Asus ROG G74 coming?

Now you just need to post videos of Battlefield Bad Company 2, Starcraft 2, Dirt 2 and 3, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3 and Black Ops. Just kidding, I appreciate the video man.

 

i'm such a noob but how do you overclock the GPU?

 

Trixx, MSI afterburner, nVidia system tools and other similar utilities. If you feel uncomfortable about overclocking, ask before you try anything though.

 

some photos of G74SX disassembled:

 

It was a bit of a PITA, but I picked it up as well and squeeked out an extra $20 via this coupon: Best Buy (You have to be a reward zone member)

No they would not let me get both the 10% coupon and the $100 gift card, but 10% = $120 vs. the $100 gift card.

The lady at CS said it is not possible as they never have coupons for PCs, I fought with her stating that the coupon specifically tells you what it excludes and markdowns are taken from "regular or sales prices".

I showed her the coupon on my phone.

Also, the price in store was marked $1249, but it rang up $1199.99 so I didn't have to hasle with matching their own online price thankfully.

Hope this helps you and anyone else... great deal for $1080 plus tax even if gimped!

 

I'm looking at getting a Momentus XT hybrid drive for the second hardbay. (I pulled one HDD out to save money upfront in my preorder) Do you think I should use this as the primary boot disk or a secondary? What are the pros and cons of either way?

 

+1 for this very interesting to see the insides.

Please confirm it may just be me and I missed this earlier conversation. The 560M is built in?!!

Heatsinks look a bit better along with full copper on the CPU.

 

Proxy if you have an ATI card, AMD GPU clock tool is real easy, Tijo great point I just set the memory clock to 1500 (want 150 --OOPS I forget my glasses) - and as you know - Black screened, fans full blast- had to hold the power switch

 

Thanks a lot Ken !!

 

Yes the GTX560M is built-in in the mainboard, first onboard GTX560M I've seen.

 

Ken, I would like to thank you for walking me through(over the phone) on how to properly install the ribbon for the second HD on my g74sx.

Much appreciated!!

 

I guess that'll kill any ideas of upgrading to a 580M, unless you get a chip-only and solder it in

 

@Ken or anyone... HiperX 1600mhz ram

I've read many places that 1600mhz ram is not recommended with our G74 only 1333. When using the HyperX ram does it reach 1600 speeds or maxes out at 1333? Just debating if the 1600mhz ram is worth the upgrade from 1333.

 

The G74's being Sandybridge, support 1600 and 1866 PnP RAM. I have 16GB of HyperX 1866 PnP in a G73SW-A1 here, working at 1866.

 

@climo - the stock G74 processor 2630QM natively supports a maximum of 1333MHz RAM. If you install 1600MHz RAM, it will downclock to 1333MHz.

That said, there are some posts on NBR of a workaround to use 1600MHz RAM, although I haven't tried this myself:

M17x-r3 Overclocking (...sort of)

What is the best RAM for the 2630QM??

 

After more research, I found this post that kind of explains how the Sandy Bridge benefits from the faster ram. Their test results with the HyperX ram were significant.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7463583-post2.html

school me >> G74SX chipset...is it HM65 Cougar Point? What is HM65 Huron River as in the link?

Me thinking about getting some faster ram now....

 

I saw this thing in person and is the best looking laptop I've seen so far ( out of contenders like Alienwares and Clevos ). Design is simple yet cool and it looks better live than in pictures and videos. The only thing that prevents me from buying it right now is lack of firewire and no express card slot, so I can't even add firewire and other ports that are missing. Omitting that and including an useless card reader is really mindboggling ( who needs a card reader, isn't it simpler to just leave cards in cameras and connect via USB? ). Alienware and Clevo are going the same way, no firewire and no express card slots except on top of the line models. Why guys? why? Some of us need those, we don't only play games on these.

 

Kingston HyperX 1866 PnP SODIMM Memory

That thread shows a 2630QM G73SW with 16GB of DDR3-1866 running at 1866, with the subsequent 17.5 GB/s to 24 GB/s speeds. FYI: The HM65 supports 1600 and 1866 as a last-minute spec.

 

Excellent! (mr. burns voice) Thanks Chastity!! Anyone need some 1333mhz ram? hehe j/k

 

Thanks Chastity, this is very interesting; does this mean that we can plug in the 1600/1866 MHz RAM with the stock processor 2630QM and it will run at the full memory speed, without changing anything in the BIOS?

 

2nd that question by backlight186.. i want to upgrade my G74sx with kingston 1600 or 1866 but i don't know if its going to just downgrade to 1333

 

You need to use Plug n Play Memory SODIMMs, as they will have the proper headers to autoconfig the laptop. I believe Kingston was the first to market with these.

 

1866 MHz RAM is old technology. 2133 MHz RAM is the new king

Intel Certifies World Fastest Notebook Memory by Kingston - Bright Side Of News*

Coming out this month

 

Now if we can get triple-channel on a notebook... \o/

 

lol is this going to be compatible with the G74sx-a1? triple channel on a notebook is going to be epic

 

The funny thing is that Intel says that the CPU (2920XM) Kingston used to test this RAM with only supports 1600 RAM. Same with 2720QM and 2820QM too. And people with 2630QM which ark says only supports 1333 RAM also use 1600 RAM.

So yeah I think the 2133 MHz RAM will work here too with profiles. Maybe someone else knows more about this and can confirm

 

OK, let me spell it out so that everyone can understand:

1) Intel ratified 1600 and 1866 RAM speeds via XMP settings at the last minute for Sandybridge. Therefore, a lot of the white papers and specs listed on Intel's site are outdated. For example, for the 720QM, they list max memory as 8GB, even tho we all know they are 16GB capable. The Sandy's can do 32GB.

