Clevo X580 TBA at CES 2025 - 18", 4+4 drives and memory, 2xTB5

[1610ftw]

4 hours ago, win32asmguy said:

 

I agree about the fan curve issues. While the Zbook 15 G4 did not have this problem the Zbook Studio G3 definitely did and probably every generation going forward. Fan oscillation at idle speeds and in generally just annoying bursts of noise from day to day use. Of course tuning is also locked down so helping the situation by taming the CPU was not possible. I would even say the Precision models just have annoying fans, the only workstation that is a pleasure to use noise wise has been the Thinkpad P16 G2.

 

We dont really know how Arrow Lake HX will feel or work yet. It could be the case that the previous gen 14900HX / 13950HX may have a better experience for quite some time.

 

I think it started with the G5 generation which was the first chassis with the new more edgy design - very high build quality and great looks. I had a nice fan curve and undervolt for the Zbook 17 G5 and then came an update and HP destroyed it all - it is hard to not have very negative feelings about a company crippling their product like that.

 

From what I know all subsequent iterations of their flagship workstation have the same "works as intended" annoying fan cycling and undervolting is blocked, too. The only option that I have found to tame those CPUs a bit was to set lower power limits with Throttle Stop which helps them not to ramp the clocks to unsustainable levels but that is far from ideal. 

 

I forgot that my last Precision was the 7760 that by comparison had a very low powered CPU (ca. 130W max) which certainly helped.

 

The best workstation I have tested is the MSI CreatorPro X18 HX. It is quite magnificent with regard to fan noise and sustainable performance, too bad that it only comes with a monstrous price tag. 

 

I am mainly interested in the new generation of laptops for TB5 and to get more drives so if the CPUs are a sideway move that might be good enough for me. For people who do not need that this is probably a generation they can skip unless they finally want a proper 18" workstation that wasn't available before from Dell and HP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[win32asmguy]

On 3/24/2025 at 12:51 PM, 1610ftw said:

I think it started with the G5 generation which was the first chassis with the new more edgy design - very high build quality and great looks. I had a nice fan curve and undervolt for the Zbook 17 G5 and then came an update and HP destroyed it all - it is hard to not have very negative feelings about a company crippling their product like that.

 

From what I know all subsequent iterations of their flagship workstation have the same "works as intended" annoying fan cycling and undervolting is blocked, too. The only option that I have found to tame those CPUs a bit was to set lower power limits with Throttle Stop which helps them not to ramp the clocks to unsustainable levels but that is far from ideal. 

 

I forgot that my last Precision was the 7760 that by comparison had a very low powered CPU (ca. 130W max) which certainly helped.

 

The best workstation I have tested is the MSI CreatorPro X18 HX. It is quite magnificent with regard to fan noise and sustainable performance, too bad that it only comes with a monstrous price tag. 

 

I am mainly interested in the new generation of laptops for TB5 and to get more drives so if the CPUs are a sideway move that might be good enough for me. For people who do not need that this is probably a generation they can skip unless they finally want a proper 18" workstation that wasn't available before from Dell and HP.

 

Yeah that annoying fan oscillation was present on the Fury 16 G10. I suppose that we can adjust power limits but I do not think there is a way to adjust turbo ratios down other than dropping all the way to base clocks.

 

The CreatorPro X18 sounds really nice. It just needs more display options. If the HDMI port really can be driven by the iGPU that is a great feature and unique to its model. There is an open box model available here at a good reseller and its tempting to try testing it out.

[1610ftw]

Well you already had the Raider 18 HX so you know the lower part of the chassis minus the vapor chamber heat sink. CP X18 HX does have a nicer more professional looking lid and no more RGB annoyances as MSI (sadly for me) went for an all whitish keyboard.

 

It is still incomprehensible for me that despite being a workstation it only has two drive slots but for me it is the nicest laptop with that chassis due to the color combination and also a high quality nicely understated lid that fits a lot better in professional / non-gaming settings. So if there is an open box model out there that that may be worth a try.

 

Before you do that I would however check with @song_1118 who still uses it to inquire about the iGPU / HDMI port connection and in case that you plan to use it if iGPU mode is a viable option. I can remember that some Titan 18 users reported having to re-register their Windows when switching between iGPU and the two other modes which meant that I never even tried iGPU mode in the Raider 18 HX.

[song_1118]

17 hours ago, 1610ftw said:

Well you already had the Raider 18 HX so you know the lower part of the chassis minus the vapor chamber heat sink. CP X18 HX does have a nicer more professional looking lid and no more RGB annoyances as MSI (sadly for me) went for an all whitish keyboard.

