[Review by ::iunlock::] - Clevo P775DM3 / Sager NP9172 / EX76S BOSSMONSTER

Project 775 - Review
[i7-6700K | GTX 1080 | 17" - 4K w/ GSYNC]

Clevo P775DM3...aka...Sager NP9172...aka...EX76S BOSSMONSTER (S.Korean Reseller)...aka..._YOUR_NAME_HERE_.

Confused yet? - I know I know, that's why I just called it the 775 to keep it simple.

It has always been a tradition to crack open the box, plug the computer in and to run everything that I normally would completely stock.

> Rendering + Encoding + Gaming + Benching. > Record Temps + Bench Scores.

After obtaining all the pure stock data, only then do I under-volt to see how much the CPU temps improve, while putting it through the same protocol all over again as listed above.

Next comes the repasting and delidding of the CPU, which is pretty much mandatory for me. You can read more about that here.

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Rating System: ("0" Rubbish <-> "5" Average <-> "10" Excellent.)

Why the 775?
With my frequent traveling, the need for portability and true desktop power, my work demands the CPU power of a 6700K. Form factor was another important thing to me and I really fancy the way the 775 looks aesthetically. Gaming wise my only option is always to go with the top of the line and in this case the GTX 1080 does a fine job handing all my games at 1440p with max settings across the board.



Build Quality: [5]
This is likely the toughest section for me to write about, while it being the most interesting, because my standards have been spoiled with the likes of Apple and Dell with the XPS. With all opinions aside and focusing strictly on build quality, the Mac Book Pro line and the XPS are among the best in the industry.

But...those are ultra portable thin laptops and the 775 is a Desktop Replacement. So let's take it down a notch shall we? Well...

Then comes my bias with having owned AW gaming rigs throughout the years so as you can see my calibration for what I view as being quality is very defined with very little room for error. We're talking build quality here....strictly hardware, tolerance levels, material choice and fit & finish.



The 775 at first had me confused due to how hollow it had felt. I then had to put on my lead hat to block out any reception of bias signals and to just ask myself, "Why?" - "Why would a $3K-$4K DTR be built the way it is and why the thin hollow plastic material choice?"

Answer: Function/Form over Material Choice.

Once I had examined the notebook, it was only after I took off the bottom panel covers that I had experienced the, "ah ha," moment. It all of a sudden made a lot of sense and from that point on my perspective of what I had viewed as a cheap old school HP like laptop, changed to now understanding the reasoning behind the material choice and form factor. Could it be better? Of course and there is a lot of room for improvement, but one has to keep in mind that Clevo is a small operation compared to the giants like Dell and Apple so the big money isn't there for R&D, Innovation etc...although it would be nice if they would focus on quality control a bit more. Overall though, not bad for what it is and you'll appreciate it more in person than pictures and videos online. It really is a solid piece.

Answer: Volume.

The bottom covers are thin and flappy by itself, but when they are on the notebook the fit is nice and snug. This is a DTR so having as much volume under the hood to allow as much air flow as possible is important given the nature of this beast with the 6700K and GTX 1080. I really appreciate the ease of removing the panel covers. Great job there.



Here is a video to get a good idea of the thinness of the bottom panels. They do serve a purpose though and fit nicely when they are on the notebook.





Here is a video showing the flimsy rear vent grills and pay attention to the flex of the laptop itself. Fit and finish?



Here is a video playing ukulele with the rear fan grills.



I would say the build quality of the body of the notebook is average overall, however the display is another story. I'll talk more about that below.

Display: [8]
The displays build quality is excellent. Very solid with minimal screen flex. The tolerance level housing the lcd 4K Panel is nice and tight. As for light bleed, there are some, but for the most part it is pretty average as you would find on other laptops.

The 4K screen itself is very crisp and at 300nits it does what it needs to do very well.



Keyboard and Track Pad: [3] and [2]
The actual quality of the keys are I think identical, to the ones found on the AW 17R3? It actually gave me deja vu at first, but looking at them side by side to me they seem 1:1. Perhaps they come from the same supplier? Regardless, the keys themselves have great tolerance levels to where it doesn't wiggle or feel loose. However, that's where it sadly ends...



Typing on the keyboard is another story as they feel very bouncy, light and rubbery. The key travel also seems a bit too much so it feels like you're typing on a rubbery and light Cherry MX Red keyboard with a feeling of having a lack of confidence due to it giving out once the keys are pressed. Fast typers be aware as you'll error a lot more with typos and will eventually become frustrated. - After a while you may be fine, but having to adapt and adjust your typing habits is not very desirable. It's a big hit or a miss. You'll love it or hate it.



