Asus ROG GX800

ASUS ROG GX800 – DESIGN, BUILD AND SCREEN

Without its dock, the GX800 weighs 5.7kg. No worries, though: Asus supplies a travel bag and a wheelie case for it and the dock, so all you have to worry about at LAN parties is the machine being surrounded by amazed onlookers.

You get a desktop-level number of ports around the outside of the GX800. There are three full-size USB 3 ports, two further USB 3.1 Type-C ports (one of which is Thunderbolt 3 compatible), a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 jack, an HDMI 2.0 port, separate 3.5mm jacks for headphones and a microphone, an SD card reader, a gigabit Ethernet port and an extra dedicated port for an optional external Wi-Fi aerial.

 The screen takes the form of an 18.4-inch IPS panel. On my sample it was a Full HD screen, but in the final build this will be an Ultra HD 3,840 x 2,160 panel. This is one of those rare occasions where a laptop’s graphics hardware will be capable of driving a 4K screen. It's ready for G-Sync, too: This is actually quite important because the ludicrous levels of performance means the GX800 will likely exceed the refresh rate of the screen on a regular basis, and G-Sync will keep it in line to prevent screen tearing.

The GX700's keyboard was one of its weakest points. It was fine, but it was also a stock Asus ROG keyboard found on various different notebooks. It wasn’t very special and didn’t really match the extreme design of the rest of the machine.

Here, Asus has made amends, fitting the GX800 with its own brand of “MechTAG” mechanical keyboard. It’s chunky, has lots of travel and, according to Asus, the final version will feel and sound much like a Cherry MX Blue switch. In other words, it’ll be loud and satisfying to game on.

 ASUS ROG GX800 – DESIGN, BUILD AND SCREEN

Without its dock, the GX800 weighs 5.7kg. No worries, though: Asus supplies a travel bag and a wheelie case for it and the dock, so all you have to worry about at LAN parties is the machine being surrounded by amazed onlookers.

You get a desktop-level number of ports around the outside of the GX800. There are three full-size USB 3 ports, two further USB 3.1 Type-C ports (one of which is Thunderbolt 3 compatible), a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 jack, an HDMI 2.0 port, separate 3.5mm jacks for headphones and a microphone, an SD card reader, a gigabit Ethernet port and an extra dedicated port for an optional external Wi-Fi aerial.

 The screen takes the form of an 18.4-inch IPS panel. On my sample it was a Full HD screen, but in the final build this will be an Ultra HD 3,840 x 2,160 panel. This is one of those rare occasions where a laptop’s graphics hardware will be capable of driving a 4K screen. It's ready for G-Sync, too: This is actually quite important because the ludicrous levels of performance means the GX800 will likely exceed the refresh rate of the screen on a regular basis, and G-Sync will keep it in line to prevent screen tearing.

The GX700's keyboard was one of its weakest points. It was fine, but it was also a stock Asus ROG keyboard found on various different notebooks. It wasn’t very special and didn’t really match the extreme design of the rest of the machine.

Here, Asus has made amends, fitting the GX800 with its own brand of “MechTAG” mechanical keyboard. It’s chunky, has lots of travel and, according to Asus, the final version will feel and sound much like a Cherry MX Blue switch. In other words, it’ll be loud and satisfying to game on.

 The keys are topped with a soft-touch material and each character is backlit, with the on-board ROG software enabling various customisable flashing and static lights in all the colour of the rainbow. There’s a small top row of keys with one ROG software shortcut key and three macro keys. Also present is a dedicated video capture key for your software of choice, and volume up and down keys. There aren’t any media control keys on my prototype, which is something that might need looking at before launch.