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ASUS L5000GA Review May 25, 2004 Brandon Sandman Bell |
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Summary: Looking for a high-end desktop replacement notebook that won't drain all the funds out of your bank account? ASUS' L5000GA may be just the system for you! Our review system sported a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 processor with 1GB of DDR400 SDRAM, ATI's MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics, 802.11g Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet, and an 80GB hard drive with an 8MB cache. This system sells for just under $2,500 and is capable of keeping up with a tuned P4P800 Deluxe system we setup with performance-enhancing features such as MAM and Turbo Mode enabled. But we haven't even mentioned the notebook's best feature, its jaw-dropping 15" ACE View display. See how this system stacks up to the Alienware's and Dell Inspiron XPS's of the notebook world in this review!
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 22 ) |
When you think of the name ASUS, the first thought that comes to mind for nine out of ten enthusiasts is Tier One motherboard manufacturer. This reputation is well deserved – besides ABIT, no other motherboard manufacturer has earned as many awards on this site as ASUS.
However, over the years we’ve shown you that ASUS not only builds high quality motherboards, but also kickass graphics cards. ASUS’ V9280S was the first GeForce4 Ti 4200 board to utilize a Ti 4600 PCB with BGA memory. It also didn’t hurt that ASUS overclocked the board from the factory. The net result was performance that was even higher than GeForce4 Ti 4400. ASUS’ GeForce FX 5900 Ultra and 5950 Ultra cards, the V9950 Ultra and V9980 Ultra, also stood out by utilizing a single-slot copper heatsink design. Most GeForce FX 5900 Ultra and 5950 Ultra cards consumed two slots.
And of course, ATI enthusiasts are well aware of ASUS’ RADEON 9800 XT/TVD and RADEON 9600 XT/TVD boards. These cards were the first of their kind to support VIVO functionality, this feature was previously only found in ATI’s ALL-IN-WONDER line. But both boards went well beyond just adding VIVO, ASUS’ Smart Doctor software went much further than the capabilities found in ATI’s OVERDRIVE dynamic overclocking software. In fact, we dedicated 1.5 pages to summarize all of Smart Doctor’s features. Smart Doctor even provides fan control and hardware monitoring capabilities!
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Another business ASUS has delved into is notebooks. These aren’t your barebones, no-frills notebook PCs, ASUS’ notebooks can be equipped with all kinds of high-end toys and goodies. We’re not talking your typical Dell or Sony custom notebook here either, where “custom” usually means that you’re limited to choosing your hard drive’s size and memory, ASUS’ high-end notebooks have just as many bells and whistles as the specialty manufacturers like Alienware or VoodooPC.
To demonstrate this, ASUS sent over one of their high-end L5000GA notebooks from their L5000 line. The L5000GA is ASUS’ no-compromises flagship. The L5000s sport Pentium 4 processors with Intel core-logic, GeForce FX Go 5650 or MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics, integrated 802.11g for Wi-Fi (with built-in antenna), and 7200 RPM hard drives as optional features.
All that sounds good right about now right? The scary part is, as great as all that sounds, we haven’t even talked about the best part in ASUS’ L5000: its jaw-dropping, everyone-stare-at-you-on-the-airplane ACE View LCD display! But we’ll get into that a little bit later.
Built on ASUS
Besides building notebooks, ASUS also acts as an ODM, original design manufacturer. This means that they design and manufacture the notebook, then slap someone else’s name on it where it’s then sold at retail.
Beginning in 2003 ASUS began shipping these notebooks without processors, memory, or hard drives. The reseller would then configure the system as they wished, add their logo, and sell the notebook under their own brand name. ASUS referred to these systems as their barebones notebooks internally. The ODM business isn’t quite as sexy as OEM, but it has paid well for ASUS and really taken off. Just recently, resellers began requesting that ASUS add their name to these barebones notebooks. They felt that ASUS’ brand name and reputation for quality would help them sell more notebooks.
ASUS responded to this request and has now revised its notebook strategy. Starting this year, ASUS has two product lines, “factory configured” and “Built on ASUS”. The factory-configured line of systems are complete systems that are built ready to go. Examples of these include ASUS S5Ne and is marked with the ASUS logo and backed by a full ASUS two-year warranty.
