G73 JH vs. JW

Congrats, I think its a great laptop so is the A1, mine is coming ends of next week, the only thing that wish asus would have left was the 1333 memory instead of 1066, but I think performance isnt that different in the JHs..... And the 2nd hdd bracket.

 

yeah I can always replace the RAM if I think it's that big of a performance hit

 

I deleted some posts, back on topic please.

 

nVidia offers the constant smell of burning bridges says AMD | KitGuru

An amazing article if knowing who you are supporting and where you money is going is important to you. If it is important to you, this alone would be a great reason to buy a JH over a JW.

 

I'd say that's pretty highly biased since it's only coming from an AMD employee. It'd be interesting to see nVidia's resposnes to the same questions.

 

I'm surprised at this response since Richard Huddy was among key people that developed Direct X, the API that has dominated PC Gaming for over a decade now. You would also know Richard Huddy worked for nVidia for 4 years as their development relations before coming to AMD.

If you also do a search on Richard Huddy, his responses are always straight forward and he will admit to any failings. He has been quoted to say, he wants and encourages review sites and enthusiast communities to find and point them out as he believes for PC, it just should work and it's AMD's job make sure it works within reason (PhysX is closed off to them, nothing they can do). Unlike nVidia, if you read his responses to questions he is very careful not to flame and say things that aren't true just to spin it in favor of AMD. He is very consistent on this. A classy guy from tech world who has amazing interpersonal skills.

This isn't about bias. This is fact. Fact is not biased, it's just the truth. The things nVidia have done are not a spin by AMD to make them look bad. This is simply what they have done and it's been widely recognized. It isn't a coincidence in the last year the number of articles that delve into how nVidia manipulates game development and in general for PC has been increasing. Much of what we now know about nVidia have been discovered by the community also. This isn't AMD on a crusade. This interview simply differentiates how AMD approaches game developers than nVidia does.

In relation to this topic. I believe if you have any issues or angry over how nVidia is inhibiting development of PC Gaming for ALL, a platform that is open that is meant to provide you the freedom to choose and have it just work... but it doesn't because of what nVidia has been doing. Speaking with your wallet is a great way to protest, especially since the JH and JW performances are nearly identical.

 

Lies. It's obviously a very biased article.

And I'm pretty sure it's not NVIDIA's fault that Arkham Asylum was gimped on Radeon cards.

 

The fact that he switched from nvidia to amd makes his opinion more biased (just my opinion)
Anyhow, I prefer NVIDIA since a lit of games are now optimized for it.

 

It's 100% their fault. It's not a bias, it's a fact. The game itself was the proof. With no help from AMD, doing nothing at all, changing the game code that forced MSAA to be disabled if game recognizes AMD hardware ID... The MSAA used by Batman AA is actually rudimentary and runs well on both AMD and nVidia hardware. It doesn't matter what drivers AMD, profiles or optimizations, it was simply disabed at hardware ID level. So yes, 100% nvidia's fault. After publisher decided screw nVidia and released a second version of Batman AA. All it was disabling that nVidia feature.

Second feature on gimping is PhysX. PhysX while runs multi-threaded on Nvidia hardware only runs single thread with x87 execution on CPU. Also 100% nVidia fault. Changing code from x87 to SSE instructions which both intel and AMD CPUs are optimized for wouldn't take more than a day for nVidia to do. They are screwing over both intel and AMD on this just to create false impression PhysX runs better on their GPU. An article from Phinagle explains this well.

This isn't about being biased. This is what they did. Plain and simple. There is no debate.

 

It's not hard to see how NVIDIA cards are just better. PhysX, CUDA, and game optimization is definitely on NVIDIA's side.

Trust me. I've owned cards from both companies. And my opinion and the opinions of many others is that AMD is a lazy company that NEEDS to die. Too long have they been producing crappy, unreliable and low quality cards. Too long, have they been lazy and released drivers that seriously degrade the already horrible quality of their cards.

If AMD got their game together, then I would probably consider giving them a little respect. But as it is, they deserve nothing.

 

so true. thats why lots of people is using nvidia.

