Schenker XMG U507 (Clevo P751DM2-G) Laptop Review

The XMG U507 is based on the P751DM2-G Barebone by the gaming expert Clevo. Although at a first glance the casing looks a lot like the chassis of its predecessor (P751DM @XMG U506), closer inspection will reveal many modifications primarily concerning the interfaces. But more about that in a moment. The 15-inch laptop is on a good quality level. Users who like soft-touch surfaces will be pleased with the rubberized lid and keyboard area. The display bezel and base do not feature the (relatively sensitive) soft-touch coating.

Unfortunately, the stability of the XMG U507 convinced us only partially. While the base unit is extremely rigid and does not yield even under higher pressure (apart from the keyboard and some vents), the lid can be twisted to a great extent, so much so that significant image distortions are created on the screen, some of which remain visible for several second. This should not occur to this degree in this price range.

Further drawbacks include its size and weight. In order for the device to be able to deal with the waste heat of the high-end components, the cooling system has to be correspondingly large. With a weight of 3.6 kg (~8 lb), the XMG U507 is one of the heaviest gaming laptops on the market. Other GTX 1070 devices, such as MSI's GT62VR and XMG P507, weigh less than 3 kg (~6.6 lb). The XMG U507 is also relatively tall at approximately 4 cm (~1.6 in) and is bulky in terms of looks and transportation.

The build does not give much cause for criticism. The surfaces of our review sample merge seamlessly. Overall, however, the chassis achieves only a "Satisfactory" rating. The 15-inch laptop does not come close to the quality level of Alienware's 15 R3. This is, however, true for almost every gaming laptop.

The interfaces and their positioning have changed noticeably since the XMG U506 and U505. Starting at the rear, where two mini-DisplayPorts rather than full-sized ones are found. The HDMI port has also been updated (2.0 for 4K @60 Hz). The Barebone producer, Clevo has also modified the right slightly. A USB 2.0 has been added to the four audio jacks and the USB 3.0 port. Although it may seem a bit outdated in 2017, it can prevent problems with Windows installations (identifying peripherals).

Most changes are found on the left. Rather than three USB 3.0 ports and one combo eSATA/USB, only two USB 3.0 ports are present in the XMG U507. However, they are two modern 3.1 Gen.2 Type-C ports, one of which supports Thunderbolt 3. Obviously, a card reader and RJ45 port are included.

The installed card reader that supports the formats SD, SDHC, SDXC, mini-SD, MMC, and RSMMC delivers a first-rate performance. Only very few laptops can exceed 206 MB/s in sequential read and 168 MB/s while transferring photos. Many devices remain below 100 MB/s here, for example, Schenker's own XMG 507.

The Killer Wireless 1535 Wi-Fi adapter designed for gaming takes care of wireless connections. It supports the all modern standards (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5.0 GHz, max. 867 Mbit/s) and Bluetooth 4.1. The XMG U507 did a very good job in our Wi-Fi test that is performed at a distance of 100 cm (~3 ft) from the router. 576 Mbit/s in transmit and 683 Mbit/s in receive are beyond reproach.

Although this is "only" a gaming laptop, security has not been neglected: A Kensington lock slot, a TPM 2.0 module, and a fingerprint scanner are installed.

Schenker Technologies does not follow the "minimum" trend in terms of accessories and includes quite a lot of treats for its XMG U507. A thick (multilingual) manual is just as rare as the recovery and driver DVDs nowadays. A USB flash drive, a polishing cloth, and accessories for the 2.5-inch slots (covers, screws, etc.) are also in the box. A 230-watt power supply with a weight of 0.9 kg (~2 lb) and dimensions of 18 x 9 x 3.5 cm (~7.1 x 3.5 x 1.4 in) rounds off the package.

One of the major strengths of the XMG U507 is its user-friendly maintenance that allows upgrading many components. Two screw-fastened hatches on the laptop's underside can be removed very easily and allow accessing most components: The hard drives, the cooling system (6 heat pipes), and the fans. Even the battery can be pulled out of the device - old school but very useful (keywords: battery saving and replacement).

As mentioned in the introduction, it is theoretically possible to replace the CPU and GPU provided that the power supply is strong enough and the selected motherboard/BIOS model is supported (in case of doubt, contact the manufacturer). Two of the four RAM banks are not depicted in the screenshots below as they are under the screw-fastened keyboard that can also be removed.

A 24-month warranty is included as standard. 36 months cost 300 Euros (~$322) extra, and a low surcharge is applied for extending the quick repair service. Please see our Guarantees, Return Policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

The touchpad with a size of approximately 10.5 x 6 cm (~4.1 x 2.4 in) also makes a good impression. Thanks to its sleek finish, fingers glide easily over its surface. The accuracy is also impeccable. However, multi-touch gestures could be a bit more reliable (zooming was not always smooth in the test). Left and right clicks are triggered via the dedicated mouse keys. As with the keyboard, they have a relatively soft stroke while providing enough feedback.

G-Sync and short response times or not: The optional 120 Hz screen that costs extra remains below the expectations. Since it is a TN panel and not an IPS model, its viewing angles are quite limited.

There is no room for criticism in terms of screen brightness. Thanks to a brightness of 372 cd/m², the XMG U507 does a better outdoor job than most of its rivals. The biggest advantage of the 120 Hz panel is its fast response time. While IPS screens normally need over 20 ms for switching from black to white, the XMG U507 needs only 7 ms, so 2/3 less. Nevertheless, the author would tend to choose the standard IPS screen because the image (contrast, black level, color accuracy, viewing angles, etc.) is probably much better.