 

It is still incomprehensible for me that despite being a workstation it only has two drive slots but for me it is the nicest laptop with that chassis due to the color combination and also a high quality nicely understated lid that fits a lot better in professional / non-gaming settings. So if there is an open box model out there that that may be worth a try.

 

Before you do that I would however check with @song_1118 who still uses it to inquire about the iGPU / HDMI port connection and in case that you plan to use it if iGPU mode is a viable option. I can remember that some Titan 18 users reported having to re-register their Windows when switching between iGPU and the two other modes which meant that I never even tried iGPU mode in the Raider 18 HX.

MSI CreatorPro X18 switches between DGPU, HGPU, and iGPU modes, and can only take effect after restarting the computer.

[win32asmguy]

2 hours ago, song_1118 said:

MSI CreatorPro X18 switches between DGPU, HGPU, and iGPU modes, and can only take effect after restarting the computer.

 

Ah, my question was if the HDMI is MUXed to the iGPU in hybrid mode along with the laptop panel.

[song_1118]

19 hours ago, win32asmguy said:

 

Ah, my question was if the HDMI is MUXed to the iGPU in hybrid mode along with the laptop panel.

I did not conduct any actual testing on this matter;
However, in HGPU hybrid mode, based on the following diagram and my speculation, I believe HDMI is connected to a discrete graphics card.

[1610ftw]

Same with the Raider 18 HX - CPU only with the internal display and always on dedicated GPU with external displays.

[win32asmguy]

1 hour ago, song_1118 said:

I did not conduct any actual testing on this matter;
However, in HGPU hybrid mode, based on the following diagram and my speculation, I believe HDMI is connected to a discrete graphics card.

 

53 minutes ago, 1610ftw said:

Same with the Raider 18 HX - CPU only with the internal display and always on dedicated GPU with external displays.

 

Ah that makes sense. I did not expect it to be wired significantly different from the other models to be honest.

 

At least this year it seems that due to the Arrow Lake TB4 having iGPU video output by default, many new options will have this "feature" if they include that port.

[1610ftw]

On 3/28/2025 at 1:38 AM, win32asmguy said:

 

 

Ah that makes sense. I did not expect it to be wired significantly different from the other models to be honest.

 

At least this year it seems that due to the Arrow Lake TB4 having iGPU video output by default, many new options will have this "feature" if they include that port.

 

This year will be interesting with TB5 opening up new possibilities with the ability to be on the road starting with a lower performance GPU like the 5070 Ti and then one can increase the performance massively with a TB5 case and a desktop card that will easily surpass even the 5090 mobile.

[song_1118]

14 hours ago, 1610ftw said:

 

This year will be interesting with TB5 opening up new possibilities with the ability to be on the road starting with a lower performance GPU like the 5070 Ti and then one can increase the performance massively with a TB5 case and a desktop card that will easily surpass even the 5090 mobile.

Well, it makes sense
So, you can purchase a minimum configuration Titan 18 (285HX+5080), and then connect the TBT5 to the RTX PRO 6000-96GB……

[1610ftw]

56 minutes ago, song_1118 said:

Well, it makes sense
So, you can purchase a minimum configuration Titan 18 (285HX+5080), and then connect the TBT5 to the RTX PRO 6000-96GB……

 

I certainly will not go that far plus I want more memory but I will experiment a bit with external solutions and also with higher speed network. Not sure if I want to go higher than 40G but that would be a nice start.

[win32asmguy]

I picked up an X580 for testing as I was curious about the improvements they have made on the X370.

 

Specs:

 

Performance - 150W PL2 / 135W PL1 / 250W combined (observed as 70W CPU + 170W GPU in OCCT combined load test)

Entertainment - 130W PL2 / 46W PL1 / 195W combined (observed as 46W CPU + 150W GPU)

18 inch QHD+ 240hz, panel is BOE NE180QDM-NZ2

 

Memory needs four sticks to run in dual channel and by default boots at 4400 MT/s per Intel specs. Memory must be run in slot 2 and 3 for dual channel operation. The best performance is to use single rank memory with tight timings but likely no XMP support. So kits like Kingston Fury 2x16GB 5600 CL40. There is a bios option to select a higher memory speed.

 

Much better cooling, as the system can sustain these loads without thermal throttling.

 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/130420192?

 

[1610ftw]

I really like that you decided to get it so that I do not have to 😄

 

Great news about the improved cooling and I have to say that those 4 NVME and 4 memory slots look beautiful! From what I recall the keyboard should still be similar to the one in the X170? With the improved cooling really the only criticism that I have is that they have reduced connectivity to a new low. Also 37K CB R23 with 150W is really nice, as is the TimeSpy GPU score!

 

Looking forward to hear what you have to say about the audio as you have a good frame of reference with the many laptops you have owned.

