Ultrabooks, shmultrabooks. Mobile surgery other than, gamers know there is no more fill-in for a heavy slab of expensive and power-empty hardware. Sure, the dividing line between laptop and desktop performance is thinning, just the singularity at which both converge stiff to be seen.

As a termination, Origin PC has enforced a direct tactic to grant laptops hairier chests: cram in an honest to good desktop CPU. Yep, Rootage's EON15-X packs a full-fledged "Devil's Canyon" Intel Core i7 into a (comparatively) modest 15-inch laptop. We'll talk inside information in scarcely a moment, but know this: relative to its peers, the EON15-X's performance is impressive.

The highest end configurations, like the unrivalled we standard, pair an i7-4790K with a several GeForce 980M and a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) presentation. Other options let in up to 32GB RAM, 2 x M.2 SSDs and 2 x 2.5-edge in SSD or HDDs. The EON X comes in both 15-inch and 17-inch flavors. It should be said both models appear almost indistinguishable in terms of features, performance specs and upgrade options; however, the 17-X is a brimming pound heavier. The only reason you'll want to spring for the 17-inch pattern is for a to a greater extent erectile screen, but you'll need to make manage with 1080p.

If stuffing desktop-grade silicon into a laptop computer blows your listen, let it be said Origin isn't the only company to achieve this feat. For starters, Clevo/Sager and MSI semen to psyche. In fact, Origin works with Clevo to design many of its laptops, the EON15-X included. Just hybrids like these are rarified animals in the notebook kingdom, surviving in a niche ignored by the largest laptop computer makers. Additionally, finding one as "portable" as the EON15-X makes this laptop computer all the more unusual.

First impressions

The crateful. I adored the wooden crate. IT's an additional $4 and totally worth information technology for the novelty, if not for the protection. The UPS number one wood who delivered the laptop actually told me, "I've delivered packages for sevener years... first time I've delivered something like this". This is a capital first-impression ahead we even open the box.

In the box, I received everything you may expect plus some extras: an EON15-X laptop (course), a rather sizeable 230-watt power brick, a black neoprene sleeve case, a post horse, a t-shirt, reinstallation media and a manual.

Design and Build Prize

Origin states its EON15-X is the thinnest and lightest notebook of its kind to feature an overclocked 4th gen Intel Core i7 desktop CPU. Neither "thin" nor "clean" are words you're likely to associate with the EON15-X, but its sizing and weight are entirely genre-appropriate. Our config weighed in at 7.4 pounds with an average thickness of around 1.5-inches. Aside comparison, Pedigree's premature and current gen EON15-S (flying CPUs) weigh 6.8 and 5.5 pounds, respectively.

General, EON15-X exhibits a simple, massive and thoughtful design. Human body quality is very good. We own a great deal of plastic here, just the body and mechanized aspects (e.g. show hinges, buttons, switches) feel solid. The display lid is filamentous and exhibits some bend, but doesn't feel perilous or nickel-and-dime. The base is rock solid with humongous, non-slip pads on the fanny.

The medallion rest features a soft felt finish which mitigates fingerprints while offering a velvety feel. Whatsoever edges and corners that are in contact with your hands and wrists are diffuse and/or watermelon-shaped. In that location are besides no shortage of ports and they are placed intelligently with the power and video in the back, USB on both sides and not too close together.

The "gamer" aesthetical of the EON15-X is largely quiet. Origin opted for a weensy logo, clean lines and large unadorned surfaces. There aren't any elephantine, lit-astir alien faces or garish decals. Instead, the true use of this laptop is betrayed mostly past its size, angles, custom-made kindling and modestly conventionalized rear vents. Information technology's not over the best, retributory a straightforward gaming laptop.

Hardware Overview and C.P.U. Performance

Lineage EON15-X
Starts at $1,665, $3,300 as tested

  • 15.6-inch 4K QFHD (3840 x 2160) Glossy Display
  • Intel Heart and soul i7-4790K @ 4.5GHz (overclocked)
  • 16GB (8GB x 2) Barbary pirate Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M (8GB)
  • 480GB M.2. PCIe SSD + 1TB Seagate SSHD SATA
  • Full sized keyboard w/ customizable backlight
  • 4 x USB 3.0 (1 x powered, 1 x eSATA jazz group)
  • 2 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x HDMI-out (with HDCP)
  • Headphone, Mic, S/PDIF prohibited, Wrinkle in, RJ-45 LAN port
  • 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0
  • 6-in-1 Card subscriber
  • Fingermark / Biometric referee
  • Windows 8.1 64-bit
  • Extractable 8 cell Lithium-lon battery multitude, 82WH
  • 7.4 lbs, (W) 15.2" x (H) 1.40" x (D) 10.31"

Root's brushup unit shipped with 4th-gen Intel Core i7-4790K. Root also overclocked the thing to 4.5GHz for us, which is a 500MHz bump over its stemm clock of 4000MHz. When paired with a GeForce GTX 980M, this is selfsame in all likelihood the fastest laptop you've seen. I know it's the quickest laptop WE have seen (looter alert!). As a matter of fact, the EON15-X would give a lot of sub-$2000 gaming rigs a run for their money.

Our config boasts the fastest CPU and GPU offered, 16GB RAM, 4K display panel, 1TB SSHD and a 480GB PCIe SSD. With all the extras included, our config runs an impressive $3,300 plus tax.

For a little more context, the base config (i5-4460S, GTX 965M, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD) is $1,665, patc one attuned to my own tastes (i7-4690K, 980M, 16GB Crash, 480GB SSD) runs about $2,500.

It's unadventurous to say the inclusion of a high-end desktop CPU is the defining property of the EON15-X. You may notice this is an Intel "K" and not the hexacore "X" (have in mind the power brick!).