The second line, Built on ASUS, is their line of reseller-configured, barebones notebooks we mentioned earlier which ship without the processor, memory, and hard drive installed. These systems are marked with the Built on ASUS logo (although our review system is an exception) and are still backed by a full ASUS warranty. By shipping them without the hard drive, memory, and processor, resellers can custom-tailor these notebooks for each individual end user’s needs while at the same time resellers minimize their costs by allowing them to purchase components just before they’re installed. This frees them from having to carry a large inventory of pre-configured notebooks and/or price volatile components, such as RAM, whose prices can fluctuate on a weekly basis at times.
| Chipset, CPU, and memory | Page:: ( 2 / 22 ) |
Springdale inside
At the heart of the L5000GA is Intel’s 865 “Springdale” chipset. As you probably know by now, Intel’s 865 chipset brings 800MHz bus operation and dual-channel DDR400 memory support among its long list of features. ASUS utilizes the “PE” version of the 865 chipset, which offers more performance than some of the other 865 variants.
ASUS’ decision to go with 865PE shows their commitment to providing a high-quality system with maximum performance and reliability. Many notebook manufacturers cut costs by implementing core-logic from SiS, or by integrating one of the less expensive 865 or even 848 chipsets from Intel. Even the specialty, custom gaming PC shops are guilty of doing this in one form or another in some of their high-end notebook lines.
ASUS is able to integrate 865PE easily into the L5000GA thanks to their booming motherboard business. As the world’s largest motherboard manufacturer, ASUS purchases chipsets in massive quantities. As a result, they’re able to acquire chipsets at lower cost than other manufacturers. This also applies to other devices that have been integrated into the L5000GA such as the Realtek AC’97 CODEC and 3Com Gigabit Ethernet controller.
When possible, ASUS also implements its own components. Examples of this include the 802.11g network adapter and of course, the motherboard. The end result allows ASUS to manufacture their notebooks at lower cost than other manufacturers. These savings are then passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices.
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The processor
Paired alongside the 865 chipset is an Intel Pentium 4 processor running at 3.2GHz. It’s important to note that this is a desktop Pentium 4 3.2GHz, not one of the mobile Pentium 4 or Pentium 4 –M variants. The mobile Pentium 4 processors top out at 3.2GHz, but don’t support Intel’s faster 800MHz system bus, however they do consume less power and generate less heat than desktop Pentium 4 chips.
By integrating a desktop Pentium 4 3.2GHz, ASUS trades off power and heat for more performance, this is after all, intended to be a high-end desktop replacement gaming rig.
On the memory side, ASUS equips the L5000GA with DDR400 memory from Corsair. Corsair, in case you didn’t know, is well known for its high quality DDR memory. In fact we use it here on our testbeds. The ASUS website lists DDR333 for the L5000GA because it’s still the most popular SO-DIMM in the market, but ASUS USA’s marketing team is pushing for the qualification of Corsair DDR400 modules for use in the L5000GA. Our test system was equipped with 1GB of DDR400 memory.
| Storage and display | Page:: ( 3 / 22 ) |
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For storage duties, an 80GB 5400 RPM hard drive from Hitachi was built into our L5000GA test system, the Travelstar 5K80. This drive sports an 8MB buffer with a 12ms average seek time. IBM/Hitachi took some heat a few years ago on the desktop side with its 60GXP/75GXP, but has since recovered well. In fact their 7200 RPM 7K250 line is highly regarded, earning high marks in reviews.
If you want a little more disk performance, Hitachi’s Travelstar 7K60 hard drive is also available as an option. This drive tops out at 60GB, but spins at 7200 RPMs with an 8MB buffer. Average seek time drops to 10ms typical.
Surprisingly enough, ASUS opted for a third-party for optical storage, Toshiba. ASUS makes its own line of optical drives so we expected to see a drive from ASUS in the L5000GA. The Toshiba drive boasts good specs: 8X DVD-ROM / 2X DVD-R / 1X DVD-RW / 16X CD-R / 10X CD-RW / 24X CD-ROM, all-in-all not bad at all for a notebook.
