HP Omen 17t (i7-8750H, GTX 1070) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Quiet Giant. The Omen 17t is a well-balanced notebook. Its internals are consistently powerful, its 144 Hz G-Sync display is one of the best on the market, and it manages heat and noise with aplomb. With its competitive pricing, the Omen 17t is one of the best overall packages in the gaming laptop market.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Omen-17t-i7-8750H-GTX-1070-Laptop-Review.323450.0.html

[Jimbo]

Why buy a laptop with the gtx 1070 when the rtx 2070 is out?

[CmdrEvil]

Because there are no laptops with rtx 2070, and it won't be for another couple months, and they launch similarly specd laptop with rdx 2070 will probably cost about 2500usd
On the other hand you do make a point, at this stage it would make more sense to hold on for a few months if you can and then get a heavily discounted gtx 10 laptop, or invest in new gen once the prices stabilised and we know exact performance of those Turing chips.

[Makikou]

So really this laptop is controlled by a power throttle as evidenced by the benchmarks instead of a temperature throttle. I guess that's one way to keep the temps down but also limits the performance because honestly that 1070 could boost more. Also a undervolt might enable more clocks on the CPU.

Disappointing they need to do it since it's still quite thick. HP really needs to get rid of this awful design language too.

[Sam Medley]

Review author here.

@Jimbo and @CmdrEvil: RTX is focused more on newer features, like Ray Tracing, and doesn't seem to have a substantial boost in performance over the 10xx series cards. That said, CmdrEvil is right. It might be prudent to wait a few months and then catch a 10xx series notebook after the release of 20xx series notebooks. The 10xx series laptops should be available at a pretty steep discount.

@Makikou: Power throttling, indeed. I think it's a tradeoff HP made to keep heat and noise lower, but performance does suffer. Overclocking the GPU via third-party tools might be possible, but I'm not sure if the notebook is designed to deliver enough power for that.
And yes, I'm not a fan of the Omen design language, but the case is sturdy as heck.

[Abra]

Review author here.

@Jimbo and @CmdrEvil: RTX is focused more on newer features, like Ray Tracing, and doesn't seem to have a substantial boost in performance over the 10xx series cards. That said, CmdrEvil is right. It might be prudent to wait a few months and then catch a 10xx series notebook after the release of 20xx series notebooks. The 10xx series laptops should be available at a pretty steep discount.

@Makikou: Power throttling, indeed. I think it's a tradeoff HP made to keep heat and noise lower, but performance does suffer. Overclocking the GPU via third-party tools might be possible, but I'm not sure if the notebook is designed to deliver enough power for that.
And yes, I'm not a fan of the Omen design language, but the case is sturdy as heck.

1. Can you provide an estimate how long it might take before the prices drop ? I need a new laptop, nevertheless would like to avoid buying one if the prices will drop say before November. This won´t be the case in my opinion, though. I am happy to get and second opinion.

2. I am quite confused regarding this power throttle issue. How much do laptops with same specs outperform this one ?

[Sam Medley]

@Abra:

1. Prices likely won't drop until RTX is released in laptops, which may take a few weeks to a few months after the release of RTX desktop GPUs. I'd expect a price drop on 10-series laptops on Black Friday (if you're in the States) or around the holiday season, but it may be as late as January. If you can hold out until Jan/Feb, I'd do it. Otherwise, you're not going to miss out on much performance by getting one sooner.

2. Check for other laptops with the i7-8750H and a 1070 or 1070 Max-Q to get a good idea of other systems that outperform this one. If you're only looking at gaming performance, look at other laptops with the GTX 1070. The CPU won't make much difference in gaming. MSI's GE73VR Raider, the Acer Predator 17, and the Asus G752VS all outperform the Omen 17t in gaming, but they make sacrifices in other areas (build quality, peripheral speed, keyboard, screen, etc.).

[Sonomaa]

Just ordered one of these directly from HP. Labor day sale and promo code dropped the price by $356. I dont think it can be beat for under $1500. Only down side is having to wait 2 weeks for build/shipping. Might get a better deal if you wait for black friday.

[Yamen]

Does the 2018 model made of aluminum?

[vik]

hey,is it possible to put a caddy in the optical drive empty slot?from what i saw there is no sata cable

[Sam Medley]

Review author here:

@Yaman: the keyboard deck is aluminum (or some kind of metal alloy that's very close). Everything else (lid, bottom panel) is plastic. The bottom panel is very firm, but the lid is a bit thin and can be twisted with a small bit of torsion. It's not the lightest lid out there, but it's twistable.

@vik: There's no SATA cable, and there is nothing to which a drive caddy could be mounted in that space. It looks like HP just ripped out everything related to an optical drive, which is a shame. They could've used that extra space for another drive or a bigger battery. A missed opportunity, IMO.

@Sonomaa: Yes, I think this laptop is hard to beat for $1500 or less. Performance is a bit behind similarly-specced laptops, but that results in better temperatures and less fan noise. In gaming, you're not going to notice the performance dip too much. The high-refresh rate display is a nice touch at that price as well.

[badbob001]

How exactly do I order this config? If I go to the hp site, there is only one 1080p panel option but it doesn't mention 144hz g-sync. And if I choose gtx 1070, it forces me to pick the 4k display. Did they run out of g-sync displays?

[wheeliesteve]

How exactly do I order this config? If I go to the hp site, there is only one 1080p panel option but it doesn't mention 144hz g-sync. And if I choose gtx 1070, it forces me to pick the 4k display. Did they run out of g-sync displays?

I noticed the same thing but now they changed the website and you can now select the 144hz screen with the 1070 card also. I ordered one last night but it says it won't ship until November 09th.

[Leeocruzz]

In my country Í can pursache only the version with 4k display and 1070, por 1700$ Do hoy think that its worth or better go for another that have 1060 and 1080 display (another brand like predator, msi, etc)