Asus ROG G551

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-updates-ROG-lineup-with-the-GX500-and-G551.118192.0.html

Seems like a somewhat refreshed version of the G550jk with a much better 860m and 4k screen. Depending on the pricing, the best competitor I see for it is the lenovo y50, with the y50 being quite a bit thinner in exchange for no optical drive. The bad ddr3 of the 850m is what holds the g550jk back, and this will fix that with the 860m. For me, it all comes down to pricing between this and the y50, but I would expect this to be a fair bit cheaper than the Gx500. If Asus is smart they will price it similarly to the g550jk so that the y50 will not overshadow it. Sigh, more waiting for new computers

FAQ:

Should I get the g550jk now or wait for this?

If its possible, wait for this because the ddr3 vram of the 850m in the g550jk really sucks. Overall the 860m will offer approximately 35% more performance. However since we do not know the price of the g551 yet we can't say if it'll really be worth it, but if Asus has any sense they won't overprice this

 

Ugh, that trashy little keyboard on the GX500...

 

Now that you mention it that keyboard does look small compared to the G551

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Optical Drive.... LOL
it's 2014 Asus stop being so backward

 

Now that is a 15" inch gaming laptop Asus, instead of the "crappy" 850m ddr3

 

Yup, I like the look of it, dual cooling, 860M, and is an entry level gaming rig... think this is my new laptop if it releases soon.

 

And it seems that it has a bigger brother, the n771
Bilder und Specs zum Asus Transformer Book T200, T100, Book Flip TP550, N751 und Zenbook UX303 - Notebookcheck.com News

 

That looks nice too... dang, some good stuff out of Asus at Computex this year even if it ain't technologically earth shattering.

 

I would buy one of those G551's in a heart beat, even if it seems to lack mSATA or M.2 slots, that thing looks slick.

 

You know i just kept holding off on pulling the trigger on a Y50. Everything about the Lenovo was perfect EXCEPT for the damn screen. This looks like it might be my next laptop.

For my purposes portability isnt as big a deal. So an extra .2 inches thickness and 1lb of weight is basically meaningless to me.

What i wanted was 15.6" IPS screen, at least 1080p, and 860m or higher without spending 1500 dollars. Hopefully this comes in at or around 1000-1200 USD or so.

As far as the lack of M.2, etc. I'm not super concerned about that. The reality is with the workloads of most gamers/enthusiasts, you're not really utilizing the speed that a sata3 connected SSD is capable of anyways. I mean ya if you were doing some crazy database stuff, or video/image editing, i can see the need. But, loading a game in 12.8 seconds instead of 13.5 isnt really a huge deal ya know.

 

Ok, I'm a little lost at this point. Does this mean that the G550jk is not coming to North America and the G551 is/isn't? Or are both on their way?

 

The G550JK is already available at certain retailers with the DDR3 850M in North America.

I can't imagine the G551 not coming to North America, since we tend to get almost everything.

 

Do you know where can i get it?? i´ve seen it on xoticpc, but as pre order, but i didnt know it was already available.

 

Ah yeah, I stand corrected, you can Pre-Order the G550JK in North America at the moment

 

Okay, so I was super excited about the G550JK and have even called Xoticpc and was about to ask to be put on the pre-order list today.

I had no idea Asus was planning to release a G551 until now, but you guys seem really excited about the G551 and not so much about the G550JK.

Could you please tell me why I should hold off on the G550 and wait for the G551? What's wrong with the G550JK (I'm still learning the ropes in terms of my laptop expertise / terminology) and why will the G551 be so much better?

I need a new laptop by August at the latest for school, do you think the G551 will ship by then? Also, I saw that you guys are hoping that it'll be in the $1000-$1200 price range, as the G550 is currently going for $1100 or so.

Sorry for all of the questions, I just want a REALLY GOOD gaming laptop for school, something that I'll be happy with for a while.

Thanks in advance,
Ki||@

 

The g551 looks great! Something to go toe to toe w/ the y50.

 

The G550JK comes with a 850M with DDR3 while the G551 comes with 860M DDR5. This should mean at least 25-30% boost in gaming performance which is the main difference between the models.

September is the time frame given for the GX500 so the G551 should be in earlier considering its form factor is similar to the G550JK and hence time to get it to market should be relatively easier.

 

Where can you pre order the G551?

 

I actually really dig this

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The G551 ticks more boxes for me than the y50. I'm not knocking Lenovo (I have a y580 and a y510!), but the ASUS interests me more for the following reasons:

a) Better screen. Tired of TN, want IPS.
b) I still like having an internal optical drive. Yes, I'm admitting it publicly.
c) The build quality of ASUS (aluminium vs. plastic) is better in my experience than Lenovo.
d) The WIFI in my y580 and y510 are crap. I wish I could say it was not the case, but it is. I'm not that happy at the ac 3160 of the y50 either.
e) The 860m for me is a must. The 850m is not powerful enough and would be a significant downgrade on my 750m sli.

 

You echo my thoughts exactly

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A Y50 will have 4k IPS screen which scales perfectly with 1080p
B good point (for those who prefer to live in dark ages ) personally i prefer slim usb optical drive when needed (rarely anymore)
C Y50 build is better than G750 build imo
D Y50 got models with better wifi for example Intel 7260 802.11 b/g/n/ac Lenovo Y50 - Gaming Laptop | NewEgg.com - Newegg.com
E Y50 got 860m Maxwell not 850m or kepler hot gpu like GS60/RB

 

Its not confirmed that 4k will be IPS, in fact the reps have stated since day 1 it will be TN. I know by this point what the reps say don't really mean ****, but at this point we can't say it will be IPS.

