If 2.8GHz isn't enough, don't worry, because Asus provides a facility that lets you overclock the overclocking. You'll find three buttons just above the keyboard -- one toggles the keyboard backlight, another changes the screen preset mode ('gamma correction', 'vivid', 'theatre', 'soft' and 'normal' are available) and the third toggles Asus' 'twin turbo' mode. Hit that last button, and the G73Jh will overclock the CPU by approximately six per cent, from 2.8GHz to 2.97GHz.
Space-age storage
Asus has thrown in two 500GB, 7,200rpm hard drives, totalling 1TB of storage. The G73Jh is also the proud owner of a Blu-ray drive, which is just as well, because the gorgeous 17.3-inch display runs at a whopping 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution. As a result, you'll be able to enjoy Blu-ray movies at a 'Full HD', 1080p resolution on the laptop itself or pump video (and audio) via the HDMI output port to an external display.
The G73Jh is well equipped in terms of audio, too. Its on-board speakers are loud enough to fill a room and the 'subwoofer' mounted underneath the chassis adds a sprinkling of low-frequency noise, although we'd hesitate to call it bass. Asus also includes a set of 'Republic of Gamers' headphones in the box. These deliver surprisingly good audio quality for a bundled set, although they leak a fair amount of sound, so you may find yourself annoying those around you with the screams of your gaming victims.
Gamers should appreciate the fact that the G73Jh's on-board sound card complies with Creative's EAX (environmental audio extensions) digital-signal-processing presets. They're best thought of as a library of sound effects -- occlusion, reverb and so on -- that can change the nature of in-game sounds to increase realism. For example, without EAX, firing a pistol underwater in a game would sound the same as firing it in a corridor. With EAX, the sound could be given an occlusion mask to make it sound more authentic.
Performance junkie
The G73Jh is not only the Hulk Hogan but also the Usain Bolt of laptops. Running in standard, non-overclocked mode, it achieved a PCMark05 benchmark score of 7,861 -- the highest we've seen to date. Overclocked, using Asus' twin-turbo feature, it racked up 8,077.
The laptop's gaming performance was even more impressive. In non-overclocked mode, it racked up a 3DMark06 score of 11,828 -- 513 points more than the Alienware M17 scored with its single ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics card last year. With twin-turbo mode enabled, the G73Jh scored 13,036 -- the highest score we've seen from any laptop with a single graphics card.
These obscene numbers translate to equally outlandish real-world performance. The notoriously demanding Crysis ran at an average of around 30 frames per second, with all detail settings set to maximum, and played at a 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution.
The G73Jh's battery life is, understandably, rather pants, but not as bad as we thought it would be. The battery lasted 1 hour and 33 minutes in Battery Eater's intensive Classic test, which is exactly the same length of time managed by the Toshiba U500-1EX -- a thin-and-light laptop with a 13.3-inch screen. Considering the G73Jh is a 17.3-inch gaming behemoth that offers nearly 20 times the U500-1EX's gaming performance, 1 hour and 33 minutes isn't a bad figure.
Conclusion
The Asus G73Jh is an epic machine. Not only is it the fastest laptop we've tested so far, but, unlike many of its rivals, such as the Alienware M17x, it's also beautiful to look at. If you want a gaming laptop that's brutally quick, gorgeously designed and excellent value for money, this is the machine for you.
Edited by Charles Kloet
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User reviews9
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ALC 19 March 2013
Good: Looks cool
Bad: Crashes from overheating and needs cooling gel renewing reg
Comment: This laptop has one huge flaw - it overheats something terrible and needs taking apart about every 18 months or less to have coolling gell renewed on the CPU otherwise it will constanly overheat and crash = major design flaw. Pity as this is a nice looking and running laptop otherwise. Yes you can run games on it - but it is not in a safe long term gaming rig.
MOUSE 29 January 2012
kevinmrn 11 November 2011
Good: Some seperate parts but in a whole i can't think of any
Bad: Freezes, crashes, keyboard is bad, not one good driver online. Expensive crap.
Comment: I was very excited when this notebook came out. But I figured out I was wrong soon enough. I own it for more then one year. Asus never again. Just type "asus G73JH + problems" in google, and you will get a hinch of all that can go wrong with it. One of my problems with this terror suicidal HIV sick notebook is that it gets random freezes. Just after a while of working everything freezes. Only thing to do then is shut down your pc. But everytime you restart the freeze will come faster then the previous one. Good news Reinstalling our sounddrivers will fix this (for a while) so what i have to do is reinstall them twice a week. If this isnt reason enough of not buying it heres my next problem. My keyboard has certain keys that only work 1/3 of the time. Can you imagine what joy, uh i ment fustration that brings. And last but not least. If I start up my notebook. my gpu temp starts raising. Up to 110°C. This even without working on it. The laptop stays untouched. And then it just shuts off. So uh fantastic laptop if you are planning a suicide but you cant just pull yourself over the edge. Really after owning it for this long I can only think of my previous notebook of another branch. It cost me €700 While this one was €1850. I could have bought 3 good once but instead I made a very wrong deal.
And THIS IS NOT A HARDCORE GAMING PC. I almost never game on it. I practicly only use it for schoolwork 3D animations and such. Last time I bought myself an asus
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