At IFA 2015, Asus had some pretty amazing showcases. The one that stood out most to me, and for good reason, was the GX700 ROG gaming notebook.
The Specs
Firstly, that giant box with vents attached to the back of the notebook above is the water cooling unit itself. It has a radiator and a full watercooling loop installed that you can attach and detach when need be.
The two most interesting specifications of this device are the processor and graphics. Both unknown at launch, we know now that the processor is Intel based and is a K-Series CPU meaning it can be overclocked. Since no mobile CPU's were announced during their latest Skylake event, there is speculation that this is a Skylake CPU that Intel will announce later in the year.
Although they were not addressed earlier, it is confirmed that all the laptops with the desktop 980 feature 6th generation Intel i7 processors, some being mobile HQ and K series, and some even being full desktop grade i7-6700K to match the desktop GTX 980.
Essentially, you can have a full desktop that you can fit in a backpack.
The GPU is just as exciting as the CPU, if not more exciting. First speculated to be a possible GTX 990m, it has been revealed what monster powers this laptop's 4K display. The beast under the hood is none other than a desktop grade GTX 980, not a mobile 980m, a full desktop graphics card.
Clocked at 1.1GHz and with 4GB of GDDR5 RAM, this card can definitley handle games set at high details. But can it handle games at 4K?
The 980 can drive three 1080p displays, if you feel the 17.3-inch Ultra HD display isn't enough for you. It is also "fully certified by Oculus" meaning it can handle any VR games you throw at it.
Who is this for?
The GX700, and any other notebook with the GTX 980 installed, will most definitely not be cheap by any means. This is completely made for enthusiasts who are willing to pay a premium to get the best of the best, no matter what.
Other laptops this monstrous card are found in are the MSI GT80 and GT72, Aorus X7 DT which is notably the thinnest laptop with this card pre-installed in it, and two laptops made by a company called Clevo. You may not have heard of them but you may have used their products without even knowing it due to the fact that they are an ODM, or original design manufacturer.
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Lesley Warren is a writer for the VAVEL USA Technology section.