Also what does it matter that *some* models have the 7260? Me and many others want an IPS screen AND the 7260, and it seems like lenovo (so far) is not offering that.

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Wife modules are usually not too bad to replace.

 

You raise an interesting point with the Intel 7260 WiFi card. I also have a Lenovo Z710 for work purposes only and the 7260 is still pretty crap and drops connection frequently. This is a well known problem and appears like a rash all over the intel support forums, particularly when it pertains to Lenovo machines.

I'm not following the Maxwell point though. The G551 is slated to have the Maxwell 860m and not the Kepler, so the Y50 and the G551 are on equal footing as far as GPU power is concerned. This is also why I'm feeling that the G551 is better suited for me than the G550jk.

Finally, I'm proud of my need for an internal optical drive dammit. Proud I tell you.

 

Except you can't replace it through conventional means because lenovo doesn't allow any cards that don't have a specific FRU number

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If there was ever a warning sign to avoid a brand that would be it.

 

Replacing your wife can lead to a serious trouble

 

exactly what I was thinking lol

 

I suppose it would lol

 

Trashy as in the NX550 series? Because I'm totally okay with those eheh

Any word on the g551 and the n751 pricing?

 

Just a guess but I'd think the G551 would be <1200 w/o 4k panel, probably <1500 with. N751 would probably be a bit more expensive.

 

Regarding your e), the 850M and the 860M are actually the same GPU which just higher clocks for 860M. I would say performance difference should be 10% at max between the two.

 

The difference between their clocks is 17%.

 

Im looking forward on seeing more about this notebook, my almost 2 year asus is going on retirement

 

What you say makes a lot of sense, but according to game debate the difference is actually pretty large:

>850m ddr3 2gb (which is what is being offered on the G550) vs 750m SLI = 17% higher for the 750m SLI as TheSilverSky pointed out.

>860m vs 750m SLI = 8% higher for the 860m.

That's enough to disqualify the G550 for me and push me towards buying the G551.

 

Sorry if i got the context wrong but didnt realize u were comparing the DDR 3 version of the 850M here. I was referring to the GDDR5 version 850M in NX500 and hence there is less difference between the 850M GDDR5 vs 860M GDDR5.

 

Yes the GDDR5 version of 850m is very comparable to 860m, though still with noticeable difference. 850m ddr3 is pretty garbage though

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This looks more like the notebook I want... Well, the N551 anyway if it's released. I haven't been able to settle on the Y50 because of a few things about it I don't like, but overall because I have real issues trusting Lenovo with the way they've handled the rollout and marketing. As a consumer, I don't really want to pay top dollar and reward sloppiness.

Asus on the other hand, I'm still using an almost 5 year old N71 with an nVidia 240. It's served me very well, so I feel I can trust Asus. I might still end up getting the N550JK because of the touchscreen and current availability. But if the N/G551 has a touchscreen and is available before I leave the States close to the end of August, I'd gladly buy one of those instead.

Update: The N551 will have a 4k/UHD touchscreen; not sure about the G551 though, but based on the way gaming laptops are designed, probably not touchscreen.

 

G551 will definitely have 4k. Not sure about touchscreen though

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My personal preference don't really care about 4K on a laptop at the moment, and even less about touchscreen. As long as a 1080P screen is used to keep the price down i'll be happy with it.

 

I just hope we can get a more specific timeframe soon. Anyone know when the 550 was first announced and when it first became available? Maybe that will give us some idea how soon we might expect the 551.

 

Same, and even less in a 15" laptop

 

word

From the pictures it looks like the g551 bezel around the screen is matte, and if i'm not mistaken so is the display?

http://www.notebookcheck.com/fileadmin/Notebooks/News/_nc2/asus_G551_02.jpg

http://www.notebookcheck.com/fileadmin/Notebooks/News/_nc2/asus_G551_06.jpg

that's sweet.

Btw, the ventilation is on the left side of the comp right? Lack of pictures on the net of that side tbh

 

Ah, fair enough.

The DDR5 of the 850 and 860 are certainly close, but unfortunately it looks as if the G550jk is only coming with the DDR3.

 

If it's using the same ventilation/cooling solution as some of their other notebooks (looking at the G550JK), it looks like 1GPU/1CPU fan and ventilation in the back/bottom. I've never quite understood how that works when the laptop screen/lid covers the back, but i guess it's good at dissipating heat.

 

I'm from brazil and i'm going to buy a g550jk. But in the same store here, they have the lenovo y50 with i5 processor and non touch for the same price. The i7 version of y50 is 100 dollars more than asus. I possibly could wait for the g551, but here in brazil it would come within 1 month more than there for you guys. Don't know what to choose. What do you guys think? Is 850m ddr3 that bad?

 

I'd save an extra 100 for the y50 with the i7. Unless, of course, a blu ray drive /cd drive and an ips screen are important.

 

Found this Thai site/video that also details both the G551 and the G771:

Google Translate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Rslg1gau8

From what I can tell, the G551 and the G771 are identical in specs except for the screen size and possibly one or two of the ports. Unfortunately the video just gives fleeting glimpses of the G551/771 at the beginning.

 

Well they could use the same motherboard even.