G73JH or G73JW

Hello everyone ,

I am thinking of buying either a JH or JW considering they are decent laptops with reasonable price tags . I live in Turkey and they dont sell em here yet . My friend will be going to the US today so i will ask him to get 1 for me . I heard that the JH version has a lot of problems but it has a better graphics card . the JW version however has less problems and a bit weaker graphics card . But i also heard that the 460M graphics card was using the beta drivers so its not the true potential of the card . Would the Graphic card difference cause lots of fps change while playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 , SC 2 etc ? Which one do you suggest i get the JW or JH ? Respond quickly please because my friend will be in New York for only 1 week Also any good shops he can buy from ?

Also forgot to add i will use a gaming mouse , logitech g35 headset

 

If your feeling lazy and don't want to deal with problems, get the JW. If you're willing to spend 10 minutes on troubleshooting, the majority of the JH's problems are already fixed and easily fixed. Also the JW has USB 3.0 so consider that and what you know and pick yourself.

 

I can deal with the problems if there are easy to follow troubleshooting guides . But is it really true that the 460M will be better then 5870 with future driver updates ?

 

No, the 460m will only be "better" for physX, which ATI cards do not process. Personally, I have a JH and I'm quite happy. Max temps are 88C for MemIO and the GPU core doesn't break 75C.

If I felt like repasting it, I imagine it would go down another 5-10 degrees.

I guess what I'm saying is - Do you have the budget for nVidia? Because there isn't any real difference between the cards.

 

Considering getting the JH version if its easy to fix those problems but does PhysX really effect gaming or the ati card is just better anyway ?

 

My only concern is that he lives Turkey. If he has an issue that needs service, how will he get it? If he cannot even buy one over there, (and he probably can jus at higher prices), then service will be even harder.

I'd go for the JW. It is less likely to need service than a JH. Not that JWs don't have issues, it just seems less likely.

The difference in performance is <10% anyway.

 

Ehh. Considering he's tech savvy (or at least willing to update the vbios on his own), I'd go with the JH. There are a tonne of people bricking their JWs when updating the bios. Considering the JH has been out for much longer, there are less "Unknowns".

PhysX doesn't affect gameplay much. Youtube it to see what it does do ...

 

If he's tech savy, go with the JH. It's pretty much debugged now for the most part and he'll have the folks here to turn to too to bounce issues off of.

DCx: Just noticed your sig. Man, that's a lot of computers you've owned in the past year!

 

I agree with everything you just said, almost. The JH has great support on this forum, and every major issue has a fix that the owner can do themselves for the most part....

but he won't know if his computer is a lemon until it is back in Turkey, unless his friend can test it with furmark and some other benchmarks first. My JH needed a Motherboard replacement from day one. How many people do we hear about who need new GPUs? If he can get service in Turkey, then by all means get the JH. But if I couldn't get service in Turkey and it was my money I'd take the less risky approach.

To the original poster... If you do the JH read my thread on repasting first. It is pretty much guaranteed the JH will need repasting eventually. You sound like someone who can do it, it isn't hard. But if you aren't up to it, definitely get the JW.

 

Hmm, that's true about the lemon part if he can't test it until he gets it. Some risk there for sure. Wow, yours had your motherboard die the first day? You beat me, mine didn't die until after the first month! LOL!!! So maybe the JW might be safer for him then.

Yeah, the folks here have been great working out the issues. Part of the fun is applying the fixes folks here have discovered and seeing my JH come back to life. It's fun in a sick way, yes, but fun for me nonetheless!

 

There is the Official Asus Support here in Turkey but they dont have the G73 Model just yet . Some stores sold them before but are out of stock . (g73jh version) JW didnt arrive in turkey yet . I did update bios on my own before for few other pc's and laptos and didnt find it too difficult but it is risky ofc . Currently using a desktop pc which i built like 5 years ago but updated over the years with new parts and stuff . So thinking of the JH right now but which version should i get i heard there are like X1 - A1 blablabla . Does the version without blueray differ too much cost wise ? if it is almost the same ill get the Blue ray version

Also i would really appreciate it if someone posted links to the Bios fix , the things i need to upgrade like GPU . I want to have everything ready in a USB drive before i get the pc 1 week later .

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...492354-all-g73jh-problems-solutions-here.html

You can find links the vbios & bios here.

 

Bios and Vbios ? so i have to update both ? so i am also guessing that i cant use ati drivers unless its provided by asus ? Why so many problems on the JH ? I mean its really like when you open the box you have 50/50 chance of getting a version with problems

 

If your friend will be in NYC, just tell him to go to J&R. This is one of the most popular stores in there.
J&R: Electronics, Digital Cameras, Computers, Appliances, Software, Video Games, DVDs, CDs .

