iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17 Notebook Review: MSI and iBuyPower Tangle With Alienware
by Dustin Sklavos on August 21, 2012 12:01 AM ESTGaming Performance
Given the generally known performance of the GeForce GTX 675M powering the iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17, it should come as no surprise that it continues to be a stellar option for gamers who want to turn all the settings up. It's only in our "Enthusiast" benchmark suite where we'll see the 675M even start to choke.
While the Alienware M17x R3 seems to consistently perform ever so slightly better, the CZ-17 still puts in a killer showing above and beyond the competition. Every game is exceptionally playable at 900p and typically with room to turn settings up a bit more.
Interestingly, the slight dip in performance from the M17x R3's GTX 580M continues with the CZ-17's GTX 675M virtually across the board. Arkham City in particular is still playable, but it takes a massive hit. We retested over and over again to make sure, but those results continued to be a bit on the low side. It's tough to gauge exactly why, but my guess is that Arkham City is having driver issues. Everything else is fine, but it looks like to really go hog wild we'll still need to go for something beefier like the GTX 680M.
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Darkstone - Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - link
The driver support is a bit different this time. The endiro drivers are horrible, whatever brand you take, the drivers suck. Except for alienware. Hit fn+F7+reboot and the computer uses the AMD GPU as primary graphics card. No enduro, no issues, and performance improvements in the double digits.http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-M17x-R4-Not...
ctrl+F "worse performance"
danwat1234 - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
This MSI laptop uses a 12 Volt fan I believe, which moves about 25 CFM of air and uses about 7 watts at full RPM! In this case I believe a single fan can effectively cool the CPU and GPU even if they are both under a full load. Why use two less powerful fans when you can use 1 powerful fan?9Breaker - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
ASUS G7x series if you're on a budget .... you must be richFlunk - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
$1000 is about the cheapest gaming laptops come, get over it. Otherwise you need to learn to game on a discount model AMD's trinity processors are good on the low end.SilthDraeth - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
This MSI chassis reminds me of the Asus G7 chassis.cknobman - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
Old last gen GPUSlow HDD
Ugly design
Stupid keyboard layout
Need I go on?
Next please
extide - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
x2, a Clevo P150EM w/ 680m is a much better choice, IMHOJackattak - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
It's a purchase from me. You've got my dollars, iBuyPower. I've gotta Samsung 256GB SSD to slap into that empty 2.5" bay, too.Hrel - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
Looking at the configurations offered by cyberpowerpc.com I can't help but remind you all that you can get a laptop just like this for less. You can choose between a Clevo base and an MSI base, whatever your preference. They also have Compal's under a new name available. Though in my experiences Compal is less reliable than Clevo or MSI.Draconian - Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - link
"ASUS G7x series if you're on a budget, Alienware M17x if you're not."Neither. Asus doesn't use the x80M series cards (580M, 680M, etc.) and Alienware only uses glossy screens. MSI rectifies both those problems. Plus the MSI's Dynaudio is superior to anything Asus or Alienware has.