x17: Thoughts and ReviewPost Date: 2013-01-23 |
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Optimus.Prime
Newbie Joined: 22 Jan 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
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Topic: x17: Thoughts and Review Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 8:28am |
A little bit of back story to explain why I chose the X17 and DS. My previous laptop was an AW M15X, one of the last ones produced, which sounds cool right? WRONG! I chose to purchase an AW laptop because that was the rave several years ago and it looks "good". 3 years later, my AW laptop can barely do anything correctly, by that I mean, it can't run Warcraft 3 on high settings and we can forget about SC2. It also runs at a solid 77 degrees celsius, and upon running SC2, gets close to 90.
After a bit of research, I came across DS and first things first, looked and read a good majority of the reviews. I was impressed with the reviews in regards to Customer Support and quality and this is my overall review of the purchasing process. Customer Support - 9.0/10 The only reason that this is not 10/10 is because my first attempt at speaking to a DS Customer Rep via the chat, ended with them leaving me hanging for 30 minutes without an answer. I gave it a shot the next day and I was able to get all my questions answered promptly. Purchasing Process - 10/10 The purchasing process went extremely smooth. I was really satisfied how right after purchasing, an email was sent saying that a verification form would need to be filled out and sent (if not mailing to the same address). Received Laptop and Thoughts - 10/10 Ordered the laptop on 01/04/2013 and received it on 01/21/2013. The weight is very close to my M15X, which is only a 15.6" laptop and this is a 17.3" laptop, so I am pretty used to it. All the reviews you have read about their packaging is absolutely true. It gives me the impression that they truly care about the product they make . Turned on the laptop and finished set up within 5 minutes, which is extremely fast, and upon logging in, no bloatware. Took me a couple of hours to get through the windows update, which was expected. Food for Thought I would highly recommend my friends and any future interests in getting a DS laptop. After purchasing the X17, I went to the AW website just to see the comparison in price. For a laptop of similar quality, and still slightly sub-par from AW, would cost me approximate $1700 more. Pictures will be uploaded in the future, but it essentially looks like all the other X17. |
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 9:39am |
Nice revew.
Enjoy.
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Alex
Admin Group Digital Storm Supervisor Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16312 |
Quote Reply Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 12:08pm |
Thank you for taking the time to post your review! Please add photos when you get a chance.
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Optimus.Prime
Newbie Joined: 22 Jan 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jan 2013 at 1:43pm |
First picture I was able to get. DS is on the left side and AW is on the right. Notice the cup of water in the middle? Yep, that is there to put out the fire when the AW laptop bursts into flames . More to come as I continue discovering neat things with the DS. |
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jan 2013 at 2:05pm |
That's a nice looking laptop. Make sure that water flows in the right direction.
Thanks for the pic. |
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Optimus.Prime
Newbie Joined: 22 Jan 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jan 2013 at 8:59am |
Yea, I know I'm a bit slow with this. So for those of you that were curious, the keyboard can change color. My first picture shows that the keyboard was a blue color, now it's red. +3 Point for DS cause one of the "cooler" features of AW is no longer unique. Continued Review: Speaker Quality - 11/10 So initially I was thinking that the speaker quality was the same. Without plugging either laptop into the sound system they sound about the same. I plugged the AW laptop into the speaker and had the bass turned to max setting to get the level of base I normally like. Plugged in the speaker to the DS Laptop. Literally thought I was going to blow a hole in the wall with the amount of bass this was dishing out. Had to turn the bass setting all the way back down to almost non-existent. |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jan 2013 at 2:15pm |
Congrats on your new laptop.
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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Tidgxor
DS ELITE The Kokopelli kid Joined: 17 Sep 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13000 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jan 2013 at 2:16pm |
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My Two Digital Storm Rigs: Mr. Bojangles (HAF-X, 2010) & Mrs. Bojingles (Bolt I, 2013).
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DomTheBomb
Groupie Joined: 19 May 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jan 2013 at 2:59pm |
Congrats on your new laptop!
