AVADirect's Clevo P170HM with GeForce GTX 485M: High-End You've Been Waiting For
by Dustin Sklavos on February 28, 2011 7:15 PM ESTIntroducing the Clevo P170HM and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 485M
When we reviewed the Clevo W880CU and, by extension, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480M, we were perplexed. Certainly NVIDIA had reclaimed the mobile graphics crown and no one could dispute that, but at what cost? The 480M was a cut-down mobile version of the already dire desktop GeForce GTX 465M. We even begged the question: "Wouldn't the prudent thing to do have been to let ATI have their cake for the time being and try and push GF104 into laptops?" Today we have a better answer. AVADirect has been kind enough to send us a Clevo P170HM notebook outfitted with NVIDIA's latest and greatest, the GF104-based GeForce GTX 485M.
We're not going to lie; this is the mobile part we've been waiting for from NVIDIA ever since the GeForce GTX 460 was released. GF104 has been recently succeeded by the GF114 powering the GeForce GTX 560 Ti, but in a strange twist of fate, only notebooks will ever see a full-blown GF104. While the desktop version was trimmed down to 336 shaders, the mobile one powering the 485M features all 384.
AVADirect was gracious enough to provide us a Sandy Bridge notebook during a period when Sandy Bridge has been incredibly scarce from any angle, and the Clevo P170HM is the successor to the previously-reviewed W880CU. This is the configuration they shipped us:
Clevo P170HM Review Unit Specifications | |
Processor |
Intel Core i7-2720QM (4x2.2GHz, 32nm, 6MB L3, Turbo to 3.3GHz, 45W) |
Chipset | Intel HM67 |
Memory | 2x4GB DDR3-1066 (Max 4x4GB) |
Graphics |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M 2GB GDDR5 (384 CUDA cores, 575MHz/1150MHz/3GHz Core/Shader/RAM Clocks) |
Display |
17.3" LED Glossy 16:9 1920x1080 (LG LP173WF1-TLC1 Panel) |
Hard Drive(s) |
Crucial RealSSD 300 128GB SATA 6Gbps SSD Seagate Momentus XT 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gbps Hybrid HDD/SSD |
Optical Drive | BD-ROM/DVD+-RW Combo Drive |
Networking |
JMicron PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1+EDR |
Audio |
Realtek ALC892 HD Audio Five speakers and subwoofer 5.1 audio jacks with S/PDIF |
Battery | 8-Cell, 10.8V, 77Wh battery |
Front Side |
Infrared port Wireless switch Indicator lights |
Left Side |
CATV jack Ethernet jack 2x USB 3.0 USB 2.0 4-pin FireWire port MMC/SD/MS reader |
Right Side |
Optical drive Headphone jack Microphone jack Line-out/digital out jack Line-in jack USB 2.0 |
Back Side |
Kensington lock Exhaust vent eSATA HDMI DVI AC adaptor jack Exhaust vent |
Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
Dimensions | 16.22" x 10.87" x 1.65"-1.79" (WxDxH) |
Weight | 8.60 lbs |
Extras |
2MP Webcam Flash reader (MMC, SD/Mini SD, MS/Duo/Pro/Pro Duo) Blu-ray drive USB 3.0 Bluetooth 5.1 integrated sound 103 key keyboard with 10-key |
Warranty | 1-year limited warranty |
Pricing |
Available starting at $1611 Price as configured: $2614 |
The two banner items in our review unit are going to be the Sandy Bridge-based Intel Core i7-2720QM and the shiny new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M. The Cougar Point chipset bug took a major bite out of the industry, so we appreciate AVADirect being willing to send us a review unit despite that. The Core i7-2720QM is one of those moronically fast new Sandy Bridge processors, built on a 32nm process and equipped with four Hyper-Threaded cores and 6MB of L3 cache. Turbo speeds are impressive to say the least: the i7-2720QM has a nominal stock clock of 2.2GHz, but is able to turbo up to 3GHz on all four cores, 3.2GHz on two cores, and 3.3GHz on just one core. A 3GHz mobile quad core, especially with the kind of performance Sandy Bridge yields, would've been unheard of not too long ago.
Of course, the really big news item here is NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 485M. Since the GF104 was released (and later refreshed by the GF114), I felt like that was the core that really should've gone mobile. The GF100-based GeForce GTX 480M was too horribly trimmed, essentially a lower-clocked version of the disappointment that was the desktop GeForce GTX 465, and as a result it wasn't the homerun AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5870 killer we wanted. That changes with the 485M.
