One K73-5N (Clevo P771ZM) Notebook Review

[Redaktion]

Megalomania? 17-inch chassis, 88 Watts CPU and GeForce GTX 980M: This is the One K73-5N in the high-end configuration. Read our review to find out whether this kind of performance makes sense and how the components affect the thermals.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/One-K73-5N-Clevo-P771ZM-Notebook-Review.135088.0.html

[Cheap desktop CPU=good]

I like the idea of getting a lot of CPU performance by using a high performance desktop CPU that is a LOT cheaper than a top mobile CPU like 4930MX - two thirds cheaper you said in your article, that's a big difference!  However, I though the CPU cooling would be better than this given how good the cooling system looks.  During Prime95 I saw from your review that it seems to have stabalised at a CPU usage of 60W and a temperatures of about 96 degC.  This Wattage vs Temperature is not a very impressive relationship.  For example, my M17xR3 can run a continuous 56W (not far off the 60W in the review) in Prime95 and it doesn't go beyond 80 degC.  This makes me think the cooling system is not as impressive as I had originally thought based on the awesome 5 heatpipe design of the heatsink.

I do like the idea of the desktop CPUs giving good performance/price ratio, and hopefully the ability to upgrade them further down the line.  I also like the fact that the GPU is MXM and would hope that the GPU would be upgradeable to future architectures further down the line.  This would make this laptop an excellent purchase in my mind.

[alex333]

It's too bad that Clevo does not manage to design a 17" laptop as good as the Asus G751 or MSI GT72 since they offer custom laptop and are easier to maintain. I don't know why they don't put an IPS screen with their 17" models like the G751 or GT72, although the GT72 laptops with IPS screen are expensive. I prefer the Schenker P705 but it doesn't have an IPS option unlike its smaller brother nor a DVD drive.

[Francisco]

Do you think the Watt spike would be a serious issue in the long run? Seems very questionable to buy if it'll be having power issues.

[Cheap desktop CPU=good]

@ Francisco, I'm assuming you're talking about the load of 276W seen under Furmark + P95 use?  If that's the case you won't see load like that during any gaming or during normal use of the laptop.  However, I think a 240W adapter is a little slim for this notebook considering it has a desktop CPU and 980M.  If you're gonna be doing any overclocking of the CPU or GPU then you're gonna need a bigger power supply.  If I was going to buy this notebook (because I like overclocking) I'd find out if I could upgrade the power adapter - I'd want to know if I could use for instance a 330W adapter perhaps from another manufacturer or if there were similar adapters available from the manufacturer.