Upgrading From JW To JH

[PentiumCore]

Hey,

Well its been a good 6 months since owning my G750 and i absolutely love it. Everyone that sees it thinks it was built by Lamborghini or something, very stunning indeed and definitely a keeper.

In the next 3 or so months I am thinking on selling my current base spec model and upgrading to the fully loaded JH model (3D 1080p, SSD, GTX780, bluray, etc) but I wanted to know if any common problems persist with the JH model, for example the GTX780 card? I've read loads of forum posts about the 780 being a problem in Alienware laptops crashing and overheating etc. What about the 3D display? Any issues there?

My other question would be, is Asus planning on bringing out any new models for the G750 series laptops? The new GTX800 series has been released and I'm pretty sure a revised CPU to fix the USB 3.0 bug was released some time ago too. Also I just checked Intel's site and they just released the new i7-4910MQ CPU so if Asus are planning on a new model with better specs i'd rather wait it out.

Thanks Guys!

[hmscott]

PentiumCore wrote:
Hey,

Well its been a good 6 months since owning my G750 and i absolutely love it. Everyone that sees it thinks it was built by Lamborghini or something, very stunning indeed and definitely a keeper.

In the next 3 or so months I am thinking on selling my current base spec model and upgrading to the fully loaded JH model (3D 1080p, SSD, GTX780, bluray, etc) but I wanted to know if any common problems persist with the JH model, for example the GTX780 card? I've read loads of forum posts about the 780 being a problem in Alienware laptops crashing and overheating etc. What about the 3D display? Any issues there?

My other question would be, is Asus planning on bringing out any new models for the G750 series laptops? The new GTX800 series has been released and I'm pretty sure a revised CPU to fix the USB 3.0 bug was released some time ago too. Also I just checked Intel's site and they just released the new i7-4910MQ CPU so if Asus are planning on a new model with better specs i'd rather wait it out.

Thanks Guys!

In short, the JH is awesome, and don't hesitate to pick one up.

I got mine for $250 off - price matched by my dealer off a newegg sale. You might look for such sales, I have seen them before and since I got my JH.

The 3D model was sought after because it has a Glossy screen instead of the Matte screen, but the 3D model has had problems with using Nvidia released driver updates - not everyone, but enough that makes me think it would be a good idea to steer clear of the 3D model - maybe the next generation will fix the problem with using general release Nvidia drivers.

I haven't had a problem with my Matte screen. Some complained about artifacts in some regions during game play, but I haven't seen any. I have gotten nothing but excellent comments on the screen from people that have watched movies, or used the laptop for viewing websites, photo's, or editing docs. The screen looks fine at 60 hz, the screen maker spec says to use 70hz @1920x1080 and 70hz looks great.

The JH uses a custom RAID implementation using M.2 SSD's in one of the drive bays. That leaves 1 bay free for the 1TB drive provided, or in my case I put in a Samsung 840 Pro 512GB. I am looking for larger than 256GB M.2 format SSD's to upgrade the 2 x 128GB stock configuration. It is blazingly fast 1000MB/sec reads and 590MB/sec writes, so except for the combined size of 256GB being a bit tight, it is great.

The wireless provided is a Killer 1202 combined N 2.4/5Ghz + BT 4.0, and except for not supporting 802.11ac, has been very solid, and has the best sensitivity I have seen in a laptop - the antenna's probably help a lot too. Connects fine with a dlink dir-655, a Netgear WNDR3700, and an Asus RTAC68U
http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTAC68U/

I tried the Asus USB 3.0 USBAC56, and it connected at AC speeds, but it really didn't speed up my 57.74Mbps internet connection, and it "saw" fewer wireless ap's than the built-in wireless on the G750JH.
http://www.asus.com/Networking/USBAC56/

The only oddness was after updating to the 205JHA BIOS I started getting random power off's when doing a cold boot. Annoying, but it eventually went away on it's own - gradually it happened less and less frequently until it stopped - after about 2 weeks - but I setup, boot, and shutdown and reboot fairly often during most days - so it might take you a bit longer to work through the symptom.

