Eluktronics Mech 17 GP2 13900HX + 4090 Review

[win32asmguy]

Here is my quick initial review of the Eluktronics Mech 17 GP2 with 4090.

 

Ordering Process

 

I used their website to purchase after their pricing promotion started and barebones options were added. This was great for me as I already had 32GB of Samsung DDR5-4800 CL40 memory on hand as well as SSD and Windows license. Checkout forwarded me to paypal, which generated a receipt with specs but for some reason this order did not get associated to my account on their site so I could not see status updates. Eventually a few days later I received an email for shipping notification.

 

Shipping

 

I choose their $8 option which was UPS Ground. The package was picked up in PA the same day the label was generated. I will note that hold for pickup was not available for me via UPS MyChoice. Signature was required. The box was packed well a discreet outer brown box and they also put a piece of tape over the barcode on the UPS label which was nice as it keeps water damage on the label from preventing scans. There was also a piece of paper explaining their return policy before opening the laptop package.

 

Build Quality

 

The Lid and Bottom panel are made of thick aluminum that is rigid and does not flex. The palm rest is made of magnesium alloy and covered with a soft touch material similar to what is found on the Dell Precision laptops. Compared to the MAX 17 I would say its a bit less quality, but still more solid than the Clevo laptops I have used in the past.

 

Disassembly

 

My configuration was barebones so the first thing I needed to do was remove the bottom panel. All of the screws on the bottom panel fully remove, and the two near the back center need a deeper screwdriver bit as they are recessed. There are also two screws on the back near the water inlet/outlets. Then prying from the sides near the USB ports working towards the back and front the plastic clips eventually released.

The M.2 screws were already installed in the screw holes. Drive installation was easy and the user manual indicated the slot closest to the fan was primary. The included Intel AX201 Wifi card was already pre-installed.

 

Initial Boot / BIOS

 

After a minute the system booted and I took a look at the bios. It has an advanced menu with some options like MUX control and then a Tuning menu with Overclocking / CPU / Memory options. By default a -125mv undervolt was applied to the 13900HX P-cores.

 

Windows Support

 

My initial OS I am testing on it is Windows 10 22H2. After it booted into the OS most drivers were able to install other than the Realtek Audio + Nahemic drivers. Unfortunately Eluktronics told me that their Microsoft agreement only allows them to support Windows 11 on these models. They also mentioned a WIM Windows 11 image is available for customers who purchased a barebones config to simply getting their system up and running.

 

Linux Support

 

I have Fedora 37 installed. These are the steps I took:

1. Boot Live USB with nouveau.modeset=0 parameter to disable the open source nvidia driver
2. After install, go into bios and set Fedora grub EFI entry as active, also ensure Secure Boot is disabled
3. Download updates via Software Center, reboot
4. Switch default session from Wayland to Xorg, reboot
5. Install akmod-nvidia from rpmfusion, reboot

 

As far as compatibility goes everything seems to be working fine so far. The speakers are quieter than in Windows with Nahemic but are usable. Probably the HDAudio pin config is not enabling the amp yet as the mappings likely have changed since the last revision (SB Cinema -> Nahemic).

 

In this configuration the internal display only supports 2560x1600 without scaling from xrandr. Nvidia Settings can apply a scaled resolution but this doesn't always work well in the multi-monitor configuration I use. 60hz and 240hz is supported. In theory switching the MUX to Hybrid mode should allow decent battery life at 60hz as the software configuration should allow the Nvidia card to enter runtime D3. The nvidia power daemon (dynamic boost manager) is likely buggy and will randomly cause high CPU usage. I would leave it disabled unless you are gaming or doing something where you need beyond the base 150W. I will try to run a Linux GPU benchmark soon.

 

Booting Windows 10 via GRUB for some reason is causing performance of the 4090 GPU to be limited. So for now if I boot into Windows I must use F7 and select the "Windows Boot Manager" option instead of the Fedora entry.

 

Performance

 

CBR23 in Beast Mode - ~31500, 120W
CBR23 in Balanced Mode - ~25800, 75W
TimeSpy in Beast Mode -  21021 Overall, 21790 Graphics, 17521 CPU (Control Center installed, Nvidia 528.49, Auto Fans, 175W pull observed)

 

Fan Noise

 

So far it has been pretty good. No high pitched whining and the fans do not have an issue with pulsing at idle or low usage with the default curve.

