EUROCOM X8 (Clevo P377SMA) Notebook Review

The X8 utilizes a similar Clevo P377SMA chassis as the X7 with similar quality and features.. so why the different names? The X8 is marketed as one of Eurocom's high-end mobile workstations whereas the X7 is geared towards the gaming crowd. Nonetheless, they both share very similar configuration options with only a few specific differences to cater to their respective audiences.

Though the X8 has not received any visual upgrades since last year's X7, we still find the chassis to be more visually appealing than other Clevo barebones. However, this does mean that certain properties have yet to be improved, including the outer lid. For example, as large as the notebook may be, the center of the lid feels very thin. We refer to our Eurocom X7 review for a more detailed look and discussion on chassis quality.

In terms of size, the X8 is very similar to the Alienware 17 and MSI GT72 in both length and width, but it is noticeably thicker at 54.8 mm compared to "just" 46 mm and 48 mm of the Dell and MSI, respectively. The Asus G750 is even thicker despite not having dual GPUs. However, the ROG models are notable for their relatively low surface temperatures and quiet operation, so the additional girth can be justified in this case. Meanwhile, the superthin Aorus X7 and its GTX 970M SLI GPUs is less than half as thick as the X8.

Color space coverage is roughly 57.32 percent and 77.92 percent of AdobeRGB and sRGB, respectively. While certainly not fit for professional graphics work, our sRGB coverage is much higher than the typical ~60 percent found on most mainstream notebooks. A wide color gamut is inconsequential during the heat of battle for gamers and Eurocom does offer more accurate panels as mentioned above for those who need it. However, users will find that most gaming notebooks have similar color coverages as response times are a higher priority.

Further display analyses with a X-Rite spectrophotometer reveal generally inaccurate colors and grayscale out-of-the-box. The display improves dramatically after calibration, including a flatter RGB balance, more accurate colors across tested saturation levels, and a gamma closer to the 2.2 sRGB ideal. In general, colors become more accurate the higher the saturation level with no one color deviating significantly from the others. Nitpickers will point out that orange and yellow tend to be a bit less accurate, but performance is very consistent nonetheless.

Outdoor visibility is difficult even at maximum display brightness. While the matte display helps in reducing glare, the large display requires a stronger backlight than what is provided for comfortable use under sunlight. Maximum brightness does not artificially drop when running on batteries and the display is passable for some quick work on cloudy days if required, but anyone intending to use the X8 outdoors for extended periods on a daily basis may want to consider having a lighter secondary notebook around.

Viewing angles are stable as far as TN panels go. Colors are consistent if viewing from the left or right or from above the display, but they quickly degrade if viewing from below the normal. This is thankfully not a significant limitation to usability for the sole user or if sharing the display with others nearby. However, users who will go for the glossy display option may find tighter viewing angles due to increased glare, especially when considering that the hinges will only extend up to 135 degrees. 

Processor

As the first system with the Core i7-4940MX in our database, the Eurocom X8 unsurprisingly tops out a good handful of benchmarks including CineBench single- and multi-core tests as well as wPrime and Super Pi. The benefits are somewhat marginal, however, even compared to high-end CPUs from the Ivy Bridge generation. For example, the X8 CineBench R11.5 Multi score of 7.67 points is less than 10 percent higher than the average i7-3920XM of 7.2 points. Single-core performance according to Super Pi 32M shows a similar result with a completion time of 491 seconds compared to 531 seconds from the average i7-3920XM. Performance differences against the i7-4930MX are even narrower as the i7-4940MX is only 100 MHz faster with equal cache sizes and features.

Compared to desktop CPUs, the i7-4940MX is most similar in performance to the i7-4770K. The mobile model trades blows with the desktop model quite well in both single- and multi-core benchmarks despite running on a lower TDP that is just two-thirds of the i7-4770K (57 W vs. 84 W). For more benchmarks and technical information on the i7-4940MX, see our dedicated CPU page here.

GPU Performance

The GTX 980M is Nvidia's crown jewel for the mobile market. It and the GTX 970M are only a few months old as of this writing and are the most powerful Maxwell cards for notebooks. Compared to the desktop GTX 970, the GTX 980M operates at a slightly lower base lower clock (1038 vs. 1050 MHz) with both fewer shaders (1536 vs. 1664) and Texture Mapping Units (96 vs. 104). The mobile model has twice the GDDR5 VRAM in return at 8192 MB vs 4096 MB of the GTX 970, which should help in rendering extreme texture packs as found on titles like Ryse, Titanfall, and Shadow of Mordor. For more technical information and benchmarks on the GTX 980M, please see our dedicated page here.

Synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark place the X8 at the top of our database. Our 3DMark 11 score of 16276 points, for example, is over 2000 points more than our next closest model: The Aorus X7 and its GTX 970M SLI graphics. 3DMark 2013 Fire Strike Standard is also about 24 percent higher on the X8 compared to the Aorus and almost twice as high as the MSI GT72 with a single GTX 980M (18400 vs. 9615 points), which shows very good SLI scaling.

Gaming Performance

A single GTX 980M is more than sufficient for 1080p gaming. Getting a locked 1080p60 experience on maximum settings, however, remains elusive on a few titles including Ryse and Watch Dogs. This can finally be achieved with a dual GTX 980M setup for those who are unsatisfied with anything less than a silky smooth 60 FPS experience.

The majority of titles like BioShock Infinite, Last Light, and Thief in particular show frame rate improvements of about 50 to 60 percent over a single GTX 980M. Other titles, however, show only marginal improvements. Advanced Warfare, for example, runs only 13 percent faster and Ryse only 19 percent faster. Though more frames are certainly welcomed, much larger improvements are expected from costly and power-hungry SLI systems like the X8. We fully expect that performance on a number of these games will increase overtime as new drivers and updates go live from Nvidia and publishers.

We use Prime95 and FurMark to stress the X8 with CPU-Z, GPU-Z, and HWiNFO monitoring tools active to identify any throttling or stability issues. With only Prime95 active, we can observe the CPU running at 3.2 to 3.5 GHz consistently, which is notably below its 3.8 GHz Turbo Boost speed. Core temperatures also jump quickly to 90 degrees C or more. 

With only FurMark active to stress the GPU, the Nvidia cards can be seen running at 923.9 MHz each. This slowly dips after the first few minutes until finally settling at 835.3 MHz, which is slightly below its base clock of 1038 MHz. Core temperature peaks at about 87 degrees C.

When both Prime95 and FurMark are running simultaneously, both the CPU and GPU drop further in speed down to a stable 2.8 to 3.2 GHz and 797.3 MHz, respectively. While this is well below their base clock rates, the throttling should have no gaming repercussions as a 3DMark 11 run immediately following the stress test shows no drop in final scores.

Running on batteries will impact performance significantly. 3DMark 11 score drops by almost 10000 points from 16160 on mains to just 6460 on battery power under the High Performance profile. As is normal amongst powerful gaming laptops, both the CPU and GPU are throttled on battery power, in this case down to 1.9 GHz and 594.8 MHz or lower, respectively. VRAM is affected as well and is reduced to just 800 MHz. Plugging the system back to an outlet via its large 330 W power adapter will immediately return these components back to their normal operating speeds.

System Noise

It takes three fans to sufficiently cool the X8 hardware - one for each processing unit. The fans are not as large compared to MSI GT7X models and none of the three are identical in size. The setup is again identical to the X7 with dedicated heat sinks and ventilation for each.

Fan noise is similar to the X7 both when idling and when under load. As such, the system is always audible no matter the workload. The 40 dB(A) range is typically the maximum on most mainstream notebooks, yet it is the minimum here on the X8. The pulsating fan is another annoying occurrence as light loads like browsing are enough to induce even louder fan noise.

Gaming will bump system noise to 46 dB(A) and up. This can be distracting when gaming, especially without any earphones. In contrast, the new MSI GT72 and Asus G750 remain in the lower 40s when gaming. Maximum load under FurMark and Prime95 will induce noise levels of up to a recorded 55 dB(A).

The removable 89.21 Wh (5900 mAh) Li-Ion battery is identical to last year's X7 with no other capacities or options available. Its capacity is nearly the same as competing 17-inch gaming notebooks like the Alienware 17 and MSI GT72. Even so, runtimes compared to the these examples differ quite dramatically as the integrated graphics is disabled on the Eurocom X8. The demanding hardware and overclocked components do not help either as users will be lucky to get close to three hours of constant usage on the Power Saver profile. Even the Aorus X7 with its GTX 970M SLI, lack of Optimus, and smaller 73 Wh battery can last up to half an hour longer under the same idling conditions.

Gaming on batteries lasts just about as long as most other high-end gaming models at a little over one hour. This would have been even lower if not for the performance throttling when not connected to mains, but we imagine that the battery is outputting near its maximum rate under these demanding conditions.