*** Official Clevo PB5xExx(-G) Owner's Lounge ***

The 17 inch is great for those who really need to work on the go, the real estate is really nice.

 

For me it is to game at my place and at my girlfriends house (not living together). We don't relocate every day but it happens that I live at here place and she stays with me, depending who and when we have our children.
I think the PB51 and P970 have the same portability but the P970 has indeed a bigger screen. Only the PB"51 has a good screen of AUO screen and the brand of the 17'' is different. It is hard to choose without seeing them .

Is the 17" screen from the P970 any good? I'm aware that IPS has screen bleed by nature, I don't mind if it is moderate.

 

I actually would've preferred the 17", but the 15 was already pushing my budget. Still waiting to see what 1440p panels become available for these.

 

Is that one benefit of AUO then? Less light bleed.

 

1440p is killing FPS already (I have a 1440p 25" Dell ultrasharp IPS monitor) and I don't see much benefit in a gamelaptop unless you are creating content/programming etc.
But the 17" can be a better choice given the formfactor and distance to screen. Also all in all the P970 seems to have better proportions.

 

In reviews of the MSI GS15 and Gigabyte Aero (both have the same screen), light bleed is very minimal to not noticable. So, that will be a benefit.

 

Many have that $100 minimum light bleed option. It’s like are they hoarding the good displays for those that pay the tax? Does this mean that the bad lots are automatically given out for those who don’t pay?

 

Every IPS type of display has a certain amount of light bleed, it's just a matter of luck whether you'll get one with a lot of light bleed or little. And yes, some resellers give you an option of getting a display with minimum light bleed for $100, while shipping other models with more light bleed to customers which did not select this option ;-)

That's just how it is.

 

In Europe you can't choose. You get what it is.
Light bleed is normal with IPS but you have different degrees offcourse.

 

Thank you that is good to know. I haven’t noticed light bleed before but they were on MSI TN panels which explains a lot.

 

Yes, there's no light bleed on my MSI GE63 laptop which has TN display. Of course, the viewing angles are pretty bad on that.

 

Would you even notice? TN panels are generally more resistant.

 

@Meaker@Sager, do you have any idea when we would be getting Qhd or 4K panel options for PB71XX series, what's holding the panel manufacturers back?

 

Do we need those? If we can get FHD 144hz panels on laptops with near 100% Abobe RGB I would think we're done.

If Windows machines had MacOS scaling i'd be singing a different tune.

 

Well, I do..

 

Do tell!

 

Not a lot of demand for it in the US typically.

 

For a 17” 4k can be handy, when programming and so. But for gaming I don’t see a lot of benefit.

 

When your smart phone has a better screen than your RTX laptop you know the end is near.

 

I can see the use for higher resolution display, such as for photo editing. Would be nice to have such option even if I would personally not use it.

 

That’s been the case for years though, at least on flagship phones/tablets mainly from Apple.

 

Has anyone posted 3DMark Graphics scores fro Fire Strike 1.1 and TimeSpy yet? I'm curious to know what you are getting for Stock vs running Afterburner / Throttle Stop. Thanks.

 

I'm looking at getting the PB51EF-G off GenTechPC but am completely unfamiliar with them, thoughts?

 

I would go with Prostar, XotixPC, or LPC-Digital as they seem to have the best prices. LPC-Digital is (or at least was) known for good customer service. I've spoken with Larry a few times and he's a good guy. Xotic gets alot of heat around here, but I've no experience with them.

 

Actually GentechPC is by far the cheapest for this model and they offer free Thermal upgrades with an overall discount, the others you posted is close if not over $2k and the big kicker for me is not offering dual channel 16gb.

 

GenTech is definitely cheaper especially with all free upgrades but I'm not sure how good and how fast their customer support will be compared to others. Especially looking at their site - there are some incomplete pages on it, doesn't look very professional.

Anyway, if you will try them - make sure to leave a feedback in Reseller Feedback forum section.

 

I've locked it down to either XoticPC ($1814 / 1 stick 16gb 3000 ram / no OS) or GenTechPC ($1784 / 2 sticks 8gb 2666 ram / no OS)

Honestly I can't believe XoticPC wouldn't offer a 2 stick dual channel alternative seeing how simple it would be. Their refund/return is top notch compared to most companies I've seen and that's what should give them the edge.

GenTechPC on the other hand offers Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut CPU/GPU application for free, Fujipoly Extreme Thermal Pad application for free, and a 30 Day dead pixel warranty. Return policy is 15 days with 15% restock fee if it's a customized system.

 

Yes, GenTech is more flexible with RAM choice. Honestly I don't understand why other resellers can't offer similar options, especially Sager themselves.

 

Smaller panels that are massed produced on devices with huge markups (to make Intel blush) and dont need to worry so much about burn in are more common? Who'd of thought it?

 

Is that one a PB5? It doesnt look bad tbh.

https://www.aftershockpc.com/welcome/Productinner/nova-15

 

The easiest way to check it to compare vent positions and port layouts. If they match it will be the same.

 

Got my replacement today. Shoutout to @Larry@LPC-Digital for getting me sorted out.

I've only got SOTTR and Firestrike installed so far. I was getting pretty low frame-rates until I restored the High Performance power plan that always seems to be missing in fresh Win10 installs nowadays. Now I'm getting very good results. SOTTR benchmarked at 76fps on Ultra. Getting 90-100 fps in the same scenes/areas I was getting 70s in with the refreshed Scar 2 (namely the crowded areas of Cozumel at the beginning). Best Firestrike score is 17,194. These results are all with G-Sync on, stock undervolt, and single channel RAM.

