They have not disappeared anywhere, but simply disappeared into modernity. Laptops subject to upgrade

Like many others, I waited for the Ryzen 4000h series laptops , because according to the tests, due to the reduction in the technical process, mobile processors reached parity in performance with desktop ones in everyday tasks. Like many others, I eagerly rushed to read the reviews, and already looked forward to the moment of buying and owning a new piece of hardware, like ... Many reviewers and first users began to inform at first casually, then louder and louder about problems with the cooling system (CO), more precisely, it looked like the mention that the roaring turbine forces the user to play with headphones, and the temperatures on the VC and the CPU go off scale for 80-90 degrees Celsius under load.



A cursory analysis showed that in the price range up to 100 thousand rubles, most laptops are more or less susceptible to this problem, which have a gaming VC and a CPU with an index h on board (which have 6 or more cores in both red and blue), and on the other On the other hand, a modern laptop is a device that is not easily upgradeable (remember at least laptops up to the 3rd generation Intel Core, inclusive, which allowed replacing the processor), and if it is necessary to increase performance, the user often has to sell the laptop and buy a new one. However, everything is not so simple, and an inconspicuous link to a video review on YouTub gave an overview of modern devices that not only did not lose the best features of the best laptops of those years, but also multiplied them.



A groan escaped from his chest: "Cool!" In fact - we will talk about a variety of devices based on Clevo barebones ! With a review of one of them, Clevo N957TC. Welcome under the cut! Go!







What is barebon? Barebon for me has always been an unfinished candy bar, which in the 10s of the XXI century were massively sold in computer stores, and it was unusual to hear this word applied to a laptop. However, you cannot erase words from a song; Clevo is a leading Taiwanese OEM / ODM computer manufacturer. They sell barebone laptop chassis (barebooks). On their basis, many companies assemble and produce laptops under their own brand, for example Sager , XMG , Hasee , Eurocom , Dream Machines, Dexp (some models) and others. At the same time, you immediately need to make a reservation that there are models of different price segments, there are with soldered CPUs, memory, SSD, video cards, and there are fully / partially prefabricated ones, such as, for example, Clevo P870 Series monsters weighing 5.5 kg, based on desktop sockets Z170-Z370 and MXM video cards and, as a result, are very non-portable!





Clevo is no stranger to the performance systems market, suffice it to say they made Alienware before Dell bought the brand.



First, a few words about where you can buy Clevo - everything is sad here, tk. It is difficult to buy barebones / laptops based on Clevo in stores in Russia, i.e. either search and compare models of little-known brands, or purchase from hands, or order through foreign sites, or buy on foreign trips. The Ukrainians are a little more fortunate - they have Dream Machines, which makes custom assemblies based on Clevo barebones.



And now, studying the proposals and sorting out the options (as well as "... Driving past the station and admiring the surroundings ..." (c)), my eyes fell on a simpler model, which I took from my hands, Clevo N957TC , namely:



Hasee ZX7- CT5DA

(Intel Core i5-9400 + GTX 1660Ti / 8 GB ram / 512G SSD / 15.6 '' IPS 45% NTSC / RGB keyboard)



Therefore, this assembly will be discussed further.





Of the pros:

• Performance / price ratio;
• Removable battery;
• CO is exporting desktop processors with TDP up to 65W inclusive, even the i7 9700;
• Heavy means reliable (s);
• Subject to upgrade, namely, it has removable: CPU, RAM, Hard drives (m.2 two slots - one for SATA SSD, the second for NVMe SSD, as well as a slot for SATA HDD / SSD 2.5 ")
• Best laptop service manual I've ever seen

Cons:

• Clevo in Russia, as far as I know, does not have service centers. The issue of warranty service remains open;
• , . .. ;
• , .. 45% NTSC, ;
• , .. . , %)
• 4 , , , , , . — ;
• /, 15" , , XD Design Bobby Pro, , ,

Let's start our discussion of a laptop with a look. The laptop case is made of black non-marking plastic, stains are faintly visible, easily removed with a napkin or a special cloth. The lid of the laptop is metal, has an insert in the form of an LED logo that glows when the laptop is in operation. The keyboard, on the one hand, is simple and looks like a typical office laptop keyboard, i.e. when compared with the same gaming solutions from the same Asus / Lenovo / HP / Acer / MSI, on the other hand, it has a numeric block and 14-color adjustable key backlighting. The key travel is small, soft, the keyboard does not bend when pressed. It is convenient to type text. There is no Cyrillic engraving on the keys, but the seller supplies laptops to Russia with stickers, or you can order engraving.



Matrix in a laptop 15.6 '' IPS 45% NTSCPanda LM156LF1L03

Pixel Format - 1920 (RGB) × 1080 [FHD] 141PPI

Luminance - 250 cd / m² (Typ.)

Frame Rate - 60Hz

Contrast Ratio - 1000: 1 (Typ.) (TM)



In general, neither fish nor meat, is suitable for undemanding gaming and office work, but such a matrix is ​​not suitable for working with color. However, considering how many complaints there were about the matrices of the new 2020 models of Asus / MSI / Lenovo / Acer - in principle it is normal, with some desire you can change or take other laptop models on the Clevo chassis with a normal matrix of 72% NTSC or even 100% NTSC , which, of course, will cost more.



