In-depth review of GX700VO, the first water-cooled laptop in history

IT168? Review Once upon a time, in the era of feature phones that had not yet been divided into three parts, the release of each generation of Nokia flagship phones was bound to bring a bloody storm to the mobile phone industry. At that time, only Nokia's mobile phones were qualified to be praised as the "King of Mobile Phones". Which one of N8, N95, and N97 was not stunning and defied the crowd? Among them, the term "machine king" is evaluated based on the feedback of users' actual usage, including comprehensive factors such as appearance, configuration, performance, experience, price, etc. The same is true for the PC industry!

In the era when Nokia dominated the world, Intel Core i series processors were just getting started, and NVIDIA's GTX series of high-performance graphics cards were not the only one. Lenovo was still a small PC manufacturer that had just started, and ASUS players The kingdom was not as famous as it is now. However, time is both an opportunity and a test for a brand. In the ten years since its debut, the Republic of Gamers series has relied on the accumulation of excellent products from generation to generation, continuous technological innovation, and the brand concept of "only for transcendence" to create one high-quality classic gaming notebook product after another for gamers, and will This product has gradually become a genuine "country of players". Jingdong Mall

Although ASUS ROG? GX700VO made a high-profile appearance as early as IFA 2015, when the long-rumored water-cooled notebook was officially released, it still attracted the attention of the public. The five "water-cooled notebooks" alone One word is enough to shock the entire PC world. As the world's first gaming notebook equipped with a desktop-level GTX 980 graphics card and a water-cooled docking station, ROG? GX700VO has created a new image of gaming notebooks for gamers. The phone was first launched on JD.com on March 1, priced at 49,999 yuan. Is this a money grab? Today, the editor unveils the mystery of the world's first water-cooled notebook ROG? GX700VO. Let's see if this sky-high price gaming notebook is worth it? Jingdong Mall

▲Jingdong Mall offers a discount of 5,000 yuan for purchases over 40,000 yuan, but it still costs 40,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan. There is really no one else!

Feature 1: The world’s first exclusive laptop suitcase

Review section: suitcase

Feature index: ☆☆☆☆☆

Practical index: ☆☆☆☆☆

Features advance review: The consistent, tough and sturdy suitcase design is enough to show that the Republic of Gamers has put a lot of effort into its first water-cooled notebook ROG GX700VO. Laptops aside, the editor personally thinks that such a good laptop in a suitcase is a bit overkill, and it is perfect to take with you on a business trip! This is also a great benefit for friends who often travel for business. They don’t need to buy a suitcase. But if you spend 50,000 yuan to buy a laptop and just buy a suitcase, you can only say "rich people, let's be friends!" As the first laptop to come with a travel case, five-star reviews are inevitable.

For professional players and game enthusiasts, the biggest advantage of gaming notebooks over desktops is the classic line from the hero Mundo in "League of Legends": "Go wherever you want to go." , portability has almost become one of the important considerations for today's consumers when purchasing computers, whether they choose a business laptop that is inherently portable or a gaming laptop that is powerful but very bulky. As the world's first gaming notebook equipped with a water-cooled expansion dock, portability seems to be quite tricky. A bulky notebook host plus a water-cooling expansion dock is obviously not something that an ordinary travel bag can carry.

In order to maximize the advantages of laptop portability, ROG GX700VO comes with this business-style travel trolley case. The overall appearance of ROG GX700VO's exclusive luggage adopts ROG's classic color scheme. The composite texture of pure black vertical stripes is matched with an orange metal frame, which looks very classy. The "THE OF CHAMPIONS" slogan on the front of the luggage is combined with the classic ROG pattern. It conveys to the outside world that this is a masterpiece from ROG. We can see the good intentions of ROG GX700VO designers from the "simple" suitcase design appearance.

After opening the ROG GX700VO exclusive travel case, from top to bottom we can see the ROG exclusive mouse, the ROG GX700V gaming notebook covered with multiple layers of protective foam, and the most distinctive water-cooled docking station. Inside the box The structural layout is very reasonable, and the foam lining that can be seen everywhere provides protection against bumps during travel.

