The EVGA SC17 Gaming Notebook Review
Overclocking and Performance
EVGA didn’t just build a gaming notebook, they built an enthusiast notebook as well. Along with the high end performance specifications, the SC17 includes everything you need to overclock your system, starting with the 6820HK Skylake processor. To compliment it is a UEFI implementation that matches the features and capabilities of EVGA’s own motherboards.
Though I am only showing you a couple of screenshots from the BIOS, the user has complete control over voltages, timings, multipliers and more. It supports full mouse and touchpad capability as well, making it easy to navigate. If you want, you could absolutely overclock through this interface.
But using the new EVGA Precision X Mobile software is likely the best route. This single application allows you to control both the processor and the GPU settings, giving you complete control over the important parts of your system’s performance in one place. You can go full manual control or take advantage of the presets that EVGA has built-in that include automatic “super clock” mode to jump up the CPU and GPU frequencies.
By hitting just a single button in the software, or using the keyboard shortcuts on the arrow keys, our processor jumped from 3.2 GHz under a full load to 3.8 GHz! And that is with all eight threads pumping through our POV-Ray rendering benchmark. For the GeForce GTX 980M, EVGA sets the GPU clock offset to +76 MHz and the memory offset to +200 MHz, getting us a solid jump in performance of about 7-9%.
Clearly we know that the EVGA SC17 is going to be a gaming and computing powerhouse with these components at the helm. The Core i7-6820HK is one of the most powerful processors in the mobile space, and it closely matches performance of full sized desktop rigs. The GTX 980M nearly equals the performance of the GTX 970 on the desktop, so we know where our gaming performance should rest, too. Let’s take a look at a couple of benchmarks none the less.
With a score of 1486 PPS (pixels per second) at stock and 1788 PPS with our overclocked settings, the EVGA has impressive performance in both modes. But getting a 20% performance boost from a simple software switch, albeit with some additional noise and power consumption, is a great option for those of you doing work on the go.
Our 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme scores are great, hitting 4375 out of the box, about 500 points below that of a desktop GTX 970. Overclocked with the +76 MHz GPU clock offset and +200 MHz memory clock offset results in a boost to a score of 4682 (4849 graphics score), an improvement of just over 7%.
Now, for our gaming benchmark, we have to talk about the screen resolution. Yes, the SC17 has a 4K screen which would be really hard for the GTX 980M to render anything but the most basic of games at (natively). As a result, both EVGA and I recommend that you run games at 1920x1080 instead – this is a resolution the GTX 980M can address well, and it also maps evenly (1:4) with the screen itself.
I selected a couple of recent titles to demonstrate the power of the system, proving that, with this CPU and this GPU, you can power the best titles at 1080p.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is one of the most impressive looking PC games in the last several months, but the GTX 980M in the SC17 is able to push it at 1920x1080, at Very High settings, with an average frame rate of 54 FPS stock, and it bumps up to 58 FPS or so when overclocked! Maybe more importantly, the minimum frame rate increases from 39 to 46 FPS.
Grand Theft Auto V is another impressive title that is able to run at 55 FPS at 1920x1080 stock, and 59 FPS when we go with the SC17 integrated overclocking tools. The minimum frame rate makes unchanged in this case though.
Here’s an interesting test in light of the hype surrounding VR, I decided to run the SteamVR Performance Test on the EVGA SC17. At stock settings, the resulting score of 5.9 put the system into the “Capable” category, where an upgrade was recommended. Pushing into the overclocked results we got a score of 6, the minimum score to hit Valve’s VR Ready state! Note that, despite the GPU showing as using the Intel HD Graphics 530 in these screenshots, we did force the GTX 980M into running through the test by setting the profile in the NVIDIA Control Panel.
While gaming, there is no getting around the fact that the SC17 can create some noise. With the CPU and GPU both going full tilt, the fans spin up and generate the necessary air flow to keep the chips cool, but at the expense of sound. While it’s definitely there and noticeable, it’s not obnoxious and is more or less what we expect from any high end gaming notebook today. Skin temperatures on the wrist rest of the system were warm but useable, though the area above the keyboard where the hot air was exhausting was definitely hot to the touch.
While overclocked, the fan do spin higher, so you will hear and feel an increase in heat and noise, but that is to be expected as well. One drawback that I noticed in EVGA’s design thus far is that, even in Windows, when overclocked, there was some annoying fan speed stepping you could hear – the fans would jump back and forth between a couple of speeds rather than find a consistent middle ground.
