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MagyarRunning an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X on a laptop: Eurocom Nightsky ARX15 review
Not to be confused with the Nightsky RX15, the Nightsky ARX15 utilizes desktop AMD CPUs and a different chassis than its Intel counterpart. Its paper specifications alone should make the ARX15 one of the fastest 15.6-inch laptops you can buy in terms of raw CPU performance. The configuration we have in review retails for around $3400 USD with much lower or higher prices available depending on storage.
Additional information on the Nightsky ARX15 can be found on its official page here. The chassis is based off of the Clevo NH57AF1 and so users will find many similarities between the Eurocom Nightsky ARX15 and the Schenker XMG Apex 15.
More Eurocom reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83 % | 01/2022 | Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 R9 5900X, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU | 2.6 kg | 32.5 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84.1 % | 01/2022 | Gigabyte A5 X1 R9 5900HX, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU | 2.2 kg | 25.3 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 81.4 % | 12/2021 | Medion Erazer Deputy P25 R7 5800H, GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU | 2.3 kg | 26 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 82.9 % | 10/2021 | MSI Delta 15 A5EFK R9 5900HX, Radeon RX 6700M | 2 kg | 19 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84.4 % | 11/2021 | SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS R7 5800H, GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU | 2.1 kg | 29 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84.6 % | 07/2020 | MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS i9-10980HK, GeForce RTX 2070 Super Mobile | 2.4 kg | 23 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 |
Case
The chassis remains larger and heavier relative to other 15.6-inch gaming laptops with more traditional mobile H-series CPUs like the MSI GE66 or Asus ROG Strix G15. Our chassis impressions on the Schenker Apex 15 apply here for the Nightsky ARX15.
Connectivity
There are fewer port options here when compared to the RX15. There is only one USB-C port instead of two, for example, and it doesn't support Thunderbolt or Power Delivery. In contrast, most MSI, Asus, and Alienware laptops have the option to recharge via USB-C.
SD Card Reader
Transfer rates from the integrated MicroSD reader are decent but still disappointing relative to the price of the system. Moving 1 GB of pictures from our UHS-II test card to desktop takes about 15 seconds compared to less than half that on the MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 (AV Pro V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 (AV Pro V60) | |
Communication
Webcam
The system comes equipped with a 720p webcam whereas the Eurocom Sky X4C comes with a higher resolution 1080p webcam. There is no privacy shutter or IR camera. Instead, there is an Fn key to disable the camera electronically.
Maintenance
The bottom panel pops off easily after removing the five Philips screws. Users have direct access to all common components including the two DDR4 SODIMM slots and three storage bays.
Accessories and Warranty
The retail box includes a manual, drivers disk, Windows 10 USB drive, additional screws, SSD thermal pad, and two 0.6g thermal paste syringes. The standard one-year limited warranty applies with the option to extend up to 3 years.
Input Devices
Display
The Nightsky ARX15 uses a very similar Sharp LQ156M1JW03 IPS panel as the ones found on the MSI GE66 or Delta 15. Thus, the viewing experience is almost identical between these three models with their 240 Hz native refresh rates, ~1000:1 contrast ratios, full sRGB coverage, fast response times, and even similar pulse-width modulation frequencies. It's a high-end panel with excellent attributes even if its colors and contrast can't quite reach the same levels as OLED panels.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 90 %
Center on Battery: 312.8 cd/m²
Contrast: 1117:1 (Black: 0.28 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.96 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.95
ΔE Greyscale 4.2 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
73.7% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.7% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
67.9% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.32
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 Sharp LQ156M1JW03, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.6" | Gigabyte A5 X1 AU Optronics B156HAN12.0, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.6" | Medion Erazer Deputy P25 Panda LM156LF-2F03, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.6" | MSI Delta 15 A5EFK LQ156M1JW03 (SHP155D), IPS-Level, 1920x1080, 15.6" | SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS LG Philips LGD0625 (LP156WFG-SPB3), IPS, 1920x1080, 15.6" | MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS Sharp LQ156M1JW03 (SHP14C5), IPS-Level, 1920x1080, 15.6" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -1% | -42% | -4% | -7% | -2% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 67.9 | 69.6 3% | 39.7 -42% | 66.5 -2% | 64.5 -5% | 68 0% |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.7 | 98.6 -1% | 59.7 -40% | 97.8 -2% | 95.9 -4% | 99 -1% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 73.7 | 70.8 -4% | 41.1 -44% | 67.6 -8% | 65.8 -11% | 69.8 -5% |
| Response Times | 34% | -169% | 8% | -2% | 0% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 15.2 ? | 4.8 ? 68% | 40.4 ? -166% | 12.8 ? 16% | 15 1% | 16.4 ? -8% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 11.2 ? | 11.2 ? -0% | 30.4 ? -171% | 10.4 ? 7% | 11.6 -4% | 10.4 ? 7% |
| PWM Frequency | 23150 ? | 23580 ? 2% | 23580 ? 2% | |||
| Screen | -7% | -25% | -12% | -7% | 21% | |
| Brightness middle | 312.8 | 335 7% | 283 -10% | 291 -7% | 393 26% | 291 -7% |
| Brightness | 294 | 325 11% | 266 -10% | 266 -10% | 353 20% | 278 -5% |
| Brightness Distribution | 90 | 90 0% | 85 -6% | 88 -2% | 83 -8% | 91 1% |
| Black Level * | 0.28 | 0.4 -43% | 0.2 29% | 0.36 -29% | 0.47 -68% | 0.25 11% |
