Asus ROG G703GXR

The ROG G703 is a large and heavy desktop replacement that makes no compromises in terms of performance. It weighs in at 10.35 lbs (4.7 kg) and has ample room for components and cooling equipment capable of handling the most powerful laptop components on the market. In the 2019 version, known as the G703GXR, Asus uses a combination of 9th-generation Intel processors (CPU) and Nvidia RTX-series graphics cards (GPUs).

Asus ROG G703GXR Configurations

Unlike some of the G703GXR’s main competitors, including the Alienware Area 51M and the Clevo P775TM1-G (EON17-X), you cannot customize the Asus laptop directly from the manufacturer. It normally ships with an RTX 2080 graphics card (not the Max-Q version) and either the Intel Core i9-9980HK or the Core i7-9750H. This is an upgrade from the previous generation’s (ROG G703GX) Core i9-8950HK or i7-8750H.

While there are many regional variations, U.S. models usually come with 32 GB of RAM (64 GB max.), a PCIe SSD for the operating system and a secondary mechanical hard drive for storage. In terms of potential storage upgrades, the laptop has three M.2 slots for PCIe/NVMe solid state drives as well as one 2.5″ SATA HDD or SSD.

Only one display option is available: a 17.3-inch 1080p, 144Hz IPS-type panel with Nvidia G-Sync that covers 100% of the sRGB color space. The keyboard, while not mechanical like on MSI’s Titan, comes with Asus’ Aura Sync RGB and individually backlit keys.

Due to the high power draw of the system’s powerful components, you need two 280W AC adapters to power the G703GXR. This is a common situation for laptops in the highest performance category, as there are no power adapters that exceed 330W.

ROG G703GXR Performance

Gaming performance should be nearly identical with any configuration of the G703GXR, since the graphics card is always an Nvidia RTX 2080. The faster Core i9 processor affects performance to some extent, but nearly as much as a change of graphics card would.

The above benchmark results are not specific to the G703GXR but will put the relative performance into perspective using representative systems. Asus does not use Max-Q design GPUs for the G703 laptops, so the averages will be closer to a desktop RTX 2080.

Reviews

MobileTechReview (ROG G703GX; RTX 2080, Core i9-8950HK):