Now the track pad. I'll just say it like it is. The track pad is terrible and the worst I have ever used to date. As a designer who heavily relies on having an accurate track pad for when I'm on the plane, I was and am pretty disappointed at how poor the accuracy is of this track pad. For normal stuff that don't require accuracy it does fine, but any track pads can do that. Trying to work in Illustrator was a nightmare while traveling. The good news is that most of you will be using a mouse at your desk, but for travelers if you settle with the 775 and require accuracy, you're better off with syncing up an Apple Wireless Magic Trackpad. Yes really.

The quality of the track pads surface and keyboard surface is mediocre as you would find on a mid range laptop, but it is solid.



It's apparent that the Keyboard and Track pad are obviously not the 775's strong points or focus, however, take it for what it is and keep in mind that even for me on the very opposite end of absolutely needing accuracy; despite how terrible they are, it is not something that would sway me from making a buying decision. The 775 has more Pro's than Con's that weigh heavy in favor of buying it without question if you are in need of serious power.



If you look closely at the pic above you'll see the little tab to remove the keyboard. There are several of them across the top.

Speakers: [6]
The speakers are pretty nice and above average, but they could be louder. Whether you're gaming or listening to music the dual fronts under the display and sub woofer below work together well in tackling the lows, mids and highs for a pleasant listening experience. If I had to nitpick, the hollowness of the laptop itself makes the sound a little muffled in a way where it resonates like if you were to stick a speaker inside of a metal box. Hard to explain, but there is that element that does exist. It may or may not bother you.



The speaker grills are also very loose, which isn't a big issue, but it just reminds you that quality control could be better. After all, how much are these things again? Yes, exactly.

Here is a video showing how loose the speaker grills really are. Anyone want to take tapping lessons?



i/O: [9]
Let me just say right of the bat, that the 775 has an excellent DAC. For you audiophiles out there I think you'll be surprised for a laptop to be producing this type of signal that would fool most people into thinking that you have an amp connected to your headset. My Sennheiser's sound wonderful with what the notebook feeds it. I do wish that the audio ports were located on the left side of the notebook though.



One thing that I really appreciate about the 775 are all the ports. 4x USB 3.0, 2x USB Type-C Gen2 3.1, 2x Mini Display, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x Mic, 1x Head Phone / Mic Combo, 1x Line In, 1x Line Out, 1x Ethernet and 1x SD Card slot.



I particularly love having 4x USB 3.0 ports as having only 2x is not enough IMO. While most other gaming laptops have only 2x USB ports with them relying on the USB C port to pick up the slack, the 775 has you covered with 4 ports. For example if I was limited to only 2x USB 3.0 ports, my mouse and keyboard would occupy it leaving no room for my USB Flash drives or other components. - USB C Hub? Not everyone is a fan of having to use a HUB, but hey if I needed to use USB Type-C, the 775 has not one, but two of them.



Fan Noise: [2]
Ready? 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Blast Off. Houston we have lift off. If you want to relive your own Apollo Missions and have the full sound effects of the rockets roaring blasters then you'll love the 775.

The fans on F1 (Full Blast) sound like a soft-toned hair dryer. You will either love it or hate it. Simple as that.
I personally do not mind the noise and oddly enough it's music to my hears of that feeling of having my After Burners on. Super sonic. Roaring engine. Call it what you will, but there are folks like me who are not bothered by the fan noise.

What can't be ignored is practicality and common decency though. Of course I can't be on the plane or in quite public areas with the fans on full blast, so if you frequent quiet places then you might just have to save that gaming session for when you get home.

Below is a video of the fan noise. (It sounds worse in the video than it really is, but the fan noise in person is a lot softer than a typical high pitched blow dryer.)



CPU Temps: Before [0] - After [8]
Straight out of the box, terrible. 90C's+ Crappy toothpaste. Enough said.

After my delid and repaste, wonderful. Click here for more info.

Remember that this is a true Desktop Replacement. ie...you're buying a Bugatti so don't expect it to cruise along quietly and cool like a Prius.

Run OCCT for 30 Minutes on Stock Clocks.

CPU Max Temp (Stock Fan Profile): 67C
CPU Max Temp (F1 Fan Profile): 57C
CPU Under Volt: -225mv Core / -225mv Cache

If you are a suffering from crappy temps even after a repaste, then perhaps a delid would solve some issues. Look closely...


