 4K panel. No is the answer.

    You can then take advantage of the additional resolution in Windows. Not to mention the incredible colour gamut which is what I was really referring to.
     
    iaTa, Feb 10, 2015
    #39
    oblic99 likes this.
  40. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    No single mobile GPU is going to give a great 4k experience so the point is a bit moot about it not having a slightly higher chip, the resolution is not geared towards gaming.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 11, 2015
    #40
  41. 777light777

    777light777 Notebook Geek

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    If this has a GTX 960m and it's an overclocked re-brand of GTX 860m, then it's DOA for a ROG product. Should have a GTX 965m. :(

    (Unless GTX 960m is improved Maxwell.) (I say this and i'm an ASUS fan!!!)
     
    777light777, Feb 12, 2015
    #41
  42. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    The platform to properly cool the higher end cards is in the 751 series :)
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 12, 2015
    #42
  43. ilikealuminum

    ilikealuminum Notebook Enthusiast

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    ilikealuminum, Feb 13, 2015
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  44. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Oxford_Guy, Feb 14, 2015
    #44
  45. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    There could potentially be varients, nothing is confirmed yet after all, best wait and see :)
     
    Meaker@Sager, Feb 14, 2015
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  46. kmera

    kmera Notebook Enthusiast

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    kmera, Feb 14, 2015
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  47. ilikealuminum

    ilikealuminum Notebook Enthusiast

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    ilikealuminum, Feb 14, 2015
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  48. Loqque

    Loqque Newbie

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    Loqque, Feb 15, 2015
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  49. franzerich

    franzerich Notebook Evangelist

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    Man, the G501 looks really nice...but the price...omg the price. The thing about the 960m is - if it's just a 860m rebrand - why would it take so f***ing long to release it. It could have been released 3 months ago already. Makes no sense.
     
    franzerich, Feb 15, 2015
    #49
  50. kmera

    kmera Notebook Enthusiast

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    wow the price tag is pretty high though: ~2500€. you might as well buy the new razer blade which has a much better graphics card (but I'm missing a display port there). if only it were available in europe :(


    but I guess we should wait for the official announcement.
     
    kmera, Feb 15, 2015
    #50
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