Remember, our L5000GA review system is of the Built on ASUS variety. This means that the processor, memory, and hard drive are all configurable options that are installed by the reseller. ASUS simply qualifies the components that are approved for use in the L5000GA. You can save money buy integrating a slower processor, less memory, or a smaller hard drive if you wish.
The display
Visuals are outputted to a 15” Super XGA+ (SXGA+) display, which sports a native resolution of 1400x1050 pixels. At first glance, 1400x1050 doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you consider the power of ATI’s MOBILITY RADEON 9600 PRO VPU, it makes sense – the chip really doesn’t have the power to drive games at 1600x1200 (the native resolution of many desktop replacement notebooks) with adequate frame rates. And besides, the real gem of the L5000GA’s display is ACE View.
ACE View
ASUS ACE (Advanced Color-Contrast Enhancement) View refers to the L5000GA’s In-Plane Switching (IPS) TFT LCD.
One of the main problems with conventional TFT LCDs, which usually utilize Twisted Nematic (TN) + film panels, is that of narrow viewing angles. Unless you’re sitting directly in front of the display, aspects such as the display’s brightness/contrast and color appear off. You have to remain in the “sweet spot” in front of the display for optimal viewing. In-Plane Switching, first introduced by Hitachi in the mid-90’s, has been developed to overcome this.
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IPS works by shifting the location of electrode pairs, which are mounted parallel to each other in the lower substrate versus electrode pairs mounted above one another on separate substrates in TN+film displays. In TN+film panels, only the lower electrode is switched by the TFT, but with both electrodes parallel to each other in IPS panels, they’re both in the same plane. This design keeps liquid crystals parallel to the front of the panel, as the electromagnetic field runs horizontally through the material, effectively increasing viewing angle.
One of the main downsides to this approach is that this implementation consumes lots of power, as a more power-hungry backlight is necessary to provide a bright display. Traditionally response times of IPS panels have been higher as well, although some newer IPS displays boast sub-20ms response times.
The end result is a display that can be viewed at wide, 170-degree viewing angles. You will see a little brightness drop off at extreme angles, but color reproduction remains consistent. This means that IPS displays have excellent off-axis viewing characteristics, but tend to soak up more juice in the process.
| Display (cont’d) and graphics | Page:: ( 4 / 22 ) |
As we just mentioned, one of the drawbacks of IPS panels is that the aperture ratio of each cell is lower than that of a TN+film panel. A brighter, and thus more powerful backlight is therefore necessary in order to provide a bright display. Because of this, IPS panels tend to consume more power than TN+film displays.
This isn’t a big deal in desktop LCDs, as you have a steady power source, but in notebooks this can be a problem if you’re running on the battery – it wouldn’t take long before you’ve run out of power.
To help overcome this, ASUS has implemented a new backlight in its ACE View notebooks. The new backlight increases the amount of light transmitted without drawing more battery power. But IPS and a new backlight isn’t all ACE View has up its sleeve. IPS is also combined with High Resolution Process (HRP) technology, which improves the displays contrast ratio and dot pitch. This is accomplished by applying a layer of poly-film to the TFT.
How does all this technology look in action? Simply brilliant! ASUS’ ACE View display panel provides a bright, sharp display. Colors are vibrant with accurate representation; blacks are deep and dark while on the other end of the spectrum, whites are nice and bright. While not quite up to CRT levels, the display looked great and performed well in a variety of lighting conditions. In fact, while flying to Chicago I had to get up to allow a woman to use the restroom (I had an aisle seat). As I was standing I noticed four other passengers with notebooks and a few others staring at the ACE View display! If I had had a movie playing at the time, I should have charged admission to nearby passengers.
As always, pictures speak louder than words, so we’ve included a few shots of the ASUS ACE View panel on the L5000GA versus Dell’s top-of-the line MOBILITY 9700 powered Inspiron XPS gaming notebook (full review coming shortly), which has earned high praises for its WUXGA wide aspect TFT display:
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The display itself performed well, even fast-paced action sequences in movies were reproduced accurately with no visible ghosting. For gaming applications though, results were good, but not quite up to the level of a high-end desktop LCD panel. Strategy titles like Warcraft III ran perfectly, as did flight simulators like Lock On: Modern Air Combat, and IL-2 Sturmovik. We’re pretty certain role-playing titles would run well also.
