ASUS ROG G751JT: A great entry-level gaming notebook

ASUS' ROG G751 notebooks aren't exactly new to us. We've had extensive hands on time with the G751JY variant last year, and found its capabilities, sleek looks (the black and red color scheme really hit the spot for us) coupled with its decent preliminary performance and price that got us intrigued. We were pumped to put the ROG G751 unit we had through our full set of tests. Alas, it wasn't to be as that was only a preview unit. So we waited till ASUS had a retail ready version of their ROG G751 notebook.

So when we finally got a full retail version of the ROG G751, we expected it to be the JY version (which was what we previewed earlier) but instead we got the ROG G751JT variant for review. That was a little disappointing since it was a lower specced gaming notebook witha NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M GPU and a hybrid HDD that would make it difficult to compete against speedier notebooks with a SSD and a top of the line GeForce GTX 980M, such as its own ROG G751JY model.

Despite our initial letdown, the G751JT is about S$700 more affordable than our expected G751GY model and that could really open the gateway for those who don't have steep pockets and yet want to indulge in a good gaming notebook. As such we pressed on with the review of the ASUS ROG G751JT. As we've shared much of the build, aesthetics and other key features that are shared by both notebooks models in our earlier preview article, we'll jump straight to the performance evaluation of the ASUS ROG G751JT in this review article.

Here's the table comparing stats for both variants of the ASUS ROG G751 notebooks; again, note that we're reviewing the 'JT' variant, the less powerful model in the right column that's available now:-

Although the two are identical on the outside - same chassis, display, ports, dimensions and weight - their innards are quite different. Crucially, the differences between the two can be traced to three crucial components - the graphics card, the amount of RAM and whether SSD storage is available.

The ASUS ROG G751JY has a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M, SSD storage and 16GB of RAM. Now, compare that to the ROG G751JT, which 'only' has a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, a hybrid HDD and half of the amount of RAM present in the ROG G751JY.

Don't get us wrong. Apart from the storage subsystem, the rest are actually acceptable 'cuts' given the price difference between them. Also, the GeForce GTX 970M is still a fairly powerful GPU, but  relative to the GeForce GTX 980M, that's when it looks weaker. Despite the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M just being a step down from the 980M, that step down is actually pretty significant. The NVIDIA GeForce 970M has lower specs with a lower clock speed (924MHz vs 1038MHz in the GeForce GTX 980M, which is a 12% difference), less shader units (1280 vs the GeForce GTX 980M's 1536, this time a 20% difference) and lesser memory. What this all means is that the GeForce GTX 970M is significantly less powerful.

On paper, it seems like a foregone conclusion, but how did the ASUS ROG G751JT fare in the real world?

Test Setup and Performance

There'll be no changes for the benchmark criteria in this review. As usual, we're going to be benchmarking the notebook through PC Mark 8 (which tests general hardware performance), 3D Mark 2013 (which tests the GPU's capability) and then gaming benchmarks using Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Tomb Raider. 

We decided to bring in the Aorus X7 Pro, the Gigabyte P35X V3 and the MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro as comparison machines. The Aorus X7 Pro uses dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M GPUs (which the ASUS ROG G751JT also has, though, but only one of it). We brought the Gigabyte P35X V3 in because it's a single GPU machine and it also shares the same processor model as the ASUS ROG G751JT, while the GT72 2QE Dominator Pro's included just to see how the ASUS ROG G751JT stacks up to a fully tricked out single GPU gaming machine. Unfortunately, on paper at least, the ASUS ROG G751JT looks like the weakest contender, so it will be interesting to see how the results of the benchmarks will turn out.

Benchmarks:-

• PC Mark 8
• 3DMark 2013
• Tomb Raider
• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

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PC Mark 8

As we've mentioned earlier, PC Mark 8 is a general hardware assessment test suite where it runs a set of benchmarks to assess common usage scenarios and then combines the results to give you a score. One thing you might notice is that the ASUS ROG G751JT performs admirably against the superior Aorus X7 Pro, especially considering the processor difference. Scores for the Gigabyte P35X V3 were published before so it wasn't a surprise it scored somewhat low but here you can finally see how it stacks up against the ROG G751JT that seems better tuned. The biggest blow to the ASUS ROG G751JT comes in the Storage benchmark. The other machines all have SSD storage, while the ROG G751JT is stuck with a hybrid drive. This is one of the reasons why we wanted to review the ASUS ROG G751JY instead as that variant has a SSD drive and would've made for a better comparison against the other machines. So apart from the expected poorer storage performance, the ASUS machine tested actually is in good standing at the moment.

