ASUS ROG G751JT: A great entry-level gaming notebook
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Battery Life, Power Consumption and Conclusion
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:-
Model | Price |
---|---|
ASUS G751JT | S$2,198 |
ASUS G751JY | S$2,898 |
Aorus X7 Pro | S$3,999 |
Gigabyte P35X V3 | S$3,999 |
Aftershock Titan V2.1 | S$4,208 |
MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro (fully specced out) | S$5,499 |
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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