No Thanks Asus(G72Gx-RBBX09), I'll stick with my(G71GX-RX05)

I'd first like to say thank you to da1writer for writing a sick @ss review

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=421252

on the G71GX-RX05.
Your review inspired me to take back my G51 and get a G71.

On Oct. 8th 2009 I purchased my G71GX for 1299.99USD(full retail) at BestBuy. I have had NOT one single problem with keyboard errors or flex.
Because of all of the negative reviews about the G71's Geforce GTX 260M overheating, I updated the drivers from Nvidia and updated the BIOS.

I play SFIV, Crysis, Borderlands, UT3, GoW, NFS:Shift, Far Cry 2 & CoD4 at Max settings with a smooth and constant frame rate. 76 degrees is the highest temp my GPU's ever produced. I am VERY pleased with this product. On October 24th I had Bestbuy do a clean Windows 7 HP(64bit) install on my G71GX and purchased a G72GX-RBBX05.

After spending ALL NIGHT on ASUS's support page downloading drivers for Windows 7(64bit),ASUS Customer Support(regarding Direct Console 2.0 on W7) and Microsoft's Windows Updates, I was ready to give it a go.

Windows 7 performs flawlessly on my G71. Instead of 35 second boot times I now have around 14 seconds. Before in some games i had to enable the Overclocking mode in Turbo Gear to maintain a steady frame rate at max settings. Not anymore!!

I spent the whole morning & afternoon trying to find some kind of performance issue.....but I could not. Thank You Micro$oft/ASUS!!

After some sleep I decided to try out my G72GX-RBBX05.
After getting everything all setup I was greeted to the familiar Windows 7 HP(64bit) ...again.....but somethings missing...........

Here is what is lacking(MY OPINION) from the G72:
1.the Blue LED's on the side that flash or just illuminate configurable by Direct console 2.0.
2.the Blue LED around the Synaptics touch pad.
3.the hard Crysis pattern finish below the keyboard that is NOT prone to fingerprints.
4.the configurable LED ground effects that change color.
5.the whole "LOOK AT ME" appearance that the G71 has.

I did like the higher res on the screen and G51 backlit keys on the G72 but for me these neccassary upgrades do NOT warrant me replacing my G71.
What turned me off about the G72 was that all I could see when I looked at my G72 was my grubby fingerprints EVERYWHERE!! WTH were ASUS thinking? That I would never touch my G72?

I took this badboy back to Bestbuy for a FULL money back no hassle free return.

All in all I'd have'f to say that the G72 is an AWESOME PC just like the G71 but with a more Business refined approach that does not scream GAMER!!! like the G71.

Because I would like to/and so does eveyone else, post some pics of my setup & accessories.

Thanks for reading MY OPINION

 

In the title I put G72Gx-RBBX09. I meant G72GX-RBBX05.

 

I really like those pictures. It's nice-looking laptop. Definitely an eye-catcher.

 

Thanks Saikoro.

I have da1writer and the community here at notebookreview to thank for the recommendation. Believe it or not... but I've gone through 6 laptops in the calendar year to get to this one....lol

 

Not a problem, Glad you liked my review and lovin the laptop ! Hope you are liking Windows 7, Can't wait to try mine in December [ ]! Oh, and Nice pics, I plan on grabbing a razer mouse sooner or later as well (wireless of course)!

 

does the G71GX-RX05 have a black fingerprint attracting surface as well?

 

having a bunch of lights on something doesn't scream "gamer!" don't make us all look like morons just because you like pretty lights

 

Nice set-up! Gotta love the Logitech G13 too I set its lights to match the g51 keyboard.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Agreed to an extent. Like my boring ole 7805 and I even turn off the Orange LED's occasionally.

 

I'm lovin W7!! I also recommed the Razer Mamba & Logitech G13. Both accessories work flawlessly with W7 & G71. They also match. Thanks again for your review

 

Not where it matters. It has a Crysis like pattern below the keyboard as a handrest that does not attract fingerprints.

