Asus is famous for its wide range of gaming laptops. Their ROG series offers powerful and attractive laptops within an attractive price range. Asus announced the Asus ROG G703 Chimera on August and it is finally on the market. This laptop, within the ROG series, is not an ordinary computer. The manufacturer has designed it to withstand heavy-duty gaming and to satisfy the needs of a real gaming professional.
In addition to its powerful hardware, the laptop features a whopping 144Hz refresh rate, which is ahead of most similar gaming laptops that feature 120Hz display. The refresh rate is useful for fast-paced genres like the FPS. And the 17.3-inch screen diagonal offers a larger field of view.
Without a capable hardware, the wonderful display might not mean much. That is the primary reason Asus equipped the device with 7th gen Intel Core i7-7820HK and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 with 8GB of GDDR5X Video RAM.
The Design and Build
When it comes to design and build, the G703 Chimera is an eye-catching gaming computer. The manufacturer uses a mix of matte-black panels and gunmetal aluminium to make the body. It also boasts straights dividing its various shades and sharp angles.
Moreover, the designer augmented the two-tone body with bright colour to enhance the appearance and underpinned the large ROG and keyboard with RGB LEDs. At the back of the machine, expect to find shiny-burnt orange panels.
The machine has a unique appearance and huge dimensions pair the design – the product weighs 4.7 Kg (10.3Lbs), it is 5.1-inches (2.01”) thick. The product’s heft translates to wonderful build quality, but you will require a sturdier backpack and solid shoulder muscles to carry the machine to a LAN party.
Due to its generous size, the machine provides adequate room for the ports you require for better gaming. The ports include USB 3.1 connectors, Type-C jack, a USB 3.1, Thunderbolt, mini-DisplayPort, HDMI outputs, card reader and Xbox wireless receiver suitable for individuals who like to game with several controllers. On its other side, you should expect a dual-band 802.11ac wireless, Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth.
The internal access is also great. You only need to remove a single screw from its bottom panel to reach its 2 spare memory slots, 2 free M.2 connectors and the existing storage.
The trackpad and keyboard
The product’s sturdy build and size provides a solid base for a quality keyboard. Damages to the keyboard are unlikely to occur during heavy gaming. The keys provide 2.5mm of travel, which is more than that of most gaming laptops in the market today.
Expect consistent and more reliable typing action when using the Asus ROG G703 Chimera due to the great layout. The manufacturer offers sizeable keys, a separate number pad and extra highlighting on the product’s WASD buttons. The extra row of buttons, which sits above the exceptional keyboard features shortcuts to help you open the Asus Gaming Centre App, Xbox Gamebar, XSplit Gamecaster and the lighting settings of this machine.
The firm base and the extra travel have made the G703 Chimera a product that can handle MOBAS, FPS and the other competitive titles. The story does not change when it comes to analysing the trackpad. It offers reasonable light touch, but a proper mouse might be more responsive. The trackpad has shallower buttons and great precision. Attaching a mouse to the machine is easier than attaching a keyboard.
The sound and screen quality
The 17.3-in IPS screen offers solid gaming benefits. The Nvidia G-Synch that stands at 144Hz and the 1080p resolution are enough to differentiate the product from others of similar class. Even though some laptops might boast higher figures, they are usually arguable if the native 1080p resolution appears sharp enough. Serious gamers would rather go for 144Hz refresh rate plus G-Sync instead of extra pixels. The product’s graphics core runs games smoothly at the refresh rate and resolution of this machine.
The 269 nits brightness level will handle both office and home lights well, while the 0.21 nits black level is deep than that of most gaming laptops. The two figures make a contrast ratio that is above the industry’s average (1278:1).
The 3W units produce decent clarity and ample volume at both the high-end and mid-range. The manufacturer does not provide a subwoofer and therefore the bass is weak. The speakers are suitable for any gaming activity.
The product’s performance and battery
After slapping the GTX 1080 in the Asus G703 Chimera, the manufacturer took the 1556MHz GPU’s core and overclocked it to stand at 1682MHz. The improved clock along with the 2560 stream processors of GTX 1080 and the 8GB of the GDDR5X memory enhances the performance of this gaming laptop.
The product handles the demanding games like the Total War: Warhammer and the Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 114fps and 74fps respectively. In addition to smooth gameplay, the superb results mean that the games will run fast enough to benefit from the 144Hz refresh rate with minor graphical tweaks. The overclocked processor will also handle various productivity tasks like video and photo creation. Its SSD has 3269MB/sec and 1699MB/sec read and write speeds respectively.
Speaking of thermal tests, the product’s high-end components, the construction and size handle thermal tests well. This is an area where most gaming laptops have failed. During tough stress test, the GPU and CPU peak at 81C and 93C. At the two temperatures, the laptop will remain cool and the fan produces minimal noise. Unfortunately, you should expect heat ejection through the vents on the two sides of this computer.
When running an average game, the battery is likely to last for one hour, which is the average for powerful gaming laptops. The Asus Gaming Centre tool governs this computer. It switches between extreme clock modes and the slow standard options. It monitors the temperatures, clock speeds and the fan speeds of the vital components. You can customize the fan, the audio and the networking tools.
Pros
- Excellent gaming performance
- Features an overclocked, very fast processor
- The build quality is exceptional
- The 144Hz-G-Sync screen is bright and accurate when it comes to gaming
Cons
- It features a heavy, bulky design
- It is very expensive and not all gamers will afford it
Why buy this gaming laptop
Unlike most gaming laptops, the Asus ROG G703 is bulky, but the additional size and weight are not necessarily bad. The laptop has a solid build quality and the keyboard is better than that of most rival products. The size is also important for the powerful components inside. Generally, the Asus G703 is cooler and quieter than most gaming laptops.
