discussion Ultra High End Gaming Notebook Roundup

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1080P Gaming Benchmarks

1080P Gaming Benchmarks

In order to properly test how notebooks perform in gaming scenarios and to even the playing field given the fact that there are multiple screen resolution options available, we have standardized our methodology. In all scenarios we have decided to output the video signal to an external monitor instead of utilizing the notebooks’ integrated display so an idea can be given of how the systems can perform across a wide variety of situations. To prepare for an influx of DX12 titles we have also moved away from FRAPS and we are now using the handy PresentMon tool that’s available for free from GitHub. At the time of writing, this is the only tool available that can consistently log DX12 frametimes.

All results shown below are based upon the averages of three consecutive benchmark runs. Under no circumstance to we use any rolling demos or in game benchmarking tools. Rather, actual gameplay run-throughs are used for every game.

As you can imagine, Eurocom’s ultra-expensive GTX 980M SLI setup is able to run away with the performance in several games but it tends to come crashing back down to earth the moment a game didn’t have a properly functioning profile. That’s always the case with multi card configurations so it shouldn’t come as any surprise. When that setup was replaced with a single GTX 980 performance was lower but much more consistent across the board.

Origin’s overclocked EON17-SLX was a true beast throughout every game. The performance numbers it put up were shockingly good considering this is a (somewhat) portable notebook we are talking about.

We can see that the slower processor on the MSI notebook drags down performance in some situations, though when the GPU becomes a bottleneck the processor choice becomes a less important factor in framerates. Even though framerates were down, games were still completely playable with most hitting completely fluid speeds even with all the eye candy turned on.

 

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1440P Gaming Benchmarks

1440P Gaming Benchmarks

In order to properly test how notebooks perform in gaming scenarios and to even the playing field given the fact that there are multiple screen resolution options available, we have standardized our methodology. In all scenarios we have decided to output the video signal to an external monitor instead of utilizing the notebooks’ integrated display so an idea can be given of how the systems can perform across a wide variety of situations. To prepare for an influx of DX12 titles we have also moved away from FRAPS and we are now using the handy PresentMon tool that’s available for free from GitHub. At the time of writing, this is the only tool available that can consistently log DX12 frametimes.

All results shown below are based upon the averages of three consecutive benchmark runs. Under no circumstance to we use any rolling demos or in game benchmarking tools. Rather, actual gameplay run-throughs are used for every game.

At 1440P, a resolution none of these notebooks natively support, they all perform well once again but we do see a narrowing of the delta between the fastest and slowest framerates. While Origin and Eurocom have used desktop-class processors, placing their machines’ x86 performance well above MSI’s in games the Dominator’s mobile processor holds up quite well at higher resolutions. Once again every one of these notebooks is completely capable of fulfilling 1440P gaming needs at reasonably high detail settings though SLI does fail to deliverable notable benefits in some scenarios.

 

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4K Gaming Benchmarks

4K Gaming Benchmarks

In order to properly test how notebooks perform in gaming scenarios and to even the playing field given the fact that there are multiple screen resolution options available, we have standardized our methodology. In all scenarios we have decided to output the video signal to an external monitor instead of utilizing the notebooks’ integrated display so an idea can be given of how the systems can perform across a wide variety of situations. To prepare for an influx of DX12 titles we have also moved away from FRAPS and we are now using the handy PresentMon tool that’s available for free from GitHub. At the time of writing, this is the only tool available that can consistently log DX12 frametimes.

All results shown below are based upon the averages of three consecutive benchmark runs. Under no circumstance to we use any rolling demos or in game benchmarking tools. Rather, actual gameplay run-throughs are used for every game.

Moving on to 4K and you can see why I was being so tough on Eurocom for their UHD display; even a fully kitted out notebook with a pair of GTX 980M processors requires in-game setting modifications to consistently hit playable framerates. 4K is a tough proposition even with the most expensive desktop systems so don’t expect this generation of notebooks to achieve playable framerates without at least a few sacrifices.

It is however interesting to see that properly optimized games can truly fly in the right circumstances and with the right set of hardware backing them up. While none of the positioning you are seeing above is particularly shocking, the mere fact that all of the systems achieved reasonably good results deserves some recognition.

 

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Battery Life Testing

Battery Life Testing

Battery life is a key component of notebook testing since without adequate unplugged time, one of these systems could hardly be called “mobile”. In order to accurately measure how long a notebook can last away from the mains, we devised a quartet of tests. First is a light usage Browsing scenario which simply refreshes a webpage every 30 seconds while the second test runs an infinite loop of PCMark’s Work preset which simulates some light photo manipulation, word processing and Excel document creation.