 

I think your a little off on this one. The G71 truly is something special. How many PC laptops that you know of have a Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M Cuda GPU with 3 big @ss blue leds on the back of the lcd panel and a led Republic of Gamers Logo for a total of 4 on the display alone. Lets not forget about the CUSTOMIZABLE led ground effects that go as far as being able to change the color and tempo.

I don't know.....just the fact that it lights up blue saying REPUBLIC OF GAMERS is atleast an indication that this is a gaming laptop meant for games.

All in all it's an awesome piece of equipment

 

I Love my G13 too. I use to have a G51....but now I have a G71 and I too have the lights on my G13 set to blue to match my G71 Out of all these new variations of G51 and G71 I like the pre Windows 7 G51 with the white robo lid and white leds.

We all must have similar tastes, one of the laptops I returned before settling on my G71 was a 7908u, becasue of poor peformance in SFIV benchmarks and lack of a steady FPS in game play.

 

I can go without all the lights, with starting a business and wanting a gaming laptop the G72 fits the build as most people won't see the blue lights on the lid.

Also the resolution is much better. Which it was higher but that's what an external monitor is for.

 

Before returning my G72 I got a second opinion from a friend of mine who has a G50. Between the two of us we could honestly not see a noticable difference between a 17.1 inch 1440 x 900 screen and a 17.3 inch 1600 x 900 screen. Also the G72GX-RBBX05 with the SAME specs has to work harder to display at it's native resolution of 1600 x 900 than the G71GX-RX05 at it's native resolution of 1440 x 900. The build also seemed to be more on the cheap plastic side of things. I spent more time cleaning the fingerprint prone handrest then actually using it....lol. I guess Asus has decided to implement lower production costs with the G72. The G72 is more like a Toshiba Satelite with Fusion Finish. No Thanks

Because my Bestbuy rewards is at premiere status giving me 45 days to return/exchange I'm always looking for the next best thing in the same price range within 45 days of purchase. Fortunately the G72 is not it

In the end we're all on the same team. I'm glad your happy with your lappy

 

I agree it's a fantastic laptop. However your enthusiasm over the lights just seems over the top. Don't get me wrong, they look cool, and in fact I love the lighting alienware does with their laptops.

 

The fingerprints don't bother me that much as I am more into playing the game then looking at it.

I just clean it off in the morning.

How does it have to work harder to display it's native resolution?

I would love to have waited for another laptop but I needed one now and it fit my budget for what I could get. I also wouldn't be able to stand the 1440x900. I figure I can upgrade this laptop with more ram and a better HD and it will last me a few years.

 

I will admit...I'am impressed with the lights...lol.
Asus did a great job. I am so impressed by the build quality/features of the G71 that even though I am within my 45 days return/exchange period with Bestbuy(Premier Silver status)I am willing to forfeit the possibility of exchanging my 1299.99 G71GX-RX05 for the G72GX-RBBX09 which is better than both of these models.

In the reviews here I read about GPU,keyboard flex, BSOD & screen problems.
Maybe Asus has recently improved build quality, my model was manufactured in August 09.

You'd have'f to agree that the G72 is a fingerprint prone nightmare

 

I had fancy adjustable lights on my Dell XPS 2 from over 3 years ago. Nothing new. The G72's track pad is trash, I wouldn't touch that notebook with a 10 foot pole. The LG display however is quite nice, much better than the one found in G71 or G51 series.

 

What don't you like about the track pad?

 

I also don't like the track pad on the G72. But then again I have a Razer Mamba for when I need to whoop @ss.

Speaking of Dell my friend bought an Alienware M17x almost a month ago. Because of my recommendations we purchased Borderlands at the same time. After the stellar installation on my machine and his we both booted up the game and set all the settings to MAX. Mine went on to play flawlessly his did not(BSOD). We've tried everything from reinstalling Windows 7 OS(clean), drivers & defrag. Any suggestions? UT3 also gives overheating BSOD error.

