AVADirect's Clevo X7200 Redux: AMD 6970M CF Takes the Crown
by Dustin Sklavos on June 2, 2011 3:05 AM ESTHeat, Noise, and Battery Life
It goes without saying that the Clevo X7200 with an Intel Core i7-990X and a pair of AMD Radeon HD 6970M GPUs is the fastest notebook we've ever tested, but it ought to be: the combined TDP of the processor and two graphics chips is nearly 330 watts. Understanding that this 13-pound land monster is seldom going to be run off the mains, the included battery is basically a glorified UPS system. Take a look.
Hope you weren't planning to game on the battery. The pair of 6970Ms may be faster than the 480M SLI configuration, but they also seem to draw just a bit more power in our non-gaming testing. And again, this is a high-end desktop processor in the X7200; it just can't compare to the sub-45W envelopes of the mobile chips.
Before we get into thermals, though, a brief tangent on noise and power consumption proper. We've seen reviews of the Clevo X7200 where the 300-watt power supply just can't handle the stress and begins to shut down. So far, the most stressful test I've seen for any gaming system has been Mafia II's benchmark: nothing I use on desktop testing gets anywhere close to as high in power consumption as that does. When I tested power draw at the wall, the X7200 peaked at 301 watts with this configuration: not great, and maybe cause for concern, but the system never throttled or shut down. What may be more amusing (depending on your sense of mirth) is the 130 watt idle consumption, which handily beats the majority of desktops I test. That's not entirely fair, though, since the X7200 has to power its own screen as well.
As far as noise goes, it's not exactly pleasant. From about a foot above the notebook (I tried to approximate where my head would be), my sound meter picked up 50.8dB during the Mafia II benchmark. The speakers are going to have a hard time drowning out that noise, so you may want to pack a pair of headphones. There's only so much you can do, though: there are four fans inside this notebook, and they're cooling about 300 watts worth of hardware in a "small" chassis. Idle noise isn't quite as bad, but it still measured 40dB at 12", with periodic cycling of the fans to 43dB.
Thankfully, those fans keep the system running surprisingly cool. With a now-mature 32nm process, Intel's Core i7-990X actually doesn't get too hot, and the Clevo X7200 chassis does a decent job of keeping temperatures down. We were only able to get one temperature reading of the 6970Ms, but it seems like they're both running cool, too. At least you don't have to worry about the X7200 overheating.
Naturally there are hot spots, but nothing particularly dire. You'd be insane to try and run this notebook on your lap (especially with the intakes on the bottom of the chassis), but at least it's not going to make your palms sweat when you're trying to game. That's appreciated given the sheer amount of performance the X7200 is capable of supporting.
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Creig - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
No, it's not a "sign of fanboyism" on behalf of the author. It's more of a lack of reading on your part. From the very first paragraph in the article:"and while we hope to review the GTX 485M in SLI soon"
Since they haven't had a chance to review Nvidia's new 485M SLI yet, they can't say for sure that 6970M CF is currently the fastest laptop video solution available. I'm sure they'll declare a winner once they benchmark the 485M SLI.
Meaker10 - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
Because there are already reviews out there.The 485M is a little ahead of the 6970M in single card configs, but since Xfire is scaling better than SLI the 6970M is pretty much level pegging when you have two of each.
erple2 - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - link
Yes, but posting definitive information about a product that has not yet been reviewed is disingenuous at best, and fraud at worst.Anandtech can't make definitive info about the performance of products until at the very least after they have reviewed said item.
While it may turn out to be true that 2x 485's are faster than 2x6970m's, there's no internally consistent data at Anandtech to back it up (yet). Given that the performance of the 6970m and the 485's are so similar (10% isn't that much of a difference - only barely statistically significant), there's no telling where the SLI vs. CF battle will fall.
So I'd support the conclusion that the CF solution is currently the fastest solution. I am, however, glad that they included a nod that they'll be reviewing the SLI configuration in the near future.
scook9 - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
You all need to get a loaded M18x to review. It has dual 6970m's as well and an Intel Core i7 Extreme 2920xm (even with an optional factory OC) - beast processor.It has switchable graphics and can get near 5 hours battery life on the Intel HD 3000
It is an all around awesome laptop (PROPER KEYBOARD) and very high build quality.
I had to weigh between the two and had NO reservations about getting an M18x myself, it is replacing my Core i7 965 and CF 5870 desktop
jecs - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
You would really need with you the extra performance the CPU on this machine could deliver over a SB 2xxx CPU, maybe around $3000, and go out very often.I know these machines are not for everyone but I mean, the CPU choice is my biggest concern in this particular system as I think it adds very little and even downgrades the gaming performance. It would be interesting to see what can be done to reduce weight and cost keeping all the other components and upgrade capacity.
Besides, with a machine like this I would also consider to have with me an ultra light laptop or a tablet for lighter work or personal use.
khimera2000 - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
I had one of there older models when the core 2 duo came out, it broke :( not the computers fault trust me. Its vary hard to reduce the weight on these things, the amount of copper they use for cooling is crazy, but looks like its needed. The machine got warm even with that much cooling.If they did get the weight down im sure there would be some really happy sailers out there though.
I do agree with you, when a rig gets this big it feels more like a shrunken down desktop, then it does a mobile notebook, and as fast as it was, the weight of power supply+ laptop was a pain to carry around.
After I got out though I didnt bother replacing it with another clevo, instead i took the budget and built a desktop, and got a descently fast portable that wouldent take my shoulder out.
tipoo - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
Just wondering if it was in the pipeline?JarredWalton - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
Waiting for it to arrive, along with M14x and M17x.scook9 - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
Got to request an M18x!The M17x R3 is an awesome single GPU laptop, but it does not support the extreme CPU. Also loses things like ExpressCard slot - but gains Optimus OR 3D
Can't have both as the HD 3000 can't work with a 120 Hz screen apparently :(
tipoo - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
Thanks for letting me know!