Eurocom P7 Pro (Clevo P770ZM) Notebook Review

Communication

WLAN includes an Intel 7265 for 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and dual-band (2x2) connectivity up to 867 Mbps as standard. A Qualcomm Killer 1525 option is also available for more gaming-centric features and optimizations. We experienced no issues with our Intel M.2 module when connecting to a home network.

Maintenance

It's no surprise that key components are easily accessible from the bottom of the unit with just a Philips screwdriver. Aside from the 2x SODIMM slots (plus 2 more under the keyboard) and 2.5-inch SATA bays, the LGA 1150 socket supports 90 Watt processors up to a Core i7-4790K and the graphics card can be swapped with another MXM 3.0b-compatible unit. The ease of upgradeability and lack of soldered components make Clevo models much more attractive compared to other gaming notebooks.

Accessories

Out-of-the-box, Eurocom throws in a Quick Start booklet and Drivers and Utilities disc. Extras screws and some thermal paste are included as well. Carrying cases, VGA adapters, and other cables are available directly from the reseller.

A 230 Watt power adapter comes standard, though users can upgrade to a larger and more powerful 330 Watt adapter.

Warranty

The usual one-year warranty applies with options to extend up to two or three years for an additional $175 or $375, respectively.

Keyboard

Keyboards on Clevo models have remained largely identical between generations, so the one here is similar to the one on the Eurocom X7 despite the many hardware changes underneath. Its size (35.25 x 10.75 cm) and beveled layout continue to provide firm and quiet feedback not unlike that of the Alienware 17 R2. Unlike the Asus G751 and said Alienware, however, The Eurocom lacks a set of dedicated Macro keys and must rely on combination keys for such commands. Travel is also a bit shallow and nowhere near as deep as say the mechanical keyboard on the GT80.

Its Flexikey software allows users to easily set Macro commands, input recordings, and keyboard backlight colors. The backlight functions in particular are very wide with at least 256 colors for each of the three sections of the keyboard.

Touchpad

The slightly redesigned touchpad (10.75 x 6.25 cm) is rigid with no cursor issues and a smooth glide. Synaptics V7.5 lets users customize up to three finger gestures and other sensitivity settings. The dedicated mouse keys are even quieter than the keyboard keys with a deeper travel. The feedback is a little on the soft side and certainly not as firm as it could have been. Like the rest of the notebook, fingerprints will accumulate here very quickly.

Color coverage is 56 percent and 85 percent of AdobeRGB and sRGB standards, respectively. This is good for an IPS display and is very similar to both the Razer Blade Pro and Alienware 17 R2. Cheap TN panels normally cover a little more than half of sRGB and even less of AdobeRGB. Eurocom does offer other display options including glossy and 90 percent NTSC panels. No resolutions above 1080p just yet, however.

Further measurements with an X-Rite spectrophotometer reveal generally accurate grayscale and colors across the tested saturation levels. A quick calibration improves grayscale dramatically with Gamma close to the ideal 2.2 for sRGB. Orange and Yellow hues are represented less accurately compared to other colors. The less-than-perfect sRGB coverage means colors become less accurate at higher saturation where targets begin to fall beyond the color space of the Eurocom panel.

Processor

With a rated TDP of 65 W, the i7-5775C sits between the 47 W mobile i7-4980HQ and 88 W desktop i7-4790K in our Alienware 17 R2 and Eurocom P5 Pro, respectively. The smaller 14 nm die shrink and more consistent core clock rate both give the i7-5775C a small advantage over the i7-4980HQ in multi-core benchmarks by about 10 percent according to CineBench and 20 percent according to 3DMark Physics scores. Gains in single-core operations are much smaller, however, likely due to the ridiculously fast 4 GHz Turbo clock of the i7-4980HQ, which is higher than the default 3.7 GHz Turbo maximum on the i7-5775C.

The i7-4790K consistently outperforms the i7-5775C by at least 10 percent in raw CPU benchmarks like CineBench, Super Pi, and wPrime. 3DMark Physics scores are much closer to within just a few percentage points, so tangible performance gains while gaming are likely to be very marginal between these two desktop processors when paired with a GTX 980M. The very common i7-4710HQ and i7-4720HQ in almost all other high-end gaming notebooks fall behind by at least 15 percent and up to 30 percent in some cases.

System Performance

The current king in our PCMark 7 database is the Eurocom Pro 5 Extreme with its final tally of 7272 points. Our P7 Pro clocks in at 7051 points, or just a couple hundred below our record holder. The high numbers can be partly attributed to the ridiculously fast PCIe x4 Samsung SSD, which also helps the notebook achieve high PCMark 8 numbers as well. Certain RAID 0 systems do score slightly higher than our Eurocom including the MSI GT72 (4x 256 GB Kingston SSDs) and larger MSI GT80 (4x 256 GB Toshiba SSDs).

A total of four storage bays are available in the form of two PCIe x4 and x2 slots and two 2.5-inch SATA III bays with RAID 0/1 support. The included 512 GB Samsung SM951 SSD and PCIe x4 slot are becoming increasingly common on high-end gaming notebooks such as the Asus UX501 and G501 as the slot provides extremely fast transfer rates. CDM shows sequential read and write rates of about 1400 MB/s, which is already faster than many RAID 0 setups and almost three times as fast as a single SATA III SSD. Nontheless, read and write rates of smaller 4K blocks aren't as wide between PCIe x4 and SATA III. Our comparison table of HDDs and SSDs can be found on our dedicated page here.

