Product Listing

ASUS ROG G751JT: A great entry-level gaming notebook

By Salehuddin Bin Husin - 5 Feb 2015
Launch SRP: S$2198

Overview and Benchmark Performance

 We have previewed the ASUS ROG G751 notebook earlier, now it's time to put it through its paces and evaluate it for good.

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:-

ASUS ROG G751 Notebook Model Specifications
Model G751JY G751JT
Processor Intel Core i7-4710HQ Processor
(2.5GHz, turbo to 3.5Ghz)
Intel Core I7-4710HQ Processor
(2.5GHz, turbo to 3.5Ghz)
Chipset Mobile Intel HM87 Chipset Mobile Intel HM87 Chipset
OS Windows 8.1/
Windows 8.1 Professional
Windows 8.1/
Windows 8.1 Professional
Storage 1TB SATA (7200rpm) + 128GB SSD 1TB SATA (7200rpm) + 8GB Hybrid HDD
Display 17.3-inch anti-glare IPS Full HD
(1920 x 1080 pixels)
17.3-inch anti-glare IPS Full HD
(1920 x 1080 pixels)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M with 4GB GDDR5 VRAM NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM
RAM  16GB 8GB
Optical Drive Blu-ray writer Blu-ray writer
Camera Built-in HD camera and array mic Built-in HD camera and array mic
Dimensions and Weight 416 x 318 x 23 ~ 42mm
5.3kg (with 8-cell battery)
416 x 318 x 23 ~ 42mm
5.3kg (with 8-cell battery)
Price S$2,898 S$2,198

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

Test Notebooks Compared
  ASUS ROG G751JT Gigabyte Aorus X7 Pro Gigabyte P35X V3 MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro
  ASUS ROG G751JT Gigabyte Aorus X7 Pro Gigabyte P35X V3 MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro
Processor and Chipset
  • Intel I7-4710HQ (2.5GHz)
  • Intel HM87
  • Intel i7-4870HQ (2.5GHz)
  • Intel HM87
  • Intel i7-4710HQ (2.5GHz)
  • Intel HM87
  • Base:- Intel Core i7 4720HQ Processor
  • Tested:- Intel Core i7-4980HQ Processor
  • Intel HM87 chipset
Operating System
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 8.1
System Memory
  • 8GB DDR3L
  • 16GB DDR3L
  • 16GB DDR3L
  • 16GB DDR3L (4 slots) @ 1600MHz
Video & Display
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M
  • 17.3-inch Full HD Matte IPS
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M (2 x SLI)
  • 17.3 inch Full HD Matte LCD
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
  • 15.6 inch WQHD+(2880 x 1620) LCD
  • 17.3-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080), Anti-glare
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB DDR5
Storage
  • 8GB Hybrid HDD + 1TB HDD
  • 512GB (256GB x 2, RAID 0) SSD + 1TB HDD
  • 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
  • 256GB (2x 128GB SSD) Super RAID 3
  • 1TB HDD 7200rpm
Optical Drive
  • Blu-ray writer
  • DVD Super Multi
  • Blu-ray Writer
Connectivity
  • Integrated 802.11 a/c
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Gigabit LAN
  • Integrated 802.11ac
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Killer LAN
  • Integrated 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth V4.0
  • Gigabit LAN
  • Killer DoubleShot Pro Gb LAN
  • Killer DoubleShot Pro 11ac Wireless LAN
  • Bluetooth v4.0
Audio
  • Built-in speakers
  • Built-in subwoofer
  • MaxxAudio support
  • 2x 2 Watt speaker
  • 2x Woofer speaker
  • 2x 1.5 Watt speakers
  • 1x Woofer speaker
  • Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater
  • Dynaudio 2.1-channel speaker system
  • Supports 7.1-channel S/PDIF output
  • Exclusive Audio Boost 2 technology
  • Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2
I/O Ports
  • 4 x USB 3.0
  • 1 x Thunderbolt
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub
  • 1 x Headphone jack
  • 1 x Microphone jack
  • 1 x S/PDIF output jack
  • 1 x Ethernet
  • 1 x SD card reader
  • 3x USB(3.0)
  • 2x USB(2.0)
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x mini DisplayPort
  • 1 x D-sub
  • 1 x Headphone jack
  • 1 x Microphone jack
  • 1 x Ethernet port
  • 1 x S/PDIF port
  • 1 x SD card reader
  • 2 x USB(3.0)
  • 2 x USB(2.0)
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x mini DisplayPort
  • 1 x D-sub
  • 1 x Mic-in
  • 1 x Earphone-out (SPDIF)
  • 1 x Ethernet
  • 1 x SD Card Reader
  • 1 x DC-in Jack
  • 6x USB 3.0
  • 1x HDMI (1.4)
  • 2x Mini-DisplayPort
  • 1x Headphone
  • 1x Microphone
  • 1x SD (XC/HC)
  • 1x Line In
  • 1x Line Out
Battery Type
  • 88 Wh (8 Cells, fixed)
  • 73.26Wh (Li-Polymer, fixed)
  • 75.81Wh (Li-Polymer, fixed)
  • 9-Cell Lithium Ion (83wHr)
Dimensions
  • 416 x 318 x 20 ~53 mm
  • 428 x 305 x 22.9 mm
  • 385 x 270 x 20.9 mm
  • 428(W) x 294(D) x 48(H)mm
Weight
  • 4.8 kg (with battery)
  • 3KG
  • 2.3KG (with battery)
  • 3.78Kg (w/ Battery)
Miscellaneous
  • Full-color backlight SteelSeries keyboard

 

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.

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7.5
  • Design 8
  • Features 8
  • Performance 7
  • Value 8.5
  • Mobility 5
The Good
Looks appealing
Good keyboard
Decent general performance
Dedicated Steam shortcut key
Blu-ray writer & Thunderbolt port
Great value
The Bad
Big and heavy
Inconsistent gaming performance
SSD not offered as standard
Poor battery life; no NVIDIA Optimus
Non-removable battety
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