Results were a little mixed with first person shooters though. The display wasn’t able to keep up with fast-paced titles such as Quake 3. Flinch movements such as quickly turning around to face an opponent, and to a more limited extent, rocket jumping did result in ghosting. Next, we booted up Call of Duty. If you’ve played Call of Duty, you know that the Activision and Infinity Ward splash screens when you first boot up the game sport rapid movement. We expected to see ghosting here, but were surprised to see both screens run perfectly.
In the game itself we noticed the same ghosting during rapid movements. We’re talking rapid flinching, where you quickly flip your mouse to snap your character around, not the rapid, yet slower movement of the melee attack in Call of Duty, where you use the butt of your gun to strike your opponent. The display was able to keep up with these movements with no noticeable ghosting.
Finally we booted up Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, which is a slightly slower paced shooter. Here the ACE View panel was able to keep up with the action.
Overall we’d rate the display as good for simulation, strategy, and role-playing titles, but may disappoint gamers who are hardcore shooter players. Perhaps ASUS will address this shortcoming in future desktop replacement notebooks.
Graphics
Gamers will be pleased to see that the L5000GA sports ATI’s MOBILITY RADEON 9600 PRO graphics. Codenamed M10-P, MOBILITY RADEON 9600 PRO supports all the features of its desktop counterpart, although ASUS clocks their MOBILITY RADEON 9600 PRO core at 344MHz and its 128MB of memory at 200MHz. This compares well to the desktop RADEON 9600 PRO’s 400MHz core, the MOBILITY RADEON 9600 PRO is only 56MHz behind it. But this does fall behind RADEON 9600 PRO’s 300MHz memory (600MHz effective).
Before you get too disappointed however, keep in mind that the specs for ATI’s newer MOBILITY 9700 call for a memory frequency range of 200-260MHz (400-520MHz effective), so the ASUS isn’t too far behind it in the memory bandwidth department.
| Audio, cooling, accessories | Page:: ( 5 / 22 ) |
Audio and networking
For the audio subsystem, ASUS has integrated an AC’97 CODEC from Realtek. There’s nothing too special here, we’re basically looking at Sound Blaster PRO level audio, but considering the “power” of typical notebook speakers we really can’t fault ASUS too much for skimping a little on the audio side, the L5000GA’s speakers are a little underpowered though.
Networking is taken care of by a Gigabit Ethernet network controller from 3Com. And while the idea of GigE looks great on paper, the 3Com controller ASUS provides is tied to the PCI bus, which offers up to 133MB/sec of peak bandwidth. The L5000GA’s motherboard doesn’t support Intel’s Communications Streaming Architecture (CSA). CSA provides a dedicated 2Gps link between the network controller and the North Bridge of the system chipset, allowing GigE to reach its full potential. While this may come as a disappointment to some, keep in mind that few notebooks provide true GigE with CSA, even in the desktop replacement segment.
In addition to the 3Com GigE controller, the L5000GA can also be equipped with 802.11g or 802.11b integrated Wi-Fi. The system we reviewed shipped with 802.11g. The entire setup is built-in, including the antenna, for maximum convenience and flexibility.
Since we’re limited to 802.11b, we weren’t able to truly push the L5000GA’s integrated Wi-Fi, but the system was able to maintain 11.0 Mbps wireless throughput at distances as great as 60 feet through multiple walls.
Cooling
With a desktop Pentium 4 3.2GHz processor to cool, ASUS’ L5000GA has its work cut out for it. Intel’s faster desktop processors are known for putting out a lot of heat. ASUS did not wish to disclose the details on their cooling system, but from looking at the system itself we can make some deductions about how it works.