The frames of the laptop are large and in general the design looks outdated on the one hand, on the other aggressive, in general, the laptop with all its appearance says that under the hood there is a lot of power, which will be discussed later.



A removable battery is located at the bottom of the laptop... Today it is unusual, and in modern models the battery is fixed inside the case, either with screws or with glue. A laptop with such a battery does not shine with autonomy, in game mode the laptop will last about an hour of games, while working in the office + Internet - for 3-4 hours. Which, in principle, is normal for gaming laptops. Nearby there is a cover, which is held by several screws and latches; under it is the motherboard space containing elements subject to upgrade, namely: processor socket with CO, slots for installing RAM, SATA and m.2 connectors, as well as a removable Wi card -Fi.



Separately, it should be said about CO. The processor has 2 heat pipes with a cooler, which go one under the other, the VC is hidden by a casing, the heat from it and the elements soldered around is removed by 4 more heat pipes, on which a separate cooler is installed. In total there are 2 coolers, one blows hot air behind the monitor, and the other to the left.



On the left side of the laptop case there are:



1. Vent

2. USB 3.0 (USB 3.1Gen 1) Type-A Port

3. USB 2.0 Port 4.2-

In-1 Audio Jack (Microphone and S / PDIF Optical)

5. 2 - In-1 Audio Jack (Headphone and Microphone)

On the right side of the laptop are:

1. Multi-in-1 Card Reader

2. USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C Port

3. USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A Port

4. HDMI- Out port

5. Mini DisplayPort 1.2

6. Mini DisplayPort 1.3

7. RJ-45 LAN Jack

8. DC-In Jack

9. Security Lock Slot

On the front side there are holes for 2 speakers

Iron and performance

Processor - Intel Core i5-9400 (2.90GHz) 9MB Smart Cache, 14nm, DDR4-2666MHz, TDP 65W

Video card - Nvidia GTX 1660Ti 6GB GDDR6 Video RAM on board

RAM - 8 GB ram DDR4 2666MHz (Crucial with 19 timings)

Hard disk - 512G SSD m.2 format (Phison SATA SSD)



Additionally, I bought a Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 250GB system and replaced the RAM with 2 8GB sticks from Kingston SODIMM Kingston HyperX Impact [HX426S15IB2 / 8] with 15 timings to make the memory work in two-channel mode.



The motherboard is based on Intel H370 Express Chipset. Thus, it supports Intel 8th and 9th Gen processors with TDPs not exceeding 65W.



The speakers are mediocre here, lacking bass and treble, but at the same time they do not wheeze. The sound that the sound card outputs to the headphones is, in principle, decent, but if you are a music lover, then I will recommend you either buy an external specialized USB sound card, or some other specialized device (they say Walkmans are not bad, but this is not certain) ...

Testing

Unfortunately, on a business trip I do not have a PC comparable in performance at hand, so the tests below are given "AS IS" without comparisons with any hardware, but the temperature was monitored during testing. All tests were passed on the "Maximum performance" preset in the "Power supply"



The first test is WinRAR 5.91 (64bit)

In a single-stream, the laptop outputs - 1,570 Kb / s

In a multi-stream, the laptop outputs - 7,508 Kb / s

At the same time, the temperature did not exceed 61 degrees Celsius ...





The second test is CPU-Z 1.92 (64bit)

In a single-thread, the laptop gives out - 458.3 points

In a multi-thread, the laptop gives out - 2676.4 points

At the same time, the temperature did not exceed 61 degrees Celsius.





The third test is the disk subsystem test





The fourth test is Detroit: Become Human

Game Resolution - FHD.

Game graphics settings - Ultra.

VSYNC - Enabled.

Frame rate - 60 fps fixed.

CPU temperatures are 51-62 degrees Celsius, depending on the scene.

VK temperatures - 54-73 degrees Celsius, depending on the scene.

The CPU keeps a stable boost to all 3.9 GHz cores without drawdowns.





The fifth test is the World of Warships



game. The game resolution is FHD.

Game graphics settings - Maximum.

VSYNC - Enabled.

Frame rate - 60 fps fixed.

CPU temperatures are 53-66 degrees Celsius, depending on the scene.

VC temperatures are 54-85 degrees Celsius, depending on the scene.

The CPU keeps a stable boost to all 3.9 GHz cores with drawdowns up to 3.5 GHz.

conclusions

The Clevo N957TC turns out to be a terrific laptop, albeit not without compromises, in the face of the same keyboard and matrix. However, the value of this laptop in 3 points:

1. Due to the outdated, but powerful hardware, such a laptop is cheaper than competitors in Russian retail;
2. Due to its layout, it is subject to upgrade, which means that in the future it will be possible to increase performance with a reasonable investment;
3. CO has a margin, it follows that the likelihood of overheating decreases sharply, which means the laptop will last a long time.

All good!