Italian Asus G1S and G2S (Santa Rosa refresh)!

oh ya but what you dont understand is that the a8jp and the f3jp came out at the same time as the a8js for much more than they cost when newegg.com started selling them

no one wanted them and they had to sell them at a large discount from orignal msrp

a8jp came out at the same time as the a8js in asia and no one bought them.

Go ahead and go to ati.com and try to find a trace of x1700. It doesnt exist its entirely bogus. It is x1600 with something called hdcp support

 

What I really don't understand is why they halved the dedicated video memory, especially considering the increase in the displays' native resolutions.
Anyways, what I am most interested is whether I am going to be able to play UT 2007 at native res and max settings on that 8600 (I can live without AA and AF). Anyone has any info on this?
Also, why does everyone expect 15 inchers to be lesser spec'd than their bigger siblings? Many people like to play games without having to carry a bulky beast around.

 

This usually means that the GPU cannot take advantage of the extra dedicated V-Ram.In these cases the performance between the extra dedicated memory and shared memory will be minimal.

The main reason is the excess heat caused by more powerful GPUs.It is difficult take away the extra heat for a smaller laptop when the GPU generates too much heat.
Hopefully this limitation will change when the GPU fab process shifts to 65nm.

 

Are we sure there even is a 512MB VRAM version of the 8600M yet?

Regarding your second question; for the same reason I don't expect a 17" gaming laptop to have the same specs as a desktop gaming tower. Or why I don't expect the same gaming specs in an 11" Sony TX than I do in a 15" laptop.

There are limits on what you can cram into a certain form factor. A 17" laptop has more room and space in its chassis for a higher powered card that generates more heat, etc.

By the same token, a 15" laptop has more room to support a more powerful GPU than a smaller laptop.

-Zadillo

 

I don't even think a desktop version of the 8600 has 512MB. Aren't they 256MB?

The c90 listed on milestonepc.com says it has 512MB, but I dont know if it is all dedicated. Also the new Toshiba Qosimo says 8600 with 512MB.

 

The yet to be released Zepto 6625 also claims to have an 8600 512MB gpu.

 

It's not as though it's not possible for it to have 512, after all, the current 7700 has 512. Though having more than 256mb VRAM is probably a waste, given the ability of the card ...

 

I don't get why that would be a waste...... the 8600M sounds like a very powerful mobile card to me.

 

Do you guys think that once the G1S is released, the old G1 will drop in price not long after?

 

Any G1's still out in the marketplace might drop in price somewhat, but the G1S is generally a replacement for the G1, not an additional product. So I wouldn't expect to see Asus continue to manufacture old G1's at a lower price.

 

I certainly hope that I will be able to have one (G1S) in my hands before August 15th (departure for College).

 

honestly i wouldnt worry about 512mb vs 256mb, both the 7700 and 8600 just arent powerful enough, and simply dont have enough memory bandwidth to really make use of the 512mb VRAM.

to really utilize a 512mb GDDR3 memory setup you need to be cranking resolution, AA, AF, texture quality etc all the way up, by which time the the 7700 and 8600 will of run out of puff anyway. i would say 512mb was a waste on the 7700....it just wasnt beneficial at all.

if it was a card like the X1900 with 256bit memory and chock full of raw power then 512mb makes sense, the GPU's got the legs to mix it up at the high res/high settings. these midrange cards just dont.

most mid range desktop parts are 256mb.....thats all they need. any that come with more are just looking to hook joe schmoe and his "more megabytes = faster" ideals.

just clarify as well..... the 8600GTS on the desk top is pretty woeful, its barely any quicker than the 7600GT in games that make use of heavy texturing, and it takes a distinct dive in performance above 1280x1024. IMO 1600x1200 gaming is pretty much out of the question on that card unless you really wanna sacrifice IQ..and even then i bet performance isnt stellar.

yes the sweet spot for this card is definately the 15-19inch monitors, that is, 1024x768 to 1280x1024 res's above that it has real trouble.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2975&p=2
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2970&p=5

take a look. were talking 30 fps and below in most of todays top games, bar BF2 which isnt that graphically intense.

really, 512mb is not going to help this card one single bit, especially when the 8600's apparent strength lies in pixel shader intensive games.

 

So all the G1S is a chipset and graphic card upgrade? Is this even MXM graphic card? I have to say, a little disappointed with asus gaming lineup. It looks like the C90/91 all the way for me.

 

What more do you want exactly? The GPU upgrade alone is pretty darned significant.

-Zadillo

 

What youve just said there is exactly what the marketeurs at Asus were aiming for. Again, the G1s/G2s is a mass laptop designed for max sales for its projected target customer and price point.
If people want better then thats what the barbones is for.

