My new EVOC P870TM-R DTR notebook!

Hi friends,

I'm posting this here, as well as the appropriate owners lounge, since I have some general questions as well. If the P870 doesn't interest you, skip to the end :^).

Thank you all for the advice/observations you had for me in my earlier "Deciding between an EVOC P775TM-R and P870TM-R" thread. I'm now ready to replace the ASUS ROG G751JY-DH71 gaming laptop I've used for five years, with the EVOC P870TM-R DTR notebook!

Whenever I make a big decision, my decision-making process tends to go as an exponentially decaying sinusoid. The first maximum positive swing was when I was all excited about the Area 51m. I was ready to pull the trigger within the week! Then the more I learned the more I came to realize it was a bad choice for a variety of reasons. That was the maximum negative swing.

Then I oscillated between the P870 and P775 (and GT76) until I settled logically on the former. One of the reasons for my choice (other than excellent thermals and build), was the relative stability of the configuration (esp compared to the newer 51m and GT76). Like my G751, I do not intend to do much in the way of upgrading. Therefore the EOL status of the P870 wasn't a liability. Converging on my DTR solution was aided by lurking in these forums, and via one @Donald@HIDevolution (since I decided to buy from his company). As you have all read from numerous other accounts, Donald was patient, and gave alternatives based on my expectations and desires (including the upcoming X170), and not necessarily towards the biggest immediate profit for his company. I think this corporate culture speaks, in part, to the company's long term success in this competitive market.

After a bit of a rough ordering process (Zelle really isn't meant for large cash purchases), as of last Friday the parts were on order and I should have the machine, the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank of DTR's, by the beginning of March. Just in time for Half-Life Alyx at max settings!

My configuration includes the 9900KS and RTX2080, but I am providing my own memory (2 x Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB), my own storage (Samsung SSD 860 EVO 4TB) and my own ram (?? Corsair Vengeance 4x8GB 3600MHz CL16 ??). I'll be installing my own Windows 10 Education version (may as well since it's free from work).

I hope the group won't mind my leaning on them for advice going forward - in particular choosing the fastest (CL included) RAM the system can reliably use based on other's experiences.

For those using a fast SSD such as the 970 EVO Plus, are M.2 heatsinks mandatory? What can the P870 chassis accommodate? Just a thin copper strip? Or a low profile heatsink w/ fins?

And finally, is paying ~$40 for Obsidian Fan Control worth it over the Clevo Control Center? How about the Obsidian Updater app (just a gimmick for the lazy?)?

Thanks one and all for your previous advice, and any future guidance you can give as I prepare for my M1 to arrive.

Cheers

 

Congratulations. this is the right choice.

 

Thank you! If I have the time & patience I usually converge on the right one. I just hope I'm not seduced away from gaming by optimizing and benchmarking this beast!

 

The 970/970+ can get a little toasty, but usually just the pads it comes with are adequate. IIRC they don't have as much effect on other components in that chassis as in some. There should be a little overhead if you want to put something more on there, but I don't think it's enough for desktop type M.2 heatsinks like the ones from EK. I've heard nothing but good things about the Obsidian controls, though I'd mainly upgrade to it if you run into issues with the existing CCC that you can't live with.

 

Thanks for the info. I may try a thin copper strip on the M.2's. I'll read up on Obsidian. It would be nice to pick one process and stick with it.

 

Nice system, just a note that memory and ram are the same part. Your samsung drives are both storage.

I hope you enjoy the beast

 

I will! I'll post pics when I'm finished w/ my setup & config.

True enough about the storage types vs ram. I was awkwardly trying to differentiate between the two Samsung storage types I'll be installing. I should have said something like: supplying my own Samsung M.2 NVMe and SATA III storage, and RAM.

 

There should be enough room for just a strip, leaving some room between it and the outer case.

 

Yep, it gets even more confusing when m.2 sata is also a thing.

Looking forward to the pics