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| Introduction and Specifications | ||||||
When it comes to mobile computing, a major detractor for many enthusiasts is their limited ability to upgrade components. Typically, the hard drive and memory are readily accessible, but when it comes to graphics and other components, often times you are locked into the manufacturer's factory configuration or have to jump through hoops just to gain access to certain parts, let alone upgrade them. This can be a major strike against mobile computing, as many users prefer the upgrade potential of a desktop PC, knowing that their investment can be easily updated in the future if the need arises. Some user upgradeable options have begun to appear in the mobile space, however, like the product we'll be showcasing today, the ASUS C90S Whitebook. The ASUS C90S is a notebook that you can't buy directly from ASUS. Instead, this model is marketed as a 'whitebook' to various retailers who can configure it in various ways. The unit can be purchased as a barebones system with no OS installed, or can come pre-configured with various flavors of Windows Vista and a myriad of hardware components. In fact, the C90S has been seen on the market in many forms, including a completely stripped-down configuration to being outfitted with all of the latest hardware it can support. The biggest draw for a notebook of this nature is that ASUS designed it to be easily upgraded in the future. Through a smart layout and easy access, the C90S allows for complete upgrading, including Memory, CPU, Wireless Ethernet, Hard Drive, Optical Drive and Graphics. This is a notebook geared as a desktop equivalent with the flexibility to grow with future technology releases. In the pages ahead, we'll assess the upgrade potential of the C90S, from its access to components to usability and ultimately performance.
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| Physical Overview - Vitals and Outside Look |
The C90S is built around Intel's 945G Northbridge and +ICH7 Southbridge, supporting Intel Core 2 Duo processors from 800 FSB Allendales to 1066 FSB Conroes, topping out with the Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800. The system supports up to 3GB of DDR2 memory operating at 533 and 667MHz with two memory slots. Powering the graphics is an NVIDIA Geforce 8600M GT mobile GPU with either 256 or 512MB of dedicated video memory. The 8600M GT sports a GPU clock of 475MHz and 400MHz Memory (800MHz DDR). ;) ;) ;) Storage options included various flavors of 2.5" SATA 7200RPM drives up to 160GB. For optical storage, the unit we received for review came equipped with a Matshita UJ-850S DVD+/-R/RW DL Optical Drive, however, optional Blue-Ray and HD-DVD models are also available. The outer shell of the C90S has a glossy black finish with subtle lines worked into the design. The screen is a WSXGA+ LCD measuring 15.4". The screen has "Color Shine" which makes for a shiny glass like appearance that is an eye catcher. Mounted atop the monitor is a 2 Megapixel CMOS camera that sports face tracking and can rotate to face the user or the opposite side of the screen. The camera is also flanked by two built-in microphones integrated into the bezel. ;) ;) ;) The system comes with a total of three USB ports, with two off the rear right corner and one on the left side. The left side also sports a number of inputs and outputs including a modem and Ethernet port, VGA, S-Video/Composite and HDMI ports as well as a IEEE 1394, e-SATA and Mic/Headphone jacks. There is also an MCX port for TV-RF connections when equipped with an internal TV tuner. The system is also equipped with a ExpressCard slot rather than a PCMCIA, which utilizes a faster serial connection and can support either 34mm or 54mm expansion cards. ;) ;) ;) The system uses a Realtek High Definition audio processor backed by two speakers mounted on the bottom front of the unit, below where your hands would sit. We should note that the speakers seem a bit underpowered, as they were difficult to hear, even at maximum volume. The keyboard is full-sized, having a solid feel, good tactile feedback, and it's comfortable for users with large hands. There is a power button at the upper left corner while Hot Keys are placed at the upper right. The first two hot keys map to the default web browser and e-mail program while the third locks the touchpad and the fourth cycles the Turbo Gear functions, which we will discuss later on. The touchpad worked as expected, while nestled between the left and right buttons was a fingerprint scanner for added security. Backed by simple to use software, the fingerprint reader proved to be a nice touch. |
| Physical Overview - Inside |
The underside of the C90S reveals the C90S' 6 cell 4800mAh/53W battery which charges in 2.5 hours when powered down and 4 hours while the system is running. Because the C90S is upgradeable, ASUS made sure access was simple. With the removal of four small screws, the entire bottom is exposed, providing access to the hard drive, CPU, GPU, Memory and mini-PCI slots, among other components. ;) ;) ;) Removal of the memory and CD-ROM drive is rather straight forward, with the memory easily removed by releasing tension on the clips while removal of one screw releases the optical drive from the chassis. Access to the CPU and GPU are a bit more involved, but still relatively simple. With the CPU, four screws release the securing clips from the heat pipe. Once removed, the heat pipe is slid toward the hard drive, which slides the fins out from under the four fans mounted on the rear of the laptop. Once clear of the system, the CPU is removed as with any other socket LGA775 CPU, by releasing the locking mechanism. ;) ;) ;) Removal of the video card requires a similar process as the CPU. With the removal of three screws, the heat pipe is released from the card and can be slid in the direction of the RAM until the fins are clear of the rear cooling fans. Once clear, two securing screws can be removed from the card and it can then be removed from its MXM Type II slot . ;) ;) ;) Nestled near the hard drive and CPU are mini-PCI slots that can be used to install a wireless card (pictured) as well as a TV Tuner card. Additionally, the Bluetooth adapter is situated adjacent to the wireless adapter, underneath the second min-PCI slot. Lastly, the hard drive was easily removed after backing out two screws. Once removed, the hard drive does have to be removed from a mounting cage before the process is completed entirely. |