Feature 2: The appearance continues the classic, and innovation permeates it

Evaluation part: A-side top cover, C-side keyboard

Feature index: ☆☆

Practical index: ☆☆☆☆☆

Features advance review: Side A does not change much for players who are familiar with the ROG series, but it is somewhat different for game fans who are looking forward to ASUS water-cooled notebooks. Disappointing, the change in the appearance design of the hinge cannot be said to have much intention. Overall, it is very similar to the GFX72 series produced by ASUS ROG in late 2015. The C-side keyboard still follows the classic "R" splicing scheme of the ASUS ROG series in recent years. The black and white splicing of metal and skin-like materials and the most classic red and black keyboard of the ROG series declare that it is still the continuation of the classic ROG. Among them, the functions Key and shortcut key settings are the key to success for gamers.

On the whole, ROG GX700VO is not very creative for players who are familiar with the ROG series of high-end gaming laptops, but for those who are new to it or are not familiar with the ROG gaming laptop series, it is still worthy of careful appreciation. It’s “full of sense of black technology”. The feature index is evaluated from the perspective of veteran ROG players, while the practicality index relies entirely on the design of function keys and game shortcut keys. Jingdong Mall

I believe that gamers who have seen the ROG GFX72 series will not be too unfamiliar with the appearance of the ROG GX700VO. Compared with the former, the biggest change in the latter is the hinge design. ROG GX700VO changes the one-piece hinge design of the ROG GFX72 series and adopts a slightly retro hinge design, which makes the already angular body look more tough.

▲Republic of Gamers

▲The lighting effect on side A after booting is still quite cool

Continuing the spliced ??C of the GFX72 series Surface has been an important popular element in the notebook industry since 2015, but there are not many good manufacturers that can use it. ASUS ROG "R" splicing is one of the more mature splicing solutions that the editor has seen: More The large keyboard area, black and white splicing of metal and skin-like materials, and the most classic red and black keyboard of the ROG series declare that it is still the continuation of the classic ROG.

The keyboard part of GX700VO has been specially designed, with the appearance of five customizable programmable shortcut keys, a key travel of 2.3mm and an anti-ghosting key design of 30 keys without conflict, combined with an exquisite red backlight. , making this keyboard both beautiful and powerful, making it the most practical keyboard in the ASUS ROG series.

▲The prominently marked "WASD" button makes it easier for gamers to find key positions accurately

▲GameFirst III setting interface

Compared with five custom programming Shortcut keys, the biggest feature of ROG GX700VO is the ROG key (Gaming Center) and GameFirst III settings. This key can set four usage modes and control the fan speed of the host and water-cooled docking station, helping players adjust and quickly understand system information. And carry out personalized optimization settings for different games to quickly start the game.

Feature three: clear screen quality, sensitive touchpad, excellent sound quality

Evaluation part: B-side screen, C-side touchpad, speakers, interface

Practical index: ☆☆☆☆

Feature review in advance: The overall picture quality of the 17.3-inch 1080P FHD IPS matte screen on ROG? GX700VO It’s still very good, and in order to meet the needs of different players, you can choose to customize the 4K screen. However, due to the rapid development of 4K screens in recent years, it is no longer surprising to the public, let alone a 45,000 notebook; the interface and touchpad design are almost the same as those of ordinary high-end gaming notebooks. If we want to talk about the above four aspects, which Better on the one hand, it's just the speakers.

The Sonic Studio intelligent sound control system equipped on this machine can not only provide immersive auditory effects, but also provide gamers such as CF with the precise location of enemies when combined with Sonic Rader II sonic radar technology. From a practical point of view, Sonic Rader II sonic radar technology may be the favorite among gamers, but subjective feelings such as sound effects still vary from person to person. Jingdong Mall

As a 17.3-inch top-level gaming notebook, the 1080P FHD IPS matte screen may be a bit disappointing to some people. “It’s already 40,000 yuan and it’s not a 4K screen?” A fact that is really intolerable for players of audio and video effects. However, for professional players and game enthusiasts, a 1080P resolution gaming screen may be enough.

One thing worth affirming is that for game images, the higher the resolution, the clearer the image. 4K is always better than 1080P. However, due to the limitations of today's graphics card core, even the desktop-level GTX 980 graphics card equipped with GX700VO, or even higher-performance graphics cards, for high-definition games like "Far Cry 4" and "Assassin's Creed 5: Unity", 1080P Under the environment, the special effects can only be adjusted to the highest setting, which is just enough. If it is set to 4K resolution, the FPS value will really be unreadable!

However, ROG GX700V supports NVIDIA G-SYNC technology, which can ensure that players can obtain a very coherent and smooth picture display effect without limiting the number of frames. And if players want a 4K screen, it can be customized. Wouldn’t it be perfect with NVIDIA G-SYNC technology?

