Laptop Review: ASUS ROG Strix G731GT-H7114T

ROG Strix G731GT-H7114T is powered by the Hexacore 9th Gen Intel i7 9750H which is a great processor for creative professionals and greatly compliments the entry-level Nvidia GTX 1650 with 4 GB of dedicated graphics memory. The RAM and storage are configured at 8 GB of single-channel DDR4 RAM and 512 GB of superfast NVMe SSD storage. The chicklet keyboard is firm and comfortable to type on. The trackpad is slightly small but it’s smooth and accurate. The 17.3-inch display has a  superfast 120Hz panel with a viewing angle of 170 and colors are very accurate. The ASUS ROG Strix G731GT-H7114T is a premium gaming machine from ROG of Asus this means you can expect a robust design that will turn heads at the cost of some performance for its price. Overall this is a great laptop that will last you for years it may not give you the best performance for its price but it is definitely a great laptop one of the better-looking gaming machines out there.

Design and Ports

The ASUS ROG Strix G731GT-H7114T has a tough plastic chassis.  With a few LED lighting options brushed it greatly manages to avoid fingerprints. The lid could have a slight flex. Overall the sleek design looks impressive and the red accents are subtle.

Ports:‌ ‌

• 3x USB 3.2 ( Type A)
• 1x HDMI port
• 1x Display Port
• 3.5 mm Audio jack
• 1 x Ethernet Jack

Keyboard and Trackpad

The keys on the ASUS ROG Strix G731GT-H7114T are deep and comfortable to type on with a single-zone RGB backlight.  The Numpad and arrow keys are of reduced size. The trackpad is small for a 17-inch device. But the inclusion of dedicated mouse keys is a welcome one. The trackpad has a matte finish with cursor having smooth and uniform motion.

CPU: 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H

The Intel Core i7-9750H is a high-end processor for Gaming laptops. The six cores processor comes with 12 Threads and is based on the Coffee Lake architecture. The 9750H has a base clock of 2.6 GHz and the clock speed can be turbo boosted to up to 4 GHz (with 6 cores) or 4.5 GHz (one core). When compared to its previous generation, the 9750H sees a slight improvement in L3 cache and clock speeds. Intel has specified a TDP of 45 watts, therefore the i7 is only suited for bulkier Gaming Laptops with good cooling solutions. The CPU can also be configured to 35 Watt using cTDP-down, resulting in reduced performance.

Performance

The Intel Core i7-9750H is comparable to the older Core i7-7820HQ when it comes to single-core performance. However, the latest i7 9750H Coffee Lake CPUs offer a Hexa core configuration therefore you will see up to 50% faster results in multithreaded benchmarks when compared to the i5 9300H.

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650

The GTX 1650 is based on the Turing architecture and 12 nm manufacturing process. The 4 GB Graphics Card with GDDR5/GDDR6 memory is clocked at 8GHz with a 128 Bit memory interface that creates a bandwidth of 128 GB/s and operates at 192-bits is attached via PCIe 3.0 x16 interface and with a power consumption of 50 Watt. The GTX 1650 is a mid-range graphics card primarily aimed at Gamers the performance just falls short of the GTX 1060, however, GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti pales in comparison to that of GTX 1650. 

GTX 1650 mobile is decent entry-level graphics for laptops but with limited potential for gaming and GPU tasks. GTX 1650 mobile is about 40 percent more powerful than GTX 1050ti and is about 15 percent slower when compared to GTX 1060.

Display

The IPS panel display operates at 1920×1080 with a 120 Hz refresh rate with a maximum brightness of 250 nits with a contrast ratio of 800:1. The choice of screen is crucial for photo editing, technical capabilities will prove vital if your line of work requires accurate color and detail. The optimal viewing distance is over 60 cm or 24 inches beyond this distance individual pixels are not visible.

Color Support: Gamut, Color Depth, Chroma Subsampling

Color gamut/Color range support is expressed in terms of the percentage of the monitor coverage. Wider gamuts like Rec.2020 standard,  Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 provide exponentially finer color detail compared to older standards like sRGB. The deeper color depths will provide more details for editing in the post-production process.  The display covers 94% of the sRGB and 59.3% AdobeRGB color-space coverage; the optimal viewing distance is over 60 cm or 24 inches beyond this distance individual pixels are not visible. The Display has Wide and accurate color coverage.

Battery

The ‌66 Wh Lithium-Polymer has an average battery life with the screen brightness at 120 nits while casually browsing you can expect up to 5 hours of battery life.

How is the ASUS ROG Strix G731GT-H7114T for Gaming?

The Nvidia GTX 1650 mobile should be able to handle most modern AAA games without any problem. The GTX 1650 mobile and gets about 32 percent benchmarks to score in gaming when compared to Nvidia RTX 3090.

Gaming Benchmarks

• Below 20 FPS– Unplayable/laggy/stuttery
• 20-30 FPS– Below average, acceptable for some laggy for others. 
• 30-45 FPS– Average, acceptable for most people.
• 45-60 FPS– Above Average, Smooth animation/No lag.
• 60-90 FPS– Semi-Professional.
• Above 90 FPS– God tier/Hardcore/Professional.

Fortnite

• Low ( 720p): 120 FPS
• Mid ( 1080p): 112 FPS
• High ( 1080p): 61 FPS
• Ultra (1080p): 47 FPS

PUBG ( PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds)

• Low( 720p): 100 FPS
• Mid ( 1080p): 60 FPS
• High (1080p): 49 FPS
• Ultra (1080p): 37 FPS

GTA V

• Low (768p): 120 FPS
• Mid (768p): 120 FPS
• High (1080p): 70 FPS
• Ultra (1080p): 32 FPS

CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)

• Low (768p): 120 FPS
• Mid (768p): 120 FPS
• High (768p): 120 FPS
• Ultra (1080p): 120 FPS

League of Legends 

• Low (720p): 120 FPS
• Mid (1080p): 120 FPS
• High (1080p): 120 FPS

Overwatch

• Low (720p): 120 FPS
• Mid (768p): 120 FPS
• High (1080p): 120 FPS
• Ultra (1080p): 65 FPS

Apex Legends

• Low (720p): 112 FPS
• Mid (1080p): 69 FPS
• High (1080p): 56 FPS
• Ultra (1080p): 48 FPS