Review Schenker XMG P723 (Clevo P370SM) Notebook

Visually, the high-end notebook looks a lot like the predecessor XMG P722. This is not really surprising, since the Clevo P370SM barebones the P723 is based on, is really just a minor update of the older P370EM.

At 419 x 293 x 54 millimeters (16.5 x 11.5 x 2.1 inches), the notebook is larger than many 17-inch competitors, but still more compact than other dual-GPU systems. The 18-inch Alienware M18x R2, for example, measures 436 x 323 x 55 millimeters (17.2 x 12.7 x 2.2 inches).

The same is true for the weight: the Alienware M18x R2 with two graphics cards weighs in at over 5.5 kilogram (~12.1 pounds) - the Schenker XMG P723 tips the scales at a relatively modest 4.4 kilograms (9.7 pounds). We would be hard-pressed to call this notebook "mobile" though, as it is not really suited for frequent transport. Part of the problem is the substantial 330 Watt power adapter, which measures 197 x 97 x 42 millimeters (7.8 x 3.8 x 1.7 inches) and weighs in at 1240 grams (2.7 pounds) (XMG P722: 1544 grams/3.4 pounds).

As far the color scheme is concerned, the new notebook is fairly unobtrusive - but the lines are quite modern for a Clevo-system. The materials are a mixed bag: Clevo uses both rubberized plastic (lid, palm rest), and metal (keyboard area). The latter surface shows fingerprints rather easily. At least Clevo does not use a lot of glossy parts: aside from the touchpad, all surface areas are matte.

Despite the substantial dimensions, the overall sturdiness leaves a lot to be desired. In addition to the lid, the fan exhaust area flexes and can be pushed in easily. Overall build quality ranges from OK to good. Users looking for a premium gaming notebook should consider the Asus G750 or a system from Alienware.

Software

Schenker notebooks are known for their clean Windows installs. The XMP P723 is no exception: aside from the drivers and hardware tools, no bloatware is preinstalled (see screenshot to the right). The notebook is therefore quite speedy right out of the box.

To get the last bit of performance, the GPU driver needs to be updated. At the time of writing, the XMG P723 ships with ForceWare 311.44, which quite a few revisions behind. For our review, we updated to version 320.49. The official Nvidia drivers seem to work without any issues.

Accessories

Quickstart guides and the lack of recovery DVDs are quite common now - but the P723 includes a user manual in several languages, a DVD with drivers and tools, and a cleaning cloth. Our review model also shipped with a trial version of Nero 12 Essential; users who opt for an OS also get the original Windows media DVD.

Warranty

The base warranty in Germany is 24 months. For around 100 Euros and 200 Euros (~$130 / $260), the warranty can be extended to three or four years, respectively. Depending on the warranty package selected, Schenker promises a quick-repair service for six to 24 months. The pickup and return service mentioned on the website is only available in Germany, however.

The keyboard quality is decent, but not outstanding. We like the 3-zone keyboard backlight, which features several adjustment levels.

Although some areas are slightly darker, overall backlight brightness is pretty even. If desired, the software (“Fn” + “/” on the number pad) can be used to activate different modes. Thanks to the backlight, the notebook can be used in absolute darkness.

A drawback - at least in our opinion - is the layout of the keyboard. In addition to the Enter key, which only occupies a single row, we had issues with the position of the “><|”-key. The Fn key - which is used for special functions like display brightness, volume, etc. - is also to the right of where we would expect it. The “0” in the number pad is half as wide as it should be. A distinct advantage, however, is the standard-sized arrow keys. The layout of the keyboard reminds us a lot of the one MSI uses for their notebooks (see for example the GT70).

In one area, the keyboard has been improved significantly: the stiffness of the keys - which we criticized in our review of the XMG P722 - has now been reduced, which leads to a more pleasant typing experience. The other problems we reported (keyword reliability) also appear to have been addressed. Despite the changes, the feedback is still excellent and the keyboard noise is neither too quiet nor overly loud. The size of the keys - 17 x 17 millimeters including the beveled edge - should also please most users.

Although the chassis remains more or less unchanged from the predecessor, the internal components have been updated significantly. Instead of a motherboard with a HM77 chipset (Panther Point), the XMG P723 is equipped with the new HM87 motherboard (Lynx Point).

