Asus G51VX-RX05 Gaming Notebook Review
3DMark Benchmarks
What would a gaming notebook review be without some gaming benchmarks? With the Republic of Gamers logo displayed proudly on the G51VX, we wanted to see how well its integrated GeForce GTX 260M GPU performsed. In this machine, the the GPU is clocked at 500MHz core, 1250MHz shader, with an 800MHz memory clock with 1GB of GDDR3. On the next couple of pages, we'll focus on a few gaming specific benchmarks starting with the 3DMark tests. Note that these benchmarks were run using an external monitor in order to achieve these results due to resolution limitations between the notebook display and 3DMark's preset options.
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The latest version of Futuremark's synthetic 3D gaming benchmark, 3DMark Vantage, is specifically bound to Windows Vista-based systems because it uses some advanced visual technologies that are only available with DirectX 10, which isn't available on previous versions of Windows. 3DMark Vantage isn't simply a port of 3DMark06 to DirectX 10 though. With this latest version of the benchmark, Futuremark has incorporated two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, in addition to support for the latest PC hardware. We tested the graphics cards here with 3DMark Vantage's Performance preset option, which uses a resolution of 1280x1024. |
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3DMark06 is a hard-core, forward-looking 3D rending benchmark that pushes a system and its GPUs to the limits. The test includes Shader Model 2.0, Shader Model 3.0, and HDR tests. To push the system, scenes are rendered with very high geometric detail and shader complexity, and with extensive use of lighting and soft shadows. The maximum shader length 3DMark06 supports is 512 instructions. The 3DMark06 Overall Score is a weighted average based on the SM 2.0 and HDR / SM3.0, and CPU scores. |
Even with a discrete graphics card, we see how demanding 3DMark Vantage is. The notebook scored 4059 overall while recording 12.51 and 11.58 fps during the GPU tests. In 3DMark06 testing, the G51VX landed a score of 8460. These are very respectable scores for a mobile graphics solution and only the laptops featuring 280M or dual 4870 cards will perform considerably faster, but those options also carry much higher price tags.