| Contrast | 1117 | 838 -25% | 1415 27% | 808 -28% | 836 -25% | 1164 4% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.96 | 2.63 11% | 5.32 -80% | 2.98 -1% | 2.84 4% | 1.19 60% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 6.23 | 7.71 -24% | 17.68 -184% | 7.59 -22% | 7.15 -15% | 3.04 51% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.2 | 4 5% | 2.9 31% | 4.2 -0% | 3.73 11% | 1.9 55% |
| Gamma | 2.32 95% | 2.129 103% | 2.062 107% | 2.293 96% | 2.53 87% | 2.216 99% |
| CCT | 7145 91% | 7434 87% | 7167 91% | 7624 85% | 7312 89% | 7018 93% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.97 | 3.94 | 0.91 | 0.67 | ||
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 70 | |||||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 92 | |||||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 9% /
1% | -79% /
-51% | -3% /
-6% | -5% /
-6% | 6% /
12% |
* ... smaller is better
Color temperature is cooler than expected which impacts color accuracy and overall Delta E values. Eurocom will personally calibrate the display for an additional charge. We recommend calibrating the display in order to better exploit the full sRGB coverage of the panel.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 5.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 26 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.1 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 15.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 7.6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 7.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 25 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (33.2 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 23150 Hz | ≤ 34 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 23150 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 34 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 23150 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17365 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance
Testing Conditions
Our unit was set to both High Performance mode via Windows and Performance mode with Maximum fan mode active via Control Center 3.0 for the highest possible scores on stock OEM settings. We recommend users become familiar with the Control Center software as many auxiliary features can be toggled here.
Processor
Multi-thread performance is disappointing when compared to our desktop Ryzen 9 5900X reference. Our Eurocom Ryzen 9 5900X is consistently slower by about 30 to 40 percent to be more in line with the mobile Ryzen 9 5900HX.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
| Performance Rating | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (3069 - 24659, n=15) | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (18567 - 155529, n=15) | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (629 - 5329, n=15) | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (15371 - 138889, n=15) | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (2137 - 19465, n=15) | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (10291 - 85469, n=15) | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (24327 - 212390, n=15) | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (150.9 - 1345, n=15) | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (1518 - 13196, n=15) | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (11451 - 32849, n=15) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
System Performance
PCMark 10 scores are excellent and comparable to the MSI Delta 15. However, we do not recommend setting Control Center to Power Saving mode or Quiet mode as system performance will slow to a crawl. Simple browsing or OS navigation will become very laggy with constant mouse cursor jumps and frame skips. Users should instead remain on Entertainment mode or Performance mode for a smoother experience.
Furthermore, the system takes an unusually long time to wake from sleep. Typical laptops or Ultrabooks would take less than a couple of seconds whereas our Eurocom would always take upwards of 10 seconds.
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 7294 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (31315 - 72008, n=15) | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (32972 - 70692, n=15) | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (21619 - 57070, n=15) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (58.4 - 107.6, n=15) | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
There are no latency issues when running on Entertainment mode or Performance mode. Unfortunately, the story flips if running on Power Saving mode or Quiet mode. Our minute-long 4K60 test video would have over 1500 dropped frames when on Power Saving or Quiet mode compared to just 20 dropped frames if on Entertainment or Performance mode.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| MSI Delta 15 A5EFK | |
| Medion Erazer Deputy P25 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Apex 15 NH57E PS | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Gigabyte A5 X1 | |
| Eurocom Nightsky ARX315 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Eurocom offers a wide selection of NVMe SSDs ranging from just 250 GB up to 8 TB. Our unit has been configured with the Samsung SSD 980 Pro which is a PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD capable of transfer rates of up to 7000 MB/s. Unfortunately, the M.2 slots on the Nightsky ARX15 are PCIe3 x4 only and so transfer rates will be much slower at up to around 3200 MB/s. You may want to save yourself some cash and only configure with less expensive PCIe3 drives since the motherboard cannot fully exploit the performance benefits of pricier PCIe4 drives.
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
The 115 W TGP mobile GeForce RTX 3070 is performing where we expect it to be relative to other laptops with the same GPU. There appears to be no GPU performance benefits if running with Maximum Fan mode on.
G-Sync is not supported on the main display and there is no Advanced Optimus, either.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 29688 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 59798 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 23699 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score |