The Eurocom Sky X7C (Clevo P775TM1-G) Gaming Laptop Review: True Desktop Replacement
by Brett Howse on August 5, 2019 8:00 AM EST
If you are thinking about a gaming laptop, but are tired of the compromises that come with normal “laptop” parts, then a Desktop Replacement laptop might be a better fit for you. Eurocom’s Sky X7C, based on the Clevo P775TM1-G chassis, offers more performance than most desktops, but still lets you carry it with you. As is typical of the boutique PC makers, there’s plenty of customization available to slot into your budget, and plenty of performance on tap as well, with insane specifications for a mobile computer.
Starting with the processor, and as we’ve seen in previous Clevo DTR based devices, the entire idea of a laptop class CPU is thrown out the window. Rather than have a soldered-in TDP-limited processor, the Eurocom Sky X7C features socketed desktop class Intel CPUs, from the Core i5-8400 all the way up to what’s powering our review unit: the Core i9-9900K. And, if you really love performance and overclocking, Eurocom will delid your processor and apply one of several thermal compounds, depending on what you prefer.
On the GPU side, Eurocom uses MXM3 cards with a variety of choices. Those on a budget can opt for the NVIDIA GTX 1060, and the GTX 1070 and 1080 are available as well. RTX enthusiasts can choose among the RTX 2060, 2070, or 2080, and if you’d prefer a workstation class card, there are also Pascal based versions of Quadro available to choose up to the P5000.
The 17.3-inch display also features plenty of choices, from a 1920x1080 panel with a 60 Hz IPS, 120 Hz TN, or the excellent 144 Hz IPS with G-Sync. If you’d like a bit higher resolution, Eurocom also offers the 2560x1440 TN 120 Hz display, which is what we have in our review unit, or you can opt for a 3840x2160 60 Hz IPS choice as well.
As a DTR, there are an almost infinite number of choices for storage and RAM, with Eurocom offering up to 64 GB of RAM, with various timings depending on your preferences and budget, and an insane amount of storage, with two NVMe drives up to 2 TB each if you opt for the Samsung 970 EVO, and two more 2.5-inch drive slots which can be outfitted with a mind-boggling 8 TB SSD each, meaning this notebook can be outfitted with a total of 4 TB of NVMe storage plus an additional 16 TB of SATA SSD storage.
| Eurocom Sky X7C / Clevo P775TM1-G | |
| As Tested: i9-9900K, 32GB (2x16) DDR4-3000 RTX 2080, 2x500GB NVMe, 120Hz QHD, $4205 USD |
|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-9500K, 6C/6T, 3.7-4.6 GHz, 9MB Cache, 95W TDP Intel Core i7-9700K, 8C/8T, 3.6-4.9 GHz, 12MB Cache, 95W TDP Intel Core i9-9900K, 8C/16T, 3.6-5.0 GHz, 16MB Cache, 95W TDP 8th Gen Core available upon request |
| GPU | NVIDIA RTX 2060 6GB, 1920 CUDA Cores 80W TDP NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB, 2304 CUDA Cores 115W TDP NVIDIA RTX 2080 8GB, 2994 CUDA Cores 150W TDP NVIDIA GTX and Quadro available upon request |
| Memory | 4 SODIMM Slots, 64 GB Max, up to 3000 MHz |
| Display Choices | 17.3" 1920x1080 IPS 60Hz 1920x1080 TN 120Hz 1920x1080 IPS 144Hz 2560x1440 TN 120Hz 3840x2160 IPS 60 Hz All displays matte, G-SYNC Optional on some panels |
| Storage | 2 x 9.5mm 2.5” SATA 2 x m.2 Slot (SATA or 4xPCIE) |
| I/O | 1 x USB-C Thunderbolt 3 2 x mini DP 1.3 1 x HDMI 2.0 3 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 3.0 Powered SPDIF Headphone Microphone Audio Input |
| Dimensions | 418 x 295 x 39.9 mm 16.72 x 11.81 x 1.6 inches |
| Weight | 3.9 kg / 8.58 lb |
| Battery | 80 Wh, 330W / 780W AC Adapter |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC9260 2x2:2 with Bluetooth 4.1 Killer Wireless-AC 1535 2x2:2 with Bluetooth 4.1 Killer Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price | $2200 - $5000+ |
The choices continue with wireless offerings from both Intel with the Wireless-AC 9260, or Killer with the 9260 based Killer Wireless-AC 1535. If you’d prefer a wired connection, the Killer E2500 Gigabit Ethernet adapter comes standard, and if you want to connect anything else, there’s Thunderbolt 3 via a USB Type-C connector, an additional USB Type-C with power delivery, four additional USB Type-A ports, two DisplayPort outputs, and an HDMI 2.0 output.
Did I even mention yet you can choose either a 330-Watt AC Adapter, or the bonkers 780-Watt model? The latter enormous power adapter is actually a small form factor desktop PSU, complete with an integrated backlit LCD to let you know all of the statistics, including voltage and current power output.