NVIDIA has kept the stratospheric 100W TDP of its predecessor and used that thermal budget more efficiently. The 485M is a full-fledged GF104, something we never saw on the desktop. It sports 384 CUDA cores, with reasonable clocks of 575MHz on the core and 1150MHz on the shaders. The anemic 2.4GHz clock of the 480M's GDDR5 has been supplanted by a more reasonable 3GHz clock (though still a healthy distance from the 3.6GHz AMD is able to achieve on the Radeon HD 6970M), and that GDDR5 enjoys a healthy 256-bit memory bus. The net result is a chip that sports substantially higher clocks and a higher shader count than its predecessor. Note that the price to upgrade from an already expensive GTX 460M is $504 at AVADirect, so the GTX 485M does not come cheap!
Rounding out our review configuration of the Clevo P170HM is a Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB solid state drive, currently one of the only SSDs on the market supporting SATA 6Gbps, along with a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB hybrid drive pulling mass storage duties. The SATA 6Gbps functionality of the HM67 chipset is certainly in full effect, too, and looks to be supported in both drive bays. AVADirect also included a Blu-ray reader and the Clevo has a healthy amount of connectivity: USB 3.0, eSATA, FireWire, and gigabit and wireless networking are all accounted for. In fact the only curious omission is the lack of an ExpressCard slot, though given how everything else—even digital 7.1 audio—is accounted for, it's hard to imagine what you'd need to add.
The base price starts at $1611 from AVADirect, but once you start adding extras you'll get well above $2000 quite fast. With the GTX 485M, the bare minimum you'll pay is $2115. The i7-2720QM is actually a fairly cheap upgrade from the base i7-2630QM at only $45, though performance isn't all that different. The 128GB SSD tacks on another $175 compared to the typical Seagate 7200.4 500GB, and you'll want at least 2x2GB RAM ($18), but with a system this potent why not go for 2x4GB ($70). Outside of the hugely expensive GPU upgrade, all of the prices at AVADirect are very competitive with what you'd pay on Newegg.com, so we can't fault them here. Whether it's NVIDIA raking in the bucks on the 485M, or vendors taking a nice cut—or very likely some of each!—the fact is that you're getting a very capable gaming notebook. Whether you're willing to spend over two large on such a system is a different matter.
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Hrel - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
There a few notebooks I'd REALLY love to see reviewed.Clevo: P151HM1, W150HN. Both with 1080p screen. The first has the GTX460M and the second has the GT540M. I already have a solid idea of performance with the given parts, but I'm very interested in speaker quality, chassis quality, keyboard quality. Things Jarred, you tend to hit on well. Unfortunately these still aren't available in actual stores so the only way I can find this stuff out is a really good review; or buy it and take that risk.
Compal: I don't know the model number cause I can't find it anywhere anymore but a 15.6" 1080p Compal with the GT540M and Sandy Bridge.
What are the chances of getting these in house for a review? And what kind of time frame would we be looking at? Thanks!
Hrel - Friday, March 4, 2011 - link
Jarred! Why have you ignored my comment?SimKill - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
"Begging the question" in your first paragraph isn't what you think it means.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
Otherwise, a great article!
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
Interesting. I've never heard this before, and honestly it strikes me as one of those areas where the language has changed and the "modernized" usage has become accepted. The thing is, to beg (ask earnestly; entreat) for a question hardly seems to be a clear translation of "petitio principii" (petitioning for a principle point). Honestly, I'm not going to change my usage on this one, simply because I have never heard it used before as "assuming the initial point" -- certainly not by anyone I know! I suppose maybe if I were a lawyer it would have come up before.jcompagner - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
I am waiting and waiting for the real high end, ok there is one already there the 17" of apple but i rather have a "normal" windows laptop but then as apple does in a high end 16:10 configuration (1920x1200)alephxero - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
It seems kind of disingenuous to list the starting price but not the configured price. Looking at AVADirect's site the price for the reviewed model is in the $2600 range, a far cry from the 1600 base price.JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
You're correct, and we usually list the configured pricing. I'll update the table.bennyg - Thursday, March 3, 2011 - link
Powafulest GPU feasible for multimedia performance... check.CPU good enough to run it with room to spare... check.
Enough of a thermal solution to keep them both from burning up... check.
Great quality LCD panel...
Even if all Clevo focus on is incremental improvement in their products, like remedying the tiny battery of the w8x0cu designs, why would they settle for a mid-range screen on a top-of-the-range laptop...
-1 buyer of this laptop as a result.
Also, just give me manual graphics switching already! I don't care about Optimus and it's performance tradeoffs - to have the same hardware present and capable that cheaper/smaller laptops use to run >5hrs on battery - but no interface to use it - is just silly. I would get great benefit out of this feature, I don't use my laptop just for multimedia.