Asus G74SX: A Monstrous Gaming Powerhouse

17.08.2011
The Asus G74SX is designed for gamers. Though its simple appearance might not tip you off, its size certainly will. In spite of a few flaws--such as a noisy keyboard and not-noisy-enough speakers--the Asus G74SX packs excellent performance into an attractive chassis. It's worth checking out if you're looking for a "mobile" gaming powerhouse.

Our review model, priced at $1979 (as of August 17 2011), sports a second-generation Intel processor (the i7-2630QM) and offers 16GB of RAM plus 910GB of storage space spread over a 750GB hard drive and a 160GB solid-state drive. The G74SX is also one of the first laptops to come preloaded with Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 560M graphics card. Additional features include built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth connectivity, and a Blu-ray Disc player. The G74SX runs the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

In PCWorld's WorldBench 6 benchmark tests, the Asus G74SX earned an impressive score of 150, which is quite good even for the category. That result is just one point behind the mark of the . The G74SX also did well in our graphics tests, with frame rates of 48.8 frames per second and 46.3 fps on our Dirt 2 and Far Cry 2 tests, respectively (both at high quality settings and 1920 by 1080 resolution). Those numbers surpass the XPS 17 3D's frame rates, which were 32.5 fps (Dirt 2) and 30.8 fps (Far Cry 2).

At nearly 10 pounds, with a 2-pound power brick, the G74SX isn't really portable, unless you define that as merely meaning "possible to move." This whopper measures 16.5 inches wide by 12.7 inches long, and is 2.4 inches at its thickest (the computer tapers off near the front).

The G74SX may be gigantic, but its design is elegantly simple. The laptop's lid is plain and black save for a silver Asus logo, and it has a soft, slightly rubbery feel. Inside, the wrist rest features the same rubbery black material, while the Chiclet-style keyboard is backed with slate-gray brushed aluminum. The interior is thankfully free of bright, flashing lights--it sports just the power button and a few tiny notifiers, plus the optionally backlit keyboard. You'll find just one dedicated button beside the power button, for switching between battery-saving and performance modes.

The wedge-shaped computer is thicker at the back, which is where the fan vents are located. The G74SX's cooling system pulls air from under the laptop and pushes it out the rear. This arrangement is useful, according to Asus, for "keeping hot air away from the user and reducing ambient noise for prolonged gaming."