Test device courtesy of Asus Deutschland
Case
If you look at the opened Asus GL752VW, it is identical to the smaller 15-inch Asus GL552JX we reviewed back in August 2015. We do not want to repeat ourselves, so we will only cover the changes and build quality. While the lid of the GL552JX was primarily covered by a dark-gray and textured plastic surface, our review model uses a light-gray brushed metal finish with a hardly describable color cast, which is also used for the central inlay of the older Asus notebook and seems to be made of aluminum. The visually separated top edge of the lid on the other hand is colored in a neutral gray. At the bottom is a modified maintenance hatch, and the battery is, contrary to the older 17-inch device, not accessible from the outside.
We did not notice any irregularities in respect of the build quality this time. All edges of the base, except for the carefully integrated DVD tray, are flush and the gaps are even. You can slightly twist the base unit with some force, but it leaves a solid impression in general and there is no creaking. It is no problem to open the lid with one hand. It only bounces a bit, but the display will open further up to the maximum opening angle when you use the notebook on your lap and wiggle around a bit.
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Communication
Asus uses a modern Intel module with the designation Dual-Band Wireless-AC 8260 for Wi-Fi connections. Besides the still very popular standards IEEE 802.11 g and n, it also supports the ac standard in the less crowded 5 GHz band. More information about the module, which also supports Bluetooth 4.1, is available directly from Intel. The signal quality was unremarkable in our individual test environment.
Accessories
Besides the usual quick-start guide and warranty information as well as the power adapter, the box includes the usual ROG accessories: a microfiber cloth and zip ties. Other accessories with an ROG-related design are available here.
Maintenance
You can access the HDD, RAM slots and M.2-SSD via a maintenance hatch at the bottom, which is only secured by two screws. All other components like the fan require further disassembly.
Warranty
Asus grants a 24-month warranty.
Input Devices
Display
Full HD is still the preferred resolution from a gamer’s perspective. Less pixels look worse, and higher resolutions are usually too demanding for mobile GPUs. The pixel density of 157 PPI in combination with the 17.3-inch screen is sufficient but not very generous. Users with good eyesight might see some individual pixels at a small distance. Despite the high price, Asus decided to use a TN panel, which is at least matte. The determined brightness of 289 cd/m² (center) is average in this class, but not outstanding.
A brightness distribution of 82% does not win any awards, and we could subjectively see the backlight illumination at the sides with a dark picture. However, it was even and we would not call it screen bleeding. This can be annoying when you watch videos with dark passages, for example. The display brightness does not differ dramatically within the comparison. Except for the MSI, all the devices are about 20% brighter, but who uses a display at 350 cd/m² indoors? You would almost need sunglasses in this case. The advantage might pay off when you plan to use the notebook outdoors though.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 296 cd/m² Average: 267.7 cd/m² Minimum: 16 cd/m²Brightness Distribution: 82 %
Center on Battery: 289 cd/m²
Contrast: 1156:1 (Black: 0.25 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.49 | 1.01-23.34 Ø6.8
ΔE Greyscale 7.8 | 0.79-16.8 Ø7.1
95% sRGB (Argyll) 60% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll)
Gamma: 2.6
| Asus GL752VW-T4168T | Acer Aspire V Nitro Black Edition VN7-792G-74Q4 | HP Envy 17-n107ng | MSI PE70-2QEi581 | Lenovo Ideapad Y700 17ISK 80Q0 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen |
16%
|
-53%
|
-11%
|
15%
| |
| Brightness Center | 289 | 346
20%
| 341
18%
| 305
6%
| 349.7
21%
|
| Black Level * | 0.25 | 0.32
-28%
| 1.05
-320%
| 0.5
-100%
| 0.304
-22%
|
| Contrast | 1156 | 1081
-6%
| 325
-72%
| 610
-47%
| 1150
-1%
|
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 * | 6.49 | 4.01
38%
| 4.6
29%
| 4.83
26%
| 3.99
39%
|
| Greyscale DeltaE2000 * | 7.8 | 3.58
54%
| 6.08
22%
| 3.29
58%
| 3.34
57%
|
| Gamma * | 2.6 | 2.23 | 2.43 | 2.39 | 2.23 |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 60 | 62
3%
| 56
-7%
| 55.8
-7%
|
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 22 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 7 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 15 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.8 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 13 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (29.1 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 44 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 22 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 22 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.9 (minimum) to 92 (maximum) ms. » 51 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (42.7 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 1020 Hz | 90 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 1020 Hz (Likely utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 90 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting.