Although Intel's new Haswell architecture only comes with a very modest power gain across the board, there is no question that the processors of the series are the best choice for gaming. For our review model, we selected the quad-core Core i7-4800MQ, which features a clock speed of 2.7-3.7 GHz and six MB L3 cache just like the lower-end Core i7-4700MQ (the Core i7-4900MQ comes with eight MB).

All aforementioned processors support Hyperthreading, which adds a virtual core to each physical core. The manufacturing process has not changed in 2013 - Intel still uses 22 nm technology. Since the XMG P723 does not support graphics switching, the processor-integrated HD Graphics 4600 remains inactive.

"Brand new" might be a bit of an exaggeration - the new GPUs are updates that are still based on the well-known Kepler architecture. Since Alienware is going to send us a review model of the new M18x with two GeForce GTX 780M GPUs, we selected the GeForce GTX 765M SLI instead.

The (slightly slower) GeForce GTX 760M and the GeForce GTX 765M can be considered the entry point into the realm of high-end graphics cards. Looking at the core frequency of 850 MHz (902 MHz with Boost) and 2000 MHz memory speed one might think that the new GPU won't be able to outperform the GeForce GTX 660M (also 835/2000 MHz) - but that's not the case, since the GTX 765M features twice as many shader units (768 vs. 384 CUDA cores) and is hence more powerful.

During our review of the Schenker W503, we determined that the new graphics card performs similar to the GeForce GTX 670MX, which has more shader units (960 CUDA Cores), but a lower GPU frequency. One shortcoming of the GeForce GTX 765M: the memory interface is only 128-bit - not exactly overwhelming. 2048 MB of GDDR5 VRAM, on the other hand, should be sufficient.

The SLI version of the notebook uses two graphics cards bundled together, which theoretically should increase the performance by 100%. Note the emphasis on "theoretically": for a game to take advantage of the second GPU, the driver needs to have a profile activated. Even though Nvidia usually does a good job in this regard, it can happen from time to time that a game is only marginally faster with two graphics cards - or not at all. During our test, we encountered two games: Company of Heroes 2 (not integrated into ForceWare 320.49 yet) and Dirt: Showdown.

Another issue of dual-GPU configurations is micro stuttering. Since both graphics cards are responsible for rendering in turn, delays can be an issue and lead to visible stutters (especially noticeable when the frame rates are lower). In cases like that, 30 fps can suddenly appear like 20 fps. Only a few, very demanding titles pose issues for the GeForce GTX 765M SL (Metro: Last Light, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, and Sleeping Dogs) - in most cases, the GPUs are fast enough to avoid a degradation in gaming performance. 

Another negative is the extremely high cooling and power requirements. Dual-GPU notebooks are usually designed for advanced players who will not have an issue with updating the drivers every couple of weeks - so that is not necessarily a negative. By the way, activating and deactivating SLI requires a system restart.

The high price of our review system is in part due to the hard drive configuration. In addition to two 1000 GB hybrid drives, the system is also equipped with a 512 GB mSATA SSD. The Samsung PM841 scores well in almost all categories - from access time (0.06 ms read, 0.03 write) to transfer rates.

A 518 MB/sec sequential read speed is quite respectable - and so is a sequential write speed of 319 MB/sec (although some mSATA SSDs are faster - for example the Toshiba HG5d). Smaller data blocks are also no issue for the PM841, as it outperforms most competitors. The Samsung SSD scores over 900 points in the AS SSD benchmark test.

The two hybrid drives - also known as SSHDs - also have their place in this configuration. Even though the rotational speed is rather low at 5400 RPM, the Seagate ST1000LM014 performs as well as faster 7200 RPM drives. We recorded sequential reads and writes of 100 MB/sec - quite acceptable. Users needing a lot of storage space should be very happy with this combo of mSATA SSD and 2.5-inch hybrid drives.

Because of the decent driver support, most games are significantly faster when the second graphics card is utilized. Our benchmark table at the bottom shows that the SLI GPU-combo is between 30 and 100% faster than the single GTX 765M - most often, the difference is 70-90%. If we include titles without an SLI profile, the performance gain is about 75%. 

Some demanding games can push the single GTX 765M to its limit - in this case, the dual-GPU configuration still allows maximum detail and anti-aliasing in many cases. Only nine of the 32 games we tested dropped below 40 fps when we applied the highest settings. 