Another note for gamers – GeForce Experience kept recommending the resolution of 2048x1152, a 16:9 resolution that does work for games, but I would recommend you scale back to 1920x1080 just for ease of use and to prevent any potential resolution hiccups with any single title.
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it's sad that at the price due to the 980m this is not going to be VR ready... I guess it's going to be capable but not fully 100% vr ready.
980m has 8gb of memory. it's completely VR ready.
Considering new mobile GPU's are coming this summer, it's a bit silly to make totally new product based on old tech at this point. And for the price, it looks totally boring too. It's a machine that makes no sense at all. What were they thinking???
No offence, but you're the one not making sense.
Yes the new GPU's are coming soon, but this laptop has been in development for a long time, they had to release it. And there will most likely be a revision with the new GPU's when the time comes.
Also what you call "boring", I call classy. Its a laptop you can pull out at a business meeting without looking like a clown. Unlike most other "14yo G4M3R" style gaming laptops.
As for the price, its perfectly adequate considering the competition.
It is a really nice laptop for sure, but it just doesn't make sense to me to get a laptop that can't connect to, and/or isn't compatible with an eGPU.
Perhaps evga has eGPU compatible laptops and eGPU boxes in the works?
well it should be compatible with thunderbolt but the whole external gpu defeats the purpose of a laptop as a portable device... I have desktop for desktop power...
as far as I can tell, it doesn't have TB so it is not compatible with an eGPU.
The eGPU does not defeat the laptop as a portable device. You can do many things with a laptop besides gaming, such as read emails, work on a spread sheet, etc. You dock the laptop at home when you are ready to use that desktop performance GPU.
It comes with a 980m. you don't need an eGPU
You are missing the bigger picture here, upgrade-ability and more GPU horsepower when needed.
Now, if this evga laptop had the capability to be hooked up to an eGPU and had the 980m built in? yes, please!
Bezel is way too big. Pass
I think there are better options. The 980m is good, but no where near enough for 4K. The 4K screen and 8GB VRAM are good marketing points and little more.
For that price, I'm pretty sure you can get 980m with a 1080 G-Sync panel and a Thunderbolt 3 USB Type C port. I would rather have tech that is actually useful rather than tech that's just thrown in to check some bullets on the marketing.
In my opinion, high ppi displays are most useful for having clear text. I have gotten used to having high ppi on phones and tablets, so I definitely would like to have it in a laptop screen also. I have been waiting for 4K in a 17 inch screen, but at this point I would also like to have VRR. I think I will wait for VRR support and probably a 14 nm GPU before spending that large amount of money.
Why is the bezel so large? Dell already showed everyone how it should be done
Oh, I am afraid your comments are too noob. Dell's near borderless/infinity edge display/bezel for that matter is a result of having no dedicated number pad on the right side of the keyboard. This was already explained by different manufacturers that if you have a full-sized keyboard in your laptop your display panel size has to match up and hence the excessive 'extra' bezels. Notice the XPS 13 and XPS 15 do not have numeric keypads on the right side compared to EVGA's SC 17. Maybe somewhere down the road they will eventually find a solution for this though.
Pretty brilliant of Dell though, you delete components making your product cheaper to manufacture. Then market your gimped product to the "Ooo! New & Shiny!" buyer as being "innovative." Anytime you can get consumers to rationalize a premium price for simply leaving stuff out of your product, your marketing department is getting it done.
Missing thunderbolt 3. Guess ill have to get that lenovo thinkpad P70 or HP Zbook 17 G3 i need external GPU, having a single machine to do both work and play is much convenient than switch to a desktop pc.
Ryan can you please please please start telling your audience if the GPU's are MXM modules in your laptop reviews. Also if the CPU are socketed or disposable BGA rubbish.
Main reason. Upgrade-ability. Yes it's finicky to do in a laptop, but my community and I often do it. Some of the Sager/Clevo's are especially upgrade friendly and appeal massively to enthusiasts who for whatever reason can't have a desktop.
Having a laptop that's upgrade friendly is something I think we should be pushing when we're spending $3k+ and MXMb modules have been the standard for half decade. It's ridiculous to otherwise have to throw the whole laptop out if it breaks out of warranty or we want to upgrade refresh the GPU because all the components are locked down and soldered in.
Appreciate all you work.
