We’ve got the new ASUS GL552VW and here’s what to expect from this greatly overhauled gaming notebook

We are currently working on the full review of the model despite the fact that we have a review on the last generation. This one packs some interesting changes in the hardware department that should not be taken lightly. With the bumped price comes a different set of hardware that will surely affect the overall user experience.

You can check the price and available configurations of the ASUS ROG GL552VW here: http://amzn.to/1NAItXo

The same old design

This is actually the part that ASUS hasn’t changed. Or at least in some of the versions that ship worldwide. According to ASUS’ website, the notebook ships in two variants – with the same design as the earlier version or with sleek, brushed aluminum-like chassis that kind of looks way better than the old one.

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But since we’ve got the old appearance, we are going to talk about the hits and misses here. We are presented with the same choice of materials – plastic. Even the main element that resembles brushed aluminum is actually plastic. The lid bends a lot under pressure as well as the part around the keyboard. We are still left with mixed feelings about the design and build quality especially when the machine now falls into a more premium category where the G551JW looks like a way better option now, for just about the same amount of money.

Also, the height of the notebook has been slightly changed and now has slightly thicker profile – 34.75 mm compared to the old version that sports 32.4 mm profile. Anything other than that remains unchanged in the design department.

So what’s new?

Well, apart from the higher price tag, almost all of the internals are changed. The CPU is now part of the latest Skylake generation and should bring marginal performance increase and slightly better power consumption readings. We hope the latter translates into better battery life as we weren’t happy with the earlier version. The GL552VW now sports an Intel Core i7-6700HQ CPU (see ranking) – a top shelf silicon that can be found even in the latest Acer Predator gaming notebook. The performance shouldn’t vary a lot so we expect similar readings in our synthetic benchmark tests. We also have to mention the upgraded RAM, which is now 8GB DDR4-2133 compared to the old 8GB DDR3-1600. We are still not sure if this will actually translate into much better performance, so we will see.

However, the GPU steals the show here. The upgrade from GTX 950M to the GTX 960M (see ranking) is a big deal because the latter packs way more serious horsepower under the hood. We have better VRAM on board (GDDR5 vs DDR3 from the last generation) and significantly higher GPU and memory clocks. You can check out our short comparison between the two models here where you will see that the results show more than 30-40% performance increase. You can do the same here as well, but with much more detailed information.

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All of this seems great, but we are yet to see how the notebook performs with the old cooling system. It did a great job with the GTX 950M, but with all the extra heat generated from the much more powerful GPU now, we can’t tell whether or not the laptop can handle the excessive heat.

We also see some changes in the connectivity options. The VGA port has been left out (since Intel’s new Skylake chips discontinued the support for VGA), but another port takes its place – USB 3.1 with reversible Type-C connector. It can be used for ultra-fast data transfer or as a connector for external display.

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And last, but not least, we’ve got a brand new screen! We were quite happy with the GL552JX’s display quality, but there was one considerable drawback – the PWM across all brightness levels. It was Samsung-made IPS panel with model number 156HL01-102 (which we’ve also seen in the ROG G501), but now ASUS has migrated to LG’s LP156WF6-SPB5 solution. It’s not unseen practice from the company before and last time it was a rather smart move with the G551JW, but we will see if the same applies to the GL552VW.

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You can check the price and available configurations of the ASUS ROG GL552VW here: http://amzn.to/1NAItXo

Specs sheet

The technical specifications listed below are for the current model we are testing and may vary depending on your region

ASUS ROG GL552JX (old)
ProcessorIntel Core i7-4720HQ (4-core, 2.60 – 3.60 Ghz, 6MB cache)
RAM8GB (1x 8192MB) – DDR3, 1600MHz
Graphics cardNVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M (2GB DDR3)
HDD/SSD1TB HDD (7200rpm)
Display15.6-inch (39.62 cm.) – 1920×1080 (Full HD), IPS matte
Optical driveDVD burner
ConnectivityLAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11a/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features
  • 3x USB 3.0
  • built-in webcam
  • built-in microphone
  • 2x 3.5 mm jack for headphones and external microphone
  • LAN
  • HDMI
  • VGA
  • card reader (SD, MMC, MS)
  • Sonic Master loudspeakers
  • keyboard LED backlight
Battery4-cell 3200 mAh Li-Polymer Battery
Thickness32.4 mm (1.28″)
Weight2.6 kg (5.73 lbs)

ASUS ROG GL552VW (new)
CPUIntel Core i7-6700HQ (4-core, 2.60 -3.50 GHz, 6MB cache)
RAM8GB (1x 8192MB) – DDR4, 2133GHz
GPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M (2GB GDDR5)
HDD/SSD1TB HDD (7200 rpm)
Display15.6-inch (39.62 cm.) – 1920×1080 (Full HD), IPS matte
Optical driveDVD burner
ConnectivityLAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11a/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features
  • 3x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1 (Type-C)
  • built-in webcam
  • built-in microphone
  • 2x 3.5 mm jack for headphones and external microphone
  • LAN
  • HDMI
  • card reader (SD, MMC, MS)
  • Sonic Master loudspeakers
  • keyboard LED backlight
Battery4-cell 47Wh (3200 mAh) Li-Polymer Battery
Thickness34.75 mm (1.28″)
Weight2.6 kg (5.73 lbs)

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Cal
Cal
8 Jahre vor

Which would you recommend author?
A: MSI GE62 APACHE PRO-004
B: ASUS ROG GL552VW

Apit
Apit
8 Jahre vor
Antwort an  Cal

B. ASUS ROG GL552VW.

Shahar
Shahar
8 Jahre vor

To connect external monitor to ASUS ROG GL552VW via usb 3.1 type-c port I can use simpale usb 3.1 to DVI adapter?