To cool the processor, ASUS relies on a large copper heatsink. Copper is used rather than aluminum due to its superior thermal characteristics. ASUS mates the copper heatsink with three fans, which are ducted together. Two of the fans are located on the bottom of the chassis, while a third is located on the back of the system. Vents are located on the back and left side of the chassis, air exits through here.
In practice, you can actually feel the system in action – right on your lap! Since the vents on the bottom of the chassis are used for air intake, it’s best to keep these vents unobstructed for optimum cooling, but not a requirement. The air exiting from the vents on the sides and back of the chassis is pretty hot, even with the system operating in battery mode. At full speed during gaming, not only is the air hot, it exits the system at a pretty quick clip.
Because of this, the chassis can get pretty warm very quickly. Fortunately, it isn’t hot enough to burn you, but your lap won’t forget the experience.
Software and accessories
While the operating system is installed by the reseller, ASUS does bundle the L5000GA with their DVD playback software, ASUS DVD XP 4.0, Power Director V2.5 ME, Medi@ Show V2.0 SE, a trial version of PC-Cillin 2002, NERO Express burning software, and ASUS’ suite of software utilities. The system also ships with a 2-button USB mouse (with scroll wheel) and carrying bag.
| Chassis design | Page:: ( 6 / 22 ) |
While ASUS’ stylish S5Ne is turning heads with its stylish design and lightweight, thin chassis, the L5000GA, with its emphasis on speed, is designed for performance and convenience.
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You can see this right on the front of the L5000GA, where CD control buttons are present. These buttons can be used to control your system’s audio player while the system is on in the operating system, or for listening to music when the notebook is turned off! In this case, the buttons can be used to activate a CD player for listening to audio CDs. A CD power LED is also present, which shines when the CD player is in use while the notebook is off. Next to the LED is a power button for this player.
Other CD buttons are present for performing common functions such as stop, play/pause, and skipping to the next track (these buttons double as volume control when Windows is running). Next to the CD LED is an infrared port for communicating with other IR-equipped devices such as other computers, PDAs, or printers.
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ASUS provides a wealth of options for connecting additional devices to the L5000GA. The chassis sports four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, two are located on the back of the notebook, while a third and fourth USB port are placed on the left and right side of the chassis for added flexibility. ASUS also includes a mini-1394 jack for FireWire devices, but unfortunately the system lacks a full-sized 1394 port. This would be a nice addition to the L5000GA, as it is a desktop replacement notebook.
A flash memory card reader is located on the right side of the notebook. The reader supports Secure Digital, Multimedia Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Select, Memory Stick Duo (with MS adapter) Memory Stick Pro, and Memory Stick Pro Duo (with MS Pro adapter memory cards are all supported. This is also where ASUS has located the optical drive and two PCMIA sockets.
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For additional display options, the L5000GA is also equipped with S-Video and VGA connections, while on the audio side, a SPDIF-out jack is located on the right side of the notebook’s chassis. Inputs and outputs are also provided nearby for hooking up external speakers or headphones to the L5000GA, as well as a microphone input. And for those of you who still rely on legacy devices such as serial and parallel ports and floppy disk drives, those are all present on the L5000GA. Finally, modem and LAN ports are provided on the back of the system.
We don’t like the location ASUS has chosen for the L5000GA’s speaker system. For some reason ASUS has elected to place them on the bottom of the system. Fortunately, sound isn’t badly muffled, but for optimal audio performance the speakers should have been placed on the top of the system, perhaps directly above the keyboard, or even better, integrated on the panel with the LCD. From this location audio would be aimed directly at the user.
Keys on the 88-key keyboard are full-sized, crisp and responsive. Function keys can also be toggled for such functions as disabling the wireless, (handy for traveling on an airplane) controlling screen brightness and system volume, and placing the notebook in suspend mode. While status indicators are present on the front of the system for indicating drive activity, power, and charge indicator, there’s even a status LED for when you receive new email (compatible with Microsoft email software only).
Finally, for added convenience, ASUS provides four instant launch keys at the top of the system, near the power button. The first button is programmable, allowing you to launch the software application of your choice, while the second and third buttons launch your Internet browser and Email software. The final button is for ASUS Power4 Gear.