With the stock voltage I got a FS score of 17,004. My temps tended to stay under 80c during Firestrike. Highest was probably 82-83c, even with the stock voltage.

 

Turn g-sync off for benchmarks as it messes with the results.

 

The difference between dual and single-channel is huge. Check the timings on the 2666 and the 3000-ram. Since Clevo allows for use of XMP you might be able to run the 2666 at higher speed than the 3000 is timings on the 3000 is lax. Tweaking a 2666cl16 to higher speeds than a 3000cl19 is usually no problem. Running at stock the 2666 might be faster even in single-channel.

In my setup I changed the timings from 2133cl15 to 2400cl14 and reduced a few subtimings. Result: At medium\high settings fullHD ROTTR benchmark went from 102 to 115 fps avg

A test of single vs dual-channel:
look at 5.12 for results. It`s interessting to see that in syntetic benchmarks, the difference is very little, but it games it is often huge. Basically in some games using DC equals getting a faster GPU compared to SC. It`s terrible that so many companies ship their gaminglaptops with only one ram stick :/

 

Interesting that they're advertising it as having a 100% sRGB panel. If that's really the case, then the question is: is there a vendor out there doing that for U.S. consumers for this model? I'd really like to know.

 

Nice scores!
Are the fans any louder or less loud with the new model?
Just trying to see if fan noise is the same across every unit.
I’m gueesing with dual channel you’ll see much better scores.
Are the RAM slots easy access or behind/under the keyboard?

 

I tried with it off in Nvidia control panel as well, but there wasn't much difference. Strange things is when in the Optimus mode, the Firestrike score is roughly the same, maybe slightly lower, but in SOTTR I'm only getting 35-50fps. Any thoughts what this might be due to? It's not running with the iGPU, as I checked that already.

The fans seem about the same, maybe a little quieter. They don't bother at all, even when they spin up since they have a lower pitch sound to them. The RAM is under the bottom panel, not under the keyboard, BUT there are two screws under the keyboard required to get the bottom panel off (see my earlier post for pics). You could probably just leave those two screws out. This one didn't even come with them installed, they were just included in a bag labeled "top screws". Still not sure what the purpose of them is. Also, still not sure with the little blue adhesive square is for.

Dual channel will see better scores for sure, but I'm pretty happy with the single channel performance already.

 

Not sure on the score difference without digging in and doing testing. I assume you are in dedicated mode via the bios (disabling the igp completely)?

 

That's right. In dedicated mode everything is fine. It's MSHybrid/Optimus mode that it seems to be benchmarking fine, but the in-game fps is much lower (35-50 vs 90-100 with iGPU disabled). Still don't have anything else installed yet, so I can't tell if it's just the one game or not. I'll be keeping it in dedicated mode 99% of the time anyway, so it doesn't really effect me much, just think it's weird.

 

Dual channel makes a massive difference. This is just one of many examples:

 

So what happened that you had to get the whole laptop replaced? 83c is good for a stock voltage, have you tried doing a LM repaste?

 

The motherboard went up in a puff of smoke during a restart while installing drivers. I figured that'd probably scare alot of people away, but there's no indication that it was a widespread issue or inherent design flaw in the laptop, so I was reluctant to mention it much on the forums. All models have lemons and it seemed I drew the short straw this time. Even with that inconvenience I'm still happy with this model. Still wouldn't have chosen any other laptop in the sub $2000 range, aside from perhaps the P970.

I'm not going to do LM. I'll probably do a repaste with a good compound, but I'll have to do more research on the different types and brands. Until then, the thermals are pretty good, I'm not in a huge rush to get that done. If this was last gen where temps in the 90s were typical, then it'd be a different story.

 

The thermals on this chassis (I have the 17”) are great. It’s unbelievable to me how the cpu can go down 20 degrees if you minimize a game for like 3 seconds

 

Good paste is Noctua NH1 ans Grizzly kryonaut. Both are good and non conductive.

I think I will order a PB51ED(-G) soon. The RGB per led keyboard, can you assign profiles per program/game?
Or just general flashing stuff? I only see benefit if you can lit up only the keys you need.

 

Which Nvidia driver version are you using? The one from Prostar (or any other vendor), or the most recent official one from Nvidia?

I don't think you can set profiles in the default Clevo app. Also note that the Obsidian keyboard app doesn't support the Clevo per-key keyboards, only the 1 and 3 zone ones.

 

Not the nvidia drivers from the past week, but the one before that. Newer than the prostar version.

What temps are you seeing?

 

Than I don't see any benefits for the keyboard. I'm not waiting for a lightshow (I'm 38 already..).
I also don't want G-sync, you have to restart before it is turned off or on and I don't like delays. The AUO screen doesn't suffer from tearing. I will order the regular PB51ED next week>
I can order laptops via my employer (lease construction) with my bonus, which results in a net price cut by 40-60%. But only a lenovo Y740 can keep me away of the Clevo. But probably this one isn't in the offer .

 

Why would you not want Gsync besides getting better battery life?
For me it’s mandatory, even with a 144HZ you see tearing and stuttering on screens without it.Maybe not as noticeable but still there.
One thing I would love to see is a direct gaming performance comparison between this laptop and a RTX 2080MQ laptop.
I think it would be close with a slight edge going to the RTX 2080MQ depending on the laptop model.

 

Mainly battery life as I don’t game often and I usually play Kerbal Space program or an RTS.
I don’t mind a bit of tearing, I prefer that above extra delay. Also never played on a gsync panel, so I don’t know what I’m missing .

 

That's the advantage of being able to turn it off and on.