 

Anytime you raise the resolution the gpu has to work harder. More pixels = more math to calculate them. That is why when a game lags at max res you can drop the resolution down to improve gaming performance.

Also, if you cant stand a 1440x900 then the 1600x900 should still drive you crazy, they have the same vertical resolutions. The g72 just has extra pixels on the sides making it widescreen. The only upgrade to make things sharper would be 1080p and beyond. Now if you said you liked the brightness of the LG display or the fact its widescreen I can completely understand that as those are valid points. But those resolutions are far to close for one to be so bad you can't stand it.

 

The size of it and it's texture.

 

The design, feel, ergonomics..basically everything. There is also a lot of wasted space on the palm rest of the G72. I think the G51 is a much better machine.

 

When I read VoltaicShock's post I also thought back to my personal comparison between 1600 x 900(G72) and 1440 x 900(G71). You are right there really isn't that much of a notable difference.

 

My work laptop is 1900x1200 or somewhere around there and yeah I don't really like the 1600x900 but I have noticed its better for my eyes -

I do like the widescreen and the brightness of the display.

I will admit that I wish the resolution was higher but I can live with this as I can hook it up to an external monitor.

I forgot about the gaming aspect about how it has to work harder. Everything seems to run fine on high settings though.

As for the trackpad, I actually like it. I agree though that they have a lot of wasted space.

 

When I had my G72 I ran a bunch of SFIV benchmarks with max settings and 8xAA and 8x texture filter at 1600 x 900. My scores ALWAYS resulted in a B score with around 53 FPS. On my G71GX at a native resolution of 1440 x 900 my benchmarks at the same settings are:

SCORE: 7532(A)
AVERAGE: 67.02FPS
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8700 @ 2.53GHz
Memory: 6143MB
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
Video Memory: 1024MB
Display Setting: 1440x900 60Hz 8xAA

(c)CAPCOM U.S.A., INC. 2008, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I attached a recent G71GX benchmark. I am not willing to sacrifice a lack of performance purchasing a G72GX when my G71 performs better in it's native resolution.

When I get off of work I'm gonna hook it up to my 1080p Sammy LED through HDMI and see what kind of scores I get.

 

skygunner27 - What are the clock speeds of your card?

Not sure if ASUS downclocks the 260M in the G71 like they do in the G72.

Right now the clock (factory) speeds of my card are 500/800/1250. They should be 550/950/1375.

I am going to run a few benchmarks today with Furmark and PhysXMark and see what I come up with.

Where can I download the Street Fighter Benchmark test? Do I need Street Fighter installed?

 

Here are my scores for Street Fighter. I get an A rating.

SCORE: 7052
AVERAGE: 60.63FPS
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8700 @ 2.53GHz
Memory: 6144MB
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
Display Setting: 1600x900 60Hz 8xAA

(c)CAPCOM U.S.A., INC. 2008, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

That is a great benchmark!! Alot better than my previous efforts with the G72! Congrats!! My GPU also seems to be underclocked just like yours. If I turn off my 8 Logitech G13 programs, 1 Logitech G35 program & my sidebar gadgets monitoring CPU, GPU Temp, RAM, Weather Etc... running in the background I get:

SCORE: 8171
AVERAGE: 83.97FPS
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8700 @ 2.53GHz
Memory: 6143MB
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
Video Memory: 1024MB
Display Setting: 1440x900 60Hz 8xAA

(c)CAPCOM U.S.A., INC. 2008, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


The G13 programs I can live without while I play SFIV but I must have the G35 program running so I can enjoy 7.1 Surround sound and a crytsal clear mic.
It really sucks to know that Logitech programs that enhance the experience also work against FPS in gameplay as well as PC monitoring sidebar gadgets

I know you could also disable some un needed programs to improve frame rate. I'm sure that the overall difference in frames is due to native resolutions and your lovely G51 backlit keys that I could use right at the moment

 

I run Aero, which I am sure doesn't help -

I should setup my games to turn it of when they are ran. I could also run a script that turns off everything I don't need.