Power4 Gear
ASUS Power Gear allows you to quickly toggle between power modes. Each Power4 setting adjusts clock speeds and display brightness according to its function. For instance, if you’re running on the battery and want to maximize its longevity, press the Power4 button until you see the maximum power savings icon on the screen. If you need a little bit more power, you can toggle to the medium performance setting.
At the top of the heap in battery mode is high performance, this is also the minimum setting in AC power mode. Just above high performance is maximum performance -- this is the setting you’ll want to remain in for best performance. ASUS has an even more advanced form of power saving technology, Power4 Gear+. Power4 Gear+ builds on Power4 Gear by adding eight different modes: watching DVDs, typing up documents, gaming, listening to music, etc. and can kick in automatically depending on system load. It’s too bad ASUS wasn’t able to integrate this technology into the L5000GA.
| Test conditions | Page:: ( 7 / 22 ) |
System Setup
Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz
ASUS L5000GA
ASUS P4P800 Deluxe with Turbo mode and MAM enabled
512MB OCZ EL PC3200 (DDR400) SDRAM
ATI RADEON 9600 PRO
ATI RADEON 9600
Driver version CATALYST 4.5
30GB IBM Deskstar DTLA 307030 ATA/100 Hard Drive
Windows XP Professional SP1
DirectX 9.0b
Benchmarks
3DMark 03
Lock On: Modern Air Combat (Mig-29 custom demo)
Call of Duty (demo0032 custom demo)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (T3 custom demo)
IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles (The Black Death track)
Splinter Cell (FS custom demo)
Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness (Beyond3D custom demo)
Halo: Combat Evolved (stock benchmark)
| 3DMark 03 | Page:: ( 8 / 22 ) |
3DMark 03 – Direct3D
3DMark 03 – Game Test Results
Notes
3Dmark 03 does an excellent job of isolating graphics performance, so we went ahead and included it for this round of benchmarks.
With the MOBILITY 9600 PRO’s clock speeds similar to the RADEON 9600, it isn’t surprising to see the L5000GA perform more similarly to the RADEON 9600 than the RADEON 9600 PRO. The 44MHz clock speed advantage that the MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics inside the L5000GA is probably responsible for the performance advantage at 800x600, but this evens out at higher resolutions, where memory bandwidth plays more of a factor in overall performance.
| Call of Duty | Page:: ( 9 / 22 ) |
Call of Duty – OpenGL
Notes
The L5000GA continues to keep pace with ATI’s RADEON 9600 on the desktop. We feel this is a pretty impressive showing on the L5000GA’s part, as the P4P800 Deluxe motherboard we’re testing with has been tuned for maximum performance. We’ve enabled ASUS’ Turbo mode, and their PAT-like Memory Acceleration Mode, these features give the P4P800 Deluxe a performance advantage over other 865PE motherboards. We’ve also got the memory timings cranked down for best performance.
Despite all this, the L5000GA is able to keep up with the desktop system. This shows us that ASUS has obviously taken the time out to fine tune the performance of their L5000GA.
| Call of Duty 4xAA | Page:: ( 10 / 22 ) |
Call of Duty – OpenGL
Notes
While the MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics inside the L5000GA boasts a fill rate advantage over RADEON 9600 thanks to its 344MHz clock speed, we find ourselves more bandwidth limited than anything else (the memory on both is running at 400MHz effective). As a result, the L5000GA system performs similarly to the RADEON 9600.
| IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles | Page:: ( 11 / 22 ) |
IL-2 Sturmovik: FB - OpenGL
Notes
We ran into stability issues with the CATALYST 4.5 driver and IL-2 Sturmovik. Eventually we gave up on a few of the resolutions with the RADEON 9600 PRO. The L5000GA also had problems with IL-2 at 1280x1024.
| Lock On: Modern Air Combat | Page:: ( 12 / 22 ) |
Lock On: Modern Air Combat – Direct3D
Notes
Not much has changed in LOMAC, the L5000GA continues to perform similarly to the desktop ATI RADEON 9600. Again, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, as both cards sport similar clock frequencies. We do feel it’s reassuring to see the L5000GA perform neck-and-neck with our tuned P4P800 Deluxe system however. It certainly appears as if ASUS has adopted a smaller variant of this motherboard into the L5000GA.
| Splinter Cell | Page:: ( 13 / 22 ) |
Splinter Cell – Direct3D
| Tomb Raider | Page:: ( 14 / 22 ) |
Tomb Raider – Direct3D
Notes
We hoped to see the slight clock speed advantage found in the MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics core give the L5000GA a larger performance advantage in a shader driven title like Tomb Raider, but as you can see this isn’t the case.