The last two tests are more extreme in nature since they consume the majority of a notebook’s onboard resources. The first of these loops PCMark’s Creative benchmark, a testing suite that combines multi-threaded photo editing, GPU-accelerated video transcoding and web conference streaming. Finally the Gaming test uses Rise of the Tomb Raider output at 1080P to the notebook’s screen.

All of these tests are done in the notebook’s default power profile, with screen brightness set at 75% and set the notebook to go into Sleep mode with 5% battery remaining. To log results we use PassMark’s handy BatterMon tool which polls the battery levels every minute and logs them to a text file.

Welcome to the wonderful world of gaming notebooks where you can’t expect all-day battery capacity, nor can you count on even three hours of uptime in the vast majority of cases. Let’s get into these results a bit since they are quite telling but also highlight that even a notebook with desktop-class components can still deliver at least some time away from a power brick.

With its mobile processor, excellent power management utilities working in the background and a GTX 980 that turns completely off when not needed, the MSI Dominator is the hands-down winner in some of these tests. It was able to optimize performance while still offering just over three hours of browsing time and well over two hours of time with some heavier tasks. Naturally, when moving to other heavier tasks we are seeing a serious reduction in battery life but there’s nothing here that would stand out as concerning.

Eurocom showed two faces in this test. Its non-K 6700 isn’t exactly a power miser but its lower p-states allow it to nip right at MSI’s heels in some situations when equipped with a GTX 980. However, pop in a pair of GTX 980M cards and suddenly battery life falls off a cliff. From my perspective it looked like one of the GPUs straight-out refused to go into a dormant state which meant higher power consumption in more basic tasks like word processing.

Last but not least Origin’s EON17-SLX posts solid middle-of-the-pack results which isn’t surprising given the fact that it has overclocked components and an unlocked 91W Intel i7-6700K processor. That Seagate SSHD also takes a bit more power than its standard spindle-only cousins. If you did want to add some time to this notebook’s batter, I’d suggest going without the factory overclock.

 

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Temperature Testing

Temperature Testing

In order to log thermal results we used AIDA64’s logging modules and loaded up the program’s CPU Burn test for any CPU-centric results while the GPU results are taken from an actual 30 minute gameplay sequence. Both are done while the notebook is plug in and displaying images through its screen. The recorded temperatures below are absolute maximums.

CPU Temperatures

One of the best items MSI included with their notebook is a fan profile configuration tool that can be easily set. It allows a user to finely balance acoustics with temperatures since, as you will see below, the default profile on the Dominator Pro is completely useless. In this case I was able to significantly reduce CPU temperatures even though this particular notebook already boasted the best results of the gang.

The Eurocom results deserve some explanation since the SLI setup actually achieved lower CPU temperatures than the single card configuration. This is likely due to the fact that the single hot-running GTX 980 lies close to the CPU socket whereas with dual cards installed, that position is taken up by a much more efficient GXT 980M. With that being said, we can also see that idle temperatures rise to a higher point with two GPU’s installed.

Origin’s overclocked processor remains right on the bleeding edge but it never transitioned into throttling territory. This is actually quite impressive considering it utilizes the exact same cooling system as Eurocom.

GPU Temperatures

Here is where MSI ran into some problems. With their default fan speed profile the GTX 980 was throttling all over the place, limiting performance and heightening chassis temperatures. Simply put, this wasn’t acceptable at all and could lead to some buyers wondering why they aren’t achieving optimal framerates. A few modifications to the fan speed profile changed that.

Eurocom is in an interesting position with their dual GTX 980M cards since one remains at perfectly acceptable temperatures but card number two came extremely close to throttling. The built-in monitoring picked up any spikes and brought them under control without negatively affecting performance. Meanwhile, with a single GTX 980 installed things fared much better.

Origin’s results need to be commended since they’re achieving temperatures that are very close to Eurocom’s yet have included an overclocked GTX 980.

 

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Acoustics & Thermal Imaging

Acoustic Results

What you see below are the baseline idle dB(A) results attained within a completely quiet sound-isolated environment in both in idle and load scenarios. The meter we use has been calibrated and is placed at seated ear-level exactly 12” away from the notebook. For the load scenarios, Tom Raider is used in order to generate a constant load over the course of 30 minutes.

While the default MSI Dominator Pro results above may look awesome, we can’t forget they come at the cost of GPU temperatures reaching lava hot levels. However, as I mentioned above that heat was easily contained by using the onboard fan software to strike a balance between temperatures and noise. The end result was still a pretty quiet system but one which didn’t sacrifice performance to achieve its results.

