ASUS W90Vp: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870... with CrossFire
by Jarred Walton on May 29, 2009 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Design and Appearance
If we were to summarize the ASUS W90Vp in a few short words: it's big, it's bad, and it's beautiful. And we really do mean big! The Clevo D901C is one of the largest notebooks we've ever tested, and the W90Vp dwarfs it. However, despite the size disadvantage, power requirements are actually quite similar in the two notebooks are relatively close to the same 11.5 pound weight. You can see a few comparison shots between the Clevo D901C (Sager NP9262) in the ASUS W90Vp below.
As a bonus, ASUS also includes a large carrying case for the W90Vp. This is not your standard notebook bag, but is instead a rather large backpack. If you ever had to load this thing around, say for instance at a LAN party, we actually think the backpack will prove far more convenient. It's also large enough to carry the gigantic power brick, the included Razer mouse (another nice bonus), and there's still plenty of room for any other accessories you might want to bring along.
The design and appearance of the W90Vp is very attractive, assuming you go for the "giant laptop" look. It has a brushed aluminum cover with the ASUS logo, a reasonable selection of expansion options, a great LCD (relative to other notebooks), Blu-ray support, and an HDMI port to highlight a few areas. We really only have two complaints with the design. First, there's no latching mechanism on the LCD panel, relying instead on magnets to hold the display closed. They seem to work well enough, but some users might prefer actual latches instead. The other issue also involves the top panel. As you might expect, it's heavy, and after several past experiences with notebooks we have to wonder about the ability of the hinges to hold up over the long haul. It's not something we can review directly, as any problems in that area will likely take months or longer to manifest, and they appear relatively durable. However, we recommend users exercise some care when they open or close any laptop display, and that goes double for large 17" and 18.4" notebooks.
If you want to access the internal components on the W90Vp, the only thing you should need to remove is the bottom cover. ASUS uses one large cover instead of several smaller covers, secured surprisingly by just four small screws. After removing the screws, the whole bottom panel slides towards the rear of the system, at which point you can lift it away. Numerous plastic prongs help hold the cover in place, but these small prongs are also somewhat fragile so exercise caution if you ever remove/replace the cover.
Inside you can see the two large GPU heatsinks/heatpipes, another HSF/heatpipe for the CPU, the three fans, and other components. You can see that one of the screws on the GPU heatsinks is missing its spring, but a bigger concern for many users is going to be the "warranty void if removed" sticker on the CPU heatsink. Yes, like several other vendors we looked at, ASUS doesn't want you to upgrade your CPU. We've heard that it's technically not something they can enforce, but nevertheless it's not something we enjoy seeing. Make sure you're willing to live with that limitation before purchasing a W90 with the intent to upgrade the CPU.
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tynopik - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
the charts are a COMPLETE DISASTERthe first few, I'm still not sure what they're trying to say
the FRAPS charts are better, but:
1: thousandth's of a frame per second? talk about unnecessary precision
2. NO CONSISTENCY. different tests were run for each game, it's bizarre
we have:
- W90Vp OCed / W90Vp 1080p OCed / W90Vp (new drivers? who knows?)
- OCed New Driver / OCed Init Driver / Initial Driver
- OCed New w/o CCC / OCed New Driver / OCed Init Driver / Initial Driver
3. The HD (1920x1080) benchmarks suddenly switch over to 1680x1050 with Mass Effect
- even though you have 2 charts for 1680x1050 results (one on the 1080p page and one on Standard gaming page), the results don't match (for instance on the 1080p page it says the Q6600 had 51.674 fps in Mass Effect while on the standard page it says 53.375)
I can tell it took a lot of time to run all these benchmarks on all these different platforms, but you have to FINISH!
JarredWalton - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
The 1080p Mass Effect listed as 1680x1050 is merely a typo. I'll correct the labeling of the initial charts - I didn't subtract the 100%, but it makes for an easier chart since there aren't negative values. The earlier poster is correct that it's a ratio, so 100% means equal performance.JarredWalton - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
FWIW, I initially "finished" at 5:30AM. I have now edited the graphs, added a bit more commentary, and inserted a page analyzing the overclocking results of the W90Vp. Enjoy!strikeback03 - Monday, June 1, 2009 - link
One more - last page first paragraph under the photo, I'm guessing you said "ear splitting" but Dragon has 'your spreading" there for the description of the volume levels.Jackattak - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
LOL poor Jarred... ;) Get some rest, mate!Thanks for the article. Was nice to see benches on a system like this. Why anyone would lug around a 17er I have no clue, though. I think the 15.4" form factor is the perfect balance of size/weight/performance.
I just wish more manufacturers offered higher-end GPUs or at least gave more options for end user installable discrete GPUs (would love to slap a 8800M GT 512 in my XPS1530).
The0ne - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
I have a loaded vostro 17" with wuxga and it's very nice. However, lugging it around with me on oversea business trips can become tiresome. This thing is almost 12lbs O.o I can't imagine having this at all even if I wanted the specs.Most people don't realize those extra small lbs will drag you down sooner than you ever can realize :)
The0ne - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
Oh, and this comming from a guy that's actually in shape and built lolGolgatha - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
"ATI's Mobile Driver Program -- or Lack Thereof"Seriously, if they want to sell a multi-thousand dollar laptop, they better have drivers available the same day as the desktop GPUs. I can't imagine anyone buying a gaming laptop with anything but nVidia GPUs inside it.
BTW, I have 4870 1GB cards in Crossfire on my desktop, so this isn't a post to just bash ATI. However, they do need to get with their industry partners and correct this issue fast.
Zoomer - Friday, May 29, 2009 - link
Don't know what the fuss is about, I recall installing up to date ATi drivers on my 9600 mobility and possibly even the Rage 3D (can't really that well, unfortunately).*Requires mobility modder or inf editing.
JarredWalton - Saturday, May 30, 2009 - link
The ATI Catalyst drivers on their website "install" without apparent issue, but they don't actually update the drivers - just the CCC. In the past, ATI may have provided drivers that would work with all of their chipsets, but that's not the case with modern GPUs as far as I can tell. Certainly, it's a problem with HD 4870 CrossFire.