SIDEBAR: We enabled depth of field for Tomb Raider testing (V49).
| UT 2004 | Page:: ( 15 / 22 ) |
Unreal Tournament 2004
| UT 2004 4xAA | Page:: ( 16 / 22 ) |
Unreal Tournament 2004
| Far Cry | Page:: ( 17 / 22 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
Notes
Like Tomb Raider, we were again hoping to see the L5000GA’s faster core clock play a role at lower resolutions, but the 44MHz boost it boasts isn’t quite enough in our test case.
| Far Cry 4xAA | Page:: ( 18 / 22 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
| Far Cry 4xAA/8xAF | Page:: ( 19 / 22 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
| Halo | Page:: ( 20 / 22 ) |
Halo – Direct3D
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 21 / 22 ) |
Pros
ACE View: Without a doubt, the L5000GA’s best feature is its ACE View LCD display. As we mentioned earlier, ACE View relies on in-plane switching technology, which differs from TN+film by offering superior brightness and color reproduction at extreme angles. The difference between ASUS’ ACE View and other notebook displays is night and day, just take a look at the pictures we provided. If you’re a home theater buff, it’s a lot like comparing the older rear projection televisions to one of the newer displays or plasma.
With ACE View, watching DVDs is an enjoyable experience as you no longer have to remain in the sweet spot for optimum viewing – you could probably watch movies on the other side of the room! Of course, this also applies to gaming as well.
Besides good looks, ACE View is also responsive enough for most applications. Fast-paced shooters, which rely on quick movements, are the only exception.
Performance: With a 3.2GHz desktop Pentium 4 processor, Intel’s 865PE chipset, and ATI’s MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics core, the ASUS L5000GA is one notebook that’s built to crush benchmarks. As you probably know, we test all the titles we benchmark with at their highest settings: everything is cranked up. Despite this, we were able to achieve playable frame rates in titles like Far Cry and Unreal Tournament 2004 with all the eye candy you’d experience on a desktop system.
With its 344MHz graphics core and 200MHz memory, the MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics inside the L5000GA performs more similar to ATI’s RADEON 9600 on the desktop rather than the desktop RADEON 9600 PRO, as the clocks correspond more closely to the 9600’s 300MHz core/200MHz memory. Performance between the L5000GA and a desktop ASUS P4P800 Deluxe equipped 3.2GHz system we setup for testing was practically identical.
Keep in mind that the desktop P4P800 system was running with Memory Acceleration Mode enabled and in Turbo mode (for more details on these features, please refer back to our ASUS P4P800 Deluxe review), two BIOS features that make the P4P800 Deluxe one of the fastest 865 motherboards on the market today. In fact, it's capable of keeping up with ASUS' own 875P-based motherboard, the P4C800 Deluxe.
Basically, the L5000GA is giving up nothing in performance in comparison to a desktop 3.2GHz system with RADEON 9600. In fact, it’s faster than other 865PE systems with slower motherboards that don’t feature PAT-like technology like ASUS’ MAM.
Features: Besides all the standard features that come with the system, such as integrated 802.11g Wi-Fi, the 3.2GHz Pentium 4 with MOBILITY 9600 PRO graphics, DVD+CD-RW combo drive that also boasts DVD-RW capabilities, and ASUS’ slick ACE View display, the L5000GA ships with other features that make it stand out in comparison to other notebooks.
These features include ASUS Power4 Gear, which allows you to quickly switch between power modes and the Audio DJ functionality. This allows you to listen to audio CDs without having to boot up the system. The system also has buttons for quickly launching popular software applications (including a programmable button) and controlling multimedia software. There’s even a status LED for notifying you when you have new email!