As long as I can get 60+ I am fine. I am one of those people that can notice anything under 60fps.

I am going to run these benchmarks:

http://optimitza.cat/benchmarks/laptops

I will then start a new thread with my scores.

 

@VoltaicShock or anyone with a response....
By any chance do you have Crysis? In Windows 7 I get choppy sound here and there with Crysis(Direct X 10) and updated w/patch. I have tried reinstalling. No luck I've also read forums with other people having the same problem with the Geforce GTX 260m with Crysis in Windows 7. Crysis is such a great demo to show what a PC can do. I would really like to resolve the Crysis sound issues with W7. I currently have it uninstalled becasue of the sound.

 

I am downloading the demo right now. I will run that and see what I get.

What version of 7 do you have? I am running Ultimate.

 

I'm also in Aero. Which I can't live without....lol....I guess it really doesn't matter once the frames surpass 60. I did notice that the animation seem to be more fluid in movement at 83 fps as opposed to 67 fps. Overall I am happy with the performace of the G-series. Have you looked into Borderlands for PC? If not I highly recommend it. It runs great on our PC's maxed out as long as you force triple frame buffer and v-sync in the Nvidia control panel. If you don't the game will have a small amount of screen tear. In the standard power setting FRAPS says that I get 103 FPS in Borderlands. When I get a chance to goof off at work I play Borderlands. When people walk by and see how good it looks/runs they are amazed that this kind of gameplay can be done on a lappy. If your into FPS/RPG's check it out.

 

I will have to look into that. I need to adjust settings in the control panel.

What would you recommend for most games?

 

I am running Windows 7 Home Premium....do you think that could be a factor in performance?

If games run better in Ultimate I'll upgrade but if Ultimate uses more resources I'll stick with Premium.

 

The only thing I changed in the Nvidia Control Panel is I forced the V-Sync and Triple Frame Buffer. I do NOT allow the app to control these 2 things. After doing this I disabled V-Sync from all my games. EVERY game I have installed runs at a higher frame rate with NO screen tear issues.

I would feel safe to say that it is better to allow the GPU to handle these aspects than the application.

 

I highly doubt that is it.

There are many factors, such as software installed and what is running in the background.

We should run the Street Fighter one at the same resolution with the same settings and see what we get. I can't run 1400x900.

 

Do you force the v-sync on or off?

Triple Buffering is set to On correct?

 

Yes, I force V-Sync on. I set Triple Buffering to on.

 

Doesn't on make it so it can't go past the 60hz so you can't obtain more then 60 fps?

 

I guess not because I get higher FPS than 60. I think all it does is stop screen tearing.

I did not discover these settings for myslef. I stumbled upon a forum some where on the Gears of War PC site that addressed problems with the GTX 260m. This know-it-all said to do this. So I and the rest of the forum did. Since then I have noticed a huge improvement in FPS & I have NOT seen any screen tearing in any game I own since.

 

Good to know. I have changed my settings.

 

tell me what you think about those settings with your games...I live in Alaska(born in Tampa) so the time is 6:41am. I'm going to get a few minutes of sleep before I have'f to go to work. I'll check back here when I get to work to see what your results are if you had the time to post them. ttyl

 

I will run the benchmarks when I can. Hard to do at work, everyone will be asking what I am doing - lol

 

Everyone around me at work eats, loves & dreams HP. It's kind of funny. I'm always asked "what's asus, is that like acer"? In my head I'm like ? Where have you been....lol

 

I love the Laptop, I just wish it wasnt 17.1 Inches....Too big to carry around IMO

 

I agree.
I would have loved to have the G71 with the same specs at 15 inches.

 

Boy I would pay anything for something like that.

 

The G50VT is the closest to what I was looking for but only had a 9800GS. The speakers were horrible compared to the 4 speakers on the G71. I also didn't like the speaker quality on the G51. It was waaaay to low and bass was awful.