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Asus’ new Republic of Gamers G550JK notebook runs on Core i7 and Nvidia gear

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Popular PC maker Asus just took the wraps off its newest high-powered notebook, which is the latest in the company’s Republic of Gamers series of laptops.

Dubbed the G550JK, the latest laptop to come out of Asus wears a 15.6-inch 1080p LED matte display, and is stuffed with an Intel Core i7-4710HQ processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 850M graphics with 2GB of RAM, 8GB of RAM, and a 750GB 7,200 rpm hard drive. the fact that the display is matte instead of glossy likely means that it will be easier to use whenever sunlight directly hits the screen. Glossy displays are often very reflective, which can torment your eyes. The G550JK also packs a DVD burner as well.

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Measuring 15.1 x 10 x 1.1 inches and weighing exactly 6 pounds, the G550JK is covered in a paint job dominated by black, and supplemented by red trim. The system’s lid wears a brushed finish, along with a pair of logos in the center: Asus’ typical logo, along with a Republic of Gamers insignia.

Asus claims that the system’s GPU can be “safely overclocked” up to 5 percent, due to heatsinks, and a pair of fans that work to keep the G550JK’s innards cool. It’s unclear what ports are built into the laptop’s body, but we do know that it will support 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity. The G550JK is kept afloat by a four cell battery, which gets a boost in the form of Optimus tech. According to Asus, this allows the system to save battery life when you’re not running a GPU-intensive program on the rig.

The G550JK is backed up by a one year international warranty, along with one year of accidental damage protection. The latter will save your bacon in case your G550JK falls prey to drops, spills, power surges, and fire damage.

The Asus Republic of Gamers G550JK can be pre-ordered now from Newegg, Amazon, B&H, and TigerDirect. All of those retailers are selling the G550JK for $1,099.99, except for B&H, which offers it for slightly less ($1,069.99). 

The G550JK will begin to ship on July 20, according to Amazon.

Konrad Krawczyk
Former Computing Editor
Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…
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