 

Funny, I'm of the opinion that I'm getting tired of nVidia and thinking of replacing my SLI with an AMD solution. (Waiting for 6xxx to come out)

 

Post deleted because I suddenly realized that I don't care about AMD or NVidia. When it's time to go shopping, I've got X number of dollars to spend. Whoever has the fastest part for X dollars gets the money. I'm pretty sure that's how everybody does it.

 

Competition is great for video cards, computers, and single parents. Can we end this stupid debate now?

 

I've got my eyes set out for the G73 laptop for a while now and it seems like a good time to purchase one. I was just wondering what would be a better choice, the JH or JW model. I know JW has some fixes but it cost $300 more (in Canada atleast). I've also read that the ATI 5870 is a bit better, but gets warmer than the 460M. Is the JW worth the extra cash?

 

If you are looking to buy now you are better off waiting for the Sandy Bridge G73's, they will probably cost more but the price of both the JH and JW will surely drop atleast a little bit. Goodluck in your choice, either way the G73 series are monsters, and personally I LOVE my G73JH, I had a few problems with it but I wouldnt rather have any other laptop.

 

I also have the G73JH and dont regret buying one bit even with the niggles i've had.

 

I have the JW but if it's $300 cheaper, I would go with the JH or wait for the Sandy Bridge version. You could use the extra money and upgrade to a nice SSD drive.

 

So a few months after purchase of a JW-XA1, the wife is still very happy with it. System gets minimal to moderate usage, so the fans rarely ever kick on. No problems yet and Civ5 actually starts faster than my M17x!

 

If you have the JH now then stick with it unless you can sell it closer to the same price to get the JW

But if you dont have the g73 yet then grab the JW because of being a new/fresher model with updated bios (nomore BSOD/GSOD), USB 3.0, Updated trackpad buttons, Nvidia Card, HDMI port supporting 3d tv with supported monitor etc..

Don't get confuse by people telling you to get JH instead of JW for a minimal gpu performance boost over the Nvidia Card, usually those people are the ones that are stuck with the JH since most of them didn't have the choice like you are right now when purchasing the g73.

 

Well..... there's also price to consider. You can get a factory-refurbished JH for $850 right now. It's available for ship-to-store through the Best Buy Outlet. I know, you're taking a chance with a refurbished unit, but if there's anything wrong with it they have to replace it (within 90 days). I've talked to a few owners of this model and they said it was "like new" with no problems other than the expected ones (as described throughout this forum). It's the G73JHRF-RBBX05.

You can lay out $400 more for the G73JH-BST7 but I don't see why unless you think the extra warranty is worth it. It's not to me. Or you can lay out approx $800 more for the JW. Is is worth it?
I'll take the savings and put a good SSD in it.

 

The problem with the best buy model is that it is a Subsidize/Watered down version. No Bluetooth, Only 1600x900, watered down HD and ram, 1.3mp camera instead of 2mp, and Best Buy does not participate in the Asus 360 1yr accidental warranty so you pretty much get what you paid for, and i'm not comparing the bestbuy version vs the JW, what i'm tryna compare is the G73JH-A1 model vs the G73JW

 

The Best Buy model is not worth it because it is a watered down version like benchmade42 said. Let's say you were going to get the 2-year warranty upgrade from Best Buy. The BST-7 is $1200 and after sales tax and the 2-year warranty it would be around $1490. But you can get the full ASUS model for a little more than $1500 with the included 2-year warranty, missing features, a better screen, and so on. I think it's worth it.

 

You pay a lot more for the full version. If it's worth it to you, then go for it. I prefer the 1600x900 resolution of the "watered-down" BB model. Full high-def is 44% more pixels for the GPU to deal with. You'll get better frame-rates and smoother gaming with the lower resolution. And I don't care about blu-ray or bluetooth and 6GB of RAM is plenty. If you need more you can always add it later. The empty slot is under the keyboard and cover plate.

 

dont you think that in the FHD screen,u always have an option to play @1600x900 by reducing the resolution in game setings??bt u cant ever play FHD in a 1600x900 screen??
whats ur take?

