Eurocom MX5 R3 vs Dell XPS - New Worktop and some gaming

Hi everyone who reads this, (and sorry for the long post)

I am currently in a situation where I am looking to update my system. Not really sure where my life will lead me so looking for a laptop to replace my desktop. My work consists of digital illustration/concept art and photo editing. I love to game, but work is more important for me right now. Nevertheless, I always appreciate having some good gaming sessions or trying out a new game to see what's going on in the industry(excuses) and being pretty 'future proof'.

My current 'home spec' is an 7,5 year old self-built desktop (the chassis is probably the most basic one I could find back then, but I like simple)
Newish PSU (old one went about a year ago)
i5-750 (with a new monstrous heatsink/fan)
16GB Ram (updated 1 year ago)
EVGA GTX 960 SC MiniITX 2GB (Previous was a Gainward GTX260 that lasted about 5/6 or so years before it gave its last breath, but very reliable until then)
Gigabyte motherboard P55-UD3 and 2x 500GB WD Blue
All this keeps nice and cool, even in long gaming sessions. Could not be more happy, it was super reliable for the first 5 years (at least 12 hours on/day) for a fraction of the cost from official retailers.

Because I am not currently where my desktop is, I am using my brothers' 5 year old potato ASUS X550C (it still works though!) but it does not make me very happy. Now I am on the look out for a new machine. I spent good 2-3 weeks now browsing, researching etc.etc. for a suitable alternative, it almost overtook my time. Now money always matters, but as it is a desktop replacement I am willing to dish out a bit more. I take it as an investment into my business and a future proof (looking at at least 3+ years). I am super weary of laptops though. My officially first laptop was a Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Xi1546, in terms of performance it was great, a heavy beast (oh those sweaty runs to uni) but it ran everything I threw at it and I did throw a lot for long periods of time, days of WoW.... It did get hot... it sported a Radeon X1800 (the only Radeon I ever owned) and within 2 years it was twice in the service for a failed GPU (flickering screen, artifacts, rainbow lines etc.) and then it failed again, it was out of warranty this time around, although it did manage to 'run' if not overbearing the GPU too much. that's when I built my trusty desktop. Now here I am sweating over a laptop.

I have came down to two choices: (prices are with delivery and VAT)
Dell XPS 15 9560 ( refurbished with nearly full 3 year Dell onsite UK/EU warranty ) for 1479 GBP (At this point after saving up a bit more I could also add the new iPad Pro 12.9+pencil which would be great)
There's a Thunderbolt 3 here, but 2 lane and finicky with an eGPU (which would at some point add another good 500+ GBP at least).

Clevo P650, namely the Eurocom MX5 R3 (from its EU reseller) for 1949 (the person who I dealt with for the past 7 days has been great and tried his best to comply with all my needs/expectations etc.)
4k Sharp IGZO - glossy (matte is sadly not available anymore)
i7 - 7700HQ
16GB DDR4 - 2400 Kingston HyperX
GTX 1070
1tb Hitachi Travelstar 7200rpm (I will most probably add an SSD at some point, but will buy that separately somewhere else)
Intel Wireless 7265 (I opted for this instead of the 8265 as it was cheaper and supposedly very reliable as well)

or the Schenker COMPACT 15 (or its older version the H507) - about 2194 GBP / about 1960 GBP
4k Sharp IGZO - matte
i7 - 7820K / i7 - 6820
GTX 1070 (GTX 1060 would make it much cheaper, but then if I want to future proof it, so I'd rather go for the 1070, otherwise I might as well go with the Dell)
16GB HyperX 2400 / 16GB HyperX 2133
No HDD (cheaper to just buy your own and install later)
Intel Wireless 8265 / Intel Wireless 8260

Now, I quite dislike the gloss to say the least, I remembered recently my old Fujitsu had a gloss screen and it was a headache sometimes, probably more than it wasn't. So I would most likely put an anti-glare/screen protector on it, I know it's a massive pain, but def worth it in the long run. Anyone have any suggestions for one that is effective and doesn't hamper the colors too much? I am aware it won't be as good as a factory matte, but it's the next closest thing.