Buyers who have a bit of extra money to spend will be happy with the Core i7-7700K top model. A cropped version also powered our review sample. With a TDP of 95 watts, the CPU requires a larger cooling system and a higher-capacity power supply than the mobile models (TDP usually 45 watts), but the desktop chip also offers a much higher clock speed. The Core i7-7700HQ does not even come close to 4.2 to 4.5 GHz (2.8 to 3.8 GHz).

Thus, it is not surprising that the XMG U507 races past devices with a laptop processor in the CPU benchmarks. The lead is 20 to 26% in Cinebench R15 and Cinebench R11.5. Great: This high performance can be maintained even for a prolonged period. Our Cinebench loop still presented good scores even after half an hour (see graph).

The Core i7-7700K utilizes the Turbo mode ideally in single-core applications. The tool HWiNFO reports a maximum of 4.5 GHz. However, the limitations that a 15-inch casing involves are noticed in multi-core applications. Instead of 4.4 GHz of its 17-inch XMG U727 brother, the XMG U507 is happy with 4.2 GHz, which points to a disabled Turbo. Nevertheless, the Core i7-7700K easily outruns a standard laptop CPU.

The system performance shows the competition how the job should be done. The XMG U507 is far ahead in both PCMark 7 and PCMark 8. Since Windows is installed on a solid-state drive, the system is highly responsive (booting time, loading times, etc.).

To prevent storage bottlenecks, the manufacturer has installed an additional hybrid hard drive from Seagate. The FireCuda ST2000LX001 incorporates - as the name suggests - 2000 GB and spins at 5400 RPM. However, the user should not expect any performance feats. Its performance is comparable to that of conventional HDDs.

Unlike the XMG U717 and U727, the 15-inch scion is not available with Nvidia's top model, the GeForce GTX 1080. A GeForce GTX 1070 is quite sufficient for the Full HD sector - provided that games have been optimized for this at least to some extent. The DirectX 12 graphics card offers 2048 Shader units and comes with 8 GB of GDDR5 RAM. Nvidia states a core clock of 1480 to 1695 MHz. Thanks to the extraordinary Turbo headroom; even 1900 MHz is possible (GPU-Z Render Test). In practice, the Pascal chip settles at approximately 1620 MHz - a good rate.

The 3DMarks prove that a high-end GPU such as the GeForce GTX 1070 is quite capable of reaching the CPU limit. Laptops with mobile Core i chips lag behind by several percent, even in GPU-driven scenes. However, the user will probably not notice any difference in (gaming) routine.

This brings us to the decisive aspect of the XMG U507: Gaming Performance. Although the 120 Hz panel is often never completely exhausted, modern games can be enjoyed smoothly even using maximum details and enabled anti-aliasing in the native resolution. All 8 games that we tested were rendered at over 40 FPS in the ultra preset.

To examine the clock behavior over a prolonged period, we ran the open world smash hit "The Witcher 3" for approximately 60 minutes. The outcome: No clock reduction (throttling) or other irregularities. As usual, the performance is lowered in battery mode and the frame rates drop by a good 30%.

The 15-inch gamer is very prominent during load. Around 45 dB(A) in "The Witcher 3" and up to 49 dB(A) in the stress test via FurMark and Prime95 are quite audible. However, some gaming laptops exceed 50 dB(A) during full load.

However, the power supply proved to be the main problem. It often turned off during the stress test and consequently we had to rerun the test several times. Apparently, the 230-watt power supply does not provide enough power for such extreme scenarios. Buyers of the Core i7-7700K and GeForce GTX 1070 should therefore opt for the 330-watt power supply that costs 30 Euros (~$32) extra, which, according to the website is actually meant for overclocking. Due to the issue with the power supply that seems to only appear in unrealistic scenarios, we deduct 1% from the total rating.

The sound system is comprised of two speakers that are situated above the keyboard behind a fine grille. Our audio analysis gives a green plus in most categories. Only the maximum volume and bass (no subwoofer) score average. The XMG U507 owes the relatively good overall quality to the Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5 software that provides diverse profiles, sound enhancements, and an equalizer.

Of course, there are deficits compared with high-quality headsets of external systems. Demanding users will wish for a stronger bass foundation plus more precision in the mid and high tones. As typical for laptops, the sound makes a somewhat tinny and artificial impression depending on the volume and music genre. Users who want the best possible sound from integrated speakers will be happy with the XMG U727 that is currently the sound reference in the gaming sector.

Frequency diagram in comparison (checkboxes above can be turned on/off!)

Power Consumption

The XMG U507 does not feature graphics switching (Nvidia Optimus) due to G-Sync support. The device consumes more than the average power in conjunction with the desktop processor and high-end GPU. Most gaming laptops undercut almost 125 watts in 3DMark 06, 178 watts in "The Witcher 3" and up to 270 watts during full load. For example, the XMG P507 consumes only 87 to 201, and even Alienware's 15 R3 and MSI's GT62VR that are equipped with a mobile CPU are considerably more efficient. The same is true in idle mode where the XMG U507 consumes between 28 and 44 watts. Standard laptops remain below 30 watts here.

The high power consumption primarily has an effect on the battery life. 90 minutes of 3D mode using maximum brightness and 3:14 hours in idle with minimum brightness can be called "satisfactory" at most. Internet browsing via Wi-Fi (medium brightness) looks similar with 2:50 hours. The comparison devices by MSI and Alienware achieve roughly 4 to 4.5 hours. However, since the XMG U507 has been designed as a pure desktop replacement, this point is not very important. The 15-inch laptop will probably be deemed too heavy and too big for carrying around every day.