▲The speakers located on both sides of the keyboard surface provide users with an overwhelming auditory effect when headphones are not plugged in.

Asus ROG GX700VO has 4 built-in speakers, using Sonic Studio The intelligent sound control system uses the one-click virtual surround function to simulate 7.1 channels through stereo (2-channel) headphones, bringing users an immersive listening experience; at the same time, ROG GX700VO can also use Sonic Rader II Acoustic radar technology uses the radar map on the monitor screen to display the relative positions of gunshots, footsteps and other sounds in the game, providing gamers with a preemptive gaming experience.

▲The large-area skin-like touchpad area has a low-key design, blends perfectly with the background color of the C surface, and feels quite good.

In terms of interfaces, three USB3.0 interfaces that support fast charging are standard. The addition of Type-C and Thunderbolt 3.0 interfaces has greatly enhanced its expansion performance. It should be mentioned here that ASUS is really the pioneer in popularizing the Type-C interface. Almost all new models launched since the second half of 2015 come with it as standard, and their improvement in data transfer rate is indeed obvious. In addition, from this angle we can also clearly see the location of the speakers on the interface surface.

Feature 4: The water-cooled docking station is tightly connected for ultimate heat dissipation

Evaluation part: Water-cooled docking station and host interface, heat dissipation port, etc.

Feature index: ☆☆ ☆☆☆

Practical index: ☆☆☆☆☆

Featured advance evaluation: This aspect of evaluation is the most concerned direction for all gamers and even within the PC industry. The editor conducted tests from three aspects: the connection between the water-cooling dock and the host, the main working principle of water-cooling heat dissipation, and the actual heat dissipation of the notebook. From the actual temperature test, we can see that the effect of water-cooling heat dissipation is still very obvious. For simple wind The cold dissipation has been greatly enhanced. Although the temperature of the whole machine does not seem to be as low as expected, the ROG GX700VO is equipped with an i7-6820HK processor ending in K and a desktop-level graphics card GTX 980, so the heat generation can be imagined. As the world's first gaming notebook equipped with a water-cooled heat dissipation device, the feature index and practicality index undoubtedly give it a five-star rating! Jingdong Mall

With the title of "the world's first water-cooled notebook", the water-cooled docking station of ASUS ROG GX700VO is naturally the biggest highlight, and it is also the area that gamers pay the most attention to.

The appearance of the water-cooled docking station maintains the same design style as the host. It has a large number of irregular pattern designs, a protruding "big tongue" on the front, and a unique lever-type control key on the back, which all look cool.

▲The power interface located on the left side of the water-cooling dock

▲The connection area located in the front of the fuselage

The connection area in the front of the fuselage is mainly divided into It is composed of two parts. The first part is the two outermost fixing rods and the two buckles on both sides of the red communication interface, which are used to fix the host and the water-cooled expansion dock. The second part is the remaining three interfaces, which are also the key to the function of water cooling. The red interface in the center is mainly responsible for the communication between the notebook device and the water-cooling docking station, while the two interfaces on both sides of it are respectively Used to output and recover refrigerant liquid.

In order to achieve a tight connection between the water-cooled docking station and the notebook host, there are two exclusive control keys at the rear and top of the front section of the ROG GX700VO water-cooled docking station. When we correctly place the host on the protruding part in front of the water-cooled expansion dock and fully press the pressure lever behind it, we can achieve a smooth connection between the two interfaces. When you need to disconnect ROG GX700VO from its water-cooling dock, you only need to press the button on the top of the front section of the water-cooling dock. The entire connection and disconnection process is very convenient and not as complicated as imagined.

Water-cooling heat dissipation principle:

From the disassembly diagram above, we can see that the overall heat dissipation of ROG GX700VO consists of two parts, including conventional copper tube air-cooling heat dissipation and unique There are two parts of water-cooling heat dissipation. The air-cooling heat dissipation is exhausted from the two left and right air outlets on the back of the notebook host. Let’s focus on the principle of water-cooling heat dissipation: When the water-cooling dock is working, the water-cooling liquid flows out of the storage tank and enters the notebook through the nozzle. In the water circulation pipeline of the device, another nozzle of the water-cooling dock collects the high-temperature water cooling liquid flowing through the internal water circulation pipeline of the notebook. At this time, it is cooled by a high-power cooling fan and returned to the water cooling liquid storage tank. The cold air is sucked in to further cool down and then the next working cycle is completed. Of course, regarding whether the water-cooling dock itself will leak water-cooling fluid, for ROG Players, this situation is obviously not allowed and will not happen. Players don’t have to worry.

