ASUS ROG G752VT Gaming Laptop Review: G-Sync And Skylake United
ASUS ROG G752VT Design & Layout
They say to dress for success, but you won't find a stuffy suit-and-tie design here. ASUS likes to flaunt the gaming DNA and overall badass nature of its ROG G Series laptops, which is portrayed with lines and angles inspired by the stealthy F-22 Raptor.
What's new for this generation is an "Armor Titanium" and "Plasma Copper" color combination. Although similar in overall style to its predecessor, the G752VT looks like it's cut from a slightly different mold. You can see this played out in various parts of the laptop -- the sides of the lid are at an angle, there's a line that separates the lip of the laptop, and the hinge section in the back is indented sort of like an inverted spoiler.
The new color scheme also brings about a change in materials. ASUS traded in the rubberized coating found on the G751JY for an all-metal lid featuring horizontal brush strokes. It's not a glossy finish, nor do finger smudges stick to it.
ASUS also removed its brand name from the lid, but kept the ROG logo, which this time is engraved with a reflective mirror base. Two angled strips flank the logo on both sides, and when the laptop is turned on, these glow orange.
At first glance, it looks as though ASUS upgraded the exhaust with a single, massive vent that runs the length of the laptop. A closer inspection reveals that most of what you see is for show. The actual exhaust consists of rectangular cutouts on both ends, each one measuring about 3.33 inches long by 0.5 inches high.
What you can't see without tearing the notebook apart are dedicated cooling modules, one each for the two hottest components: CPU and GPU. The benefit of giving each of these their own cooling setups is that, in theory, they should be able to dissipate more heat versus a single module shared between both parts.
There are a few new additions to the cooling system in the G752 Series. One that's included in the G752VT is a dust release system. There's a special tunnel on the inner side of each vent. The internal fans direct dust into the tunnels to keep them away from internal components.
You'll also notice a pair of rubber tabs. These plug into the vents when the laptop isn't being used to prevent dust from entering the system. The implementation is a bit janky, and if you don't want to use them, you can simply set them aside.
Finally, on higher end G752VY models, there's something ASUS calls a Mobile 3D Vapor Chamber. It's essentially a fancy term for a heat pipe design that, according to ASUS, can boost GPU performance by up to 6 percent, presumably through enhanced cooling that results in less throttling. It's not included on the G752VT, but it's worth mentioning in case you're considering a pricier setup.
Every G752 model wields a 17.3-inch Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) IPS display. At some point, ASUS should consider adding an optional 3K or 4K panel upgrade, but for this refresh, it chose to stick with the same display as the previous generation.
The main selling point here is the inclusion of NVIDIA's G-Sync technology. G-Sync is still pretty new to the laptop segment, in part because NVIDIA validates panels for G-Sync integration. Because of this, you can almost be assured that you're not getting a sub-par display, just in this case one with a somewhat pedestrian resolution.
The main section of the keyboard area sports a rubberized coating, including both sides of the trackpad, which sits a bit off-center to the left. It's comfortable on the wrist, and as we noted with the G751JY, it doesn't pick up fingerprints like carbon fiber and glossy finishes do.
New to this refresh is what ASUS claims is the world's first backlit anti-ghosting keyboard with 30-key rollover. The keyboard itself is a full-size plank with a dedicated number pad and a row of programmable macro keys in the upper left corner. These are labeled M1 through M5, plus there's a recording button next to them. There's decent spacing between the keys. ASUS measures 2.5mm of key travel, and true to the company's claim, keystrokes are fluid and responsive. The typing experience isn't on par with a mechanical plank, but for a laptop keyboard, it's a nice overall layout and design.
As for the trackpad, it's big with dedicated left- and right-click buttons on the button. Beyond that, there's not much to say -- it records swipes and gestures as you would expect, and it looks on in envy as you bust out a mouse for playing games.
What you can't see without tearing the notebook apart are dedicated cooling modules, one each for the two hottest components: CPU and GPU. The benefit of giving each of these their own cooling setups is that, in theory, they should be able to dissipate more heat versus a single module shared between both parts.