You made the right choice with a x17. Mine continues to amaze me every day, and I've had it for almost six months. |
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DS x17, 1 Year 5 Months
i7 3720QM (2.6GHz/3.6GHz) 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 Nvidia GTX 680M 4GB 240GB Intel 520 SSD Windows 8.1 Pro |
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tdtnsp
Groupie Joined: 23 Dec 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 105 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jan 2013 at 11:56pm |
Awesome! This's my next project, if I can get the fund. :)
Gratz! |
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Optimus.Prime
Newbie Joined: 22 Jan 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
Quote Reply Posted: 20 Feb 2013 at 6:11am |
FPS Count Update
Diablo 3: Lowest - 72; Highest - 132 without the max limit on. With it on, it maxes out on 100. StarCraft 2: Never lagged, which is awesome. Temperature Update So I finally got around to using CPUID to check out the temps, when nothing is running, the laptop runs at an average of 40 degrees celsius. After running D3 and SC2, both at separate times, but essentially one after the other, the laptop went up to 50 degrees celsius. Nothing to worry about because it cooled down pretty fast. |
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Optimus.Prime
Newbie Joined: 22 Jan 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Feb 2013 at 6:42am |
So I finally got around to running the fps command on StarCraft 2. I was playing 'Nexus Wars', which is pretty intensive late game. Started out at a solid 150 - 160 fps and gpu was staying at 50 degrees celsius. By end game, which was like 45 - 50 minutes later, it was down at 30 fps. This was caused by the fact that there were over 200 units on the screen and all the animation and everything going on. GPU went up to 56 degrees celsius.
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DomTheBomb
Groupie Joined: 19 May 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Feb 2013 at 6:59pm |
Awesome framerates!
One question. Did you go with the standard or the IC Diamond thermal paste? Those are some really low temps from the looks of it. Most people with the same chassis seem to be getting around 65C on their GPU under full load, I'm getting around 60C. Glad you're enjoying your laptop. Edit: How are the CPU temps? Edited by DomTheBomb - 27 Feb 2013 at 7:35pm |
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DS x17, 1 Year 5 Months
i7 3720QM (2.6GHz/3.6GHz) 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 Nvidia GTX 680M 4GB 240GB Intel 520 SSD Windows 8.1 Pro |
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Optimus.Prime
Newbie Joined: 22 Jan 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Feb 2013 at 6:04am |
Ahh yes, I did go with the IC Diamond Thermal Paste.
I took off CPUID Monitor and put in HWinfo64, didn't really trust CPUID cause half the cores said [Trial]. Anyways, with the new program, I watched for like 20 minutes and when idle, the CPU hovers at 41-43 celsius. In action, it stays stable at 50-52 celsius. While using CPUID, I've ran Diablo 3 for like 3-4 hours straight and max that ever hit was like 58-60 Celsius. |
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Optimus.Prime
Newbie Joined: 22 Jan 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 2013 at 9:08am |
Hi DomTheBomb,
Just to update you, I ran furmark last night for 2.5 hours, solid 98% gpu usage. Temp was at 75 degrees celsius, which sounds closer to what you were expecting. |
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DomTheBomb
Groupie Joined: 19 May 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 2013 at 11:47am |
I had only run HWmonitor when I was doing FAH, not when I was gaming, so I was suprised how low your temps are, especially on the CPU.
Played Borderlands2 for about an hour and highest on the CPU was 51C, so I'm getting temps very much like you are. Never checked temps during gaming before. Can't believe how cool these laptops run. Edit: Turns out I was on power saver mode so the CPU wasn't overclocking. Full usage on the CPU gets around 75C, which from what I've looked up is fine. GPU still stays pretty cool. Edited by DomTheBomb - 08 Mar 2013 at 10:36am |
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DS x17, 1 Year 5 Months
i7 3720QM (2.6GHz/3.6GHz) 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 Nvidia GTX 680M 4GB 240GB Intel 520 SSD Windows 8.1 Pro |
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moomar
Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1 |
Quote Reply Posted: 07 Mar 2013 at 11:48pm |
This is like porn lol while i wait for mine to be built and delivered. :)
Edited by moomar - 07 Mar 2013 at 11:49pm |
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Onkel_Ken
DS Veteran Joined: 17 Dec 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2961 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Apr 2013 at 4:10pm |
Congrats nice review!
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Velox X/AMD 5900X/MSI X570 Pro Carbon MB/32GB DDDR 3600 DSPS/850W PS/500GB Samsung 980 Pro/1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus/500 GB HDD/Sound Blaster AE-7/EVGA FTW3 Ultra RTX 3080 10GB/Liquid CPU cooler AIO/
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