3D Mark 2013

3D Mark 2013 is primarily a GPU test and here's where the ASUS ROG G751JT falters against the comparisons for obvious reasons. Having only an NVIDIA GeForce 970M clearly is to its detriment here as the other compared notebooks overpower the ASUS ROG G751JT with little effort. Going by the scores alone, the ASUS ROG G751JT has a up to 70% lower score in the Fire Strike benchmark than the Gigabyte P35X V3 that's running the same CPU but faster GTX 980M GPU. In fact, the blame isn't all on the GPU because we've previewed an Aftershock S15 gaming notebook also using the same CPU and GPU as the ASUS G751JT, but its scores are actually much better.

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider might not be the most updated benchmark to depict gaming performance as it was meant to run on a different generation of hardware. That's why all the numbers in the graph look mighty impressive. However, it's still a serviceable benchmark and if you look close though, you can see that the differences in notebook hardware do add up for the vast differences in scores. Of course, with even the lowest frame rate numbering upwards of a hundred, it might seem trivial and honestly speaking, at such frame rates you won't be able to tell the difference in actual gameplay.

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a better gauge for the capabilities of a fairly high-end gaming machine. It's just a few months old, which makes it relatively new, thus making better use of the hardware in the newer machines. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M in the ASUS ROG G751JT clearly couldn't compete against all the higher tier gaming notebooks. It didn't even achieve 80 FPS on High settings and barely broke the 55 FPS mark on Ultra mode. The Gigabyte P35X V3 might lead it by just 12 frames per second on Ultra, but bear in mind that this actually translates to a rather significant 21% performance advantage. Furthermore, this puts the Gigabyte P35X V3 pass the sweet 60 FPS mark.

Temperature

Thanks to its chassis design (and possibly the large exhaust vents in the back) the ASUS ROG G751JT beat out all the other contenders in both the GPU-Z temperature test as well as the manual measurements we noted by a large margin. It recorded just 68 degrees Celsius on GPU-Z, which is a fair bit lower than the other notebooks here. While all this sounds good, the important differentiating factor to keep in mind is the notebook's less powerful GPU that would have helped achieve the temperature figures.

Now that we've seen the hardware put through their paces, the next section will focus on power consumption and other related aspects of the ASUS ROG G751JT.

Battery Life and Power Consumption

The ASUS ROG G751JT managed 142 minutes, just shy of two and a half hours, in our battery test. The Gigabyte P35X V3, by virtue of its smaller 15-inch display, lasted the longest at just over three hours. However, a more powerful MSI GT72 2QE notebook in the same form factor and a more powerful GPU with a lower capacity battery actually outlasts the lower specced, higher battery capacity equipped ASUS machine. Based on solely on this information alone, it is clear that the ROG G751JT is actually under-performing in our battery test.

Power consumption of the ROG G751JT is disappointing as we had expected it to be lower given that it's using a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, which should be less power hungry than a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M. Incredibly, if you were to look at the power consumption figures, the power hungry ROG G751JT was actually neck and neck with the Aorus X7 Pro, an SLI machine.The Aorus X7 Pro might have a shorter battery life but that's because it has a smaller battery capacity of about 73Wh, while the ASUS ROG G751JT has a larger 88Wh battery.

That makes it all the more confusing when it's pitted again MSI's behemoth, the GT72 2QE Dominator Pro. That notebook not only has a high-end processor and GPU, it also manages to outlast the ASUS ROG G751JT by around 20 minutes. Considering that the MSI notebook has a battery capacity of about 83Wh, it clearly shows that ASUS ROG G751JT is not as power efficient.

It's possible that NVIDIA Optimus technology isn't supported on this ASUS machine, thus requiring the discrete GPU to be used at all times even when you're not browsing the internet. This would easily make up for the notebook's high power consumption figures.

