G51: RX05 vs. X1A?

After MONTHS of delay and debate I had committed to purchasing the G51-X1A from NewEgg, and when I got to the site to order, OF COURSE it was sold out. And has been for almost a week now.

So, as I sit and wait, I'm re-considering BB's RX05.

Is the X1A worth the $250 more for an upgraded processor and superior screen? It's within my budget, but many people here seem very satisfied with their RX05 and how far they can push the CPU & GPU.

"Definitely wait for the X1A to be back in stock!"
or,
"Meh, it's up to you, games will perform fantastically on both, and the resolution on RX05 isn't a big deal at all."

?

 

I'd wait. You also get the Asus warranty if you order from Newegg (2 years with Accidental Damage coverage for the first year) instead of the 1 year Best Buy coverage. Combine that with the CPU difference, ans its well worth the difference.

 

I would wait no doubts.

As the previous poster mentioned for the relatively smallish sum of $250 more (actually less since with BB you will pay tax and NewEgg unless you are in CA you just pay shipping upfront) you will receive:

2 year warranty
1 year accidental damage warranty
Better CPU
Better Screen (True HD 1920x1080 LED Backlight)
Bluetooth

It also depends on how much you want to tweek your machine out of the box. The RX05 is a fine machine but definately more for someone who wants to break into it to really realize its full potential. The X1A is a great machine right out of the box and will not require as much "tweeking" to see better performance in some games as compared to the RX05. I also love the longer/better warranty that comes with the X1A (coming from my W90 experience).

 

Exactly what you get for the money, is extremely worth it. $250 for all that is a really good deal. Upgrading the CPU or the Screen on the RX05 (well its an akward size so it might not be possible) would cost around $250 alone.

 

+1 for waiting as well.

Better pay a little bit more, than regret it later down the road.

 

Yes i would definetly wait. I just ordered the X2A, people can be free to comment on whether or not another 250 or so was worth the 2.53 to 2.8 ghz processor upgrade... One reason i went for the x2a was because they were out of the x1a's and i really wanted a new laptop. I believe that the only difference between mine and the x1a is the processor, correct me if i am wrong.

 

ASUS G51VX-RX05 is $1,129 on eBay. With the 15% Bing CB right now, that'd put it at $959.65 after CB.

*OR*

ASUS G51Vx-A1 for $1,595 minus $200 (max) Bing CB makes it $1,395 after CB or $1,295 after $100 ASUS "Back-To-School" MIR... Same price-point as the X1A...

*OR*

ASUS G51Vx-X2A for $1,499.99 minus $150 (10% Newegg) Bing CB makes it $1349.99 + S/H after Bing CB. Only $50 more than the OOS X1A...

Decisions decisions

Cheers,
Kermee

 

So? The X1A is actually better, in terms of gaming performance, than the A1...

 

*Nod* ... And your X2A is better than the X1A in terms of gaming performance. =) If the OP can wait out the 60 day Bing Cashback, he could have an "in-stock" X2A ordered today vs. an OOS X1A for only $50 more...

Cheers,
Kermee

 

Well actually, originally i was gonna get a X1A, but its out of stock... I thought that the processor of either the X1A or the X2A would not be the bottleneck, so originally i thought gaming wise, the X1A and X2A are identical. Can anyone confirm this? Also, forgetting about gaming, is there any place where my fast processor will help me. Like, what will my 2.8ghz processor improve in my laptop?

 

Running multiple programs (itunes and game/whatever) will be considerably speedier. Besides you can overclock it to over 3.0ghz, which is amazing for laptop, this will add a huge lifespan for usability over the years.

 

Note that the jump from the RX05's 2.0Ghz to the X1A's 2.5Ghz will have a much bigger difference gaming wise than the X1A's 2.5Ghz jump to the X2A's 2.8Ghz.

At higher resolutions (like the 1080p in non-RX05 versions) the GPU is always the bottleneck

 

I actually chose the RX05 specifically because it didn't have the high-res screen. The only time a high-res screen is useful on a screen that small is for desktop space, in game it is practically impossible to tell the difference between the two resolutions, so you are dropping your performance some(which is mostly made up by the better processor) because you have to render twice as many unnecessary pixels...and if you drop the resolution for games, then it doesn't look quite as clear because of increased aliasing issues. That was my reasoning for getting the RX05, at least...

Then again, the performance issue is really only an issue for a couple stupidly demanding games like Crysis...with most games either one will be able to perform phenomenally. On my RX05, on my new 42" 1080p TV, I was able to pull 60fps consistently on Fear.

 

To touch on the Best Buy warranty, if you're a (pathological?) upgrader the RX05 is what you would want to look at. If you change out your CPU on your reseller version, you've just voided 2-year-global and 1-year-accidental... which is a big deal.

If you void Best Buy... who cares?

 

I'm selling my Dell Studio XPS 16 and will hopefully pick up the Asus X1A when it comes back in stock. For anyone that owns it, what are your impressions? Specifically, how is the 1080p screen quality? The current Dell I have is a 16" RGB LED 1080p and it looks fantastic so I'm hoping the one Asus uses is at least WLED.

 

iirc, the X1A is a WLED. and I love it. The machine is a beast. I just OC'd my P8700 to 3ghz and I'm loving it. My temp increase was only 4C, to go from a max of 57C to 61C. I've played bioshock, crysis, far cry 2, Fallout 3 and quite a few more...all at max settings and 1920x1080 res, not a single stutter, and that was before OCing any. The viewing angles leave something to be desired, but other than that the screen is terrific.

 

Hey I was thinking about getting the BB model because of this. However im not so convinced that its "practically impossible" to tell the difference. Do you have any source to back that up, if not ok, its cool.

 

lol, my laptop is no longer selling at newegg. i mean its out of stock. These things are selling like crazy, it unbelievable. i am happy i got mine one day before they went out of stock.

 

Nice, glad to hear the CPU can be overclocked. How are your GPU temps during gaming and does the laptop get hot? About the screen, you said the viewing angles leave something to be desired, are they as bad as the 1366x768 screen the BB version has? If you have ever seen a Sony Vaio or Dell Studio XPS at BB, how would you rate this laptop against their screen? Any other impressions you have such as how hot the laptop runs, any issues you've noticed etc would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

EIement, do you have a cooler? Or are you just running it on a desk/propped up?

Did you OC your GPU at all?

 

it hits 90-95C while gaming. Mid 90s in Halo 2 w/ max AA, 90 flat in crysis. 90 flat in prototype. and 91 flat after a run of 3dmark. its odd, because I'd expect crysis to push it to the limit. I Don't dare do a run of furmark for fear of pushing my temps to 100+. But, I think I'm on the high end of the heat spectrum for the G51. at least from what I've seen. And 5150Joker, I never got to see the best buy version face to face, nor any best buy versions, I didn't have the time to get to best buy.

 

I got one!

I checked newegg to AGAIN, and they had the X1A! Ordered, along with a logitech optical mouse and crysis max edition.

$1,300 + 40 + 37 + 17 s&h = 1394 - 137.70 bing cashback = $1,256 for x1a, mouse, and crysis+warhead.

I clicked on the G51-x1a again after I purchased, and the "Add to Cart" was gone; back to "Auto-Notify." So maybe I got last one...whew.

Next week, it's bye-bye AMD64 3500+ / 1GB ram / ATi 1950 / HUGE crt monitor and hello P8700 / 4GB ram / GTX260M / portability.

 

Does overclocking really hurt your notebook significantly? I got the same notebook, G51vx-Rx05, and I feel like the 2.0 Ghz is kinda dissapointing. At least, I want to bump it up to 2.20 Ghz, but worry that it might not last long.