▲Air-cooled heat dissipation outlet

Actual temperature test:

So what is the specific heat dissipation situation? Let’s test it through a specific baking machine test. . We use the system stability test environment of AIDA64 to release all the performance of the graphics card, hard disk, processor, etc. The CPU occupancy rate is 100% for more than 30 minutes, and then use a thermal imager to conduct a temperature test.

We can see that the temperature of the host is mainly concentrated in the upper left position of the keyboard surface, and the main heat dissipation components are the CPU and desktop-level GTX 980 graphics card. The temperature performance is pretty good, but I believe the public is still a little disappointed with the water-cooled heat dissipation device. The temperature expectations are higher than imagined.

During the test, we placed our palms behind the left and right sides of the notebook host and directly above the water-cooled expansion dock. We can clearly feel the large airflow, especially the airflow above the water-cooling expansion dock is relatively larger. Some.

▲Gaming Center Settings Center: You can set the speed of the system host fan and water-cooling dock fan. For the roaster test above, we adjusted the speed to 100%, but the fan rotation itself will also dissipate heat. I wonder if this will increase the temperature?

Feature 5: Basic performance test, desktop-level graphics card, contempt for all living beings

Evaluation section: CPU, graphics card, memory, hard disk, complete machine, etc.

Feature index : ☆☆☆☆☆

Practical index: ☆☆☆☆☆

Features advance review: i7-6820HK, GTX 980 8G video memory, 32G DDR4 memory, 512G SSD, 17.3 inches Optional 4K display, this configuration is scary just to hear it! In terms of actual use, the machine did not have any minor problems after a week of "torture" by the editor. Are you very envious! The whole machine runs extremely smoothly, and its biggest feature is the addition of the desktop-level GTX 980 graphics card.

It's a pity that I can't afford it, so I can only try it! But for this configuration, it is fully five-star! Jingdong Mall

▲ Compared with the fourth-generation flagship processor i7-4790K, the sixth-generation i7-6820HK still has some improvements.

▲Memory and Cache Test

▲CPU/GPU Test

The above test data can only be described as "terrible", with PCmark 7 For example, the test score is astonishing if the test score of a conventional gaming laptop exceeds 6,000. What is the concept of the score of ROG GX700VO 7507? Is there a "god-like existence"? The name of "Machine King" is well deserved. Similarly, the ROG GX700VO 3Dmark 11 P test score of 14005 is beyond the reach of all current notebooks, even desktops. In short, if it is not a top-end desktop computer, I believe that the scores of both of them are not enough to surpass the test scores of ROG GX700VO.

In terms of actual application software fluency, ROG GX700VO did not have any minor problems after seven days of use. But having said that, for a 45,000 gaming notebook, it would be a big mistake if there are any more problems!

Feature six: The game performance test is extremely powerful and invincible

Evaluation part: Game performance (highlighting the performance of GTX 980 8G video memory desktop-level graphics card)

Feature index: ☆ ☆☆☆☆

Practical index: ☆☆☆☆

Featured advance review: Regarding game performance testing, the editor has done a game-specific testing article before. I like it. Friends can click to view details! Today, the editor only selects the most demanding game "Assassin's Creed 5: Unity" as a game case for actual testing. Judging from the overall test results, the performance of the desktop-level GTX 980 graphics card is fully exposed. Its ultra-high display performance can indeed be called an artifact for gamers. For games such as Assassin's Creed, it can run more than 40% with full special effects. FPS value. However, for most people, such a high-end graphics card seems not to be used, so the practicality index is four stars, which is not bad! Jingdong Mall

Game settings: 1080P extremely high-definition vertical synchronization anti-aliasing quality MSAA-4x

The "Assassin's Creed" series has so far been released to "Assassin's Creed 6: Syndicate". As a fan of the "Assassin's Creed" series, the editor has played almost all of the "Assassin's Creed" series with new product updates every year. From the perspective of the demanding configuration, "Assassin's Creed 5: Unity" released in November 2014 is "Assassin's Creed 5: Unity". Assassin's Creed is the most demanding game version in the series. The system requirements of "Assassin's Creed 6: Syndicate", the latest version released in 2015, are really "paltry" compared to it.

