ASUS G53SX-XT1: Enough HP for full HDV editing

[Romy Ocon]

Dear folks,

I'm currently neck deep in non-imaging work, but I just got to share my enthusiasm about my desktop replacement.

My ancient desktop (Q6600, 4 GB RAM, XP, 512 MB GPU) can still crunch the RAW files from the 5D2 with ease, and can even play full HD video without hiccups. But when I edit 1080p video in Premiere, the anemic RAM and dated GPU just cannot do the job. I’ve done some costing and a new desktop (i7 + 12 GB RAM + GTX series DDR5 256-bit GPU + W7 64 bit) can be assembled at around PHP 60K.

My current activities dictate that I should be able to process photos and video away from my Paranaque home. This got me interested in looking at laptops with mobile i7 engine under the hood, hoping that these are already powerful enough to do complex full HDV editing.

And I found one in the grey market with a price low enough to approach the cost of a desktop with similar specs – an ASUS G53SX-XT1.

Price – PHP 63K, grey market, brand new, with 1 year international warranty

Features - Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0GHz, 8GB DDR3, 640GB HDD, BD-ROM Combo, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M, 15.6in Full HD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 4 SODIMM slots (2 used) and 2 HDD bays (1 used).

I was able to hook up my Philips 24” HIPS screen (1920x1200 res.) to the laptop via DVI+HDMI connector and my DTP94 colorimeter did a nice job in calibrating both screens. When processing, the 1920x1080 laptop screen hosts the program windows, while the photo or video is monitored on the 1920x1200 HIPS screen in a fully color calibrated environment.

Some quick hacking allowed me to force Premiere to recognize the GTX 560M and enable the use of the Mercury engine. This leverages the GPU (192 CUDA cores) to bear the brunt of video crunching and boost processing speeds.

Even with the stock 8 GB RAM and slowish 5400 rpm HDD, video editing with reasonable layers and effects can be done in real time! With multi-layers/multi-effects, the system does slow down a bit and one needs to render the effects first to see smooth results. Rendering is blazingly fast though, given the enabled Mercury engine. I can only imagine how much quicker this machine can go if I stick in 8 GB more RAM in the vacant slots (for a total of 16 GB RAM) and add an SSD as a system disk in the second HDD bay.

My verdict?

Well, it appears that mobile desktop replacements are now powerful enough to edit full HDV. Photo editing of course is several notches lower in processing requirement.

PROS – enough muscle to do full HDV editing, transportability, 1920x1080 resolution, reasonable cost

CONS – serious pro-grade photo editing requires the use of a second screen (preferably IPS-type), not really a laptop because of its weight and size (a transportable desktop replacement is the more appropriate description), the 1920x1080 native res crammed into a 15.6-inch screen might strain the unaided eyes of senior citizens like me, and limited internal data storage.

Overall, I’m happy with the new machine and I foresee myself not buying a desktop for my image processing needs in the future.


Romy

[Lydia Robledo]

Ka Mastah Romy, I am so delighted that you are around again. Oh, how we miss your presence in the forum. With your news, we will soon enjoy more of your posts? looking forward with much eagerness. telyds

[Mark Itol]

It's great to hear from you again, Ka Mastah! Thanks for sharing. Hoping to see the goods from your new machine very soon.

How's it handling the heat generated by the i7 cores? A friend told me he's been having heat issues with his i7 Asus laptop (dunno the exact model).

[Romy Ocon]

Feb 11, 2012 2:47:26 GMT Lydia Robledo said:

Ka Mastah Romy, I am so delighted that you are around again. Oh, how we miss your presence in the forum. With your news, we will soon enjoy more of your posts? looking forward with much eagerness. telyds

Thanks, TeLyds! I miss the gang and birding too. Right now, I'm earning back my internet name - Liquidstone. I coined this handle way back when I was deeply involved in concrete technology. Concrete of course behaves like a liquid when fresh and becomes harder than stone when cured. I've gone full circle and I'm now immersed again in concrete tech.

Perhaps, after a few months, I can take a long break and go on a birding binge. ;D

Feb 11, 2012 11:04:49 GMT Mark Itol said:

It's great to hear from you again, Ka Mastah! Thanks for sharing. Hoping to see the goods from your new machine very soon.

How's it handling the heat generated by the i7 cores? A friend told me he's been having heat issues with his i7 Asus laptop (dunno the exact model).