| BIOS and Overclocking with Turbo Gear |
As a laptop that boasts overclocking potential, we were disappointed at the lack of options the C90S offered via its system BIOS. Normally we include BIOS pictures, but our sample had nothing special to show off in this regard. There were virtually no real configurable options aside from the basics. Memory speed, CPU speeds, voltages are all locked and overclocking is handled exclusively within Windows through ASUS' TurboGear Software. There was a hardware monitor that displayed the CPU temperature, but the menu lacked any further details. One feature sorely missing is a flash utility integrated into the BIOS. ASUS offers updated firmware on their website, but doesn't offer the tools to update the firmware easily, which is a common complaint by current C90S owners in various support forums. To handle the overclocking of the C90S, ASUS supplies a Windows based application called TurboGear. TurboGear not only handles overclocking, but adjusts the system's power profile as well. TurboGear comes with four modes; Overclocking, Gaming, Standard and Power Saving. The Overclocking function is not an option with this review unit as the E6700 processor would exceed the C90S's maximum supported clockspeed of 2.93GHz with minimal overclocking. The Gaming Mode was available, however, but that didn't operate as expected. We encountered what numerous user's have been reporting that the system kicks up a BSOD once any load is applied when in Gaming Mode. We suspect this is a result of excessive heat, but it's difficult to say conclusively. On the bright side, we found positive reports with overclocking when the C90S is equipped with an E6600 processor clocked at default clockspeed of 2.4GHz, which we did not have on hand for testing. |
| Test Setup and 3DMark06 v1.0.2 | ||||||||||||
With our review of the ASUS C90S, we've taken a two fold approach to benchmarking. First, as a DTR notebook, we felt it was proper to compare the performance to comparably equipped desktop systems. Unfortunately, the 945G motherboard we had on hand didn't have a BIOS update available to allow the board to recognize the Core Duo E6700 Processor. So, we opted to pull results from our recent Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 processor review, which had comprehensive benchmarks covering the entire performance spectrum. While the hardware isn't an exact match, it does give a fair assessment as to where the C90S fits in the overall performance picture. We also compared the results to a Dell XPS M1730 notebook, comparing gaming performance to this model as the desktop systems used different gaming benchmarks and had a premium videocard installed. The Dell XPS M1730 comes standard with two GeForce 8700M GTs in SLI, however, all tests were run with a single-card configuration.
Starting out our testing, we've begun with a focus on CPU performance, utilizing FutureMark 3DMark06's CPU performance module. 
When equipped with a 2.6GHz processor, the Asus C90S perfoms as expected. Our test system finished behind the 2.8GHz Dell machine, but ahead of the 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo E6600, which is just what you'd expect. |
| System Performance: Futuremark PCMark Vantage | ||||
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For our next round of benchmarks, we ran the complete Futuremark PCMark Vantage test suite. This is a relatively new addition to our testing toolbox that is proving to be an excellent overall assessment tool.
The PCMark Vantage "Memories" suite includes the following tests: Memories 1 - Two simultaneous threads, CPU image manipulation and HDD picture import
The ASUS C90S finished behind our reference systems here, trailing the Dell notebook by almost 500 points. We should note that while the system is configured with 667MHz memory, this model always ran at 533MHz, which hindered its performance. We believe this is intentional so the memory has headroom for overclocking.
The Vantage HDD suite includes the following tests:
HDD 1 - HDD: Windows Defender
Naturally, the C90S is the slowest performer as our desktop systems were all equipped with faster 10,000 RPM Western Digital Raptors. Taking that into account, the 7200RPM drive in our review unit performed on par with what we would expect. Some may question why then is the Dell XPS so much quicker? In an upcoming review, you'll see that the XPS is running RAID 0.
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| System Performance: Futuremark PCMark Vantage Continued | ||||
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We continue our test coverage with more modules from the comprehensive PCMark Vantage suite of benchmarks.
Vantage Productivity suite includes the following tests:  The ASUS C90S topped the desktop test system running an Athlon X2 4600+ but still trailed the system running a slower E6600 Core 2 Duo processor in Vantage's Productivity test suite.