Then there's the heat. The more heat, the less lifetime it'll have. When I game I rather like to do longer sessions than a few shorter ones. More immersive. On the p650 I've seen the temps are around 70-80+ degrees. Some reported even more, 90+, but I feel that might be bad thermal compound application or some other fault. The Dell was around 75 degrees I think. If I was to game, I'd probably try and put a suitable cooling pad under and try and attach one of those vacuum fans, probably to the CPU as it is on the side? Still not sure which brand, but again, I don't need anything fancy, flashing lights and all, just something that's effective and pref. portable. For the vacuum fans I checked the Takit S01 or the Opolar LC06. That should help I think, not 100% sure by how much though.

I have a Dell U2412m as an external monitor that I'd be using whenever not on the go. Older now and not as color accurate, but it's a treat to work in 16:10 and the size is adequate.

Now I am not 100% sure what I am asking here, I guess your suggestions/views/comments, whatever you have to chip into make my choice.

Thank you very much in advance to whoever replies and takes the time to read this!

 

https://www.obsidian-pc.com/en/p650hp6-p650hs-clevo/

 

Already tried. I need the Sharp IGZO, nothing else will do really. Already looked everywhere probably, but thank you!

 

What system are you running right now? You might be able to get a trade in for the Eurocom system. I personally love you eurocom. I have the Tornado and I couldn't be happier.

 

from all that i have read, Eurocom in the only one selling the Clevo P650 with the gloss 4k Sharp IGZO panel (some kind of exclusive arrangement with Sharp possibly), however the matte 4k Samsung panel seems to be offered by almost everyone else (Clevo resellers) who are selling the Clevo P650 model. from what i have gathered in doing some additional checking, the 4k Sharp IGZO is the same panel used by Dell for the 15" XPS (correct me if i am mistaken). i have not seen the gloss 4k Sharp IGZO panel sold (just as a replacement panel) from any distributor or on ebay/amazon etc, although i have seen the matte 4k Samsung replacement panel being sold. unfortunately the Samsung 4k is not nearly as good as the Sharp panel. from my own experience in trying both laptops, both the Clevo P650 and the Dell XPS are great laptops in most every way (my brother has the Dell XPS 15, and a close friend has the Clevo P650). i myself have been considering the possibility of purchasing one or the other based on their high quality ....although i have been waiting on the upcoming Intel Coffee Lake release, and the release sometime very soon of EVGA's SC15 to see how it compares to the Dell XPS and Clevo P650. as resellers go, Eurocom has a very good solid reputation, although they do charge a bit more than most other Clevo resellers it seems, and i think they also charge an expensive up-charge if you prefer the unit without their Logo branding, unlike other Clevo resellers that offer that "un-branded" option free of charge.

 

P650.... Sky MX5R2/3 from Eurocom.

http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(2,405,0)SkyMX5R3

I also have this model for sale, directly with my own offers, if you want something more unique and personal.

I've recently (last 6 months) considered the Sky MX5R3 to be an Alienware Equivalent laptop. You pay a fraction of the price, but get the same features and performance, except no one but you truly knows how awesome your laptop is, because it's not branding a retarded Alien on the back cover indicating it should be tolen the moment you turn your back at a coffee shop.

But in all honesty, this is the best of those options listed, by far, a good tweaking and undervolt and you can easily sustain 4.5Ghz and keep low temps and with a 1070 and g-Sync and NVMe RAID options, m.2 WiFi AND - LTe if your a businessman on the road - very important !

The MX5R3 can even use 2 x HDD in a small slim HDD caddy, you can actually fit a 7mm and a 9mm or just a 9mm - though i think they boast only fitting a set of 7mm or a single 9mm, I managed with the brands I used to fit a mix of 1 x 7mm and 1 x 9mm. Great for storage drive, one for backup, and the RAID 0 on the NVMe to cap the sequential read/write's at 5-6GB/s You could literally copy a whole DVD in a few seconds these are so fast, theoretically.

 

We can ship internationally, BTW, for the Eurocom Sky MX5R3, have a few people internationally who have placed orders with me already or with my partners at Eurocom.

 

Asus X550C, my brother's, if I get the proper upgrade I'd probably leave my desktop to him and give this to my dad who just needs to surf the web and watch some videos, so keeping it all in the family . But glad to hear about your Tornado! How long have you had it for?

