G-Sync is without doubt a great feature. We’ve reviewed it on screens such as the BenQ XL2420G before and without doubt it improves the gaming experience, removing tearing which has plagued gamers for years. Now that tech is starting to find its way into gaming laptops and we test one of those today in our XMG U705 Review. G-sync isn’t the only good thing about that laptop though… as it’s packed with the latest i7, GTX 980M, super fast SSD and more…
XMG U705 Review G-Sync – Packaging and Bundle
The U705 arrives in a plain cardboard box and inside that is the branded packaging. That opens to reveal the laptop suspended in foam, wrapped in a cloth bag and protected further by various plastic covers and cloths. Bundled with the laptop we get a bunch of discs, documentation and our mains cable. The PSU provided is a Chicony 230w model and the battery Li-Ion, 82Whr.
XMG U705 Review G-Sync – The Laptop
This is a 17.3″ laptop and uses a matt screen (LED Backlit TN) with 1920×1080 resolution. There is minimal branding and XMG have gone the extra mile by adding LED backlighting on the board. As far as dimensions go, the system is 418x282x38.7mm and it weighs 3.9kg (with battery). A 2MP Webcam can be seen at the top of the display and it sits alongside integrated mic.
Closing the lid we find that there is a rubberised/soft coating on the lid (and sides) with the XMG logo centred. Flipping it over there is plenty of ventilation and we can see the rubber feet used to keep it stable on our desk as well as the subwoofer towards the centre. The battery compartment is over to the left and beside it a panel to allow easy upgrade access. The U705 can take:
1x 7 – 9.5mm 2.5″ SATA-III HDD/ SSD
1x 7mm 2.5″ SATA-III HDD/ SSD
1x M.2 2280 slot SSD, PCIe Gen2 x2/x4 SATA – III
1x M.2 2280 slot SSD, SATA – III
Looking down the left edge of the system we find GB LAN, 3x USB 3.0, 6in1 card reader and eSATA/USB 3.0 combo port. The right side has a further USB 3.0 port, 3.5mm audio (Realtek) and a security lock slot. Round the back are two exhaust vents, the power input, HDMI 1.4a output and dual DisplayPort 1.2 connectors.
As we noted before, this is a backlit (Multi-zone) keyboard and XMG add to the functionality by giving us plenty of extra features as second functions on the keys (such as media controls). Beneath the keyboard we find the Synaptics touch pad and two mouse buttons, a far better design than alternate pads which build in their buttons. A fingerprint reader is also present and the touchpad is gesture/scrolling compatible.
XMG U705 Review G-Sync – Specification
As far as key specifications go, XMG offer plenty of configuration options for pretty much all aspects of the system when we order. our review unit was configured very much towards the high end of the range and that starts with the Core i7-4970K (4.0-4.4GHz, 4cores and 8threads). Our GPU is a GTX 980M with 8GB of memory (540Mhz/1253Mhz) and our memory, 8GB of DDR3 2133 from Kingston (32gb supported). Running our OS is a Samsung M.2 SAMSUNG MZHPV256HDGL SSD and as storage we had a 1TB mechanical drive (HTS721010A9E630). Wifi is provided by the Killer-AC 1525 and GB LAN by Realtek.
XMG U705 Review G-Sync – Software and Bios
Windows 10 was pre-installed on our system and XMG had applied some updates at the factory which was nice to see.
As far as software goes, we get Intel’s tweaking/monitoring panel, Sound Blaster X-Fi control panel for our audio and Killer network suite for managing our connectivity. XMG also bundle a software panel which allow us to configure our keyboard functionality.
XMG U705 Review G-Sync – Performance
All testing was performed on Windows 10 with the latest patches/drivers.
XMG U705 Review G-Sync – Conclusion
Starting with the build quality and design of the U705 we have a laptop which rates highly. The finish across the system is good, the branding minimal and the overall shape/profile decent. We particularly like the port layout of the system which allows us to plug in USB devices and cables with routing we decide on, rather than forcing to one side or the other. Having all the display outputs on the back of the system is ideal also.
In terms of component choice, no faults there either. XMG allow us to choose a specification which suits our budget from i5/965M and 4GB with a single mechanical drive right up to i7, 980M, 32GB and 5 drives. The screen isnt configurable, but thats the point of this model…its G-Sync compatibility. You can read more about G-Sync here but the basics are that the graphics card syncs with the maximum refresh rate of the display (in this case 75Hz) to intelligently manage framerate at up to 75fps and remove tearing from our games. We can of course disable G-sync to maximise framerate if we want…but 75fps with maximum IQ should suit pretty much everyone.
Elsewhere on the performance front the experience continues to be impressive. Yes the battery life is “limited” at around 1.5 hours of gaming and 3.5 in general/media use but that’s to be expected of a system with this spec. SSD speed is class leading, USB 3.0 performance sits at the high end of the market too and with the choice of GPU, CPU and Memory which was in our system it’s hard to find any faster single GPU based laptop.
The XMG U705 is available to order here.
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