Asus X550CC-XO072D Notebook Review

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Asus X550CC-XO072D is the latest notebook launched by Asus. This notebook belongs to the X550C series which comes under versatile series and is dedicated to performance. This notebook is very light to carry and weighs only 2.28 kgs. In this post I will review the Asus X550CC-XO072D notebook and will tell you about it in depth, also I will tell its pros and cons in detail.

Asus X550CC-XO072D Specifications

CPU : 3rd Gen Intel core i3 3217U CPU clocked at 1.8 GHz.
CPU Cache : 3 MB.
RAM/Memory : 4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz Single channel.
Hard Drive/Storage : Hitachi 500 GB HDD at 5400rpm. Read Upgrade/Replace Hard Drive on ASUS X550CC-XO072D
Graphics : Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000
                Dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 720M
Graphics Memory : Intel HD Graphics 4000 - 1696 MB shared memory
                            Nvidia GeForce GT 720M – 2 GB dedicated memory
DVD Drive : Matshita DVD RAM RW 8X SM DL.

OS : Free DOS
Bluetooth : Bluetooth 4.0.
WLAN : 802.11 b/g/n.
Webcam : HD Camera.
Ports : 1x USB 2.0 and 1x USB 3.0.
           1x RJ45 LAN port.
           1x VGA port.
           1x HDMI port.
           1x 3.5 mm Combo audio jack for mic in, headset and speaker out.
           Charging port DC in.
           Card Reader SD/SDHC/SDXC

Screen : 39.6 cms (15.6 inches) HD Non Glare.
Keyboard : Island style chiclet keyboard.
LED Lights : Six LED lights for power, charging, hdd, wlan, numlock and capslock.

Special Features : Ice cool technology, crystal clear and powerful sound with sonic master, true 2 second instant On and smart gesture.
Battery : 4 Cell 2600 mAh Lithium ion battery.

Asus X550CC-XO072D Full Review

1. Build Quality : The build quality of Asus X550CC- XO072D is very good. The back part of the notebook has got a finger print finish and a metallic ‘ASUS’ logo in the middle. The finger print finish makes the notebook very grippy to hold in hand and cannot slip out of hand accidently. The keyboard is of chiclet style and keys are very smooth and responsive. The keys rest on a silver panel. The touchpad is quite big enough and responsive and comes with ‘Ice Cool Technology’ which keeps the entire palm rest and touchpad very cool. All ports are on the left side, and on the right side there is DVD RAM drive. The battery rests on the back panel with two locks. One is automatic lock and other one is manual lock so battery can’t come out accidently on its own.

2. CPU : The Asus X550CC-XO072D has 3^rd generation Intel core i3 3217U CPU clocked at 1.8 GHz. The ‘U’ in 3217U means that the CPU is ultra portable and 'Ultra Low Voltage' and requires very low power to operate. The power required by Intel core i3 3217U is just 17 watts. This processor is designed to deliver performance at low power. The i3 3217U is built under code name Ivy Bridge and uses 22nm technology which makes it a powerful CPU requiring low power of 17 watts only. The new thing is that this processor has a maximum operating temperature of 105 degree Celsius which is highest as compared with other Intel processors. So heating is not an issue for this CPU and it won’t overheat often even while gaming. You might be thinking about the low clock rate of this processor which is just 1.8 GHz. But one thing I tell you that don’t underestimate the power of this CPU. This processor includes new instructions that previous second generation i3’s missed, so it is a powerful CPU and can handle any latest game without any single bit of lag. For full specifications of Intel core i3 3217U click here.

3. RAM/Memory : The Asus X550CC-XO072D has 4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz onboard memory which makes it very fast in launching applications and booting. The bios booting just only takes 2 seconds to on from sleep and this technology is known as ‘True 2-Second Instant On’. The memory can be further upgraded to 8 GB.

4. Storage/HDD : The Asus X550CC-XO072D notebook has a 500 GB Hitachi HDD which runs at 5400 rpm. The hard disk is fast enough at reading, writing and moving data. But you should regularly clean unwanted files and defrag it timely for fast performance.