Price: With so many features, including 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive, you’d probably expect this system to top out at nearly $3,000. Guess what, we were able to configure this system for under $2,500 at ASUS retailer PRO Portable! You’d be hard-pressed to configure a similarly equipped notebook system at this price from one of the specialty manufacturers such as VoodooPC or Alienware.
Cons
Heat: While we realize that the L5000GA system we reviewed sports a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 processor, we do feel that the heat output is still a little excessive. Dell’s Inspiron XPS ships with a faster 3.4GHz Pentium 4 processor but still manages to run much cooler than the L5000GA. We’d also like to see the battery life improved a bit more, although we do realize that the ACE View display cuts into this. You’ve got anywhere from roughly 60-90 minutes of juice, depending on the power mode you choose and the applications run.
Audio subsystem: You’ll want to do most of your gaming and movie watching with the L5000GA on a pair of good headphones rather than the system’s integrated speakers. Speaker output is fine for normal Windows tasks, but definitely underpowered for these applications. As it stands now, the room needs to be nearly silent to hear dialogue in movies sufficiently with the L5000GA.
Availability: ASUS provides a list of resellers that carry their notebooks on their website. This list includes such big names as Mwave, Newegg, and ZipZoomfly (formerly GoogleGear). But unfortunately, few of these resellers actually list the L5000GA on their website, instead stocking the ASUS S5Ne.
ASUS’ “Built On ASUS” strategy is brand new, so hopefully these resellers can get onboard with the L5000GA (one of ASUS’ latest Built On notebooks) soon.
| Final Verdict | Page:: ( 22 / 22 ) |
FiringSquad says:
ASUS’ L5000GA proves that the company is not only capable of producing high quality motherboards, but top-notch notebooks as well. The L5000GA notebook ran neck-and-neck with a similarly equipped 3.2GHz system that we configured with an ASUS P4P800 Deluxe motherboard, one of the fastest 865PE boards on the market. This demonstrates that the L5000GA is not only highly reliable, but an excellent performer as well.
With the L5000GA, ASUS integrates a desktop 3.2GHz Pentium 4 processor, 1GB of DDR400 RAM running in dual-channel mode, ATI’s MOBILITY 9600 PRO, an 80GB hard drive with 8MB cache, DVD burner with CD-RW capabilities, card reader and floppy drives, integrated 802.11g Wi-Fi and Gigabit LAN, and one of the slickest looking displays we’ve seen in a notebook thanks to ACE View. All this is wrapped into a chassis that’s designed to be highly convenient to use and is priced at just over $2,000.
Of course, this is all configurable online, for instance, if you need a little more disk performance, you can specify the Hitachi 7200 RPM hard drive with 8MB cache. Or if you’d like a little more battery, perhaps dropping down to a slower processor or going with the regular SXGA display would be better for your needs. All of these aspects can be custom configured. ASUS builds the notebook, while the reseller adds the hard drive, processor, and memory you specify. You even get the full ASUS warranty and support.
As a result, awarding the L5000GA our Bull’s Eye Award was a no-brainer. This notebook epitomizes what the award is all about: delivering the highest price/performance possible. We couldn’t imagine building a similar notebook from one of the specialty manufacturers at the L5000GA’s price point. In fact, for a while we were debating giving it our Editor’s Choice Award!
We just wish more resellers carried ASUS’ L5000GA. This is definitely a killer notebook that should appease the needs of all but the hardest of the hardcore gamers. And even for you guys, you’d probably want a high-end mobile system to take with you on the road. After all, lugging a 3.2GHz system with RADEON 9800 XT or X800 graphics and a high-end LCD or CRT isn’t easy. And with the PAT-like performance the L5000GA’s 865PE motherboard was dishing out, we also have a hard time seeing a small form factor system matching the performance of this notebook.
If you’re in the market for a high-end notebook that won’t break your bank account, ASUS’ L5000GA is hard to beat. ASUS integrates a ton of features and impressive performance in this notebook, it’s surprising how little it sells for: it’s like getting a Ferrari at half the price!