We'll start our review update with the new display. The FullHD Color Shine (glare-type) Display, as Asus calls it, now has a maximum resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. On the one side, this provides a plus of overview on the display, the possibility of rendering HD content in the native FullHD resolution - whereby even the integrated BluRay drive really comes to bear, and the maximum possible image quality of computer games, in comparison to the first G73JH alternative's HD+ display. Therewith, one critique point of the first G73JH configuration line has been eliminated.

But what do the new screen's measuring specs look like? We could measure a maximum luminosity of 197 cd/m² in the upper center display area. This is a considerable step back in comparison to the 241 cd/m² of the HD+ screen.  However, that's not it yet: Even the average brightness of 183.85 cd/m² and the illumination of 87.5% are under the level of the display with 1600x900.

The display's reflective surface has remained, which can cause annoying reflection in unfavorable ambient lighting conditions. This is usually insignificant in dimmer interiors, but, that could already be enough for unpleasant reflections when you sit next to a sunny window. Gamers with a spleen for matt displays will however have difficulties to even find appropriate models. Of course, it's possible to connect an external monitor alternately, which we tested with a Dell 2408Wfp. The HDMI port supplied a perfect picture, as expected. If you want to continue to enjoy the sound from the integrated boxes, you will have to set that up in the audio options since audio data is transmitted via the HDMI cable standardly.

In view of performance reserves, a range of benchmarks for comparing the i5 dual and i7 quad-core CPU can be referred to. The current G73JH can, for example, reach 3174 points in 3DMark06 and is thus in the leading group of comparably equipped notebooks. The 520M CPU's best results are in a field of 2800 points. 2741 points could be achieved with an accordingly equipped G73JH-TY042V.

The Cinebench benchmark test compares the chip's performance at rendering images with assistance of all available cores, respectively threads. Whilst the i5-520M CPU is still well in the race with 3957 points to 3952 points for the 720QM CPU, the i7 quad-core CPU pulls away with a full 10148 points to 8162 points. The multi-core's potential becomes very obvious here; however this has to be supported accordingly by the individual application. This naturally also applies just as much for games. For further detailed information about the CPU, visit our CPU benchmark list.

The PCMark Vantage benchmark test, which classifies the overall system performance, turns out to be a bit surprising. The expensive quad-version remains considerably behind the dual-core variant (6726 points) of the G73JH with 6392 points. The communications test suite that supplies a strikingly worse result proves to be responsible for that, to be precise.

As to the gaming performance of the device at hand, you can already make a preliminary hardware classification with the widely distributed 3DMark. The G73JH with the 720QM achieves 17928 points in 3DMark2005, which are a bit less than 500 points of the i5-520M CPU alternative (18396). The higher clock rate under utilization of single cores in the dual-core CPU likely plays a role in this. The tide then already turns in the more current 3DMark2006 and the G73JH quad-core alternative can leave the dual-core variant (12356 points) behind with 12802 points.

The quad-core system's advantage becomes even clearer in the 3DMark Vantage benchmark test. The G73JH-TZ014V places itself in the front field of similarly equipped notebooks with 8044 points. The i5-520M version does already lag behind by about 7% with 7462 points.

As usual, we test the gaming performance with a selection of current games. It's interesting, where the gaming notebook is in comparison to other manufacturers' machines. A direct comparison to the not as expensively equipped Asus G73JH-TY042V is insofar difficult, as the used FHD display doesn't support a resolution of 1600x900 pixels and thus, the settings of the previous model can't be reconstructed.

You can take a shot at the highest graphic settings even in CoD:MW2 with accordingly strong hardware onboard. We have chosen our standard setting for this performance class, which is all options on, or to the maximum, as well as 4xAA. The resolution remains at the native 1920x1080 pixels.
We could record an average frame rate of 48.7 fps in these settings at insinuating the first single player mission. In comparison, the MSI GX740 achieves a bit more with the same graphic card and CPU (51.1 fps). The frame rate mainly stays in the field above 30 fps in these settings. However, there is also a plunge down to 20 fps to be observed. The G73JH with the 520M CPU achieves an average of 55.4 fps in comparison, but in a considerably lower resolution of 1600x900 pixels.

System Noise

The Asus G73JH-TY042V already had a reputation for being an especially quiet gaming notebook in the first test. Asus' statement about the case being especially tuned to an optimal cooling effect can only be underlined with that. The cooling load increases with the quad-core CPU as the Intel Core i7-720QM, with 45W, has a 10W higher cooling requirement than the i5-520M dual-core chip. Naturally, deviating emissions can turn up due to the different configurations in view of RAM and hard disk.

Nevertheless, the G73JH again stays exceptionally quiet in idle mode or in light office load, such as internet surfing, writing texts, etc, with 34.2 dB(A), even if slightly above the level of the dual-core alternative. Subjectively, the quiet background noise is still easy to cope with, even for sensitive ears.
The noise level increases to a maximum of 41.3 dB(A) in the stress test (Furmark+Prime95) and is still in an absolutely uncritical field. The noise level on our measuring scale falls even below this rate in practical gaming load: 39.3 dB(A). Both measuring points are actually a bit over the G73JH-TY042V variant's level, but are in the absolute top class in comparison to many other gaming notebooks.

Temperature

A slight increase in the measured rates isn't only recorded in regards to system noise, but also the observed surface temperatures turn out a bit higher. The case stays on both the upper and bottom side pleasantly tempered in idle mode and reaches a maximum temperature of merely 32.6°C.
The temperatures climbed to a maximum of 42.6°C on the upper side and 44.0°C on the base unit's bottom in the stress test of several hours under load of the CPU and GPU.

If there is a thing that can soonest be ignored in a high-performance gamer, it's probably the battery life. The notebook only achieves about 2h in the close to reality WLAN surf mode in its "small" configuration, which is at best a feasible emergency mains independency. It seems obvious that this result won't get better with an accordingly strong CPU.
The power consumption measurement in idle mode shows an energy consumption of 38.2 to 54.4 watts. That is consistently slightly to a lot more than in the dual-core laptop alternative. The difference is even greater under load, and the G73JH treats itself to almost the complete potential of the 150W adapter with 145.2 W in the stress test. However, it doesn't indicate any overload tendencies with a maximum temperature of 51.8°C.

Both G73JH alternatives with an Intel Core i5-520M, respectively i7-720QM are very similar in the core competency that is the performance in current games. The single application or game ultimately decides if you can sooner benefit from the multi-core architecture or from a slightly higher core clock rate instead. The quad-core CPU is to be favored in the very latest games, because this technology is constantly experiencing a growing support in current and upcoming software.

You can certainly argue about the feasibility of an 8GB RAM in gaming scenarios. But because there are four memory banks available and Asus successively uses 4x2GB modules, the price for it is comparably low. The BluRay drive and the FullHD display is, without a doubt, a configuration upgrade. We would have hoped for a somewhat brighter screen though, despite the excellent image contrast of more than 1000:1.

The main argument for the G73JH still is the combination of first-class gaming performance and a pleasant system noise level, which remains agreeably discreet in the background even while surfing on the internet or rendering movies. This is an issue where many gaming alternatives often fail.