Really lost choosing the right one!

Hi I'm wondering which one of these laptops could be used for the best gaming experience:

G73JH-BST7 a refurbished version of it with 90 days of warranty (Newegg)
The problem with this is that i've heard so many bad things about it I was considering buying it right away but since I've been reading these forums it keeps me scared from getting it..

N53SN-XV1 New version with full warranty from Asus. The laptop looks good and all and is equipped with a 550M and a Core i5 2410M(2.30GHz), but the cons are the screen is smaller and it's not a really mainstream gaming laptop.

Both are the same price (~950$)

Or for the G53JW-XN1 with total taxes and shipping it's 1250$, it's brand new with the Asus warranty but lacks the 17.3" screen and the memory is less than the G73JH-BST7

Any other suggestions will be appreciated but my max budget is 1250$ and I live in Canada.

Thanks so much!

 

You are looking at 3 completely different models so its very hard to compare.

It depends on what you are looking for and might be better posted in the:

What notebook should I buy Section.

If you are confident with computer literacy your best bet is always going to be the G73JH BST which is what I have (sig below) and I have fixed all of my problems, repasted, upgraded, new screen etc overclocking the hell out of it and it destroys everything I throw at it. All for £600.00/$1000.00 with upgrades.

If you would rather be on the safe side and sacrifice price and power for warranty and reliability then you are looking at the others it really comes down to what you feel confident buying. If you can go for an I7 and if possible an I7 sandy bridge.

Check the GPU scores here and make sure it can do all you want it to do a class 1 minimum for gaming and make sure the G53JW is not the BST model and does NOT have the 1GB GTX version or you will be sorely dissapointed.

 

Mate, i just got my refurbished G73JH and it's alot better than people make it sound. For one thing, almost all of the issues have been rectified in the refurbished models - mine already had the GPU re-pasted and both BIOS and vBIOS updated.

I paid over $1,200 AUD for mine and I'm still very happy with my purchase.

 

I'm really a person aimed towards performance at a low cost, I don't mind upgrading stuff later but at 934.99$ the G73JH-BST7 is such a good deal, I'm probably going to it

Is the 740qm that bad compared to most laptop CPU's of the 2nd gen? I want this laptop to last a good 5-7 years

 

Just wait for the G74 its only 300 bucks more i think im not 100% sure but i would wait.

You really want the sandy bridge CPU so much more cooled and ultra efficient.

 

I'm not too sure if id wait for it since its so much more expensive and won't fit y budget, considering that the G73JH-BST7 isnt that crappy with that processor (youre talking like if I was doomed)

Any other one bought he refurb version of the best buy G73JH? I wanna hear from your own experience

Also is th screen 1600 x 900 THAT horrible? I dont need to watch HD on it mostly gaming and browsing

 

The processor is perfectly fine to run any game and I have overclocked mine to near 2.0ghz when all cores are flat out and the main core turbos upto 3.3ghz with SETFSB and wintimer to get it running right and thats more than enough with 4 cores and 8 threads.

The 1600x900 screen is fine I just swapped mine out for a glossy one for no extra cost. I use my external tv 1080p and see little difference and it costs me 4-5 frames loss. Remember that 900P is still very high for a 17 inch screen and the only real difference will be in the pixel width and you might be able to fit in another gadget

Mine was a BB version and it was 6 months out of the refurbed 3 months warranty lol and it runs like a blooming dream.

As I said i did all the fixes myself and repasted which made it as perfect as it is.

 

Nice!

But does it really require a thermal paste change? I'm really new with laptops I used to be a desktop freak but college is pushing me to get one

Im planning on using stock thermal paste for at least a year maybe? Then as I get more confortable with laptops I could maybe get some paste of ebay and change it...

And I saw the thread about applying new paste! It's really good and I bookmarked it for further reference when I have to do it myself

EDIT: will this fit the G73JH-BST7? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159028
And is the slot to put in it in the back or do I have to remove the keyboard? And do I have to remove one of the 2GB ram to put this one in?

 

How does one get more comfortable with laptops? It's not like you open the thing on a regular basis. Well, except maybe Dallers.

 

Most people will tell you No and they are right to do so because the GPU in the JH is made to run hot 90oC+ under load etc but in my eyes its a must to be honest, not just for the longetivity of the card but in general it runs cooler, its overclocks better and its quieter. I am a repaste freak though

In my opinion my 82oC at 3200RPM makes my pre-repaste 97oC at 4600RPM look pretty lame. It did not come from my 1st attempt though it took time and effort.

Its been 3 weeks mate im getting twitchy

 

Well, it's like adult LEGO, who wouldn't want to open it up . Anyways, it's not that hard to do. If you have even a semblance of manual dexterity you'll be fine.

 

Personally I blew up my first radio plug with a pair of scissors and a lightbulb at 7 not to mention causing medium burns from electricution, at 14 was settings things on fire with Eau De toilette and a lighter and by 17 I started modifying my first car with my grandparents inheritence

My parents are so proud..

 

It's not like you need to be "familiar" with a specific model of laptop to open it up. If you've ever opened up a computer (even a desktop), a laptop isn't much more different.