 

You can reduce the resolution to 1600x900 and use 1:1 scaling to keep the sharpness in you need a FPS jump.

 

@chastity
"use scaling 1:1" how do u do dat?
i never did scaling so completely noob at ths

@chastity also
for gaming purpose purely what would u suggest (cost not an issue)?
asus g73jw?
msi gx660r?
msi gx740x?

 

1) I do not like any of the 1600x900 panels out there. Stick to FHD panels. However, the gx740x is not a 16x9 panel, so you could go there.

2) GX740x has a common reported issue of having a hot GPU and loud fans. Oddly enough, I saw a few trackpad issues too.

3) GX660r runs cooler, but the FHD panel they use is almost universally reported as "sucky", but runs cooler. No lit keyboard.

4) G73JW doesn't have the GSOD issue, and temps on stock are reported as ok. Lit keys, and good Hannstar FHD panel.

Personally, I'd get the G73JW-3DE. The 120Hz screen will be a pleasure to work with, has great viewing angles, and is nice and bright. Also non-glare. The 460M overclocks well, and stock cooling seems to work well. G73 cases have good thermal cooling, so should not need any coolers, and should run quiet. May have key/trackpad issue, or may not. At least we know someone at Asus is working on a fix if you do, and you can use an external mouse as workaround should it be unbearable.

My $0.02.

 

thanx mate

@chastity
hey u didnt tell me how to do 1:1 scaling

 

In my experience the display just doesn't look right when running in any mode other than the NATIVE resolution of the screen. I'm quite happy with 1600x900 and very impressed with the JH overall. I saved quite a bit getting a refurb model from BB. No probs so far. It runs cool and kicks butt!

 

It's got a little more vid memory, but from what I've seen, even notebookcheck.net says the 5870m is the stronger card. I just think that's weird. Shouldn't it have a GTX 480m if you have to pay more? I mean if my information is wrong let me know, otherwise the guys that spend more are getting jipped.

 

Merged this into an existing thread.

Here's some reading material, these are all linked from the sticky.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/523041-g73-jh-vs-jw.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu.../531372-ati-5870-1gb-ddr5-vs-1-5-gb-ddr5.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/495910-gtx460m-vs-ati-5870m.html

Also keep in mind that the Jw has a 740qm and the Jh is only available as a refurb now since it's been discontinued.

 

the JH has the left and right click as one button, the JW has it as seperate buttons

 

What?

Since i7-refresh was available, JH also get this 740qm. But this shouldn't be a deal-breaker

 

The Jh-B1 does indeed have the 740 but it is neither cheap nor easily available.

 

JW has the separate left/right click touchpad buttons, USB 3.0 and a fresher/newer model with Nvidia GPU.

Get JW

 

pfft. the JW and JH are pretty much the same, except the JH has no keyboard problems (asus hasn't released a fix for the JW yet). The JW has usb 3, but it's spotty. If it works with your hardware, then you're great. But there are some weird conflicts out there.

The 2 separate mouse buttons are better, though. The video cards perform exactly the same.

 

the JW has no SOD issues out of the box..if i may add.

 

Yeah, but the JH has a fix for that. An easy fix. A super-easy fix. It's like complaining that a car needs some air in it's tires. Sure, annoying. A true problem? nope. No fix for the JW keyboard.

 

I dunno, I was thinking maybe 205 was. No confirmation on that, but it's possible.

 

Neither does the JH, as GSODs dont occur on stock drivers (ergo out-of-the-box)

 

Glad to see this thread's still going! My wife is still loving her JW, though she by no means is a hardcore gamer.

 

FYI: Just finished my G73JW-A1 review, of sorts. Still doing game benches, but at least I am proud of the fact that I figured out how to capture Fullscreen at 1080p, then encode it to 720p for YouTube playback, and getting the files to concat properly. what a PITA.

With Black Ops, the JW did a bit better (60 vs 55 avg fps), and the big bonus was that I didn't have to tweak any of the config settings to fix low framerates.

G73JW-A1 Review: Featuring NVIDIA