Sharing your frustration. With most manufacturers, even trying to find out fundamental upgrade info like user accessibility, max supported RAM, number of memory slots, and stock RAM configuration is like pulling teeth. If you call/email Kraft to ask a question about a $.99 box of mac-n-cheese, you get a professional, informed response. If you call HP about a $2500 laptop, you get a non-english speaker who chants "You go website. You go look website. It on website" because those are the only English words she knows...
Hi, I agree with the points made by tbonesan who posted earlier: would be interesting to know if this laptop has BGA CPU, and if the GPU is MXM - primarily for upgrade reasons, especially the GPU.
I like the more enthusiast orientated BIOS in this laptop, but it's a bit late in the day for a laptop based on Maxwell - Pascal is on the doorstep!
TBoneSan raises a very important argument.
These new B.G.A. systems, which are essentially one large board soldered components, are not a step forward in bringing consumers newer offerings and a better experience in getting closer to the desktop enthusiast's experience. These machines are a mediocre compromise masking something far more unnerving in terms of the drastic steps taken back in the design philosophy. Desktop enthusiasts would not tolerate such a shift and constriction in what they can do with their machines, and as such, there is no rational or logical reason why laptop gamers shouldn't have similar expectations and standards, especially with the great strides that have been made with laptop component accessibility over the course of the last 10 years.
This regressive development isn’t good for consumers or what laptop gaming should’ve ideally been about when it comes to the interests of consumers as well as an industry that is meant to compete with smarter, practical and competitive design choices. Therefore, we earnestly implore you to be among the few outlets to give this point the worthwhile exposure it needs – be the frontrunners in taking a stand on an issue that happens to speak for both better hardware design practices, as well as pro-consumer advocacy.
Ah, this explains why Razer is getting a lot less love from nvidia
Desktop class computing capability to a notebook... What is this??? A joke? Only A new BGA machine like any other, just in a prettier package. First unlocked processors from Intel for mobile computing - multipliers and voltages can all be tweaked in the UEFI or through Precision X Mobile software two push it even further... Even a new joke. Older Aw / Clevo gaming laptops overclocked nice to +4.5GHz. How high Overclock on this? Up to 4.1 GHz? Yeah.This is barely the same as a desktop i7. What a joke. Buy an expensive BGA machine that soon has completely outdated hardware(Gx980m is nearly 1.5 year old). What with VR? Is Gtx980M a recommended graphics card for VR? Of course not. Even a big joke. I recommend people to buy a lot cheaper BGA machine than this if you absolutely must have one. Not an overpriced slim case such as this. You are completely stuck with a BGA machine. Forget upgrade if you want this. As said. This is yet another BGA machine like all other. Steer clear of this if you want desktop performance in a laptop.
Papusan mentioned hitting 4ghz on an older socketed laptop. How about 4.5ghz on a 7 year old 920xm in the equally old M15x. 980M in this bga package? Oh yes whoops I also have one of those in my 7 year old M15x...
How much it cost me? A fraction of what this new machine costs and you wont see any thermal throttling in a properly build enthusiast laptop with socketed cpu and replaceable gpu. With such a slim shell that soldered 980M will either heavily throttle or not be able to run at any kind of boost clock speed allowed an old machine with the same card in MXM form to run circles around it.
Please no more of such overpriced, gimicky, badly built rubbish. Treat consumers with the respect they deserve.
Author take note!
Well considering all the responses related to the BGA machines, I concur to all those opinions which are true.
Yesterday I noticed the EVGA machine is coming out and within few minutes all the excitement was drained, the low profile motherboard and small fans to cool a powerful hardware with OC support (BGA hardware necessarily throttles with power limits due to soldering),the BIOS is a great step forward but the hardware used is a generation back.
Considering the price tag, We can get a P7xxDM series with much better modularity and upgradeability with the Custom BIOS mods that's a true enthusiast machine. As notebookcheck offers the note of BGA or MXM modules in their reviews that should help many consumers know they are not being ripped off, Please consider to include the hardware interfaces if you are reviewing a machine with "High Performance" "OC" tags.
Thin soldered BGA laptops do 1 thing well, they overheat! This will be no different... You can have many features however the thinness will mean that it will overheat and the fans can't keep everything cool.