One of the oddest aspects of the chart above is the fact that with a pair of cards installed, the Eurocom SKY X(was actually quieter than it was with a single GTX 980. I could theorize this was due to anything from thermal compound application to heatsink load balancing but in truth, I have no idea why the result ended up that way. Food for thought I guess.

Origin didn’t exactly boast the loudest machine but it was pretty close to taking that inauspicious crown. Nonetheless, I continually found myself impressed at what was achieved given the high speeds their components are running at.

Thermal Imaging

The last thing anyone wants with a notebook is to have it burn their laps after extensive use. Some systems can get extremely hot if their heat isn’t properly dissipated away from the user’s body and that can lead to no small amount of discomfort.

In order to see how notebooks fared with heat dissipation, we ran a continual gaming load and analyzed their thermal signatures with a FLIR E5 thermal camera. This will show any hot spots and whether or not any areas go beyond acceptable levels.

Eurocom SKY X9 (SLI)

The first notebook out of the paddock is the SKY X9 in its SLI form and I have to say the results aren’t all that bad considering the components Eurocom has chosen. Remember, we’re talking about a desktop-class CPU and two pretty powerful graphics cards. One section you will want to avoid is the exhaust since temperatures around that area become lava-hot. Meanwhile, the chassis’ bottom doesn’t exhibit any worrying thermals but with a peak of about 55°C, I wouldn’t want to keep it near my nether regions for more than a few minutes.


MSI GT72S Dominator Pro

Even though it has a desktop GTX 980 at its heart, the Domintor Pro’s chassis remains relatively cool, yet not to the point of being comfortable to use on your lap. Most of the heat is being exhausted out the back vents while the lower, lap-focused area is being utilized for intake. MSI also seems to have done a good amount of work to insure the keyboard and palm rest sections aren’t burning hot either.


Origin EON17-SLX

Of all the notebooks here, I was most worried about the EON17-SLX’s external temperatures since all the heat from the overclocked desktop processor and GPU has to go somewhere. Well it turns out that the Sager chassis is optimized perfectly for the increased heat loads generated by Origin’s chosen components. That’s not to say the notebook remains absolutely cool to the touch but everything seems well managed.

 

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Conclusion; $11K of Notebooks, Is There a Winner?

Conclusion; $11K of Notebooks, Is There a Winner?

With the so-called gaming notebook market exploding with new entries from the likes of Gigabyte, EVGA and others, industry stalwarts have been challenged to step up their game in an effort to offer potential customers something different. While none of the entrants in this roundup includes anything particularly unique, the component selection pushes their performance ever closer to the capabilities of higher end desktop systems. Unfortunately, that performance comes at a rather high cost but now more than ever, buyers with sufficient cash no longer have to make a choice between a modicum of portability and in-game framerates.

Wrapping up this roundup won’t be an easy thing either since I’m still not convinced of the whole “desktop replacement” trend among high end notebooks. I completely understand the aspect of portability combined with some significant gaming muscle and make no mistake about it either; these notebooks are among the first to truly challenge the performance of higher end desktop systems. However, with weights ranging from eight to ten pounds you won’t be easily lugging them to school or work, at least not without a good amount of back pain. They also cost an absolute fortune - usually as much as a similarly-equipped desktop system combined with a good monitor and a thin & light notebook for your portability fix.

Much of this newfound potential comes from two key architectures: Intel’s Skylake CPUs and NVIDIA’s Maxwell GPUs. The inherent efficiency built into their respective designs has allowed notebook manufacturers to include desktop-class processors and graphics cards into their designs without requiring heatsinks that would foist briefcase-size dimensions upon their laptops.

Eurocom SKY X9

Eurocom’s SKY X9 presents a Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde type of situation for me. On one hand it is phenomenally powerful when equipped with a pair of GTX 980M cards and an i7 6700 but it is also laughably expensive at nearly five grand. Popping in a single GTX 980 brings a lower cost, less headaches with in-game SLI compatibility and longer battery life so I’d recommend going that route. Luckily, Eurocom’s nearly endless configuration options allow you to modify this thing to your heart’s content, making it as expensive or affordable as you want. Being a Canadian-sourced option, the X9 also happens to be a good option for us Canucks since the premium we pay is a bit less than the MSI and Origin options.

Speaking of that affordability and customizability angle, this particular X9 has what may be the most pointless option to ever grace a gaming notebook: a 4K screen. Windows applications continually struggled to scale their menus to legible font sizes, the G-SYNC support which graces the other two notebooks is MIA and the GPU is forced to push a phenomenal number of pixels when rendering at the native resolution. For all of those sacrifices, the screen doesn’t look any better than Origin’s or MSI’s. 4K screens may be all the rage these days and they certainly have their uses but not when crammed into just 17” of diagonal real estate.