The frequency of 1020 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering.
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 603 (minimum: 43 - maximum: 10420) Hz was measured.
| |||
Performance
Processor
Announced back in September last year, the quad-core CPU Intel Core i7-6700HQ (4x 2.6 – 3.5 GHz, Hyperthreading) is a good choice if you need a powerful mobile processor and the chassis can handle the heat of the 45-watt TDP, which is the case for our 17-inch device. Smaller notebooks (< 15 inches) can usually only handle the chip when the TDP is reduced to 35 watts. Similar to the previous generations, the performance of the new Skylake CPUs was just slightly improved, but there were more significant efficiency improvements, which is very important in the mobile range.
The nominal clock is 2.6 GHz, but the cores can reach up to 3.5 GHz via Turbo Boost. The limit is 3.1 GHz when you stress all four cores and 3.3 GHz for two active cores. The performance is on par with the older and slightly higher clocked i7-4810MQ (4x 2.6 – 3.6 GHz, Hyperthreading, TDP 47 watts) and the Cinebench results are also on par with similarly equipped notebooks. The CPU was able to maintain 3.1 GHz in a CB Multi loop, so the Turbo utilization of the Asus GL752VW-T4168T is perfect in these conditions. The clock will frequently drop to just 800 MHz on battery.
System Performance
The system performance of the Asus GL752VW is, as expected, very good. It is one of the fastest multimedia notebooks we reviewed over the last 8 months according to the PCMark 7 score. The fastest device (+ 16%) is the MSI GP62-2QEi781FD (i7-5700HQ, GTX 950M). Within the comparison, both the HP Envy as well as the Lenovo IdeaPad, which are also equipped with an i7-6700HQ and a GTX 960M, are slightly faster than the Asus, but 6 and 7%, respectively, are negligible in practice. That the other two notebooks fall behind is a result of their conventional hard drives. The storage results are more important in PCMark 7 than 8, where the comparison devices are closer to each other and roughly on par.
Subjectively, working with the GL752VW was a very enjoyable experience. Annoying delays, like when you launch an application (for the first time) are usually no problem, and even 15 tabs in Chrome at the same time did not affect the smooth handling. The notebook also launched very quickly.
| PCMark 7 Score |
| 5544 points |
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 |
| 3434 points |
| PCMark 8 Creative Score Accelerated v2 |
| 4349 points |
| PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 |
| 4648 points |
Help
Storage Devices
GPU Performance
We have already tested the popular performance graphics card Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M several times and it is used in dozens of notebooks, just like the technically similar predecessor, the GTX 860M. Our Asus is equipped with the biggest version of the Maxwell graphics card with 4 GB GDDR5-VRAM (128-bit interface), which runs effectively at 5,000 MHz. Despite the high performance, it is still significantly slower than the current mobile high-end chips GTX 970M and GTX 980M, but they also require a more complex and potentially louder cooling solution; they obviously consume more power as well.
The chip does support DirectX 12 in combination with Windows 10, but only feature level 11_0. Besides improved efficiency, the GPU also scores with the capability to decode 4K videos. Thanks to the DisplayPort, those videos can also be transferred to suitable monitors at 60 Hz. The HDMI port, on the other hand, can only drive a 4K panel at 30 Hz, because it lacks the 2.0 standard. Gamers will usually stay at Full HD, and the GTX 960M cannot handle more, at least with modern and GPU demanding titles and high details.
The 3DMark 11 scores are pretty sobering compared to other notebooks with the same GPU, even though they sometimes only have 2 GB VRAM. The GPU in our review unit is actually one of the slowest within the comparison. The similarly equipped Acer Aspire VN7-591G-727P managed a 15% higher score, for example, but the difference compared to other 960 chips is usually up to 6%. The results in the Fire Strike test of the current 3DMark (2013) are very similar, and the rivals with a GTX 960M were once again between 2-6% faster. The performance will be reduced by around 55% (2276 points) on battery power. The run on battery power actually produced serious picture interferences, which was reproducible. Only a restart helped, so what is going on?