Note that the system lacks an ODD slot where a fifth HDD or SDD can normally be equipped in lieu of disc drive. It is likely that Clevo will be phasing out the optical drive slot in favor of external USB solutions.

Synthetic GPU benchmark results are some of the highest we've seen for a notebook with a single graphics card. The final 3DMark 11 score of 11836 points is just a hair above the One K73-5N, which uses a fast desktop Core i7-4790K CPU paired with a GTX 980M. The Eurocom is also several hundred points higher than the Asus G751 in the same benchmark. 3DMark Fire strike scores are in the same ballpark as other high-end systems carrying GTX 980M or Radeon R9 M295X GPUs, such as in the 27-inch iMac Retina 5K.

Gaming Performance

Our gaming benchmarks with the GTX 980M are well-documented on our dedicated GPU page. Thus, users can find additional technical information and benchmarks across a variety of notebooks sporting the high-end Nvidia GPU here.

In short, our P7 Pro performs above average compared to other GTX 980M-equipped systems due to its ability to maintain very consistent Turbo Boost and GPU Boost speeds. Nonetheless, systems with GTX 970M SLI or GTX 980M SLI graphics will still outperform the P7 Pro.

We stress the notebook with synthetic benchmarks to observe for any potential throttling or stability issues. With just Prime95 active, the Core i7-5775C in the Eurocom is able to maintain its maximum 3.6 GHz Turbo Boost for all four cores. The system fans will begin to operate near their maximum speeds once CPU temperature reaches 80 C. With just FurMark active, GPU core clock drops from 1037 MHz to a steady 834 to 847 MHz while memory clock remains flat at 1252 MHz.

Maximum CPU and GPU stress with both Prime95 and FurMark will cause the CPU to lose all Turbo Boost benefits after the first few minutes and remain stable in the 3.2 to 3.3 GHz range. Meanwhile, the GPU fluctuates between 810 to 835 MHz. If the Maximum Fan Speed option is enabled, then the CPU will gain back a bit of its Turbo Boost while GPU core temperature drops a few degrees. GPU temperature remains relatively low even under high stress despite the fact that it still throttles down to the 800 MHz range. A larger PSU may potentially benefit the P7 Pro in this regard.

Unigine Heaven more accurately represents gaming stress. Under these conditions, both the CPU and GPU are able to sustain high Boosts and at lower core temperatures. We also ran the Metro: Last Light benchmark ten consecutive times to observe for any drops in performance over time. The first run returned an average 67.7 FPS compared to the last run with an average of 67.4 FPS. This is very consistent, especially when compared to the GTX 980M in the thinner Gigabyte P37X under similar testing conditions.

Running on battery power will reduce both CPU and GPU performances dramatically. The CPU drops to a steady 1.9 GHz and the GPU to 670/405 MHz core/memory. A 3DMark 11 run on batteries returns Physics and Graphics scores of 5494 and 6851 points, respectively.

System Noise

Like the smaller P5 Pro, the P7 Pro utilizes a similar cooling system consisting of six large copper heat pipes and dual 60 mm fans. The sheer size and length of the pipes make the cooling system of other gaming notebooks look puny in comparison.

With such a wide heat spread, the P7 Pro is silent when browsing or watching videos on Power Saver mode as the fans do not kick in until at least medium-level loads. Once this threshold is reached, such as when gaming or running other demanding software, the system fans jump abruptly from around 29 dB(A) to 38 dB(A) with really nothing in between. Fan noise when gaming will be in the 42 to 45 dB(A) range and can be as loud as 53 dB(A) if Maximum Fan Speed is enabled.

Compared to competing models from Alienware, MSI, or Asus, the Eurocom is surprising as it is able to remain silent for longer under low to medium loads even when the High Performance profile is active. This is impressive because of the higher TDP CPU and lack of Optimus support compared to most gaming notebooks. Still, fan noise when gaming is no different from other systems with GTX 970M/980M GPUs at the mid 40 dB(A) range. The exceptions are ultrathin gaming notebooks like the Aorus X7 or Gigabyte P37X where fans are more sensitive and can be as loud as 50 dB(A).

Temperature

Surface temperature characteristics are excellent given the demanding hardware. Like many high-power gaming notebooks, Clevo has concentrated most of the produced heat towards the rear of the unit and away from the palm rests and keyboard keys. This leads to a notebook that is not overly warm on the hands during even the most stressful of computing tasks. Our measurements below were taken after 30 minutes of uninterrupted full stress conditions (Prime95 + FurMark). As shown, surface temperature increases most dramatically directly above the heat pipes.

Competing models like the Asus G751 and MSI GT72 show similar surface temperature development, though the Eurocom appears to be better at keeping the keyboard area a little cooler. In comparison, the Alienware 17 R2 is notorious for having a very warm keyboard while the ultrathin Gigabyte P37X can reach higher temperatures of over 60 C on the rear of the unit.