Quad Core Gaming - On A Laptop?

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Now that, if you are a hardcore PC gamer, is cool. ASUS has announced the availability of what it claims is the world's first quad core gaming notebook. The G71 series is powered by the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 processor, and has had 'overspeed protection' removed to push it through the overclocking boundaries of ordinary laptops and enable truly extensive user multitasking.

ASUS tell us that, as far as the gaming goodies go, the G71 gets:

  • 17” Crystal Shine high brightness display with super fast response time of 8ms
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT GDDR3 512MB graphics card
  • 4 GB of DDR2 1333MHz SDRAM memory
  • Dual hard disk drives 500GB (250GB x 2)
  • Blu-ray drive for total entertainment
  • Webcam and Bluetooth for great connectivity and communication

Then there is the 'Direct Console 2.0' stuff which serves as an all-in-one gaming control interface. Basically, this lets the user select from three different processor speed settings depending on what it is they want to do at the time. Oh, and there are also gaming hotkeys to launch games and execute in-game commands.

What else? How about the programmable lighting system within the chassis which lights up and blinks during in-game events? Or the direct messenger secondary display for notifications, instant messages, battery reserves and system loadings in real-time even during intense game play?

Throw in the Altec Lansang Dolby Home Theatre speakers, the gaming keyboard and a 2.0 megapixel webcam and I know what I want from Santa this year! As long as his elves throw in the optional Eee Stick for hand motion control over on-screen movements that is.

Shame about the £1,999 (USD 3000) price tag though!

Dani AI

Generated

As noted, ASUS marketed the G71 as “the world’s first” quad‑core gaming notebook in October 2008, but that claim is largely marketing — Alienware shipped an M17 configuration with the same Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 around the same time. Treat the “world’s first” tag as promotional; the practical differences between those machines come down to cooling, GPU option and build quality rather than the mere presence of four cores. ASUS G71 press release — Alienware M17 announcement. (techpowerup.com)

Important practical point: for gaming the GPU typically dominates frame rates. The mobile GeForce 9700M GT used in many of these notebooks is a midrange mobile chip (comparable to low‑end desktop cards of the era) and will limit settings and resolution long before a quad‑core CPU does in most titles of that period. The QX9300 is a legitimate quad‑core mobile chip (TDP ~45 W) and shines when you multi‑task, stream, record, or run heavily threaded workloads — not necessarily for raw in‑game FPS on single‑threaded engines. 9700M GT details — QX9300 specs. (notebookcheck.org)

A few cautions about ASUS’s “overspeed protection removed” claim: enabling overclocking in a laptop increases heat, power draw and stresses the cooling system — expect much shorter battery life and hotter surfaces, and watch for thermal throttling or instability. If considering one of these machines for heavy use, verify thermal benchmarks, BIOS update history, and warranty implications before buying. Older press coverage and reviews warned that these high‑power mobile parts were designed for desks/outlets, not long unplugged sessions. ASUS / review coverage and notes on power — Intel’s commentary on mobile quad‑core power expectations. (dvhardware.net)

Linux‑specific notes: expect to rely on the proprietary NVIDIA driver for best 3D performance; features like Hybrid‑SLI / HybridPower were Windows‑centric at the time and often had no Linux equivalent. The kernel will schedule threads across cores fine, but many contemporary games didn’t use four cores effectively, so prioritize a stronger GPU over a quad core if gaming is the main goal. When buying used, ask for a recent stress test (CPU+GPU temps), battery health data, and whether the seller repasted the CPU/GPU — those checks matter more than the “quad‑core” label. 9700M GT / HybridPower notes. (notebookcheck.org)

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Alienware has had a quad core gaming laptop for awhile now, the M17

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