Inside XoticPC’s G73JW
There’s not much to see under the G73JW’s cover, as Asus’ proprietary GeForce GTX 460M graphics module is half-covered, while the system's CPU interface is on the other side. One of the unit’s memory modules is also on the opposite side, and XoticPC fills the two empty slots in its 16 GB upgrade.
XoticPC charges $45 for the GeForce GTX 460M’s 20% overclock. Unlike user-applied overclocks, this one is guaranteed stable and backed by the seller.
The G73JW is available from retail with Seagate’s 500 GB Momentus 7200.4, but XoticPC adds an 80 GB Intel X25-M to speed up program launches.
Our benchmark load isn’t particularly heavy, yet it is a bit larger than the 80 GB system drive added by XoticPC. Additionally, Asus’ pre-loaded software combined with Windows to consume around 30 GB of the drive before we added a single program. With only 50 GB remaining, we had to uninstall some programs before we could test others, and that’s why we usually recommend a 120 GB starting point for the SSD drives of gaming PCs. Loading benchmarks to the 500 GB storage drive was an option, but that method could have resulted in lower benchmark results that'd result in the question: “Why bother adding an SSD if you can’t use it?”
An amazingly small battery provides 75 Wh of power to keep the G73JW running for nearly an hour in “wide awake” mode, in spite of its high-performance hardware.
Weighing less than two pounds, Asus’ power adapter is amazingly small given the performance intentions of this notebook. Manufactured by Delta Electronics, this part is rated at 150 W.
All of that nice hardware needs to go somewhere, so Asus includes a backpack with its G73JW. Asus even adds its own laser gaming mouse, though this unweighted part is likely to get replaced by any serious gamer.