Other aspects of Eurocom’s flagship product present both positive and negative aspects as well. Unlike the MSI Dominator, the SKY X9 never throttled under full load in its default fan speed profile and it came in a wonderfully clean state without any bloatware installed. However, for such an expensive notebook its chassis is decidedly generic, the keyboard lacks any notable qualities, the trackpad won’t win any fans and features geared towards gamers like dedicated macro keys are non-existent.

I consider the SKY X9 to be an extremely capable platform but one that has to be carefully configured to optimize its price / performance ratio. That means it represents a perfect solution for experienced buyers but it can also present a daunting wall of options to first timers who may find solace in pre-configured solutions from MSI, ASUS, Origin, Alienware or Acer.

MSI GT72S Dominator Pro

The MSI GT72S may not have been the highest performing machine in this roundup but it really did tug a my heart strings with a comparatively affordable price, a great feature set, amazing build quality, respectable battery life, a sub-9 pound weight and tons of software options to heighten one’s gaming experience. It is obviously targeted towards first-time buyers who can’t be bothered by vast configuration options but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing either since the components MSI chose are top-shelf.

Many of this system’s strengths lie with the partnerships MSI has built. Steelseries provides one of the best notebook keyboards I’ve ever used, the Dynaudio setup is a revelation for both onboard speakers and headphone users and most of the first-party software works pretty well. The GT72S goes more than a few steps beyond that generic Sager-based chassis which is used by Origin, Eurcom and nearly every one of the other “boutique” notebook manufacturers use. It is simply a better, infinitely more refined product.

While the MSI GT72S did feel like the most holistic solution of this group, that “set it and forget it” mentality does bring with it some serious concerns. Eurocom and Origin ship their notebooks with a very much virgin Windows installation while the OS which graces the Dominator has been around the blocks a few times. It has been used and abused with a virus-like Norton “antivirus”, an MSI system update application that never did work yet kept popping up and many other no-no’s. If you do buy this notebook, the hour or so you spend tracking down and deleting all the junk will be time well spent.

Another concern with the GT72S is its default fan profile: it just isn’t optimized in a way that the system will be performing to the best of its abilities. Luckily there’s a handy application that allows for quick and easy profile adjustments so within a few clicks you’ll have a system that’s quieter the Eurocom’s and Origin’s but still offers great framerates.

While there are some small items that hold MSI’s GT72S from reaching an absolute pinnacle of perfection, it does nearly everything right and should provide a suitable gaming platform for those who want a blend of performance and some portability.

Origin EON17-SLX

The EON17-SLX is a beast of a notebook and while it may look identical to the Eurocom alternative due to its mass-produced Sager chassis Origin, has given it their own set of flourishes in an attempt to add some uniqueness. In many ways the SLX can be considered a system which takes a hybrid approach somewhere between the highly customizable Eurocom and the more mass market MSI. That doesn’t mean Origin has lost the bespoke feel of a boutique PC builder though, quite the opposite actually. Everything from the buying experience to shipping to customer support has a “special” feel to it.

While it is anything but inexpensive, the SLX does come with a fair amount of goodies. Its shipping crate is massively endowed and sure to give any UPS driver nightmares but it also completely eliminates all but the most extreme of damage. There’s also a handy carrying sleeve and basic yet useful pre-installed applications that never stray into the bloatware category. Of particular note is the OS USB backup which Origin provides which allows for a quick and easy system refresh in the event something goes bump in the night.

I personally hold no love for the Sager-sourced chassis, it is big, bulky, heavy and features a grand misuse of external space. I understand the need to maximize internal volume to enhance cooling and grant expansion for dual card setups but absolutely nothing has been done to better leverage that space for additional gaming features. The keyboard is generic, backlight functionality is minimal, I/O connectivity options could be better placed and the lack of secondary function keys hurts usability
 
Even though some movement away from a cookie-cutter design would have been nice, there’s absolutely no faulting the components Origin kitted their EON17-SLX out with. Desktop versions of Intel’s i7 6700K and NVIDIA’s GTX 980 combine to provide performance that’s slightly above what Eurocom was able to achieve at a price that was more than a grand less expensive.
Much of that pricing disparity is due to the fact that Eurocom outfitted their notebook with a 4K screen whereas Origin’s includes a more logical and entirely more useable 1080P IPS G-SYNC display. If anything, this goes to prove that you have to be extremely careful when choosing components for these gaming notebooks; one wrong choice and ROI gets thrown clear out the nearest airlock. Luckily for Origin in this case, their system included a good blend of high end power and (some) money-saving options.