Over the last few weeks, in between blogging, tweeting, and more blogging, I would often sneak off to do some gaming on the ASUS G71Gx I have here in my office. It is often “helpful” to be able to take a break at work for some extracurricular “activities” – or *cough* gaming *cough*.
The G71Gx is truly a gaming powerhouse. It has a 17” WUXGA display and has a feature called “CPU Level Up” in which the user is allowed (and easily able to) overclock the CPU by up to 20%! When this PC boots up, it literally sounds like thunder. I’m not kidding – it makes a thunder-like noise upon boot up. The specs on the G71Gx are incredible:
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 @ 2Ghz
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260M – 1GB GDDR3 VRAM
- Memory: 6GB – DDR2 800MHz (6GB max)
- Hard Drive: 2x 320GB hard drives (7200 rpm)
- Optical: Blu-ray with DVD+CD read/write
- Network: Integrated 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless (with Bluetooth) and 10/100/1000 Ethernet
- Ports: Express card / VGA / 1394 port / HDMI / 4 USB / eSATA
It supports up to 1920×1200 screen resolution with ASUS’s Splendid Video Intelligent Technology and also comes with a 8-in-1 memory card reader, 2.0 megapixel webcam, and a full size keyboard. This PC also sports some impressive audio – with 4 Altec Lansing co-branded built in speakers and an array microphone. And it’s running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.
The G71Gx has some fascinating lighting effects – including around the touchpad (see above photos) and on the backside of the display with ASUS’s “Republic of Gamers” logo.
To play games, I’ve connected an Xbox 360 controller via USB which works great with PC games and even the inbox games in Windows 7.
One of the games I’m playing that has amazing game-play on this PC is Ghostbusters: The Game. Yes, this isn’t unfortunately a Games for Windows or Games for Windows – LIVE game title. However, I’m a huge Ghostbusters fan and I grew up on the movies and cartoon and this game is a must-have and must-play for me. And it’s absolutely wonderful on Windows 7 too. When I was younger, I had no problem running around with my make-shift proton pack bustin’ ghosts. But the game is quite a bit more challenging that I had envisioned using a proton pack when I was a kid. Who knew a proton pack could overheat? I guess I should have considered the fact it’s pretty much an unlicensed nuclear accelerator.
If you’re a heavy gamer and looking for a new Windows 7 PC but don’t want a desktop PC and want something a bit more mobile – the ASUS G71Gx is certainly a PC you should check out.
My next move is to pack the G71Gx up (ASUS ships a backpack with this PC which is awesome!) and head on over to my local Starbucks to do a little gaming. I wonder what kind of looks I’ll get…
Speaking of Windows 7, 64-bit, and gaming – Neowin recently reported on a hardware survey done by Steam, a popular game service and network, for January 2010 that shows that Windows 7 64-bit adoption for gamers using Steam is higher than for 32-bit. Going 64-bit with Windows 7 allows gamers to take advantage of more memory in their PCs than with 32-bit. It seems not only are gamers excited for Windows 7, but hungry for the benefits of 64-bit too.