Eurocom P5 Pro / Clevo P750ZM Review: True DTR
by Jarred Walton on March 10, 2015 10:00 AM ESTClevo P750ZM General Performance
General performance on high-end notebooks and laptops doesn’t usually add much to the performance story, but in this case we’re actually able to see what happens when we pit the fastest current mainstream desktop CPU against other mobile solutions. I’d love to have numbers from the i7-4860HQ as well as the i7-4710HQ, as that would obviously close the gap, but given the i7-4790K is priced roughly the same as an i7-4710HQ/4710MQ, you should get more bang for the buck.
Here’s a look at our standard CPU and system benchmarks, along with 3DMark for reference; WiFi performance is also included near the bottom of the page. Note that the MSI GT70 and GE60 were both equipped with hard drives for storage, so that will affect some of the PCMark results in particular.
There are no surprises here: the P750ZM with a Core i7-4790K is basically the fastest notebook we’ve tested. A hex-core or octal-core LGA2011 chip could win out in multi-threaded scenarios, but that’s not really going to push gaming performance any higher, and even mobile workstations may not really need more than four cores. There are individual tests where the P750ZM doesn’t place first, but those are often influenced by other factors – e.g. faster quad-RAID SSD storage or access to Intel’s Quick Sync. When we get to CPU-centric testing, however, there’s no competition from the mobile parts; Cinebench and x264 encoding show a solid 20-25% improvement in performance over the next fastest processor.
Interestingly, in 3DMark we again see the combination of desktop CPU with GTX 980M typically outperforms the 780M SLI setup in the Alienware 18. SLI puts a heavier load on the CPU to begin with, so it makes sense that the Kepler mobile parts in SLI are unable to keep up. SLI GTX 980M would obviously change things, but we haven’t had such a system in for testing yet.
As for wireless performance, the dual-band Killer 1525 802.11ac solution worked fine during testing. We’re still not at the point where WiFi can actually outperform GbE, but for short distances we’re at least getting closer. It’s also worth mentioning that WiFi testing can be highly variable, even in the same location. Both the MSI GT72 and P750ZM used the same WiFi adapter, so either there are differences in the antenna that caused a drop in throughput or else the change in environmental conditions had an impact. This is another reason wired connections are often still desirable.
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Notmyusualid - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
I'm a pervious owner of three Clevos, one of them being a Eurocom branded model;I believe the laptop 330W supply (as exists on the M18x) promises to *deliver* 330W, not that it only takes 330W from the wall, and then providing 85% efficiency whilst doing it... which would thereby give the machine only 280.5W. Please correct me if I'm wrong though...
Anway, I H A T E those custom Clevo 4-pin PSU connectors. With my M18x, I can actually *charge* it with any PSU that has a connector that is *physically* the same and that happens to be lying about, thereby making the machine more *portable*. You'll not see that custom connector again, outside of Clevo that is, as far as my eyes are concerned.
But I say, drop the battery altogether - and give us twice the cooling, or half the weight / chassis depth. Come on, you know it makes sense. I can count the times I've actually *needed* to use my battery on my two hands. (think check-in desk confirming a return ticket out of a country - now done [accepted by airline staff] on your smartphone.
18.4" or bust for MY money though. And I'd like that at QHD 2560 x 1440 please, nothing higher, it is just too demanding for laptop GPUs...
Build it, and they will come. Alienware dropped the 18.4" line (ball) with the recent M18. A market gap does indeed exist, but not with a Clevo keyboard, as many Clevo previous owners can attest...
Peace out.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
That's true on the connector -- I find it's location and connection to be quite undesirable. I've had the cable fall out numerous times while moving the notebook around a bit. Anyway, I think the custom connector is supposed to help with delivering up to 330W -- and yes, it delivers up to 330W, so it could potentially draw as much as ~390W from the wall is my understanding. If you're wondering, under full load, even with overclocking, I don't think I've hit more than about 270W at the wall.Murloc - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
Well at least 15 minutes of battery life is useful if people move the computer around without turning it off.will54 - Wednesday, March 11, 2015 - link
MSI is trying to fill it with the GT80 Titan . Though its only a 1080 pls screen and a socketed cpu, it comes with a 4710 or 4980 HQ and 980m in SLI. oh and it has a mechanical keyboard. Crazy expensive but all 18.4" notebooks with SLI were/are overpriced.SuperVeloce - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
I bet those temperatures would be much better if eurocom went with mobile unlocked cpu (no IHS). But there is a thing with Intel, they probably want some crazy prices for those extreme mobile cpus (basically a 4770k without a heat spreader). I wouldn't be surprised if it costs $1kJarredWalton - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
The fastest mobile part right now is the i7-4940MX:http://ark.intel.com/products/78940/Intel-Core-i7-...
While it can hit up to 4GHz with Turbo Boost, the nominal guaranteed clock speed is only 3.1GHz. It's a 57W TDP part as well, and the price is generally $1000.
The i7-4980HQ is a non-socket chip that does 2.8-4.0GHz, with the same 57W TDP, and it's priced at $623. In practice, both will likely have to clock down to 3.4-3.6GHz under sustained loads would be my guess, so the i7-4790K is still roughly 16-20% faster. And it also only costs $339. Basically it's more performance for a lower total price, but battery life and mobility take the hit.
Notmyusualid - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
Agreed - I have a 3920XM (x45,42,40,38) and a 4712HQ next to me - and no matter what task / benchamark I throw at them both, the 4712HQ is only ~20% slower, or less. Despite the increase of GHz on the XM part. The XM part will eventually throttle to save itself (thanks Intel), making the XM part moot in Asia (where its hot all the time, less so in Blighty).But I can't give up this big screen. I hope not to be buried with my M18xR2, as I don't love it all that much.... :)
But despite the desktop value; order of preference goes something like this:
Screen size, GPU choices (cf / sli if poss), CPU performance, screen quality, storage options, memory options. I know I'm fussy, but it is my money...
will54 - Wednesday, March 11, 2015 - link
yeah I think a 4940mx is a $1k chip, from what I have seen they charge an extra $800 for it when you upgrade from a 4720MQ.JeffFlanagan - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
Looks like a sweet machine, but I'll stick with a $400 laptop or tablet remoted into a powerful $1000 Windows desktop PC with lots of RAM and storage. This isn't great with poor LTE signal strength, but I have WiFi available most of the time.Denithor - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
Sheesh, $3200 and no SSD included? Are they kidding? WTF?