Which laptop is better?

[EnigmaticRunner]

Asking on behalf of a friend who's too lazy to make an account: Which of these laptops is better?

ASUS G Series G51JX-X1 NoteBook Intel Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M

Or

This "Lenovo 'Customized' ThinkPad W510 with discrete graphics";
(Her Chosen) System components (copied and pasted from the customization page; yeah, I'm aware of the ambiguity ):
Intel Core i7-720QM Processor (2.80GHz 6MBL3 1333MHz)

Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 - English

15.6" HD AG LED w/WW Ant

nVidia GLM DG 1GB, AMT

UltraNav FPR, No Color Sensor

4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 (2 DIMM)

US English Keyboard

Integrated Camera Module 2.0MP

320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

DVD Recordable, Ultrabay Enhanced

Express Card Slot & 5 in 1 Card Slot

9cell, LI Battery TWSL

135W AC Adapter; NA, LA, (2pin)

Integrated Bluetooth PAN 2

Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300

English US Publication

Additional Comments: She wants one that'll last her at least 4 years and she wants to be able to play games (most notably, Starcraft 2) around a medium-level graphics/performance setting.

 

[lostandwandering]

If gaming is the concern, the Asus is the way to go. The Lenovo's nVidia GLM is a workstation class card (the Quadro FX 880) and will not perform as well in games as the GTS 360M. If she needs to do stuff like AutoCAD though, the GLM will be the better choice.

Anandtech did a review of a mobile workstation card vs a gaming card here: http://anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3760&p=6

Each one has it's specialties, but the workstation card is not up to par in games.

 

[EnigmaticRunner]

If gaming is the concern, the Asus is the way to go. The Lenovo's nVidia GLM is a workstation class card (the Quadro FX 880) and will not perform as well in games as the GTS 360M. If she needs to do stuff like AutoCAD though, the GLM will be the better choice.

Anandtech did a review of a mobile workstation card vs a gaming card here: http://anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3760&p=6

Each one has it's specialties, but the workstation card is not up to par in games.

She's going into engineering stuff so she said she needs AutoCAD but she still wants gaming. Could you elaborate on why the GLM would be better for AutoCAD? Would AutoCAD still work well with the GTS 360M? Thanks for the help.

 

[lostandwandering]

She's going into engineering stuff so she said she needs AutoCAD but she still wants gaming. Could you elaborate on why the GLM would be better for AutoCAD? Would AutoCAD still work well with the GTS 360M? Thanks for the help.

Workstation class cards come with certain added features and drivers that make them more suitable for OpenGL type applications. Hardware wise, a workstation card is basically built off a gaming card, but like I said above certain features are enabled. Will a gaming card handle those types of applications? Yes, just not nearly as well.

I don't think AutoCAD is as picky to what card you are running, but Maya and 3Dsmax really tend to prefer workstation cards/drivers. Take a look at the benchmarks in the Anandtech link I posted before. If she wants to run any of those applications that they ran (see below), she might want to consider the W510 instead of the G51.

source: http://anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3760&p=6