ASUS ROG has launched a new gaming notebook at Computex. Recently on HEXUS we have discussed how MSI is dominating this market segment and a week ago we heard from industry insiders that both ASUS and Gigabyte are gearing up to bring the fight to MSI. We have already seen Gigabyte (or AORUS) both upgrade its existing 17-inch gaming notebook, the X7, and introduce a new more portable 13.X-inch X3 gaming powerhouse. Today let's look at the new gaming notebook from ASUS ROG, the G550JK.
ASUS ROG G550JK specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-4700HQ
- Chipset: Mobile Intel HM86 Chipset
- Memory: DDR3 1600 MHz up to 16GB
- Display: 15.6-inch AG IPS FHD LED backlight (1920 x 1080) with 178 degree viewing angle; 15.6-inch AG HD LED backlight (1366 x 768) with 178 degree viewing angle
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M with 2/4 GB DDR3 VRAM
- Storage: 2.5-inch SATA 1TB /1.5TB (5400rpm); 2.5-inch SATA 750GB/1TB (7200rpm); 2.5-inch SATA 750GB (5400rpm, SSH); 2.5-inch SATA 256GB SSD
- Connectivity: 3x USB 3.0 ports, mDP, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone and microphone sockets, (up to) a Blu-ray/DVD writer drive, and SD card reader
- Audio: ROG SonicMaster, MaxxAudio and ROG AudioWizard
- Keyboard: red backlight
- Optical Drive: DVD Super-Multi / Blu-ray Combo / Blu-ray writer
- Camera: Built-in HD camera and array mic
- Operating System: Windows 8.1/ Windows 8.1 Professional
- Dimension and Weight: 38.3 x 25.5 x 2.77cm, 2.5kg (with 4-cell Battery)
Have a look though the specs above and you start to get a feel for what ASUS is offering here. It's not going for the best mobile performance or the thinnest and lightest claims that Gigabyte targeted with its AORUS X3. So hopefully the G550JK is priced much lower but will still offer a good gaming experience with satisfactory portability. The ODD drive options might be appealing for some too.
This notebook's core performance components are the Intel Core i7-4700HQ and the Nvidia GeForce GTX 850M. The graphics chip here is based on the Maxwell architecture, has 640 CUDA cores and can be boosted up to 936MHz. However ASUS ROG has decided to pair this GPU with the slower DDR3 type video memory (2GB or 4GB) so it won't perform at its best.
ASUS has also chosen to provide two screen options. As you can see in the spec the cheapest G550JK will be equipped with a rather low res 1366 x 768 IPS display. There is an option for a full HD display though. Playing modern games in Full HD on this laptop might require lower quality settings though.
ASUS ROG has equipped this laptop with the usual gaming focussed frills; "Its precision gaming controls, adjustable-backlight keyboard, majestic red design touches and gorgeous spun-metal finish touchpad are all designed to make G550 a gamer's dream machine". It also has dual-fans with intelligent and independent controls. ASUS software features such as TurboMaster, SonicMaster and AudioWizard are all present.
We don't have the availability or pricing details for this gaming notebook at the time of writing.