Lets see, reaching back into my memory, when the JH first came out some people complained it was dead quiet except it oddly spun up the fan and spun it back down after starting apps while otherwise idle. I suggested to them to reduce the CPU voltage using Intel XTU to reduce the power used and therefore heat generated, and that worked for them - and for me when I got mine - I only do a -20mV reduction as that is the highest stable reduction this example will support - others have gotten as high as -100mV stable. The fan doesn't bother me, I more often than not wear headphones.

The JH really weighs a lot more than the JW/JX, and the AC power brick weighs more too. It is a noticeable pull on the shoulder when lifting and carrying. You will want to consider this if you are slight of build or otherwise avoid lifting heavy objects.

The double height exhaust ports look cool, and there are lift points at each of the places where the JW/JX have rubber feet. This helps with cooling - makes a larger gap between the surface it is sitting on and the bottom panel grills pulling in air - reducing back pressure and increasing air flow.

The highest CPU temps are now in the 80's instead of the 90's as with the JW/JX, and the JH cools down quicker to minimum temps from a high CPU / GPU usage run.

If there was anything I would change with the JH, it is the same as JW/JX - put in easy access to replace the 2 memory SODIMM's under the keyboard. Fortunately I found an exact match part for the 3 8GB SODIMM's in the JH, and was able to add a 4th 8GB SODIMM for a total of 32GB without needing to pull the laptop apart to get at the memory under the keyboard.

Here is the link SODIMM vendor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Apple-Hynix-8GB-RAM-SODIMM-Laptop-Memory-HMT41GS6AFR8A-PB-DDR3-1600MHz-/...

As far as new models, I just noticed the G750JM (GTX860m) support site up at Asus, and the VGA section has new Nvidia and *Intel* drivers - which suggests that the new series will support the Intel on board graphics controller, and Nvidia Optimus switching - which has sucked on pretty much every laptop I have used - but if Asus is supporting it, maybe they have fixed it to be workable.

Here is the G750JM post with more details:
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?44308-G750JM-Support-Arrives-New-driver-Download-Area-to-Po...

Depending on how you look at it, now is a great time to get a non-Optimus G750, or it is a great time to wait for an Optimus supporting G750 🙂

Let us know what you end up picking, and how you like it!

[PentiumCore]

hmscott wrote:
In short, the JH is awesome, and don't hesitate to pick one up.

....

Let us know what you end up picking, and how you like it!

Hi Scott, thanks for the very detailed reply!

You have convinced me that the JH is awesome lol, hopefully in the next few months Asus will release a few new laptops for the 750 lineup, if not then the JH it definitely is. The only reason I want to upgrade is, I want the best of the best as I will be keeping it for a good 8+ years. I was supposed to keep my JW for 8+ years but I released that the G750 is a TRUE desktop replacement and keeping a massive desktop gaming PC (see signature) would be pointless and a waste of space / money. So the next purchase I make HAS to compete with my current rig build.

BTW I love Matte displays and absolutely hate glossy screens, especially if you have a lot of sunlight bouncing into your room/office for which I have. Even the matte screen suffers, I can't imagine what it would be like if I had a gloss screen. My only complaint is the dead pixel out of the box for which Asus refused to repair/replace.

This means no 3D for me seen as I'll buy one with a matte screen.

Wouldn't it be cool if they released an extreme edition G750 with the newer 3.9Ghz CPU and a SLI'd GTX780? 😄 I am convinced that this is the best build quality laptop on the market today.

[Darnassus]

Jaysus hmscott, you almost made me regret my JX purchase for a JH. :c

[hmscott]

Darnassus wrote:
Jaysus hmscott, you almost made me regret my JX purchase for a JH. :c

And, I miss my JX because it was lighter, and lasted about 30% longer on battery...but I am keeping my JH 🙂

[Darnassus]

hmscott wrote:
And, I miss my JX because it was lighter, and lasted about 30% longer on battery...but I am keeping my JH 🙂

I was about to offer trade.. but..

but I am keeping my JH 🙂

;d