 

Well an Expresscard slot would be nice. Maybe HDMI, e-sata, integrated tv tuner, and fingerprint reader for security. The C90 has all of that and cost less than G1S when built. I just thought for a refresh they should consider something more than just graphic upgrade. At this point buying a G1S is just for the bling factor not specs.

 

I wouldn't quite state it that way. It is indeed true that the Asus G1S lacks some upgrades which could be usefull. But a new fast GPU (somewhat like a 7900GS) which supports DirectX10 combined with the Santa Rosa platform and a faster CPU are welcome upgrades in my opinion. The only thing I'm not so pleased about is the memory speed, I'd rather see 800MHz.

I might even buy this notebook, although I'm more into a 14,1 inch notebook. But maybe I should just wait for the new A8Js.

 

Doesn't the C90 also have enormous heat vents all over the place and use a desktop CPU (Conroe) instead of Merom? What's the point of it really? It seems more like a glorified portable sff pc with a built-in screen than anything that would have any practical application as a laptop.

 

Well, there's a market for those, too.

 

I probably came across as snarkier than I meant to in that last post - I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and I think the idea of the C90 is kind of cool (a laptop-like form factor but with more easily upgradeable desktop-like components inside).

I just don't see a reason to directly compare something like the C90 to other Asus laptops though that are more clearly "laptops", as opposed to PC's in a laptop form factor.

 

so, these will cost like 500 more than the previous ones? if so ill pick up the current generation

 

When will the actual pricing be available?

 

Have you seen the massive difference between the 640mb 8800 and the 320mb 8800?

Sure the 7700 doesn't need the full 512MB but the 8-series is a completely different story. The reason the 8600 (desktop) was performing very well at low resolutions and very poor at higher resolutions was because of its memory. Trust me you need all you can get this time around!

 

The actual prices are available now, we are taking pre-orders on our website for Sanat Rosa G1S, G2S and F3SV B1 now.

 

OMG YOU GUYS ROCK, now that i see that price i will feel much better getting it now.

 

That's just too awesome. I still have three questions, though.
When's the ETA?
Will there be Robson Flash available?
The 8600 is an 8600GT?

 

THe ETA's are in MileStonePC's homepage AFAIK.

 

will the pre-order be first come first serve? as in if someone preorders first they'll get there laptop first?

o and i love you now

 

is it the 8600 GT?

 

im guessing it would be the same one seen here
http://usa.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=6745

 

when i choose Upgrade 2048M to 4096M DDR2 667, do you guys install it, or is that me?

 

I think they would install it, and even if they don't, installing memory's a simple thing to do.
You're very excited about this G1S aren't you

 

yes very much so

 

you gonna pre-order? i dont wanna be the first, i may just pre-order tomorow

 

I'm kind of wanting to wait for some reviews of it first

 

yea me too

 

Ah, thanks, yea, I was looking at the Canadian site (I'm in Canada) which doesn't have the ETA info. Just took a look at the US one though.

 

if i get it maybe i would write a review, but lol im not expert =( i dont even h ave 3dMark

 

the canadian and us site have the same models right?
because im ordering from the us site, shipping to jamaica and moving to canada in 2 months, i dont want and descrepencies with my warranty

 

Would be a great way of learning - to break in a new laptop with benchmarks, and you'd doubtless get lots of advice about removing bloatware and optimising settings if you wanted it should you post the first review.

Of course, you'll have to hope you beat me to it - it's a couple of weeks before I can order mine, but I'm hoping I can get it here in Switzerland quick-smart by then.

 

lol would be cool to have it first, but i doubt it, considering i have to have it shipped from america to jamaica

 

BEST PRICE in the city......... current G1 for $1939.95cdn here now:
http://www.pcvonline.com/productDetails.aspx?id=4629

 

Wow, I wonder whether Milestonepc would do a pricematch ..

 

they would, ask them

 

nope, thats a G1 not a G1s

 

I wonder if they would pricematch that to the US price as well...... that would make it cheaper than the regular G1.

EDIT: Duh, sorry.... CURRENT G1. Never mind...

 

Yeah, that tripped me up too...... not sure what the point is of posting a price on the regular G1 in a thread about the G1S. Seems bound to cause confusion.

But having said that, their price seems cheaper than what MilestonePC sells the regular G1 for anyway.

 

That's what I was wondering. I meant, when PCVonline stocks the G1S, whether or not MilestonePC would do a PM on that.

 

because i read that brian said he would pick up the current version

and these guys will have the cheapest prices for the g1s and g2s : )

 

Ahh, gotcha. I would assume milestonepc would do a pricematch with any valid price (i.e. not a pricematch with some black market site selling stolen G1S's or something).