Thanks, Mark.

This laptop is designed for hardcore gamers whose interest in fast GPUs and processors coincide with that of HDV editors. The ventilation works very well. I've run it for extended periods and even when the Mercury engine kicks in during GPU-boosted HDV crunching, the temperature is manageable.

Here's one positive mini-review of this model.

laptoptester.blogspot.com/2011/11/laptop-tester-reviews-asus-g53sx-xt1.html#!/2011/11/laptop-tester-reviews-asus-g53sx-xt1.html


Romy

[Adri Constantino]

mastah! long time no see! now, we'd like to some bird HD videos crunched with your new rig!

adri

[Romy Ocon]

Feb 14, 2012 0:40:41 GMT Adri Constantino said:

mastah! long time no see! now, we'd like to some bird HD videos crunched with your new rig!

adri

Thanks, Adri!

I always have a 7D + 100-400 IS in my vehicle when I visit concreting project sites, in case a feathered creature just happen to strut nearby.

Here's one project site at San Fabian, Pangasinan, I inspected recently.

[Mark Itol]

Feb 12, 2012 0:40:38 GMT Romy Ocon said:

This laptop is designed for hardcore gamers whose interest in fast GPUs and processors coincide with that of HDV editors. The ventilation works very well. I've run it for extended periods and even when the Mercury engine kicks in during GPU-boosted HDV crunching, the temperature is manageable.

Here's one positive mini-review of this model.

laptoptester.blogspot.com/2011/11/laptop-tester-reviews-asus-g53sx-xt1.html#!/2011/11/laptop-tester-reviews-asus-g53sx-xt1.html

Cool (pun)! Great to know the heat is well-tamed.



Looking good in the photos. Hope the 7D + 100-400 IS sees some action soon.

[Romy Ocon]

Feb 15, 2012 4:48:31 GMT Mark Itol said:

Feb 12, 2012 0:40:38 GMT Romy Ocon said:

This laptop is designed for hardcore gamers whose interest in fast GPUs and processors coincide with that of HDV editors. The ventilation works very well. I've run it for extended periods and even when the Mercury engine kicks in during GPU-boosted HDV crunching, the temperature is manageable.

Here's one positive mini-review of this model.

laptoptester.blogspot.com/2011/11/laptop-tester-reviews-asus-g53sx-xt1.html#!/2011/11/laptop-tester-reviews-asus-g53sx-xt1.html

Cool (pun)! Great to know the heat is well-tamed.

Mark, i7 CPUs are supposed to run hotter than earlier chips. Their safe operating limit is 100 deg. C.

I monitor my temperatures using CoreTemp and it hums along at 50-60 C in an A/C room if the turbo (overclock) is not enabled. If enabled, thereby boosting the CPU HP from 2.0 GHz up to 2.9 GHz, the core temp increases to around 70-75 C in an A/C room.

When the Mercury engine is used by Premiere in video rendering AND the turbo is enabled, I've seen temp spikes of 85 - 90 C, but such feverish highs are short lived, happening only for a few seconds at the peak of video crunching. I've seen no system instability so far even during peak temp.

Here's a link to an article about i7 temperatures:
www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2009/02/26/intel-core-i7-temperatures/

Romy

[alainpascua]

Great to see you on the road, Ka Mastah! We miss your bird pics and videos!

[Mark Itol]

Feb 15, 2012 7:11:44 GMT Romy Ocon said:

Feb 15, 2012 4:48:31 GMT Mark Itol said:

Cool (pun)! Great to know the heat is well-tamed.

Mark, i7 CPUs are supposed to run hotter than earlier chips. Their safe operating limit is 100 deg. C.

I monitor my temperatures using CoreTemp and it hums along at 50-60 C in an A/C room if the turbo (overclock) is not enabled. If enabled, thereby boosting the CPU HP from 2.0 GHz up to 2.9 GHz, the core temp increases to around 70-75 C in an A/C room.

When the Mercury engine is used by Premiere in video rendering AND the turbo is enabled, I've seen temp spikes of 85 - 90 C, but such feverish highs are short lived, happening only for a few seconds at the peak of video crunching. I've seen no system instability so far even during peak temp.

Here's a link to an article about i7 temperatures:
www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2009/02/26/intel-core-i7-temperatures/

Romy

Hotter indeed! It's great that it's well-managed. Nice article on i7 temperatures, too.

Hoping to see you posting soon.