TV and Movies 1 - Two simultaneous threads, Video transcoding: HD DVD to media server archive, Video playback: HD DVD w/ additional lower bitrate HD content from HDD, as downloaded from the net
The C90S also trailed the rest of the pack here, which is to be expected considering its lower clocked memory and slower hard drive. Music 1 - Three simultaneous threads, Web page rendering – w/ music shop content, Audio transcoding: WAV -> WMA lossless, HDD: Adding music to Windows Media Player
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| System Performance: Futuremark PCMark Vantage Wrap-Up | ||||
Courtesy, Futuremark: "Gaming is one of the most popular forms of entertainment for all ages. Today’s games demand high performance graphics cards and CPUs to avoid delays and sluggish performance while playing. Loading screens in games are yesterday’s news. Streaming data from an HDD in games – such as Alan Wake™ – allows for massive worlds and riveting non-stop action. CPUs with many cores give a performance advantage to gamers in real-time strategy and massively multiplayer games. Gaming Suite includes the following tests: " Gaming 1 - GPU game test
This is a test where the graphics card is a major factor. The C90S does return the lowest results of all systems tested, however, all desktops were running a GeForce 8800GTX and the Dell XPS was running a faster GeForce 8700 mobile processor. All things considered, the C90S returned results in line with our expectations for a system of its kind. The overall PCMark Vantage score is a weighted average of all of the modules in the Vantage suite calculated in total "PCMarks". Here are the results:  When taking in the complete peformance picture, the ASUS C90S fell in line with our Athlon X2 4600+ test system running at 2.4GHz, but the scores are skewed considering the desktop had a high-end graphics solution and 10K RPM HD that helps tip the scales of the overall results. We feel it best to assess the performance on a test by test basis considering the hardware differences. |
| Gaming Performance: Prey and Company of Heroes | ||||
In our gaming tests, we opted to focus on performance comparisons with the Dell XPS M1730, which is most closely matched to the ASUS C90S. The desktop systems used in our previous tests would be heavily favored with their GeForce 8800GTX, so testing wasn't performed.  by With Company of Heroes, we found the ASUS C90S competed well against the Dell XPS M1730 which sports a faster CPU and GPU. Overall, the C90S trailed by roughly 10FPS at both resolution with both AA and Anisotropic filtering disabled. After playing the game for a short while, we felt that the game was playable at 1280x1024 but 1680x1050 did suffer from some stuttering and slow downs during extreme action.  Our custom Prey benchmark managed higher scores than recorded in Company of Heroes. Still, the scores were a bit low for our liking and we should stress that potential buyers planning on gaming with the C90S factor in a more powerful video solution in their budget. |
| Battery Performance: MobileMark 2007 | ||||||
Rounding out our testing, we ran MobileMark 2007 to assess the notebook's overall battery life while running a series of applications through a testing script. We are using the standard benchmark settings from Bapco, along with a few other minor system tweaks. The screensaver was disabled and the volume was set at approximately 20%. MobileMark 2007 utilizes the following applications
 For what can be considered a desktop replacement notebok, the Asus C90S offered good battery performing, delivering 102 minutes of life before becoming completely drained. When compared to the Dell XPS M1730, the ASUS C90S delivered 25 minutes more battery life overall and almost hit the 2 hour mark. |
| Impressions, Performance Analysis and Conclusion | ||||
Overall Impressions: First and foremost, the LCD screen that comes with the C90S is one of the strongest features of this laptop, with a clear, glassy look that is simply a pleasure to work with. The keyboard has a nice fit with plenty of room to rest your hands, while the touch pad is positioned so that your thumbs don't accidentally touch the pad while typing. Unfortunately, one issue that caused some discomfort was a fair amount of heat build up under the left hand area, stemming from the hard drive. At times, it got downright hot, which also seeped over to the touch pad area as well. The finger print reader was a useful feature that worked as promised with simple configuration options, which brings us to the speakers. Even at full volume, the speakers were difficult to hear, lacking in power while their positioning doesn't direct the sound to the listener's ears. Performance Analysis: Performance of the C90S isn't as critical with a review of this type as this system can come configured with a variety of hardware and software options. Nonetheless, we did compare performance of our sample to a number of different desktops and a high-end gaming laptop as a frame of reference. In the end, we found the C90S performed in line with what we would expect for a system with its configuration. PCMark Vantage demonstrated that the C90S was a well balanced system, but it did struggle in some areas due to its relatively low-clocked memory and its hard drive. On the gaming front, the 8600M GT offered average performance but we'd recommend keeping Anti-aliasing for anisotropic filtering disabled with most current games.
In the end, in our review unit's current configuration, the C90S was a decent desktop replacement with a potent processor. But keep in mind, our opinion is reflective of the experience with our particular sample's configuration and retail models will vary in hardware, software and name depending on the reseller branding it as their own. Ultimately, we think those looking for a portable desktop replacement with decent upgrade potential may find the C90S quite interesting. One thing is certain, with the broad array of setup options available, potential consumers should be able to configure this unit just about any way they want it, which is really what it's all about in the end. Searching for pricing can be tricky as retailers can end up rebranding the C90S as their own. We did find a base model at Gentech starting at $979 while our review unit weighed in at around $1500 without an Operating System installed. At KillerNotebooks we found the C90S marketed as the "Uchigatana" with more configuration options and a base price of $2399, which includes Windows XP and included software.
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