 

Ah so many problems on JH as far as i read . The JW has a little bit better CPU , USB 3.0 and better cooling compared to JH better ATI card ... It really depends on the Graphic Card Difference guys so is it really that big ? For instance will i be able to play Bad Company 2 on Highest (with or without AA) on both with a good Framerate ? Or will the Nvidia version fail compared to ATI ? Also Edskii the site you gave only has JW version . Does the JW version have so many problems too ? I didnt see many but its cause maybe its new and not many ppl posted their problem ?

 

BIOS and video BIOS, yes - update both. Takes 10 minutes max if you have a USB flash drive that can be made bootable.

Once those are updated, you can use drivers directly from AMD - that's the whole idea (Asus doesn't provide video driver updates).

Additionally, update to the latest audio codec driver from Realtek, and the vast majority of JH issues should be non-existent. (Note: Also I recommend the ATI HDMI Audio driver from Realtek...works better than the one from AMD, which isn't even included in the mobility driver install package anyway)

 

I can have my friend there run a benchmark test . He isnt really good with pc's so which one would be the best for him to run ? Something easy to run and get results ..

I personally use furmark ..

 

Decided to go for the JW after all , my friends JH got bricked today . I dont think the small fps difference is worth the problems the JH has . TY all for the answers .

 

Physx will make your game choppy.

 

I would have your friend download and run furmark for 30 minutes. If that doesn't crash it, you should be good. Ask in the JW thread and you may get some better ideas.

 

It's a 3% difference on average. nVidia is better at some games and vice versa with the AMD.

JW can handle BC2 on max (I tried it).

I believe the JW would be better for you b/c of USB 3.0 and better cooling. It also has 2 touchpad buttons instead of 1, which alot of users prefer. I haven't really seen issues with the JW as much as I did with the JH, but JH's should be fine now.

I'd also avoid buying in Europe b/c they inflate the prices by up to double the US prices. Buy off a resellers on these forums. You'll get the unit tested and can get it upgraded to your liking (I personally got mine from GenTech). If you buy US, your global warranty of 2 years will work in Turkey, so you don't have to worry about that.

 

JW.

10 chars

 

Just to be clear, the Jh has two mouse buttons, it's not like a mac, but it is this one 'button bar' thing instead of two discrete buttons, you press the left or right side for the separate buttons. You can also press both sides of the mouse button bar and get the simulated 3rd button in Linux (I was afraid of this not working when I bought it... but it's fine).

 

Resellers here ? Is it possible that maybe i can get one from one of those resellers and they give it to my friend in NY in 1 week time ? Then i may go for the JH if they test it and repaste it etc.

 

Usually people that tells you to go JH are the ones that already have had the JH a long time and have no choice but to keep it and love it since if they try selling it they would lose money by selling it cheaper and to buy the JW will make them add more money (Real Talk), but since i had the experience to own both JH and JW, I would say get the JW because of 2 main things:

1.) USB 3.0
2.) Better cooling, even after 20 min in furmark hot as hell, the jw never went above 78c compared to the ATI card where it was high as 90-95c and some even went over 100c

CPU speed is also faster on JW compared to JH but some JH models have the same 740QM cpu now so i'm not going to include that as an advantage for JW but JW has it as a standard cpu now.

Also some people are saying to get the JH over JW because they think the ATI card is better than the new 460 card on JW, but the benchmarks shows the ATI card to be just a little bit higher for example ( 12,350 3dmark06 on ATI vs 12,150 on Nvidia).

I'll take the USB 3.0, Better Cooling, Fresher Model over super little gpu performance increase on JH

 

thanks for the answer benchmade , told my friend i would get the JW so he is looking for prices in NY now . Any idea where he should buy it ? Oh and what should i download before it comes like new drivers etc. to make it ready when it comes

 

I would say yes.

Asus G73JW-A1 17.3" FHD/NV GTX 460M 1.5GB GDDR5/i7-740QM/8GB DDR3/1TB 7200rpm/Blu-Ray/ In Stock: GenTech PC Store

It's in stock, so if you do it today, I'm guessing that pasting/shipping would take 24HRS.

Keep in mind that UPS ground can take up to 5 business days (since I live 15min from NY), however, expedite is less than 24HRS.

 

XoticPc or Gentech are reputable.

 

See my post above... J&R

 

Benchmade you are using a JW right ? Can you give some of your thoughts on games run on your laptop ? Can you run most at max with good FPS etc etc. my friend is checking stores in NY now including JR for good prices .