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU (sort by value) | |
| Asus GL752VW-T4168T | |
| Acer Aspire V Nitro Black Edition VN7-792G-74Q4 | |
| HP Envy 17-n107ng | |
| MSI PE70-2QEi581 | |
| Lenovo Ideapad Y700 17ISK 80Q0 | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance |
| 5327 points |
| 3DMark (2013) Cloud Gate Standard Score |
| 16847 points |
| 3DMark (2013) Fire Strike Standard Score |
| 3913 points |
Help
Gaming Performance
Our small benchmark table contains the important aspects: Many modern games can at least be played smoothly with high settings and in Full HD, while very complex titles like the brand-newXCOM 2 require medium settings. Older, but visually still appealing games like Bioshock Infinitefrom 2013 can sometimes be played with the highest settings. More games that are running on the GTX 960M are listed in our dedicated article for the GPU.
| low | med. | high | ultra | ||
| Rainbow Six Siege (2015) | 105 | 55.5 | 45.6 | fps | |
| Just Cause 3 (2015) | 63.5 | 33.8 | 28.9 | fps |
Discussion
Emissions
System Noise
Noise Level
| Idle |
32.5 / 33.6 / 34.1 dB(A)
| ||||
| HDD | 34 dB(A) | ||||
| DVD | 36.2 / dB(A) | ||||
| Load | 40.7 / 44.2 dB(A) | ||||
 | |||||
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud | |||||
min:
 , med:  , max:  Audix TM1 Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 31.3 dB(A) | |||||
Temperature
Speakers
Energy Management
Power Consumption
Very good: Compared to the majority of notebooks, our review unit does not pull any power from the socket when it is turned off, and only 0.5 watts in standby. If you compare the consumption with similarly equipped GTX 960M multimedia notebooks, our model is average under load, but usually consumes more power while idling. The 120-watt power adapter can handle the maximum consumption of 114 watts.
| Asus GL752VW-T4168T GeForce GTX 960M, 6700HQ, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF mSATA | Acer Aspire V Nitro Black Edition VN7-792G-74Q4 GeForce GTX 960M, 6700HQ, Toshiba MQ02ABD100H | HP Envy 17-n107ng GeForce GTX 950M, 6700HQ, Samsung SSD PM851 MZNTE512HMJH | MSI PE70-2QEi581 GeForce GTX 960M, 4210H, Toshiba HG5d THNSNH256GMCT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption |
35%
|
46%
|
-8%
| |
| Idle Minimum * | 10.6 | 5.8
45%
| 5.5
48%
| 19.1
-80%
|
| Idle Average * | 34 | 9
74%
| 10.8
68%
| 24.3
29%
|
| Idle Maximum * | 35.8 | 14.7
59%
| 11
69%
| 29.2
18%
|
| Load Average * | 90 | 85
6%
| 72
20%
| 88.6
2%
|
| Load Maximum * | 114 | 121.5
-7%
| 85
25%
| 122
-7%
|
* ... smaller is better
Power Consumption
| Off / Standby | 0 / 0.5 Watt |
| Idle | 10.6 / 34 / 35.8 Watt |
| Load | 90 / 114 Watt |
    | |
| Key: min: , med: , max: Metrahit Energy | |
Battery Runtime
Within the comparison, both the Acer Aspire Nitro (53 Wh) as well as the MSI PE70 (41 Wh) are good for a direct comparison with our Asus GL752VW (48 Wh) due to somewhat similar battery capacities. The additional consumption is at least noticeable compared to the Acer, because the stamina while idling is not competitive. The consumption and the runtimes of the MSI are much closer to our review unit. Only two and a half hours in our realistic Wi-Fi surfing test are not good in general, but should not be that important for many users who primarily want to use it as a stationary device.
Battery Runtime
| Idle (without WLAN, min brightness) |
| 5h 05min |
| WiFi Surfing v1.3 |
| 2h 33min |
| Load (maximum brightness) |
| 1h 04min |