The SLI-combo unfortunately cannot outperform the GeForce GTX 780M - it lags behind by about 10%. Since a single graphics card stresses the system less and taking the price of Nvidia’s high-end card into consideration (about 90 Euros / $120 more), we would recommend opting for the GeForce GTX 780M instead. Compared to the older GeForce GTX 670MX SLI, the performance gain is also somewhat underwhelming (+14%).

Not surprisingly, powerful components lead to a rather high noise level. Just like the 17-inch siblings P170SM (One K73-3N) and P177SM (Schenker XMG P703), the notebook is always audible. We recorded 37-38 dB(A) during idle - most other gaming notebooks stay below that level. The comparable MSI GT70 tops out at 30-32 dB(A) - even though it has fewer fans.

Under load, the system is also noisier than it should be: we recorded 45 dB(A) during the 3DMark 06 benchmark test - loud enough to be a deal-breaker for noise-sensitive users. Gamers who play a lot of action titles or use a headset should not have any issues though. The 53 dB(A) recorded are the peak reached during maximum load levels.

All in all, we find it rather disappointing that Clevo fails yet again as far as fan control is concerned. Since the GPU temperatures remain fairly moderate we do not think that the fans should be spinning at high RPM all the time - regardless of the load level (be it less demanding tasks or 3D performance). Other manufactures are able to manage the fan control and thus the system noise much better (see Asus G750).

During operation, the surface areas of the chassis stay neither remarkably cool nor do they get uncomfortably warm. The averages of 30 °C (86 °F) during idle and 33 °C (91.4 °F) under load are certainly acceptable.

The fan system area of our review model remained fairly cool: the temperature topped out at under 40 °C (104 °F) - other notebooks, like the Alienware M17x R4 or the Toshiba Qosmio X870, reach about 50 °C (122 °F) in the same spot. The positioning of the 2.5-inch hard drives is not ideal though: when the drives are very active, the left palm rest heats up quite a bit (otherwise this area remains cool).

Temperature development of the individual components is a mixed bag: while the two graphics cards do not get any hotter than 70 °C (158 °F) even after running the stress test for an hour, the CPU can reach 100 °C (212 °F) according to the CPUID hardware monitor. A system configured with a Core i7-4900MQ or Core i7-4930MX and/or an SLI-combo of two GTX 780M GPUs is apt to push the cooling system even further.

The sound system consists of two speakers and a subwoofer and is the result of a collaborative effort with Onkyo and Creative. The sound quality is quite good - we appreciate the high maximum volume and the decent bass.

The XMG P723 is not a top performer, however. Even though the Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 technology increases sound presence and dynamic output, the notebook suffers from the usual deficiencies (especially noticeable when playing music): the sound is sometimes muffled, artificial, and tinny. Voices also do not always sound very natural.

Compared to standard notebooks, the sound quality is better - but the MSI GT70 with its Dynaudio system still sounds best of all.

Without graphics switching, the battery life suffers: 1.5 to three hours are disappointing even for a gaming system. Utilizing modern power consumption technologies, some high-end notebooks last over four to five hours on a single charge (idle with the brightness turned all the way down).

The MSI GT70 is the poster child as far as the battery life is concerned: during medium load levels (DVD playback, web surfing etc.), the system lasts for 2-2.5 hours. Note that the performance decreases by about 50% (at least for the GTX 765M SLI).

The high price of the Schenker XMG P723 is justified. Although there are several drawbacks - always the case with notebooks - the P723 works very well as a gaming system.

Depending on the hardware configuration, the 17-inch notebook comes close in performance to desktop gaming-PCs. Despite several disadvantages (micro stuttering, dependency on the driver, low mobility), the two graphics cards are very intriguing. The GeForce GTX 765M SLI is very powerful indeed and even brand-new games work well. The sound and picture quality of the system is also quite acceptable.

Potential buyers should be aware that this desktop replacement notebook is quite noisy. The well-controlled temperatures, the plethora of ports (Thunderbolt!), and the keyboard with 3-zone backlight can only partly make up for this drawback. The chassis is also not everybody's cup of tea: although some will appreciate how easy it is to upgrade and maintain the system, others will not like the clunky appearance, hefty weight, and mediocre touchpad.

All things considered, we can recommend the XMG P723 - especially since notebooks with dual GPUs are still a rarity and there is not a lot of competition. Most gaming aficionados would be pleased with the performance of a single high-end graphics card (GeForce GTX 770M or GTX 780M). At this point, we regard SLI and CrossFire notebooks still with a healthy dose of skepticism.