GPU Temps: Before [2] - After [8]
Straight out of the box, not too good. 80C's+

After my repaste with Grizzly Conductonaut the temps are great. Click here for more info.

Here is a great little test that I encourage everyone to run. Make sure that it is truly back to back to back without any time wasted in between runs.

Run Unigine Heaven -> Fully Maxed @ 1920x1080, Back to Back to Back.

First Run GPU Temp: 69C
Second Run GPU Temp: 72C
Third Run GPU Temp: 75C

Portability: [9]
I travel up to twice a month so portability is a huge factor for me. The 775 is just as portable as an AW 17R3. Yes even with the 330W power brick that's twice the size of the 240W on the R3. Any argument that the 775 not being portable is moot.

Battery Life:
___Stay tuned___

Performance: [10]
This is where the 775 shines and the very reason why I choose it over any other portal machines. For one the 6700K is just a joy, especially after the delid and repaste with Grizzly Conductonaut. My daily cruising speed is 4.6GHz and the 6700K handles these clocks without breaking a sweat. I am able OC to 4.7GHz without issues now and am working on getting 4.8GHz stable.

Pretty much anything that I throw at it, the 775 handles it like butter. It's just so smooth and effortless that you really start to begin appreciating the 775 more and more.

Gaming wise, the 775 literally smashes anything you throw at it. 1080p with Max Settings on any game is a piece of cake. 1440p with Max Settings is a charm with incredible frame rates and even at 4K it handles it well. Playing Witcher 3 fully maxed with hair works ON is pretty spectacular. GTX 1080...what do you expect right? It rules.

Summary:
All in all the 775 is a great notebook and despite the short comings if you really need desktop power, think no more and buy the 775, assuming that you are capable of getting under the hood to do an oil change.

___to be continued___

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Questions & Answers: (This section will be updated.)

Should you buy the P775DM3?
If you plan to repaste, YES.

If you are able to Delid the CPU, even better. YES YES.

If you are wanting a machine where you can just run it straight out of the box. NO. This is not for you. Think of buying a DTR as buying a Lambo, Ferrari or better yet a Bugatti. In that respect it's a beast. However, you also can't be afraid to change your own oil. A repaste is mandatory, then you'll have to spend some time with it to tune your machine. If any of this sounds intimidating, then look elsewhere.

Can the 775 stay cool with stock fan profiles?
If you are gaming and running CPU intensive tasks, kind of. The temps will be better than stock though.

Even after a repaste and delid, unless you have F1 Fan's ON, your temps will still creep up there, but no where near the limits that it would hit without a repaste. I keep my Fans on Max most of the time so the 775 runs very very cool.

Where should I buy the 775?
There are a lot of resellers on NBR. Message them, ask questions and go with whomever you feel comfortable with. You'll find that they are very nice and helpful so you're in good hands.

Excuse the typos or grammar that may exist....
Review still under construction...Stay tuned...

 

Benchmarks:

Personal Bests so far...

FireStrike: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/10448557


Time Spy: http://www.3dmark.com/spy/575694


3DMark 11 Extreme: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11651504


3DMark 11 Performance: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11651542

 

__CPU TEMPS__

 

__GPU TEMPS__

 

___Q&A Section___

 

___Thermal Goodies & Pics___

 

Congrats! Very good review! Future buyers will get an accurate impression from a honest reviewer being critical to his owned product. Kudos to ya!

 

Thanks mate. Appreciate it.

You've hit the nail on the head. It was very difficult to keep my bias at check. I had to leave it at the front door before diving into putting together this review.

I hope that others can see it the way that you do, in that there is no sugar coating or fluff here.

 

@iunlock nice little review their bud. I liked it! It was nice a nice read and got me excited about my incoming machine.
I'd say this machine, rather than an exotic car is alot like a Stock Toyota Supra, GTR or Muscle Car- good as is, but everyone man and his dog that buys one already has new turbos, ECU (@Prema ) cams and forged pistons being delivered on the same day.. in before booking a dyno appointment before its first track day.
But yeah.. " potato / potata"

 

Haha thanks brother. I love the car analogy. You're right though, from a Razer to the 775, the 775 is pretty exotic, but from a 775 to a 870 with SLI would make the 775 a Supra.

Looking forward to seeing some temps and benches!

::iunlock::