2) The memory manufacturer's are using the XMP chip to tell the motherboard it's memory timings and capacity, overriding the default table their BIOS is programmed with. It's neat how Intel finally got the spark to allow memory timing upgrades via a JDEC table.

So, in a nutshell, as long as the SODIMM has this PnP support, it will allow the motherboard and CPU to use it's native RAM speeds.

 

Just posting some results for the Best Buy version - G74SX-BBK7.

Upgraded drivers to latest beta ones: 8.17.12.7550

3d Mark 11 Scores:
Default: P2180 3DMarks
OC (from 775/1250/1550 to 800/1300/1600): P2239 3DMarks
Maximum temperature during the test 51 (During OC test)

Ok Pushed a little more to:

825/1350/1650 and this increased the score to P2310 3DMarks

850/1400/1700 and this increased the score to P2383 3DMarks

..
..
900/1450/1800 and this increased the score to P2453 3DMarks

900/1625/1800 and this increased the score to P2513 3DMarks

Ok wont try to go beyond this:
925/1800/1850 and this increased the score to P2599 3DMarks

Again nothing much on temperature. Max 65

SO basically, I incremented +25/+50/+50 in each test and the numbers seem to be increasing linearly, by 60 (2180 to 2240) and 70 (2140 to 2310) and 73 (2310 to 2383) and 70 (2383 to 2453) etc

Makes me wonder, what would be a safe (longevity ) overclock setup.

 

+1

Rule of thumb: unless you absolutely have no other choice, NEVER get laptop / desktop from BBY.

 

Hmm...I purchased two computers over the years from BBY with no issues. HP media center desktop back in 2004 and a HP Pavilion laptop in 2007. All work perfectly fine to this day.

While BBY is known to carry lower end models, just make sure you know what you're buying. To some people having a 'base model' is just fine. Not all of us have $$$ to burn on the 'fastest' laptop.

 

That looks much more promising than the Best Buy BBK7 -- the resolution is also actually 1920x1080.

Potentially the only downside is buying another cage to slip in the SSD.

 

Ladies, the Notebookcheck review is out:

Review Asus G74SX-3DE Gaming Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

CPU clocking seems to be not the fastest by far in its class. =(

 

Nothing wrong with the G74SX. Sandy Bridge have always and will always throttle due to thermal design. Those who think that 2630QM can withhold 2.9 GHz all the time need to read a bit about Sandy Bridge

 

I will wait for the next generation of g74 unfortunately. I want this computer as silent as g73sw at least!!!

 

Yeah me too with alienware (mx18-r2). The good news is we do not have to wait too long for a new laptop model to come out. Hopefully within next year! The bad news is the waiting part and money if you are on a budget.

 

Time to rip this baby open and repaste that CPU.

 

Thanks for this

 

I wasn't suggesting there was something wrong. I was merely referring to this:

 

You're welcome. =)

 

Didn't know it was you, you are welcome.

1600MHz RAM is supported even with 2630QM CPU, I don't think it has anything to do with G74, it's about RAM and CPU.

Correct.

 

Ken, How's the keyboard and touchpad, does the Touchpad problems in the Jh resolved?

 

Can anyone tell something about fan noise? I have read the review on notebookcheck.net, and they tell that the fan noise in idle isn't very good.
Is the fan noise something you g74 owners in here notice much?

 

chrizz mate is very simple to see on your own... go to notebookcheck and open the old G73 review, G74 Review and as comparison the MSI 780.

Take in consideration that G73/74 have the fans in the back of your notebook... do you think you will hear them so much ... even in office i don't use my comp without some ambient music...

Old G73 is slightly lower on test but still G74 remains the most quiet in his category.
When i read notebookreview G74 review for the first time i have had some thoughts but not anymore.

I can't wait for my G74.
Some relatives will bring me my G74 from US to Romania in August ). Damn... July will be a hard month for me ... waiting... waiting... waiting.

Ken thx for the great and amazing fast support.
I'll be forever a GenTech buyer.

 

Thanks.
I aldready have compared g73 with g74. It was only to hear, if other people thinks the same about the fan noise

 

asus g73SW is the most quite one. If the GPU was a bit better than 460m.... It would be the only choice for me.

G74 has unusually higher Blue-ray and HDD noise. and you hear always something in idle mode which disturbs me a lot.

 

So you returned your G74 Predator because of the unusual hdd noise and idle mode fan whirring noise?

 

I would have done that as well if he did so...

 

I made a comparison pic to compare the G73SW and the G74SX. Much easier to relate to. G73SW on top

 

Hi

would future drivers do anything with the increased fan/temp/noise for the GPU?
and what about the noise from optics...no new driver will change that..?

one particular change is the boost in cd/m2 in G74 - almost doubled compared to g73.

as many others, having a hard time deciding 73 vs 74...

 

It's possible, but unlikely drivers will cause the fan noise to be less. A bios update could theoretically change the fans to run at a lower rpm/higher only when temps are higher. However, I wouldn't think asus would do that.

As for the cd/m2, that is because of the 2 different panels. The G73SW they reviewed was the glossy hannstar lcd, while the 74SX they reviewed was the 3d LG Phillips panel which is known for its super bright screen. They use the same lg panel in the 73SW-3d version as well. So that wouldn't be fair to compare the 2/or think of it as "better".