Now a Clevo laptop like the P771DM or P771ZM(which is now 1 year old), is slightly thicker however the bigger chassis allows a the socketed desktop CPU like a 4790K to run cool along with the non-soldered MXM GPU.. My 4790K trumps anything in this and actually is able to hold a 4.3GHz (on 4 cores) clock in games... The non-soldered GPU means that if your GPU fails you don't have to buy a new motherboard but just replace the module.. I can also upgrade my GPU down the road if I want.. Soldered BGA hardware doesn't allow this. Just to echo Ashtr1x says, it would be good to identify if the hardware is BGA or not so that consumers can know if they are being or not being ripped off and to also to echo his 2nd point, please include the hardware interfaces in these laptops!
i was a bit disappointed. although in general PCPER reviews were great and detailed. as an enthusiast in mobile hardware, this doesn't talk about much and I find it surprising.
to start, a thin laptop like this mostly come with soldered parts, ram/SSD, majority cases RAM/SSD aren't if they are not apple however GPU is what people would want to know as we like to do future upgrades. giving the fact that 6820hk is used, it's already a BGA silicon which intel forced OEM to use it.
another thing wasn't mentioned and I was hoping to see is that these crappy silicon even though they can still be overclocked, the power draw and heat they got is tremendous compare to others.
lastly of course we got a single PSU thats probably no more than 240w, which isn't really capable of anything high end overclocking like 4.4ghz on cpu and +200mhz on GPU while supporting rest of the machine LCD/mobo.
it'll also be nice ot see in future to check on if battery power are taken from the laptop while AC is connected during heavy load.
Oh boy. So Tbonesan referred me to this article.
Your review is a good bit one-sided. It's pushing that the machine is amazing, and cherry-picking points that sound good on paper without actually "reviewing" the laptop. You've basically done a glorified unboxing. This is not how one reviews a machine which cannot simply have better cooling tossed at it, or hardware upgraded (that CPU is soldered; and you made ZERO mention of whether or not the GPU was soldered too, though I suspect it is). Before I begin essentially... tearing you apart nicely... however, I must say: THE INTEL 6820HK IS NOT THE FIRST, OR EVEN ONE OF THE FIRST, UNLOCKED MOBILE PROCESSORS. THE i7s- 920XM, 940XM, 2920XM, 2940XM, 3920XM, 3940XM, 4930MX and 4940MX have existed for some five-odd years. Correct your statements please.
Firstly, the 6820HK turbos to 3.2GHz under 4-core load. 3.6GHz is a FAR higher number, and SOLELY exists for 1-core load turbo. 3.4GHz is for 2-core load turbo. 3 and 4 cores hit a paltry 3.2GHz, nowhere near impressive out of the box, for the games that ACTUALLY use the CPU. You know, like GTA V, which you specifically mentioned in this article. And then you haven't even spoken about the maximum allowed overclock (that the BIOS/Intel XTU will allow), the maximum allowed power draw (because overclocking to 4GHz+ is kind of pointless if the firmware is going to TDP-lock you at about 65W), or how the cooling system handles the machine at stock and when overclocked.
Speaking of the cooling system, you failed to mention how the 980M handles as well as the CPU. More importantly, if it keeps its turbo properly in all scenarios, and whether the machine is one of those that kills turbo boost for either the CPU or the GPU when both are being stressed... because those exist and are pretty common *cough* lenovo *cough* alienware *cough*. Also, what's the size of the power brick? This is an overclockable system, no? I'd like to know how much headroom I've got, and whether the brick is of good enough quality to support the rated deliverance, or if it simply covers draw from the wall (making larger numbers less reliable).
Next, you neglected to mention whether or not the RAM actually ran at 2666MHz, and if it did, what the timings were... most RAM is 2133MHz CL15, and I know 2400MHz CL14 exists, but there's no reason that this RAM isn't say... 2666MHz CL17 or Cl18. You also neglected to mention whether the machine used Optimus or not, which is a HUGE deal for enthusiasts (which this machine should be targeted to). If you don't understand why Optimus is a huge deal and generally hated by enthusiasts, then you need to go do some more research before you're reviewing these kinds of laptops =D.
