Schenker XMG Pro 17 (Clevo PB71RD-G) Laptop Review: Temperature vs. Noise

Competitors of the XMG Pro 17 include other 17-inch laptops with an identical CPU and GPU combination such as the Razer Blade Pro 17, Asus Strix G731GV, Lenovo Legion Y740-17IRH and the MSI GL75 9SEK. We will also list the aforementioned laptops in our comparison tables.

The case of the XMG Pro 17 has undergone a significant upgrade since our review from two years ago. Instead of the Clevo barebone PA71HS-G, the system is now based on the PB71RD-G chassis, which is different not only in terms of the design but also in terms of the size. Furthermore, the dimensions have shrunk from 41.9 x 28.7 cm to 39.9 x 27.5 cm to be more compact overall due to the smaller bezels. There were also improvements made when it comes to the weight. The new chassis only weighs in at 2.8 kg instead of 3.1 kg, which is still average compared to competitors.

For the most part the quality of the chassis is good. Aside from the cover, the top of the base unit also consists of metal. The build quality leaves very little room for complaints. The same holds true for the rigidity, which is very solid in most areas. Only the lid (creaks when being twisted) and the center of the keyboard could have been even more rigid still. Very positive: Unlike on most other gaming laptops, the battery is accessible from the outside.

Port Selection

The vast port selection is one of the biggest advantages of the XMG Pro 17. Thanks to the HDMI port, Mini DisplayPort and two USB Type-C 3.1 Gen2 ports (1x Thunderbolt 3, 1x DisplayPort), users can theoretically connect up to four monitors. Additionally, there are three USB Type-A 3.0 ports, two audio jacks, an RJ45 port and a Kensington lock slot. Furthermore, there is a (somewhat hard to reach) card reader hidden on the front edge of the chassis. Since there are barely any ports to the left and right sides, there should be enough space for users to use an external mouse without being obstructed.

As our measurements of the MSI GL75 9SEK show, fast card readers are not a given, even on more expensive gaming laptops. With transfer speeds of 203 MB/s to 219 MB/s, the XMG Pro 17 shows what is possible and even beats the card reader of the Razer Blade Pro 17, which is already fast.

With our brand new ax router, which Netgear has recently provided us with, the XMG Pro 17 handily beats all other devices in our comparison, which were only tested with an ac router, in our Wi-Fi test (tested at a distance of 1 m). 1,410 Mb/s or 1,620 Mb/s when sending and receiving data, respectively, are excellent results. However, it comes at a premium of a few USD, since either an Intel or a Rivet Networks Wi-Fi 6 chip has to be selected during the configuration.

Our test model includes a USB thumb drive, a driver DVD, a manual, and screws for the 2.5-inch bay. The power rating of the included AC adapter varies depending on the selected GPU option. Schenker includes a 230-Watt model with the RTX 2070 configuration, while the RTX 2060 model comes with a surprisingly lightweight and slim 180-Watt model.

As it turns out, servicing the PB71RD-G barebone is fairly difficult. In order to reach the components, almost 20 screws need to be loosened on the bottom. After this time-consuming task, the keyboard also needs to be unmounted, since there is an additional screw below it (the last step is not necessary on the 15-inch version). Only then can the bottom plate be removed from the unit with the help of a sharp tool. This is unfortunate, since Clevo barebones used to be very maintenance-friendly in the past. As with most current laptops, the CPU and GPU are soldered and thus cannot be replaced.

Schenker offers users of the XMG Pro 17 a base warranty period of 24 months. It can be extended to up to three years according to the buyer's preferences. The fast repair service period can be extended as well.

At 10.8 x 6.2 cm, the touchpad dimensions are decent for a 17-inch device, but they are not exceptional. Due to the very smooth finish, fingers glide very quickly (some may say too quickly) across the surface, which comes with an integrated, invisible fingerprint sensor. Here, many actions (such as, for example, drag and drop) can be accomplished much easier than with most ClickPads thanks to the dedicated mouse buttons. In the same vein, gestures and particularly zooming as well as scrolling with two fingers worked well in our tests. That said, the precision of the touchpad is only average.

We are already familiar with the Full HD panel installed in our XMG Pro 17 (AU Optronics B173HAN04.0) from other gaming laptops such as the Razer Blade 17 and the Asus Strix G731GV.

Regardless of the choice between Core i7-9750H and GeForce RTX 2060 or Core i9-9980HK and GeForce RTX 2070: The XMG Pro 17 cannot deny its high-end nature. In order to be somewhat future-proof, we recommend buyers to increase both the storage and the RAM capacity during configuration.