 

Overall Initial Impressions

 

Its a nice machine. The fan noise and build quality great. I will add more as I can think about it.

[Aaron44126]

I've never really taken a hard look at these laptops but a high-end barebones option is interesting.

 

I took a look at the keyboard layout and it is not great.  "End" key, but no "Home" key?  (I'd rather see them put that in place of the "Pause" button, which I don't think anyone really uses...)  No dedicated PgUp/PgDn either.

Spoiler

 

Are there any BIOS settings or tools provided to mess with the fan behavior (other than picking from a couple of thermal profiles)?

(Not planning on switching laptops anytime soon, just sort of filing this away for future reference.  I'm not convinced that my next laptop will come from Dell.)

[win32asmguy]

48 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

I've never really taken a hard look at these laptops but a high-end barebones option is interesting.

 

I took a look at the keyboard layout and it is not great.  "End" key, but no "Home" key?  (I'd rather see them put that in place of the "Pause" button, which I don't think anyone really uses...)  No dedicated PgUp/PgDn either.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Are there any BIOS settings or tools provided to mess with the fan behavior (other than picking from a couple of thermal profiles)?

(Not planning on switching laptops anytime soon, just sort of filing this away for future reference.  I'm not convinced that my next laptop will come from Dell.)

 

Yeah I have a soft spot for barebones options although there is some risk if trying to install high performance memory that has not been tested in house for compatibility.

 

The layout is definitely not standard. The keys are also noisy as expected but they may offer the membrane version later this year. I do not use the keyboard often so its less of an issue, and I could easily carry an MX Keys around if needed.

 

The bios only lets you select a performance mode (Office / Balanced / Beast) to effect the default fan curve. It may be possible to override the default curve for those profiles, I will check.

[serpro69]

I have been eyeing them last year (12th gen CPUs), but decided to wait. These laptops do look nice on paper, and barebones versions is also a good option that almost no one else provides.

 

I have a few questions , just in case you have the answers :) 

- Do you know how good is Linux support? 

- Is this suitable as a work-oriented laptop? Or are they aimed at gaming primarily? (I mean , build quality, stability of the system, etc etc thing that'd you'd expect from a business workstation or similar)

- Have you ever had to deal with support (or is this your first Eluktronics laptop?) I've read some bad things about these guys last year. Although granted, you can find horror stories about almost any manufacturer.

- How good is the cooling solution? (w/o the LPP)

[Shark00n]

Nice write up! Don’t forget some pictures 😁

 

Do you have the water cooling add-on? Wondering how noisy it and the system are.

[win32asmguy]

10 hours ago, serpro69 said:

- Do you know how good is Linux support? 

 

I am going to test Fedora 37 (Wayland disabled) with the latest kernel and proprietary Nvidia driver soon.

 

10 hours ago, serpro69 said:

- Is this suitable as a work-oriented laptop? Or are they aimed at gaming primarily? (I mean , build quality, stability of the system, etc etc thing that'd you'd expect from a business workstation or similar)

 

I will use it for work, as a replacement for a Precision 7670. They do sell these oriented towards gamers. The mechanical keyboard is noisy however a membrane version is supposed to eventually be available. The build quality is great and the stability has been fine so far.

 

10 hours ago, serpro69 said:

- Have you ever had to deal with support (or is this your first Eluktronics laptop?) I've read some bad things about these guys last year. Although granted, you can find horror stories about almost any manufacturer.

 

I think support should be ok. My friend has the 11th Gen MAX 17 and we have not had to contact support about anything. If you want Premamod then it is also really the only choice. The other cheaper Tongfang option in the USA, CyberPowerPC, is not an option for me as they only have a one year warranty available. So far Maingear has not refreshed their models with 13th Gen, but if they do and you live near a Micro Center it could be a decent support option.

 

11 hours ago, serpro69 said:

- How good is the cooling solution? (w/o the LPP)

 

It has been great so far. For me the biggest issue would be a high pitched whine, which this does not have at all in any of the fan speed range. Having a sane default fan curve is good as well because under Linux tuning that is not always possible. The performance seems on par with the competitors I have read about so far other than the MSI GT77 which has more capacity on air. Eluktronics should get their shipment of LPP G2 in a couple of weeks so I will try it out to see what it can do.

 

 

[serpro69]

Thanks for the replies @win32asmguy. Sounds to me like this might be something I should put back on the table for consideration :)

Need to figure out if they'll ship to Europe though.