Going further, I want to ask why you didn't mention the downside of only two USB ports? A third USB 3.1 type-C isn't compatible out of the box with most USB devices, so I'm not counting it even though an adapter can be purchased. By the time I plug in a headset and mouse I can't even use a controller? What kind of gaming-laptop design is that? And why the love for the 4K screen as well? Having to run games at non-native resolution is a real problem for many users because it simply does not look right. And if you're like me and you like windowed modes or borderless windowed for multitasking with second monitors plugged in while at home, you're going to be in even MORE trouble, because "just" 1080p will be tiny on the screen, but still will be a rather hard performer... assuming games even play nice with windowed mode. Battlefield 4 for example runs in 720p in windowed mode no matter what you try; it's going to be terrible. It's granted DICE's fault, but still, the screen is going to be more of a detriment to a GAMER than a benefit.
Well, I'll stop here. I don't want the post to be TOO long. But I had to say what was on my mind. If it sounds like I've been absolutely bashing you, don't take it to heart. The next machine you review, if you included all that I mentioned (aka what I and many enthusiasts consider "doing it properly"), then I won't have this kind of comment again =D. So good luck, do improve, we need more people to improve.
Oh dear... another attractive yet crippled BGA turdbook. So many comments have already been stated against this type of pathetic product So, I will merely offer my agreement with all who have already expressed their disgust with this Mickey Mouse jokebook.
As long as Kool-Aid drinking compromisers are willing to blow cash on crippled BGA trash there will be a market for this disposable filth. If they would stop trying to pass it off as "high performance" it would not be so disturbing. The BGA CPU instantly disqualifies it as being a high quality product. If it also has a BGA GPU (which seems inescapable with such an unaccommodating profile) that is two strikes. Having 4K as the only option is strike three and the death blow. There is no way this machine is capable of delivering an impressive gaming experience a display resolution that warrants nothing less that overclocked 980M MXM SLI, an overclocked Titan or 980Ti to deliver a modest, yet playable, framerate. A single 980M is going to deliver, at best, little more than a slide show unless the lowest graphics settings are used along with a substantial GPU overclock. If a person is happy with a pathetic CPU and a 30 FPS gaming experience, a $500 Alienware Alpha or similarly priced console is a whole more intelligent based on price alone.
actually, first intel unlocked mobile GPU is T7600G dual core oc to 3.16GHZ, then comes along x9000, x9100, QX and then 920xm which is first gen i7 etc.
There are SO MANY professional reviewers that gloss over, ignore or even avoid disclosing all of the important things that every uninformed consumer deserves to know. I think knowing and drawing attention to the fact that an expensive laptop has the CPU and/or GPU permanently soldered to the motherboard and cannot be effectively serviced, repaired or upgraded has potential to be a product killer. Such a flawed product deserves to fail.
It would certainly the the right thing to do if reviewers everywhere highlighted such a fatal engineering flaw for their readers. When doctors and lawyers fail to give the right information to their customers it is medical and legal malpractice. When their involvement is negligent or technically incompetent or incomplete they are potentially liable for the bad decisions or circumstances that follow their involvement.
Failing to expose and deride BGA "high performance" notebooks as being a scam and a sham seems to be an organized form of professional malpractice. We are reaching a point of critical mass with defective designs that have potential to ruin everyone's future. Those that hold themselves out as experts need to step up to the plate and bet their paycheck on doing the right thing and letting the chips fall where they may. When there is nothing for sale except trashbooks, we are all going to be in a world of hurt. We are almost there now. A very loud and clear message needs to be sent and unless the OEMs get punched in the face with a sledge hammer this kind of filth will be all that is left for anyone to buy.
It is saddening really that the reviewer as you say seems only happy to paint a pretty picture of this laptop. I daresay EVGA paid pcper to write such a review as I cannnot believe a bunch of amateurs would be writing reviews for such an influential website.
I can imagine the reviewer has a nice powerful desktop at home. Lets see what he writes when he gets to review a bga desktop! Not so prepared to gloss over the details then.
What's more such support shown for bga only bring the desktop community closer to same poor choice of products that we notebook enthusiasts have to deal with now.
Wake up everybody!! Before it is too late.
The price is much too high considering many 980M laptops are now sub $2000. The processor is not going to make that much of a difference in gaming performance and people who are rendering would go for a Quadro GPU not a 980M. I just don't see the market for this especially with all that tech being long in the tooth. Maybe EVGA knows something I don't. It should at least have G-SYNC out of the box at that price point.
They should have lead with this picture first...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CewFE_ZXIAARzyn.jpg
Reading the comments on this 'review' was a hilarious experience, thanks everybody! That being said, I'll be in the market for a high performance gaming laptop soon, can anyone here recommend an offering that's actually half-decent?
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