ASUS UL50Vf Notebook Review – NVIDIA Optimus Takes the Stage

ASUS UL50Vf Specifications

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 at 1.3 GHz
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium/Professional/Ultimate
• Chipset: Mobile Intel GS45 Express Chipset + ICH9M
• Memory: 4 GB DDR3 1066MHz SODIMM
• Display: 15.6″ HD (1366×768) LED Backlight
• Video Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce G 210M, 512MB GDDR3 VRAM (with Optimus Technology)
• HDD: 320 GB, 5400 RPM
• Card Reader: 5-in-1 (SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro, XD)
• Video Camera: 0.3 Mega Pixel web camera
• Communications:

• 10/100/1000 Base T RJ-45 LAN
• 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Interface:

• 1 x Microphone-in jack
• 1 x Headphone-out jack
• 3 x USB 2.0 ports
• 1 x HDMI
• 1 x VGA
• 1 x RJ45 LAN jack
• Audio:

• Built-in stereo Altec Lansing speakers with SRS Premium Sound
• Battery Pack: 8 cells/5600 mAh
• Dimension & Weight:

• 38.6cm x 25.9cm x 1.64~2.64cm (W x D x H)
• 5.07 lbs (2.3 kg with 8-cell battery)

Here we see the Windows 7 Windows Experience Index. We see that the Desktop Graphics score received the lowest score of 3.9 and is deemed by Windows as the bottleneck of this notebook. It seems that the Optimus technology kicked in to give the Gaming Graphics test access to the NVIDIA G210m graphics to boost performance. Whereas the Desktop Graphics used by Aero appeared to just use the integrated Intel graphics as that is all that is needed to use Aero.

Above we have CPU-Z showing the specs and idle operation frequencies of the Intel Core 2 Duo CULV SU7300 processor. We also have GPU-Z screen shots showing both the Intel integrated graphics and the NVIDIA discrete G210m. Now let’s get to some performance!