The Asus Republic of Gamers G501 should help bring gaming portability to a whole new level, thanks to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M graphics card, Intel Core i7 processor and 15.6-inch 4K display (which offers pixel density of 282 PPI). The notebook packs all that into a case that weighs just 4.54 lbs, and measures only 0.81-inches tall across the chassis when closed.
The IPS display kicks things up beyond FHD (1080p) resolution on the Asus ROG line for the first time, helping the company keep pace with the technical achievements of the recent Razer Blade, which has a 14-inch, 3200 x 1800 pixel screen. Asus’ display also offers a 178-degree viewing angle, and manages to achieve true 4K resolution, where the Blade is just under.
Asus’ ROG G501 has an aluminum body, which is another nice step up from the usual plastic cases of many gaming notebooks, and the keyboard offers a full 1.6mm of travel for what should be good typing travel feel. Keyboard backlighting with WASD highlights is another nice feature geared for gamers.
Asus says it can keep the remarkably thin, remarkably powerful laptop cucumber cool thanks to its unique ‘Hyper Cool’ tech, which uses two fans and copper heat-pipes to draw away residual heat while also keeping things quiet in terms of fan noise. CPU and GPU are cooled via separate mechanisms independent of one another, too, which means theoretically you won’t have as much noise as you would from one large array triggering every time either needs a cool down.
The ROG G501 comes with a 512GB SSD with up to 1400MB/s data transfer speeds, as well as Thunderbolt connectivity, making it a good candidate not only for gaming, but also for video editing and production.
MSRP starts at $1,999 for the G501 as specced above, and it will be available beginning from April in the U.S. The existing ROG G751 is probably the best gaming notebook currently available, so it’ll be interesting to see how the ROG G501 stacks up.