"Assassin's Creed 5: Unity" is an action role-playing game produced by Ubisoft Montreal Studio. It is the seventh work in the "Assassin's Creed" series. The game is set in Paris in 1789, during the French Revolution. The economic depression has made people's lives miserable. Hunger, poverty, and riots have filled every corner of the city, but the nobles are still living a carefree life.

Configuration performance requirements analysis:

CPU: For the official configuration requirements, the editor can only describe it as "crazy"! The quad-core Core i5 2500K and AMD's eight-core pile driver FX 8350 are already the minimum requirements, and the memory is at least 6GB. The recommended configuration is the quad-core Core i7 3770 or AMD's eight-core pile driver FX 8350. I believe there is no high-end processor. Don't even think about playing with it.

Graphics card: The demand for graphics cards is also petrifying. The last two generations of flagship GTX680 and HD7970 are entry-level equipment, and have at least 2GB of video memory. The recommended configuration requires NV’s previous generation flagship GTX780 or R9 290X, and video memory. Also goes above 3GB. The editor estimates that if you want to turn on all the special effects and run the game smoothly, you should just pay for a graphics card.

Storage and others: As a game ported from next-generation consoles, the PC version of "Assassin's Creed 5: Unity" has a game size of 50GB! And the game must be run under a 64-bit Windows 7 or 8 system. In general, seeing such configuration requirements, it is estimated that a large number of players will not even think about playing games.

In general, the hardware performance requirements of "Assassin's Creed 5: Unity" are unprecedented for other games. However, for a ROG GX700VO water-cooled notebook equipped with a desktop-level high-performance graphics card GTX 980 8G video memory , there is no high-end game that cannot run. We set the game screen to the highest level, using a 1080P, extremely high image quality, vertical synchronization, and anti-aliasing quality MSAA-4x game environment. However, the game running performance did not surprise gamers. Disappointed, the average FPS of 40.6 is an "astronomical figure" for other conventional gaming notebooks. Under normal circumstances, the FPS value of conventional gaming notebooks when running games at 1080P, high quality, and other game environments that are not turned on by default exceeds 40 It is already quite good, but the ROG GX700VO ran an FPS value of 40 with all special effects adjusted to the highest, which undoubtedly demonstrates the excellent gaming performance of the machine!

Evaluation summary: The quality of the machine king, who can compete

Evaluation part: all

Feature index: ☆☆☆☆☆

Practical index: ☆☆

Purchase link: Jingdong Mall

This article mainly tests the world's first water-cooled notebook ASUS ROG GX700VO from the six major characteristics, and analyzes the characteristics and Conduct actual evaluation in both practical aspects. The machine is equipped with the world's first water-cooled docking station, NVIDIA desktop graphics card GTX 980 8G video memory, Intel's new sixth-generation flagship processor i7 6820HK, 32G DDR4 high-speed memory, 512G solid-state drive, and a 17.3-inch 1080P high-definition large screen, giving it a machine-like quality An unobstructed view.

In terms of features, ROG GX700VO mainly includes the following three aspects. First of all, as the world's first water-cooled notebook, ROG GX700VO uses a water-cooled docking station, but portability is still an unavoidable problem. Therefore, ROG designers specially designed a customized travel case for ASUS water-cooled notebooks to carry the water-cooled notebook. Secondly, the water-cooling heat dissipation device constructed by the water-cooling expansion dock is undoubtedly the biggest highlight of this notebook. The dual cooling system composed of air-cooling heat dissipation guided by copper pipe heat conduction and water-cooling heat dissipation guided by the water-cooling device ensures that the desktop-level GTX 980 graphics card and A large amount of heat accumulates in the i7-6820HK high-performance processor; finally, the application of desktop-level GTX 980 graphics card breaks the criticism that gaming notebooks are too small to carry desktop-level graphics cards, thus improving the overall gaming performance of gaming notebooks.

In terms of practicality, for ordinary gamers, ROG GX700VO is passed on in terms of price. The price of 45,000 is simply an astronomical figure for non-professional gamers and non-rich friends. And for players who like DIY, the cost of assembling a high-configuration gaming desktop is far less than 45,000 yuan. Therefore, the main sales channels of this machine tend to be professional players and some well-off game enthusiasts. According to the editor's personal opinion, ASUS aims to build the ROG GX700VO into an iconic milestone product in the history of PC and cooperate with the world's top e-sports teams , to create a professional and easy-to-use water-cooled gaming notebook for professional players.