We observed the behavior in regard to the clock speeds of the 9750H using Cinebench R15. While the CPU consistently runs at 4.0 GHz during single-core scenarios, the clock speed quickly drops from the 3.4 to 3.9 GHz range to the meager 2.9 to 3.0 GHz range when being stressed on all cores.

As the diagram above and the benchmark table below illustrate nicely, the Pro 17 falls behind its competitors with these results. Those who need more CPU performance should select the performance mode from within the Control Center.

The weakish Turbo Boost also adversely affects the system performance. With 4,739 points, the Schenker laptop holds the lowest PCMark 10 score among the devices in our comparison. Subjectively, no difference is noticeable in most situations. All devices feel similarly fast in terms of installing, starting and loading programs. Only the boot process of our XMG Pro 17 takes longer than average.

Our test device uses a 500-GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus as the system drive (Windows 10 Home 64-bit). The M.2 drive achieves excellent values in our benchmark parcours in terms of both read and write speeds. As mentioned initially, a second M.2 slot as well as a 2.5-inch drive bay is available for expansion.

The GeForce RTX 2060, which is based on Nvidia's Turing architecture, represents the entry point into the world of ray tracing. The 12-nm chip contains 1,920 shader units and 6 GB of GDDR6 video memory with a 192-bit memory bus.

While the base clock is 960 MHz, significantly higher clock speeds are possible via GPU Boost (which works similarly to Intel's Turbo Boost). For example, the clock speed increased to up to 1,905 MHz during the render test of GPU-Z. In practice (such as gaming use), users can expect a clock frequency of around 1,400 MHz - an acceptable result. The graphics performance of the XMG Pro 17 is nothing out of the ordinary, which is a good thing. The Schenker laptop also tends to achieve average results in 3DMark 13 and 3DMark 11 compared to its competition.

In order to determine whether the GPU is able to maintain its clock speeds over a prolonged period of time, we ran The Witcher 3 (1920x1080, ultra) for around 60 minutes. Here, the frame rate remained consistent over the entire duration and there were no unusual fluctuations or dips.

The GeForce RTX 2060 is fast enough to be able to run almost all modern titles at maximum settings, unless an external WQHD or 4K display is used. Only in extremely demanding games such as Red Dead Redemption 2, users should settle for high details. Meanwhile, less demanding games (e.g. FIFA 20) exceed 100 FPS even on ultra settings, which benefits the visual experience on the 144-Hz display.

In terms of emissions, the entertainment mode has been fairly poorly configured. A quick glance at the measurements shows that the barebone manufacturer Clevo highly prioritizes moderate temperatures as opposed to moderate noise. Around 70 °C for both CPU and GPU after running The Witcher 3 for one hour and a noise level of 54 dB(A) is a very unbalanced result. Thus, the XMG Pro 17 is louder than its competitors, which "only" reach 46 dB to 53 dB. In our opinion, letting the components run slightly hotter in return for a quieter operation would be a worthwhile tradeoff.

Things are much less critical during idle. Although the fans can occasionally and unnecessarily spin up, the 17-inch laptop tends to be quiet or even silent during prolonged use.

We used the tools FurMark and Prime95 for close to 60 minutes, in order to determine the maximum temperature values for the CPU and GPU. While the Core i7-9750H remained below 90 °C, the GeForce RTX 2060 never exceeded 75 °C.

According to our sound analysis, the audio system of the XMG Pro 17 performs significantly better than the stereo speakers of the XMG Pro 15. This is expected, since the 17-inch model includes a subwoofer, which improves the bass. Even though the sound is fairly good for a gaming laptop overall, your expectations should remain reasonable. The high maximum volume level of 90 dB(A) is only usable in a limited capacity, since the sound tends to become muddy and distorted at higher volumes.

Thanks to the graphics-switching feature, the energy consumption remains relatively low during idle. At 11 to 28 watts, the results are similar to those of the competition. Under load, we measured between 99 and 210 watts, which is a common range for a Core i7-9750H and GeForce RTX 2060 configuration.

The XMG Pro 17 was not designed for long trips away from an outlet. Despite its Optimus technology and even at minimum brightness, the 62-Wh battery of the 17-inch device struggles to last for more than 5 hours. Around 4 hours of Wi-Fi use at medium brightness is not exactly a great result, either. In this category, the competition at least manages to last slightly longer. Under high load and at maximum brightness, the laptop runs out of steam after running for just above 1 hour. The 3D performance drops by 66% in battery mode.