[win32asmguy]

13 hours ago, serpro69 said:

Thanks for the replies @win32asmguy. Sounds to me like this might be something I should put back on the table for consideration 🙂

Need to figure out if they'll ship to Europe though.

 

I think they do ship to Europe via a courier service. Sadly I do not think XMG offers the Premamod bios as they seem to have not provided it for previous year models.

 

I finally managed to get Realtek Audio drivers installed in Windows 10 - the issue was some how the Intel SST drivers were an engineering version instead of the production version. So Windows 10 is very well a possibility even if its not officially supported. This is farther than I ever got with the Clevo NH55J on Windows 10 and its audio driver incompatibilities.

[SapphiraTriX298]

How is the display, I know it doesn't get as bright as some of the competitors.

Also curious about the color accuracy

[win32asmguy]

4 hours ago, SapphiraTriX298 said:

How is the display, I know it doesn't get as bright as some of the competitors.

Also curious about the color accuracy

 

The display is rated at 380nits and is 100% sRGB. It is a good display from what I can tell but I will be honest I use an external display at my home and work desks most of the time. It appears to be factory calibrated as it is accurate even without loading a profile on a clean install.

[Tenoroon]

I have a friend that is interested in getting the 16' version of this laptop with the Prema BIOS and with a 4070. I know Win32asmguy's config had a 4090, but does anyone know the wattage of all of the different GPU options?

[SapphiraTriX298]

150W, but maybe consider at least a 4080 or a last year's 3080/3080ti.

 

Early testing does not shine favorably on the 4070 in terms of performance.

 

Also 17" model is a true 17" 16:10, apparently

So only about 2.5cm or 1" wider, imperceptibly thicker, and 0.25lb heavier. I find it an odd choice of screen size, or rather the two seem too close.

 

Back to your friend, with the $100 discount at Cyberpower PC that would put a 17.0" 16GB RAM 4080 config at only $2309, essentially the same as the Eluktronics 16 or 17 with the same RAM, SSD, and OS, and 4070.

That is a hard deal to pass up.

 

Not sure if 4080 would benefit performance-wise from Liquid cooling like the 4090 is supposed to, or if it would just benefit the fan noise

[win32asmguy]

3 hours ago, SapphiraTriX298 said:

I posted this in the main thread, but figured you might have some of the answers.

 

1. Any idea if XMG or Cyberpower offer preinstalled liquid metal, or is that an Eluktronics Exclusive?

 

2. What are the main benefits of Premamod? I have not messed with any of these laptops before, but I thought it originally had something to do with increasing power limits?

 

If performance benefits, do you think they would appreciable on air, or mainly with liquid?

 

Is it likely to be compatible with other clones, as it was in previous generations?

 

What are your thoughts on a 4080 on liquid vs a 4090 on air?

 

XMG uses liquid metal on the CPU and GPU. Unsure about CyberPowerPC.

 

Premamod has the CPU and Memory tuning options. Undervolting, core speed multipliers, custom memory profiles, etc. Power limits are not in the bios from what I can tell. You just choose the operation mode to change presets or configure a custom profile in the Control Center.

 

Performance can benefit from air or liquid. I believe liquid is supposed to allow the GPU to pull higher than 175W similar to how the earlier GTX 1060 Eluktroboost did. Hence why this model is at the top of the Timespy leaderboard for 4090 mobile. The CPU can benefit from liquid as well as some of its heatpipes go to the GPU side fan. They said the LPP G2 may ship in another week.

 

I will also mention that the Eluktronics/XMG motherboard variant has hardware upgrades to support the DDR5-6400 CL38 memory which operate at higher voltages. I will try to benchmark my current DDR5-4800 CL40 vs. DDR5-6400 CL38 once those are available. They also have Intel SAGV disabled in the bios so the memory remains at its normal frequency instead of trying to downclock to conserve power.

 

The 4080 overclocked on liquid could reach stock 4090 levels in some games. I choose 4090 because it cannot be upgraded later, and the warranty extension costs the same regardless of which one you choose. I really hope 13900HX + 4090 mobile remains competitive with whatever refresh is made by Intel and Nvidia next year. It would be nice if it can last two years before looking for a replacement.

[SapphiraTriX298]

I think that makes quite the case for the XMG/Mech 4080 at $500 less than the 4090.