 

Although the G73 is a total dissassembly job unlike most of the laptops I have upgraded which consisted of just 4 screws. But Asus do like to push our boundary's by reversing things. Like their own brains.

 

There are however a few connection you need to be gentle with.

 

I've built my own desktop PC from scratch

So it's this:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230021

What do you guys think about it? (Final decision before pressing CHECKOUT)

 

It'll be fine. Any issues crop up, we're here. Do they have an option to get an extended warranty?

 

Unfortunatly no :/ but I've heard good things from members here about the refurbished ones

Do you think 3 months is enough for all the problems to start showing? The GSOD and most of the common problems can be fixed with vBios and drivers I've heard so I'm not that scared

 

Sorry for double post but is that a good price? @Chastity

 

Bump

Anybody else please help? I'm ordering it today!

 

3 months is fine go for it you will know straight away about the temp issues or GPU problems I really dont see the point in longer warranty's unless you want entire protection but the price you pay for it its just not worth the service that is offered BB are lunatics let alone the Asus RMA who seem to work in a factory covered in dirt the condition you get the laptop back, not to mention BB will probably take out your 5870M and put in a 1GB 460 GTX .

Get a new HDD and some extra RAM and IC7 with the money you could spend on a warranty

Chastity is right also this forum will make sure your G73JH is running mint.

 

A new HDD? I don't know how to copy the windows 7 from the original drive to the new one if I order one... The RAM and IC7 are already in my shopping cart

And I've heard that the 5400RPM isn't THAT bad, I don't need phenomenal boot times I'm just a casual steam gamer (CSS,Gmod..) It's rare that ill go into more 2011/2010 games, but i'm getting this one cause for longevity and in case I want to play more recent games (SC2)

EDIT: Which one of these RAM modules are compatible and would be the best value and quality:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233080

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220479

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148289

And do I have to remove the keyboard to put more RAM in? If not I don't want to remove any 2GB stick from the back either to put in 4GB that'd be waste

 

Remember the G73 has two HDD bays, you might need an extra caddy but I have 2 500GB 7200RPM drives in mine the US version I picked up in the UK came with a 7200RPM. I picked up the exact same HDD for £38 or about $20.

5400RPM is perfectly usable but compared to the new SSD its very slow, the norm is that the minimum for average speed and usage is 7200RPM. I had a 5400RPM before and although it ran ok load times where very slow. Not just boot times later games load a lot of textures. Anno 1404 on a 5400RPM is quite humerous.

Your buying a laptop with a core I7 and a fantastic GPU trust me you will soon be playing the latest games Im currently playing Dragon Age 2 at high with all the extra's throw in and getting a comforable 45FPS at 1600x900. All my critisism for this game has gone since I played further on im starting to really enjoy it.

 

Thanks Dallers its really nice from you to answer this quick! (considering I'm ordering today and I'm really excited )

Please check my EDIT from the previous post

 

Your welcome and I quote an earlier post by Chastity again this forum is all you need it certainly was all I needed to pick up mine and I drove 60 miles to go and pick it up in person and paid a mate £30 for the pleasure :wink: I liked the problems no one likes a perfect laptop its nice to have a challenge.

 

Laptop-guru I see! How about my RAM issue? I'm considering buying some 4GB to toss in this beast once I get it

 

Again I dunno if you have the same as me but mine came with 6GB of 1333Mhz ram which is better than the stock 1066 which the earlier models came with and the max for this bad boy is 8GB I believe so I just bought another Kingston 2GB 1333mhz and I was sorted. BB decided to not put the first block in the unaccessable RAM slot which is underneith the MOBO so I waited till I repasted then plonked it in. Mine was a one off though most have the 1st slot filled.

Personally I can run a game, browser, all my gadgets (which is just a ludricous amount), convert a video file and leave programs running because im lazy and only notice 80% CPU usage and 4GB of RAM so you dont really need anymore than 8GB unless your planning 3D editing/programming etc.

 

JH's under $1K is fine. Newegg has a fine rep with returns. I believe you can even buy warranty plans, like this one:

Extended Service Plan Quote, Warranty, Extended Warranty

This way you can have service coverage past 90 days.

BTW, will you order it already!!

In regards to the HDD, I would recommend a Momentus XT if on a budget, or a SSD if you have more $$$. 20 second boot times is a pleasure.

@Dallers: The max is 16GB on the RAM (4x4G)

 

mine 2 cents. I thought that 1-st gen I7 work with maximum 8GB RAM. It has 4 slots for RAM so as mentioned above all you need is to buy 2 GB stick, I would do that because it is very cheap one. Also you may try to buy used one. Not because it is cheaper or smth. But because you would make some canadian NBR user happy because almost every laptop has only 2 slots and after upgrading 1 2GB stick stays unused on the shelf somewhere. You could make a thread here if you decide.

 

I'm in Canada

But I just want to know if there's a free-slot in the back panel so I don't need to remove the whole keyboard thing and which RAM is the best between the 3 I've listed! Thanks! You guys are amazing

 

This is for the A1 or A2 thought isn't it? I was warned when I picked up my BB version it can only run 8GB. Not that I need more anyway just curious.