There are a few new additions to the cooling system in the G752 Series. One that's included in the G752VT is a dust release system. There's a special tunnel on the inner side of each vent. The internal fans direct dust into the tunnels to keep them away from internal components.
You'll also notice a pair of rubber tabs. These plug into the vents when the laptop isn't being used to prevent dust from entering the system. The implementation is a bit janky, and if you don't want to use them, you can simply set them aside.
Finally, on higher end G752VY models, there's something ASUS calls a Mobile 3D Vapor Chamber. It's essentially a fancy term for a heat pipe design that, according to ASUS, can boost GPU performance by up to 6 percent, presumably through enhanced cooling that results in less throttling. It's not included on the G752VT, but it's worth mentioning in case you're considering a pricier setup.
Every G752 model wields a 17.3-inch Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) IPS display. At some point, ASUS should consider adding an optional 3K or 4K panel upgrade, but for this refresh, it chose to stick with the same display as the previous generation.
The main selling point here is the inclusion of NVIDIA's G-Sync technology. G-Sync is still pretty new to the laptop segment, in part because NVIDIA validates panels for G-Sync integration. Because of this, you can almost be assured that you're not getting a sub-par display, just in this case one with a somewhat pedestrian resolution.
 |
 |
New to this refresh is what ASUS claims is the world's first backlit anti-ghosting keyboard with 30-key rollover. The keyboard itself is a full-size plank with a dedicated number pad and a row of programmable macro keys in the upper left corner. These are labeled M1 through M5, plus there's a recording button next to them. There's decent spacing between the keys. ASUS measures 2.5mm of key travel, and true to the company's claim, keystrokes are fluid and responsive. The typing experience isn't on par with a mechanical plank, but for a laptop keyboard, it's a nice overall layout and design.
As for the trackpad, it's big with dedicated left- and right-click buttons on the button. Beyond that, there's not much to say -- it records swipes and gestures as you would expect, and it looks on in envy as you bust out a mouse for playing games.
ASUS G752VT-DH72 Ports (Left)
ASUS G752VT-DH72 Ports (Right)
If there are still laptop makers out there that put ports on the back of notebooks, just stop it. Follow ASUS' lead and take full advantage of the side real-estate.
In this case, the left side of the G752VT includes a Kinsington security slot, two USB 3.0 ports, and a memory card reader that supports SD card formats. There's also a DVD burner sandwiched between the USB ports and memory card reader.
Over the right side starting near the lip of the laptop you'll find a headphone output and S/PDIF output combo jack, microphone input, audio input, USB 3.1 Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 combo port, USB 3.0 port with USB Charger+ (allows you to quick charge mobile devices even when the laptop is in sleep or hibernate mode, or turned off), USB 3.0 port, mini DisplayPort, HDMI port, GbE LAN port, and the power input.
In this case, the left side of the G752VT includes a Kinsington security slot, two USB 3.0 ports, and a memory card reader that supports SD card formats. There's also a DVD burner sandwiched between the USB ports and memory card reader.
Over the right side starting near the lip of the laptop you'll find a headphone output and S/PDIF output combo jack, microphone input, audio input, USB 3.1 Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 combo port, USB 3.0 port with USB Charger+ (allows you to quick charge mobile devices even when the laptop is in sleep or hibernate mode, or turned off), USB 3.0 port, mini DisplayPort, HDMI port, GbE LAN port, and the power input.
You can perform a bit of maintenance on the G752VT. As with the G751JY, there's a rubber cap that needs removed on the underside of the laptop. Once you pop that off, you'll see a screw that holds the bottom panel in place.
Once removed, you'll see two of the four DDR4 SO-DIMM memory slots, both unfilled on this particular model, the 2.5-inch drive bays. This makes upgrading fairly easy, though if you need to access the existing RAM for any reason, like a module going bad, it's a lot more involved than simply popping open the bottom panel. The same goes for accessing other components, like the WLAN card.
Once removed, you'll see two of the four DDR4 SO-DIMM memory slots, both unfilled on this particular model, the 2.5-inch drive bays. This makes upgrading fairly easy, though if you need to access the existing RAM for any reason, like a module going bad, it's a lot more involved than simply popping open the bottom panel. The same goes for accessing other components, like the WLAN card.
