The new ROG G501 from Asus pairs a thin build and high-end internals with Nvidia's latest GeForce GTX960M GPU. The graphics card is designed specifically for gaming notebooks that put an emphasis on portability, and offers compatibility with a range of Nvidia features and technologies.
The company's newest gaming laptop weighs in at 4.54 lb (2.05 kg) with a thickness of 0.81 inches (20.6 mm), making it a hair thicker than the GX500 model we saw last year. The new laptop is equipped with Nvidia's newly-announced GeForce GTX 960M graphics card, offering 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. The GPU features DirectX 12 support and is compatible with the company's recording and streaming ShadowPlay service, as well as its power saving BatteryBoost feature.
Besides the brand new GPU and thin build, the gaming machine offers an Intel i7-4720HQ processor, 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of PCIeSSD storage. Things are looking healthy when it comes to connectivity, with the system offering three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI-out, an SD card reader and even a Thunderbolt port. The G501's 15.6-inch non-touch matt panel features a full 4K 3,840 x 2,160 resolution.
As you'd expect from a thin and light system with high-end internals, the G501 doesn't come cheap. The new gaming laptop will be available in April for US$1,999.
If you're interested in picking up a GTX 900M series-packing machine right now, then you might like to note that the company has updated its ROG G751 and ROG GL551 systems, which are now available with 965M and 960M GPUs respectively. Various other manufacturers have also updated their lineups to reflect the new GPU release, with systems such as the HP Omen and Alienware 13 now available with 900M-series cards.