Intel has decided to lead its introduction of Ivy Bridge for mobile
with its most powerful quad-core parts. Many of these processors will
end up in mainstream laptop, but they’re also great for gaming laptops.
In our first look at Ivy Bridge we saw that it holds up well when paired
with its own Intel HD 4000 graphics – if you keep the resolution around
1366x768. A bit more than that and the IGP just can’t hang.
Gamers will still want a beefy discrete GPU, and that’s what the G75
offers. Inside this beast you’ll find an Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M. Those
who were reading our Kepler coverage will remember that this is not
based off Nvidia’s newest architecture but is instead a re-work of an
older Fermi chip. That mean seem a bit disappointing, and it is – but
the performance of Nvidia’s older mobile chips wasn’t lackluster.
So, this new laptop is packing a spanking-new Core i7-3720QM as well
as Nvidia’s new GTX 670M. That’s an impressive combination, and ASUS has
wisely backed it up with a well-rounded set of performance components.
Yes, we have multiple hard drives here including a solid state OS
drive. There’s also sixteen gigabytes of RAM and a plethora of ports. In
the past the G-series laptops we’ve had in for review have always been
solidly mid-range gaming laptops with affordable pricing, and I always
wondered if ASUS did the majority of its business in that segment
because the company was unsure about how it’d stack up against the
boutiques.
This new G75, however, is a shot across the bow of Alienware, Origin
and Maingear. It has the hardware to go up against laptops in the $2000
range. So has ASUS hit the mark, or is their aim wild?
Design
ASUS certainly doesn’t rest on its laurels when it comes to the
design of the G-series. Every new model is redesigned subtly but
significantly from the one previous, and this laptop may be the most
significant change yet.
The profile makes an immediate impact. Gaming laptops have a
reputation for being bulky because, well, they are – but as I’ve
mentioned in some earlier articles, the lower power consumption of
modern hardware indicates that we may be seeing an end to that era. The
G75 is 46mm at its thickest point, down from the 62mm thickness of the
G74.
Even these figures are a bit deceptive, however, due to the laptop’s
tapered design. It’s 30mm thick at the front, and while that’s quite
large compared to an ultrabook it’s enough to make this the
second-slimmest dedicated gaming laptop we’ve ever reviewed (behind the
Alienware M11x).
While the chassis is different, the major details remain the same as
previous models. ASUS has stuck with its black stealth-bomber inspired
design. I’ve always found it to be sleek yet masculine, and the slimmer
silhouette of this model makes it the most attractive G-series yet. The
exhaust vents remain at the back, keeping heat away from the user, and
the keyboard is trimmed with the same silver accents found on previous
models. If you liked the look of older ASUS gaming laptops, you’ll like
this – and vice-versa.
User Interface
Since it is a 17.3” laptop the G75 has plenty of room for a
full-sized keyboard with numpad. The keys are large and there’s a
massive space between the main keyboard and the numpad. Between that
spaces are four directional keys that are kept slightly separate from
the other keys. I personally can’t remember the last time I used
directional keys in a game, but the attention to detail is nice.
Key feel is average. Most people don’t buy a gaming laptop for the
wonderful typing experience, so that’s not a surprise. With that said,
most people would have no trouble using the G75 for long bouts of typing
– the keys are large, easy to identify by touch and have decent
travel.
Backlighting is standard on the G-series. There are four different
settings (off and three brightness levels) that can be changed using
keyboard function keys, for which I can’t thank ASUS enough. Most keys
are evenly lit and the light leakage around the key caps is tolerable.
The touchpad is large and has a different texture from the
surrounding surface, which makes it easy to navigate in dark lighting.
Large individual left/right buttons are provided, and they offer plenty
of key travel. Multi-touch support could be better – it has bouts of
over-sensitivity punctuated by moments of unresponsiveness – but
overall, this is one of the better touchpads I’ve used on a gaming
laptop.
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