The back panel should already be filled with a 2GB stick so you should be fine with just removing the service panel and filling the RAM/HDD slots the only reason mine was not is that the previous owner put the 6GB stock back in and removed his uprated 8GB which he told me about and said that to save time he did not replace slot 0.

 

I don't really understand Sorry I'm still quite new in the laptop scene... I'm asking for the BST7 version, how many RAM slots is there IN the back panel? And are those slots filled so I know if I need to throw away the stock 2GB one in there and replace it with a 4GB

 

sorry but I guess you are also not quite in careful reading. There are: 1 slot under keyboard and 3 slots under back panel. read my previous post again about max amount of RAM and what size stick you need to buy

 

Dont worry the first part was to Chastity I just double quoted.

There is 1 slot underneith the MOBO which requires dissassembly but this should be filled with 2GB you then have 3 which are accessable under the maintenance panel and 2 should be filled 1 empty. If its comes with 6GB.

As mentioned you really dont need more than 4GB so if your are planning to upgrade just get 2GB and fill the final slot giving you 8GB total.

 

Just the answer I've wanted! Thanks! And what RAM should I get? I'm not too sure if Newegg.ca - Crucial 2GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model CT25664BC1067 is compatible..

 

No that is the wrong one. It will most likely be loaded with Kingston/Crucial. If you want 2GB make sure it is:

DDR3-1333mhz PC3-10600 200-Pin SODIMM

Check to make sure what speed the RAM is my BST7 came with 1333mhz so I expect yours will too.

 

Newegg.ca - Crucial 2GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model CT25664BC1339

or

Newegg.ca - CORSAIR 2GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory Model CMSO2GX3M1A1333C9

?

are you sure 240-Pin or 204-Pin?

How come yours is BST7 and you have 720QM, the one listed on NE is BST7 with a 740QM

 

I had two G73 an RBBX05 and a BST7 which I have sold. My sig lists my RBBX05 which I kept and they both came with 1333mhz RAM however the RBBX05 had a 7200RPM not a 5400RPM drive.

You should be able to see this information when A. You have it. B. By checking on the buyer page. It best to check exactly what you have before thinking about buying upgrades.

This is what I bought when I upgraded my BST7. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270693928750 Hope this helps.

 

Ok and do you think adding a 10$ Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound will be good for the future?

 

Is that an option when buying the laptop? If so yes do it.

If you are referring to buying a tube yourself to repaste yourself then no buy IC Diamond 7 because I have tested along with several others and a good thick TIM like IC7 or MX gives largely better results.

Here is my repaste experience results using AS5.

Here is my repaste experience results using IC7. Full credit goes to Chastity in this post though as it was her experience with IC7 that led to mine. Along with a lot of banter about me repasting far to often and a few arguments with others over my IC7 fanboy ideas

Your over enthusiasm brings De Ja Vu to my over enthusiasm when I bought my JH, its very refreshing shopping before actually shopping.

 

Confirmed Order - Pressed!

Can't wait! These forums are amazing and thanks dallers you're a beast!

 

...From the East. Have to keep up the British appearance's around here with all these American's getting the good stuff before we do

 

Apparently the FUDD about memory options and max memory has gotten around, so everyone gather around while I set the facts down!

1) The memory controller in i5/i7's (Sandy included) are on the CPU. Therefore, the max capacity is based on what CPU you have.

i5 = 8GB
i7 = 16MB
Sandy = 16MB

The Sandy may support higher (don't know offhand) if they made larger SODIMMs.

2) Some units only have 2 slots, others 4.

Ergo, units with 720/740 can do 16MB, as the 2630 too.

 

Thanks for clarifying that for me. Although you do realise you have just opened up another straight forward route for me to continue my addiction to upgrading my laptop to the max!! CHASTITY!!!

 

Well, that's not really Chastity's fault there is it? All i can say though, is if you have the need and cash for it, upgrade away!

 

That's nothing... my friend has his dual Xeon i7 board populated with 120GB of RAM. Don't ask me why... but he does love Virtual environments, and runs several OS's simultaneously.

 

My Laptop life consists of - Buying, upgrading, overclocking, repasting, overclocking, BSOD, overvolting, overclocking, having a spot of lunch, Benchmarking.....Gaming.

6 months go buy.........

Ebay it - Buy a newer model - Repeat.

 

Did you voltmod the 5870m yet?

 

No but being stuck at 825/1100 before artifacts kick in I dont have a reason to at the moment but im considering it in preparation for The Witcher 2 because my temps are 73oC when gaming now its getting pretty silly not to. Has anyone done this yet haven't seen any posts about?

 

If you're getting a refurbished G73JH, they have already been re-pasted. Just like the later models, these have no heating issues.

Mine sits at 45 degrees idle, 50-55 while in use, no more than 70-75 while I'm ingame, and on full load it doesn't even reach 85 degrees (after 1 hour with prime95). This is with my Turbo mode on and with minimum state set to 100% btw, so it's not underclocking itself when not in use.