G73JW - The XT1 v. The XT3

Earlier today i was browsing tigerdirect.ca and decided to do some research as to which laptop is better. Either the XT1 or the XT3.

The differences in the models:

Storage:
XT1
500gb 7200rpm Hard Drive
XT3
2 x 320g @ 7200rpm - 640g @ 7200rpm total

Analysis of this difference:
There is no difference between the two drives except for the extra 140gb.
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Graphics:
XT1 - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M
Memory Clock (MHz) 1250
Standard Memory Config GDDR5

Processor Clock (MHz) 1350 MHz

XT3 - ATI Radeon HD 5870
Memory clock speed: 1.0 GHz

Engine clock speed: 700 MHz

As you can see both the memory clock and the processor clock on the GTX 460M are considerably faster. This is where i needed help from you guys. In my experience at first glance the 460M seems to be a better performing card, however looking at benchmarks, in most cases the 5870 has considerably higher frame rates. Does anyone have any proper benchmarks for these two models in particular or could anyone offer there opinion on which is better please.
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The only other difference was that the XT1 runs the I7-740QM Processor while the XT3 runs the 720QM. I will link the specifications pages for these but i didn't see any noticeable difference.

Sources:
Spec Sheets:
XT1:
Buy the ASUS G73JW-XT1 17.3 w/ 8GB RAM, BluRay & 2 YR War at TigerDirect.ca

XT3:
Buy the ASUS G73JH-X3 Laptop Computer at TigerDirect.ca

Graphics Details:
460M:
GeForce GTX 460M

HD Mobility:
ATI Mobility Radeon? HD 5870 GPU Specifications

Processors:
I7-740QM:
Intel® Core? i7-740QM Processor (6M cache, 1.73 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBQG

I7-720QM:
Intel® Core? i7-720QM Processor (6M Cache, 1.60 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBLY
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Sorry for the long post, just felt it would be helpful for anyone making the same decision between the two models. Also I should note that i do intend to be playing a lot of new release games such as Mafia 2 so the difference between the graphics processors is definatley worth looking at for me.

 

The X3 is the G73JH, which as you noted has the ATi 5870, while the X1 is the G73JW equipped with the Nvidia card. The two models are actually more different than the video cards and processors. The JH does not have a USB 3 port, for example, and has a history of minor annoyances (see http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...492354-all-g73jh-problems-solutions-here.html). Most have been solved, but some have not and they seem to crop up from time to time. The JW has far fewer problems out of the box.

As to which one is better, the general consensus around here seems to be that the JH, with the ATi card, runs most games slightly faster (but hotter) than the JW. For Mafia 2, you'll probably see FPS around 40-60 for ultra/high settings with the ATi, while the Nvidia will give you 34-50 on ultra/high. For other games the difference will be much smaller; in StarCraft 2, for example, the differences in FPS are negligible. Related, the processors are so similar that differences between them are also minimal.

It really boils down to whether or not you feel the 5-10% performance increase in games with the JH is worth the lack of USB 3 and an increased chance of problems and issues. You'll find supporters of both models here.