You have read well! No other reseller, except Eurocom and MySN, seem to carry any of the Sharps, and as you said, the other matte 4k displays are unsatisfactory. And I guess in the end the Clevo mainly has the advantage of the stronger GPU. The 4x HD, LTe and the Intel Card (I really don't feel like I want the Killer) are quite a nice bonus. I was eyeing up the EVGA as well, SC17, but even though it seems to be quite the beasty thinnish tank, I feel like the size for moving around would be bit of a pain, just from my experience with the previous 17". But then maybe not.... And I think the SC15 isn't 4k, just FHD, not sure it'll be aimed at pro-color work.
The Intel Coffee Lake sounds pretty interesting, but I need the laptop sooner rather than later sadly. Thank you!

You're right on all accounts dear sir, thank you for the post! From what I have read your reputation is quite high, so if I was in the Americas I would definitely hit you up, but as I am mainly in Europe right now, I like to keep my warranty service as close as possible, unless you have a price and delivery/turnaround service that would bring me to my knees , thank you for your offer though! Do you happen to have any tips or links towards tweaking the MX5R3? I am willing to suffer a bit of power drop if it would make it all nice and cool. I am still yet to find out which cooling pad and vacuum fan would work best with the machine. I heard about the undervolting though, around -100mV? Crazy about the speeds though! I thought that was with TurboBoost that can't sustain operation for a longer times precisely because of the temps.

 

guess we might as well do business, because I do have a turnaround service that is very quick, and I thoroughly go over every component of the build and show you results, in real time if you like as well, before even shipping to you, you will have no mystery how your laptop has been handled or treated, or what it looks like under the hood from the factory for sure.

My specialty is catering to your every need, if that sounds interesting, lets chat in a PM and work something out.

As for tips and tricks, yes, thanks to this forum and many great helpers to help me fill in the gaps Clevo experience wise (only assembled like maybe 100 Clevo's so far, whereas I've touched and dismantled maybe 1500 Alienware's), I've learnt a few tricks that work.
Especially this laptop, which I would say is the main Clevo I sell, as it was one of the first I openly started selling this year. As for undervolt, yeah we range from -100mV to -180mV usually, and clocks like 4.0Ghz- 4.5Ghz usually with mid 60's temps to mid 70's temps on Silent mode with general use.

If we even do business, if you finish your profile on NBR and get a signature and Avatar picture going, I will even give you an immediate discount too as further incentive.

 

Oh yeah about about rolling out CFL CPU's later this year, it will be end of summer, but expect the laptops end of september the earliest - with almost no details on how the bios will be, it' would be safer to say end of the year it is 100% functional and worthwhile, so waiting around for september is for the blind enthusiasts who are alpha early adopters. Like I had sold a few F5's in November and december last year while the Kabylake only actually came out in january. Think like 5-6 users here had a 7700K from me almost a month early - but they agreed to be part of the pilot program and knew they were getting a alpha preliminary bios too and everything was pending. Like we didn't have NVMe working yet, we didn't have any overclocking and no support for Pascal even until December - we had like 980M (Maxwel) in there instead. The laptop wasn't even named F5 yet.

Either way the MX5R2/3 is not a new laptop per se, as in 95% of it is already perfected and updated and the last 5% is the refresh to make it Kabylake compatible etc..

 

@ ancientdrake (& woodzstack) : yes, agreed ....many advantages with the Clevo P650 (i prefer the config with the i7-7820HK, Glossy 4k Sharp for contrast, color & sharpness, and the GTX 1070) over most other models currently out there. Also the P650 has the MUX Switch as well as Prema BIOS (not sure if Eurocom offers that Prema BIOS). Frankly i was hoping for very similar specs with the EVGA SC15 (because of the excellent design & all metal construction, and the addition of the Thunderbolt 3 port), but it might end up (sadly) that EVGA only offers it with that FHD 120hz Panel, and with only the GTX 1060, which would change my mind on any potential purchase of the SC15 ...not to mention the fact that it may end up being way too pricey (like the SC17). The only downside(s) on the Eurocom (besides the forced logo branding issue) is that their default config forces a standard HDD on the customer, without any included default SSD offering (most other sellers standard default config includes BOTH an HDD and SSD, as well as the 16gb ram), and the high up-charge for the Sharp 4K. Unfortunately things can end up getting pricey fairly quickly with Eurocom if one chooses to personalize various aspects / options, sadly.

 

How did you get these prices? Did you get them directly from the sites' configurator or they include a secret discount?And are they without windows key? They seem better than what I get.

 

Word.

Eurocom EU I dealt with directly. MySN/Schenker is a config, no OS on all of them.

 

Hopefully the next generation of high refresh rate panels gets better as it is the way forward.