Portability Index

Due to the huge size of the ASUS ROG G751JT, it naturally doesn't fare well here as well. The size, combined with its immense weight of nearly 5KG and less than stellar battery life meant that it took a beating even if we don't take into account other aspects of its hardware. At this point, even the MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro (which is equally large) achieved a slightly better score than the ROG G751JT.

The Final Word

Despite the patchy performance of the ASUS ROG G751JT, it has a few salient points to take note. We think ts chassis is one of the better ones in the market and other manufacturers need to take note that the addition of a Steam shortcut key will be most appreciated by gamers. While this feature can be easily replicated if a notebook had mappable macro keys, it's still a plus point on paper and unique enough that it is something worth pointing out.

The machine is also one of the rare notebooks which doesn't have ports at the back of the unit. We can't tell you how much we love this. We prefer all the ports to be at the sides for ease of access.

Another plus point in the ASUS ROG G751's favor is its keyboard. It might not be mechanical like the MSI's new GT80 but it's definitely a step above other similar class gaming notebooks. The keys have more travel, unlike most chiclet keyboards. That means you get to experience more tactile feedback while gaming as opposed to regular notebooks. While we'd prefer a more pronounced backlight system, the lighting is decent enough nonetheless and suits the black and red motif well.

Where the notebook's physical aspect is a letdown is the notebook's bulky size and a hefty weight of 4.88KG. You're definitely not inclined to shuffle this gaming notebook about unless it's an absolute must. Also, the battery is not removable unlike its predecessor models, so do take note of this. Speaking of battery, this notebook is best used when plugged into a wall outlet for it has a pretty poor power consumption and battery life when put up against its rivals. While our battery test pegs it to last a little more than two and a half hours under mixed mode usage, it's less than favorable for its specs.

On the hardware front, the ROG G751JT is a bit disappointing, especially when compared to its rivals in this segment of the market. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M is a decent gaming GPU, but the large chassis could have easily accommodated the GeForce GTX 980M (or better). It comes with 8GB of RAM, which is the bare minimum for high-end gaming notebooks these days. But most of all, the lack of an SSD in a supposedly high-end machine is quite glaring. These are all obviously measures taken to keep costs down, which is a bit strange to us as the ROG line is supposed to represent the best that ASUS has to offer.

Fortunately, these cost-cutting measures have not gone to waste as the notebook's asking price of S$2,198 makes it a great entry point for those wanting a gaming-capable notebook without putting a massive dent in their pockets. To drive home the point about its value proposition, there is currently no other gaming notebook of a similar size with similar specifications at this price point. For example, consider Aftershock's basic S-17 notebook, which, in base configuration, costs S$2,089. It's less expensive, but it also has poorer specifications, plus it doesn't have an optical drive and there's no OS included. Looking at our benchmarking results (specifically the Shadow of Mordor benchmark), the ASUS ROG G751JT had an average of 50+ FPS. That's decent by itself and you also need to consider that it's running on Ultra game quality settings (with HD textures on), which is not an easy feat. Its performance might not quite match its rivals, but in the grand scheme of things, the ROG G751JT will be able to run just about anything you throw at it, though not always at its highest graphics settings (nor at its best performance as we've had other similar configured notebooks that perform better).

However, if you want a better performing machine (especially one with an SSD), then our suggestion is to top up your budget and go for more powerful "JY" variant, which costs S$2,898. If you do the math, the extra S$700 will get you an additional 128GB SSD, double the RAM, and perhaps most crucially, a more powerful GeForce GTX 980M GPU. That said, since the ROG G751 is user-upgradeable, you could always opt for the entry-level "JT" model and upgrade when your pockets are more flush, but that doesn't make much financial sense in our books - it is better to stomach the higher upfront cost of the ROG G751JY model in the first place.

To give you a better idea of how attractive the pricing of the ROG G751 models are, consider this table:-

To sum up, we think that the ASUS ROG G751JT represents an attractive option especially for gamers on the budget. Its more powerful sibling, the ASUS ROG G751JY, is also equally enticing as it comes under S$3,000. Admittedly, both models might not have cutting-edge hardware, but then they only cost a fraction of what other high-end gaming notebooks from competing brands do and as such represent good value for money.

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