3DMark shows none of the performance gains the G51J made in actual games. It’s no wonder that a great variety of readers question the applicability of its results.

This is probably a good time to mention that all of our 1920x1200 tests required the use of an external display, since the G51J is limited to a maximum of 1920x1080. In fact, this might even be an appropriate place to lodge a complaint against an entire LCD industry that is quickly and silently replacing most of its 1920x1200 computer displays with 1080p versions in an effort to cut costs, and then promoting the cut-rate products as “full-HD” in bold text as if these were improved, rather than compromised. 3DMark requires the higher vertical resolution for its Extreme preset and this editor requires similar real estate for applications like editing photos.


Strangest of all is that 3DMark puts most of the blame for the G51J’s mediocre score on its GPU.

PCMark places the G51J right where we’d expect it to be, halfway between the desktop-CPU D900F and Core 2 Quad-powered GT725 in both system and productivity scores. The only real surprise is its proximity to the high-end system in hard drive performance, since the G51J supports neither RAID nor the related striping mode used in the high-priced Eurocom build.

Sandra Arithmetic shows the balance of moderate speed and Core i7 technology that makes the G51J’s Core i7-720QM an attractive option for mid-budget performance seekers.

Unfortunately, a lower Turbo Boost CPU multiplier is applied when four cores are active, allowing the G51J to fall behind its predecessor in Sandra integer performance.

It’s nice to see the G51J’s dual-channel memory controller scaling well in comparison to the D900F’s triple-channel version.
- Big Gaming On A Smaller Scale?
- Asus G51J Details
- Internal Components, Software, And Accessories
- Test Settings
- Benchmark Results: Crysis And Far Cry 2
- Benchmark Results: Clear Sky And World In Conflict
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Synthetic
- Power, Efficiency, And Battery Life
- A Good Value, A Great Starting Point
Was it only that long ago? It feels like forever.
WRONG!!!
That circular 'vent' does not go through. It is not used for cooling, it is only aesthetic.
The intake vents are those slits around the RAM , the 2 hard drives bays and around the video card. Thus leg position is NOT important. The cooling system is very good.
That said, the Asus G51 series is by far the most common gaming oriented laptop as its performance is stellar for the price
A better cooled system would be the Alienware M15x or the Clevo W860CU (both also 15"). Clevo also offers a comparable 17", the W870CU
Good cooling means that each heat producing thing has its own fan and set of fins/heatpipes (which takes a larger notebook)
Microcenter i7 920 = $200
250GB 7200 RPM = $65
Total = $2024
So, then does this notebook have good cooling for it's size? It is having to dissipate quite a bit of power when both the CPU (45 watts TDP) and GPU (75 watts) have their pipelines full. Yes it can run hot internally, but the underside of the case stays out of roasting-balls and/or pubic hair range because the motherboard is screwed into the laptop from the underside of the keyboard instead being attached to the bottom of the case.
I do agree that a second fan would be an awesome improvement, or have the one replaced with one that can move more air.
I would venture that few laptops can dissipate that much heat as well as this one of this size. One that may have better cooling would be the HP envy 15, and some of the exotic laptops.. imo
This slider I suspect is NOT spring loaded but the left slider IS.
I have the G50VT (predecessor), and this is the case with mine and often the battery has been dislodged in my computer case as I walk from class to class, cutting power to the RAM when in sleep mode.. I ended up taping my battery in with scotch tape! Worked like a charm.
http://s909.photobucket.com/albums/ac295/danwat1234/g50vt/
I venture the guess that this issue has not been fixed.
My HP laptop is built the same way, and it hasn't caused any major problems... just be careful how you carry it!
That said, those latches do look pretty weak, so you do have a point.
Scotch-taping the battery down the way you did is also overkill - taping the latches into their locked positions would have sufficed.
1.) The "Fake" intake is the real main intake. If it's blocked, there's enough space between the fan and the hole to draw air from other places such as the slits over the RAM.
2.) The bottom doesn't get hot, but you can almost roast vienna sausages from the side outlet.
3.) In the photo, the battery is unclipped on one side. It is a design feature to make battery removal easier. It did not affect testing.
the real thing is desktops are still better for gaming...who agrees with the article and me there?
I will back up this post as well. I have an Asus laptop with the same cooler design. If you actually take it apart, you're realize that the giant circular 'intake' at the bottom doesn't actually go through anything. I'll admit, it's a little misleading when your laptop has a giant circular grill looking thing at the bottom lined with mesh and it ends up pretty much doing nothing.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M 1.0GB
Six-cell 11.1V 4800mAh
15.6" LED Backlit 1080p (1920x1080)
For $1500, you might as well spend the $100 for the MSI model. However, MSI, ASUS, and Eurocom represent some of the best companies in laptops. Its league all its own.
The Asus would be 1920x1080.
The Eurocom would be 1900x1200.
The MSI would be 1680x1050.