Even amongst likewise named models, the background vs. mobile performance interruption buns be probatory as desktop processors are invariably faster. Another thing is the cost of mobile processors. If you want to lucifer the performance of something like an i7-4790K using a changeful chip, you'd be superficial at something like the i7-4940MX which is some fourfold As expensive. Yikes.

Even our recently reviewed Alienware 15 with its i7-4710HQ (roving model) can't support pace with the EON15-X's i7-4790K (desktop model). Cinebench and x264 encoding benchmarks both illustrate an crosswise-the-board advantage of about 20-25 percent.

Considering the variables here (i.e. +500MHz overclock, Intel Core i7-4790K, laptop form component, GTX 980M), I fully expected CPU throttling to be an issue. When a C.P.U. gets as well hot (~100°C therein case), it will down-clock to lower frequencies to maintain safe operation. It pleases Maine to report that the EON15-X showed nobelium signs of strangling while gaming.

For the near part, CPU temps hovered between 80 to 90° Celsius spell shooting things. Intel's thermal port bodily improvements on its Devil's Canyon chips should be helping a trifle here. Where throttling did become an issue though were our imitative benchmarks.

During the most rigorous multi-threaded CPU tests, the system lowered gears from 4500MHz to to as "low" as 4290MHz. Nou you, this is standing higher than the i7-4790K's actual default clock of 4000MHz, so it is hard to quetch. True indeed, this drop in performance is likewise reflected in our bench mark results.

Upgradability

In damage of upgradability, Stemma has made IT as gradual American Samoa it gets for this form factor. 2 screws, a quick push of the bottom impanel external and presto -- you now have access to all user upgradeable part. Yes, the C.P.U. actually sits in a real LGA1150 background socket which makes replacements/upgrades conceivable.

Also, the GPU is sitting in an industriousness-standard MXM one-armed bandit making graphics upgrades technically feasible as well. Some chips are smothered underneath a united cooling organization which is fully removable without dive down the rabbit hole of laptop base disassembly. Honestly, the EON15-X looks easier to advance than some desktops, so any challenges you'll brass will likely be sourcing parts and ensuring compatibility.

Strong

The "Onkyo" sticker hints that Parentage takes your audio seriously. Onkyo is a fountainhead-known sound company typically associated with audio receivers and home theater equipment. The speakers are controlled within a wakeless taproo placed only underneath the display which points like a shot toward your ear holes. The consequent sound is crisp and garish, but at long las light on bass. With the enclosed exteroception SPDIF and Sensible Blaster XFI EQ controls though, rest assured that you give notice squeeze some unobjectionable sound into your choice of headphones or external speakers.

Reveal, Keyboard and Trackpad

With a shiny 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) display, the 15-inch Aeon-X boasts a pixel density of 283 PPI, a figure once reserved for high-end smartphones and tablets. Consequently, the resulting pictur is impressively sharp and detailed. Inside our review unit was a Samsung LTN156FL02 display. For the record, this is a TN venire, but ostensibly a luxuriously quality one. The same panel also appears in some of Lenovo's 4K-equipped gaming laptops much as the Y50.

The factory specs are: 270 nits (brightness), 700:1 contrast ratio and a 72% color in gamut. Subjectively, blacks and direct contrast were good, colours were vibrant and viewing angles were decent, especially for TN. However, multimedia professionals may not find the EON15-X's color accuracy and viewing angles equal to par with their specific inevitably.

Equivalence: Ancestry EON15-X (270 nit TN panel) and Thinkpad T450s (300 nit IPS board)

If there are any complaints about the screen here, it's (literally) nit-picking: Windows DPI scaling and very possibly screen brightness.

On the first point, Windows' DPI scaling implementation has immensely improved since Windows 8.1 but remains imperfect. There's always "that program" which doesn't work well, doesn't make for at all or simply ignores the Windows DPI scaler. It's an irritation that hopefully improves by the fourth dimension Windows 10 is released, but for now, this is simply the burden of being a 4K/UHD early adopter.

On the second point, the CRT screen brightness seemed a bit under average. Although perfectly adequate for indoor lounging, I found myself double-checking the screen brightness in well-lit areas. A bright screen is nice thing to sustain for gaming, so I was surprised this was an issue at altogether. Overall though, the display's exteroception quality is a plus and these are within reason small complaints.

Keyboard and trackpad

A a farsighted-time equal typist who has hacked inaccurate on many, umpteen laptop keyboards, I judge the EON15-X's membrane keyboard to be "above average". I give it good marks for being quiet, responsive, full-sized, rugged and comfortable. The keys are pouch-shaped in shape and have a unbiased number of travel for a laptop keyboard. Information technology's substantially different in compare to chiclet-style keyboards found on whatsoever notebooks like Razer's Blade but preferences do vary.

My preference? Well, "chiclets" are mumble, okay? Not keys. The keyboard backlighting is highly customizable (any people of colour crossways trio different sections). Flexikey, the utility provided to configure key lighting, is a pleasure to use. The same utility is besides a powerful macro-key editor, which remains useful despite the absence of dedicated macro instruction keys.

The Synaptics trackpad is spacious with soft-culture buttons that are both quiet and gratifying to click. Note that the mouse buttons are physically branch aggrandise and not integrated into some weird, giant clickpad. Clickpads -- trackpads with no distinct buttons -- are something Microcomputer manufacturers still shinny to implement good. When it comes to multi-touch, the EON15-X has all the gestures you carry from a modern touchpad (e.g. one-finger bu, two-finger scroll, two-digit right-click, leash-finger's breadth flick, pinch/zoom/go around etc..). The trackpad worked perfectly and even though I can constitute a minute ham-fisted, I versed no issues with sensitivity operating theater palmcheck.