We’ve tested Clevo devices before, but Eurocom’s rebadged Sky X7C offers perhaps the most customization I have ever seen in a gaming laptop. And although you can certainly spec out the X7C into insane levels of cost, in a normal configuration it can still come in at hundreds of dollars less expensive than one of the bigger gaming brands. Let’s see how it holds up against the competition.
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p1esk - Monday, August 5, 2019 - link
I love the option of 1440p at 120Hz! Hope to see it in normal laptops (perhaps new MBPs can lead the way to improved refresh rates?)HollyDOL - Monday, August 5, 2019 - link
Since the article title talks about 'true desktop replacement', could we get price and performance comparison to desktop with "same" parts? ie. DDR4-3000 + 9900K + RTX 2080...Brett Howse - Monday, August 5, 2019 - link
Our GPU bench is currently an i9-9900K as well. As a comparison I got 116 FPS on Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Ryan got 114.6 with the desktop version, so the performance seems similar. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of overlap on our tests though because Ryan is able to keep GPUs and benchmark them on new suites whereas laptops have to go back to the manufacturers so I don't rotate the tests as heavily since every time I add a new test it starts out with zero results to compare against.Is there a particular title you'd like to see compared against other than Shadow of the Tomb Raider?
HollyDOL - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
nice, thanks...Compile Chromium (time) test would be nice...
or in general anything that puts the machine under high sustained stress for longer period (45mins+)...
craz8 - Monday, August 5, 2019 - link
I have one of these laptops - a Sager branded one.It really is quite heavy, and the 330W power brick is equally beefy - I selected the RTX 2070 to avoid needing double power bricks. I do use this on my lap, but the power plug at the back falls out a lot in this configuration. It's not a very secure connection. Since it's at the back, the only way to notice is that suddenly the CPU is running at 1.3Ghz instead of 4+
I almost always run this in Quiet mode, as the fans are almost silent in this mode. When I'm stressing the machine, the CPU clocks down to about 3.4-3.6 Ghz, which is still good enough for the work I do on it. If I run in performance mode, the things I run go a little faster, but the fan noise is not worth the extra speed.
There really isn't enough cooling for Nvme drives. Even small amounts of writing to them immediately pushes the temps to 90+, and there's no room for extra heatsinks to help with this.
I have the 4K screen, which seems pretty good, but if you dual boot into a Linux OS, the bootloader screen is hilariously small, and some versions of Linux have poor scaling options
I mostly use this on my desk, and it (or Windows 10) really doesn't like my CalDigital TB3 dock. Luckily, everything plugs into the chassis (unlike recent Apple hardware)
I don't play games on this, so barely use the GPU (RTX 2070). I'd love to have options to push more power and cooling to the CPU whilst scaling them back to the GPU without having to poke at the values manually.
Overall, I like mine, but it does have quirks.
Alistair - Monday, August 5, 2019 - link
I think you'd be much better off with a (I hate to say it) nVidia creator laptop, or a 9880H/9980HK laptop with a 120/144hz Gsync IPS screen. We need a comparison with Clevo of the MSI Stealth and Raider and Titan.https://www.newegg.com/matte-black-with-gold-diamo...
Brahman05 - Monday, August 5, 2019 - link
I have sager's version of the x9e2 with a 7700k and 1080sli and the same 1440p panel, and the panel is both one of the best and worst parts in the thing. One thing not mentioned in this article is the gtg does not really support the refresh rate, but by reporting a 120hz refresh it at least still cuts down on input lag. I really have no complaints though. When I got it I had a mobile lifestyle and had the money for it, my only two real gripes are ZEN and RTx. Not 3 months after I got the thing AMD goes and makes 8c16t a thing and even if the architecture is pretry much the same from the 6700k to the 9900k the productivity of the same class chip is now double. And with RTX going to NVLink for an sli bridge Nvidia has axed mobile sli due to the complexity involved in producing that type of connector. So this X7c is really the way to go anymore. Damn you progress!LsRamAir - Monday, August 5, 2019 - link
No Overclocking detail... bahhhh! Pushing these DTRs to the max that their cooling allows for is what at least half of their buyers do... Next time, yes please! (Especially in the wake of similarly spec'd DTR machines burning out under mild OC's, which SHOULD NOT HAPPEN, it would be nice to know if this SKY is also part of the bad choices group.)peteraustin - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
Amazing article https://www.anandtech.com/ you should definitely read it in your spare timehennes - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
I recently got this laptop as a replacement for a 10 1/2-year-old laptop. I wanted a full-sized keyboard, which means 17” or larger. Potable means 17” really it the limit. And 17” is perfect for 2k screens.The Sky X7 was one of the few which offered that and it had all my desired other connectivity (multiple NVME, multiple DP out, a few fast USB ports, thunderbolt, …
What really was surprising is how few other there are. Many with low res displays (1920x1080) which makes sense for gaming. Some with 4K displays future proof but quite small on a 17” display.
That made the X7C almost the only sensible choice.
And from an engineering view the thicker than average body was also very attractive. As were the looks. Form over function simply looks good, while designed stuff tend to look odd and twisted to me.
The only thing it lacks for me is more battery capacity. Lugging the large charger around is not fun and two battery slots (or 2x 80) for airplane use would have been my choice if it was offered.