ASUS N61Jv-X2: Optimus GT325M Meets Arrandale
by Jarred Walton on March 13, 2010 10:00 PM ESTASUS N61Jv-X2 General Performance
The N61Jv is like the Dell Inspiron 1564; we have many similar components and a good point of comparison. We have the same 4GB of DDR3, a slightly slower Core i5-430M processor, and a different GPU. General performance should be more than fast enough for all but the most demanding users; if you're one of those, consider moving to an i7-based notebook instead (with an accompanying loss in battery life). Here's the quick recap of our N61Jv configuration.
| ASUS N61Jv-X2 Testbed | |
| Processor | Intel Core i5 520M (2x2.4GHz, 32nm, 3MB L3, Turbo to 2.83GHz, 35W) |
| Memory | 2x2GB DDR3-1066 (Kingston ASU1333D3S9DR8/2G) |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GT325M 1GB 128-bit Optimus 48 SPs (CUDA Cores) @ 450/990/1400MHz GPU/SPs/RAM Intel HD Graphics IGP |
| Display | 16.0" LED Glossy 16:9 768p (1366x768) (HannStar HSD160PHW1) |
| Hard Drive(s) | 500GB 7200RPM 16MB HDD (Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS) |
| Optical Drive | 8x DVDR SuperMulti (LG GT30N) |
| Battery | 6-Cell, 10.8V, 4400mAh, 48Wh battery "Up to 4 Hours" |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| Pricing | Available online for $899 |
We'll start with a look at general performance using PCMark05 and PCMark Vantage, Internet browser performance courtesy of Peacekeeper, and Cinebench and x264 encoding for computationally intensive tasks.
The results are great for a sub-$1000 notebook, trading blows with the Inspiron 1564 depending on whether the particular test benefits from a faster CPU or a faster GPU. PCMark05 doesn't benefit from faster graphics while PCMark Vantage does, which explains the swap in rankings. Peacekeeper also gives the i5-520M equipped Inspiron 15 a slight lead, along with x264 and Cinebench, but the gap is never more than 12%—exactly what we'd expect from the i5-430M vs. i5-520M matchup.
If you want something faster, you can see how the i7-720QM (ASUS G51J) and i7-920XM (Clevo W870CU) rank in terms of application performance. The W870CU also includes an Intel SSD, which dramatically boosts the PCMark scores (though the real-world impact is usually closer to a 10% performance increase). Obviously the i7-920XM isn't even in the same ballpark in terms of price, as the CPU alone will cost more than the N61Jv, but you can get notebooks with i7-720QM for around the same price as the N61Jv if you're willing to compromise on other areas (e.g. battery life).
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Shadowmaster625 - Monday, March 15, 2010 - link
Obviously not that far if it only gets 3.5 hrs of facebook time.What intel should do is integrate an atom into their i3/i5/i7M series CPUs. That way the main cpu can power down during most web surfing, movie playing, and music playing, and then power up the big guns when more power is needed. What would adding an atom core cost, $20?
JarredWalton - Monday, March 15, 2010 - link
The Internet test involves four browser tabs with stored copies of AnandTech, MSN, Yahoo, and Facebook. AnandTech is active, and so there are several Flash ads running. MSN and Yahoo also have at least one Flash ad each. This is quite a bit more demanding than a simple Facebook browser test, and if you're not surfing anything more than text and images you should get closer to the idle battery life.Given the difference in size and other components, 3.5 hours is relatively low on the power requirements. That means the entire laptop is using around 13.7W for that task, whereas a 15.6" CULV laptop (UL50Vf) consumes around 9.5W in a similar test. At idle, the UL50Vf looks to consume around 8W while the N61Jv consumes 11.8W. 3.8W more power used at idle for i5-430M vs. SU7300 seems pretty reasonable.
Shadowmaster625 - Monday, March 15, 2010 - link
When I say facebook time, I mean about 90% of the time on facebook is spent playing games like Cafe World and farmville (or whatever its called). That's how it seems anyway. I dont play those games but i sure do see them a lot. From what I've witnessed, 90% seems about right. These games are pretty taxing on the cpu.tigercat44 - Saturday, April 24, 2010 - link
Is it possible to upgrade N61J-X2 to an illuminated keyboard? Suggestions, thanks,Harry