From what I was seeing the difference between equivalent 4090 and 4080 mobiles seemed to be around 10%, so if liquid cooling closes that gap due to overclock, like you say, that may be the best value to performance in this high end category. I hope someone can test.

 

I would be interested in how much of a difference are these options making in terms of raw performance for the average user? If it is like 5% or less I may not bother, but if up to 10% that would be pretty substantial from tweaking alone. I haven't messed with overclocking since the Ivy Bridge and bulldozer days.

[Etern4l]

Nice review, thanks for taking the time. 4090 performance along the expectations I guess. 

 

Any thermal throttling the WC option might help with, or is it unnecessary? 

[win32asmguy]

I tried taking photos of the Premamod BIOS so people can get an idea of what options are available. I apologize if anything isn't easy to see, just let me know and I can try to retake the photo.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dehT1gZZ4h2dvKJv9

 

As far as pictures of the machine it looks identical to the existing Mech 17 GP so any review of that or the XMG Neo 17 M22 is going to be more visual than what I can do.

[SapphiraTriX298]

Very helpful. Looks similar to what XMG showed off during gizmosliptech's demonstration of the water cooling at CES. So it may be standard across the resellers for this tongfang model, or at least have similar features.

 

During that demo the core clock on the GPU boosted up about 150mhz compared to air, and they said the CPU went up by 20W but did not have frequency recorded or something. This was with Furmark, so it may not apply to real world but it at least demonstrates the cooler does something beyond noise.

 

Just need a Cyberpower to confirm they have it as well. I will try to email them. But it is very good news regardless.

 

How far does the screen open?

[serpro69]

So apparently for those who want official Linux support on these machines, XMG recommends to go through their sister company Tuxedo Computers.  (https://www.xmg.gg/en/faq/portfolio/#linux)

At first glance it actually looks quite promising for those who what to be sure that the laptop has good Linux support.

Anyone has any experience with them? Despite both XMG and Tuxedo being owned by same parent corp (?), it seems that the latter is usually slightly behind on the releases of new models. 

 

[Etern4l]

Looks like it's Germany-focused company, don't even have an English version of their website, but basically they install Ubuntu. However, if the underlying hardware is the same, then obviously one can just shrink the default Windows volume on any Mech and dual boot to Linux.

[serpro69]

It does have English, just not very easy to find :D (top right corner with 3 vertical dots ;) )

 

  

2 minutes ago, Etern4l said:

However, if the underlying hardware is the same, then obviously one can just shrink the default Windows volume on any Mech and dual boot to Linux.

 

Yeah, I was thinking of the same. It's a bit strange though that XMG says the following:

Quote

XMG laptops cannot be retrofitted with TUXEDO support.

Despite both XMG and Tuxedo, seemingly, being the same company.

[Etern4l]

1 hour ago, serpro69 said:

It does have English, just not very easy to find :D (top right corner with 3 vertical dots ;) )

 

  

 

Yeah, I was thinking of the same. It's a bit strange though that XMG says the following:

Despite both XMG and Tuxedo, seemingly, being the same company.

 

Ah, thanks :) Looks good, the offer some custom tools like this:

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/TUXEDO-Control-Center.tuxedo

 

And ship to lots of locations globally. 

 

Their Trustpilot page doesn't look discouraging:

 

https://de.trustpilot.com/review/tuxedocomputers.com

 

[serpro69]

12 hours ago, Etern4l said:

 

Ah, thanks :) Looks good, the offer some custom tools like this:

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/TUXEDO-Control-Center.tuxedo

 

And ship to lots of locations globally. 

 

Their Trustpilot page doesn't look discouraging:

 

https://de.trustpilot.com/review/tuxedocomputers.com

 

 

Yep, it does look promising :)

But I still can't find any info on why one can't do the same with XMG/Eluktronics (especially since the former belongs to the same parent company as Tuxedo).

The problem is, they seems to take way longer than XMG/Eluktronics to release new models, e.g. they still don't have anything available with 13gen CPUs + 40xx GPUs even for pre-orders. So I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the wait or to just get an XMG and install stuff by myself.

Anyways, I'm not in a rush, so I'll probably wait (Have sent them a query asking for ETA as well.)

[serpro69]

There's this thread on Reddit from XMG containing a lot of interesting info on these laptops - 

 

Naturally most of this stuff applies to Mech 17 GP2 and (potentially upcoming) Tuxedo variants.

 

PS: I've asked Tuxedo if they have any plans for the releases of new models yet, and they said "likely sometime this year".