5. Graphics/GPU : The Asus X550CC-XO072D notebook features two types of graphics. One is the integrated Intel HD graphics 4000 with a shared memory of 1696 MB and other one is dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M with a dedicated memory of 2 GB or 2048 MB. The NVIDIA PhysX control panel allows us to switch graphics, so you can choose whether to use the integrated or dedicated graphics. The NVIDIA GeForce 720M is a very good notebook GPU that allows you to play latest games at full resolution without any serious lags. I have tested games like Call of duty modern warfare 3 and NFS most wanted 2012 without any single bit of lag. The games run smoothly without overheating the CPU because mostly the work is done by the NVIDIA GPU if PhysX is set to auto mode. The CPU temperature remains under 60 degrees Celsius while gaming. Other technologies supported by this GPU are GPU boost, direct compute, CUDA, Optimus (switch between integrated and dedicated graphics).  Check NVIDIA 720M Gaming Performance.

6. Temperature:  The ASUS X550CC-XO072D has 3rd generation Intel Core i3 3217U processor which is built on Ivy bridge 22nm technology. So the CPU runs hot. During browsing the internet the temperature rises to 47 degrees celcius, GPU temperature keeps at 39 degrees celcius. But CPU temperature sometimes rises to 50 degrees while only browsing. While gaming the temperature rises to upto 57 degree ceclius and GPU temperature becomes 40-45 degrees. The temperature highly depends on CPU usage. Only 30% CPU usage rises the temperature to 50 degrees. You can use a notebook cooler while playing games if you don't have one hen build it yourself, see here.

The maximum CPU temperature of Intel Core i3 3217U is 105 degree celcius. So while playing games like Call Of Duty Ghosts the temperature may rise to 60 degrees. The normal temperature of this notebook is 43-50 degree celcius. Do not use laptop cooler except while gaming because unnecessary use of it will increase dust accumulation in the laptop fan.

Specifications Of Nvidia GeForce 720M

• Core Speed : 938 MHz
• Memory Bus : 64 bit
• Memory Bandwidth : 28.8 GB/sec
• DirectX : DirectX 11.1. Which is the latest.
• OpenGL : OpenGL 4.3.
• OpenCL : OpenCL 1.2. Which is the latest
• Max Resolution : 2500x1600.
• Shader : 5.0
• GPU Memory : 2 GB dedicated memory which is very good for larger screens like hdtv if you connect this notebook via HDMI cable. Nvidia GeForce GT 720M scores 6.6 in windows experience index. For full specifications of NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M click here.

6. Battery : The battery doesn’t take long time to charge and can give backup upto 3 hours if used for normal computing. The battery is of 4 cells 2600 mAh.

Windows Experience Index

Below is the data of windows experience index for Asus X550CC-XO072D.

• Processor : 6.2
• Memory (RAM) : 5.9
• Graphics : 4.8
• Gaming graphics : 6.6 which is enough to play any latest pc game.
• Primary hard disk : 5.9

The overall windows experience index score is 4.8.

Price

The Asus X550CC-XO072D is priced at $544 or 33500 INR.

Asus X550CC-XO072D : Pros

• 3rd gen Intel Core i3 processor.
• 4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz RAM.
• Nvidia GeForce 720M graphics with 2 GB memory which is best for gaming on larger HD screens.
• Good built.
• True 2 second instant ON from sleep.
• Crystal clear and powerful sound.

Asus X550CC-XO072D : Cons

In Asus X550CC-XO072D there are only 2 USB ports and that are closed to each other. So you can’t connect a dongle and a USB drive together, but two USB drives can be connected together. So if you want to connect a dongle and USB flash drive together then use a female USB extension wire.

It has got a problem with Wi-Fi, it sometimes doesn't detect the Wi-Fi networks in range. So I have to log off Windows and again log on then it connects to Wi-Fi, otherwise no issues with Wi-Fi and it works perfectly even mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. Check this tutorial.

Gallery
Click on any image to view larger size.

Verdict

This Asus notebook is good for a medium end gamer and powerful computing due to its latest Intel i3 processor and NVIDIA 720M gpu. So if you looking for a budget notebook that is good for gaming, computing and requires low power then Asus X550CC-XO072D is the best choice.

That was the Asus X550CC-XO072D notebook review. If you have any question about it then you can ask here via comments.

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