 

 

[win32asmguy]

The keyboard is the same as the X170 and X370 other than having a copilot key.

 

Also Tom at XMG mentioned the key 18 pro uses ptm7950 so hopefully that is the case in all regions.

 

In performance mode overclocking is an option so things are tunable other than undervolting.

 

Audio is greatly improved over the X170 and even the MSI raider or titan.

 

I will also note that surface temps are better now as well. Maximum read was around 45C above the keyboard.

 

I am waiting on a second set of Kingston fury 5600 cl40 2x16 to test for stability at higher speeds. Tom was able to go up to 5200 MT/s with some csodimms so far. He is also validating it for use with 256GB.

[1610ftw]

Very good to hear about the audio and the keyboard temps and layout! As you know I have not been much of a fan of the audio of the Raider and Titan 18 as I was still spoiled by earlier MSi and especially the X170. So great news that Clevo again offers proper audio quality.

 

I also have to admit that it did not even occur to me that undervolting and overclocking could be an issue but I am glad it isn't. Is there some kind of control center again where the overclocking / undervolting and fan speed can be adjusted? 

 

I hope you can make some progress with memory. If it works out then 4x16GB also has the nice side effect that you have a good amount of capacity for just about everything outside of running specialized memory hungry applications on it.

 

Up to 256GB is a massive amount of memory that is a fantastic option for people who may need it and it would be cool to be able to advertise that. I am really curious if we will have any issues with the new 64GB sticks. With the 4x48GB Crucial I never had any, that was an easy upgrade from 4x32GB.

[the jg89]

On 4/7/2025 at 12:52 AM, win32asmguy said:

I picked up an X580 for testing as I was curious about the improvements they have made on the X370.

 

Specs:

 

Performance - 150W PL2 / 135W PL1 / 250W combined (observed as 70W CPU + 170W GPU in OCCT combined load test)

Entertainment - 130W PL2 / 46W PL1 / 195W combined (observed as 46W CPU + 150W GPU)

18 inch QHD+ 240hz, panel is BOE NE180QDM-NZ2

 

Memory needs four sticks to run in dual channel and by default boots at 4400 MT/s per Intel specs. The best performance is to use single rank memory with tight timings but likely no XMP support. So kits like Kingston Fury 2x16GB 5600 CL40. There is a bios option to select a higher memory speed.

 

Much better cooling, as the system can sustain these loads without thermal throttling.

 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/130420192?

 

Nice 😄, great to hear the laptop has better cooling, thinking of picking one up myself when they're available on scan. just wondering do these ssds fit in there? I got a couple of these on hand and was curious.

 

[win32asmguy]

2 hours ago, the jg89 said:

Nice 😄, great to hear the laptop has better cooling, thinking of picking one up myself when they're available on scan. just wondering do these ssds fit in there? I got a couple of these on hand and was curious.

 

 

Those likely will not fit. The bottom panel has metal heatsinks for each SSD that make contact via a thick pad. Those heatsinks are riveted to the bottom panel so it would need to be modified.

 

There is also a concern that the fourth drive slot may not fit a double sided SSD as it is on top of the wifi card. I need to test it out next time I have it opened.

 

I have also been experiencing a system freeze if it's idle for 45 minutes. It may be due to using the mixed hynix and micron memory kits. Still it's pretty exciting to have a decent system produced by Clevo after a couple of years that were duds.

[the jg89]

12 hours ago, win32asmguy said:

 

Those likely will not fit. The bottom panel has metal heatsinks for each SSD that make contact via a thick pad. Those heatsinks are riveted to the bottom panel so it would need to be modified.

 

There is also a concern that the fourth drive slot may not fit a double sided SSD as it is on top of the wifi card. I need to test it out next time I have it opened.

 

I have also been experiencing a system freeze if it's idle for 45 minutes. It may be due to using the mixed hynix and micron memory kits. Still it's pretty exciting to have a decent system produced by Clevo after a couple of years that were duds.

What does the bottom cover look like? can I see a pic?

[1610ftw]

15 hours ago, win32asmguy said:

 

Those likely will not fit. The bottom panel has metal heatsinks for each SSD that make contact via a thick pad. Those heatsinks are riveted to the bottom panel so it would need to be modified.

 

There is also a concern that the fourth drive slot may not fit a double sided SSD as it is on top of the wifi card. I need to test it out next time I have it opened.

 

I have also been experiencing a system freeze if it's idle for 45 minutes. It may be due to using the mixed hynix and micron memory kits. Still it's pretty exciting to have a decent system produced by Clevo after a couple of years that were duds.

 

I like the cooling concept but on the other hand it does not bode well for my 8TB WD SD for the PS5:

 

 

It fit perfectly in the Raider 18 HX and it really runs pretty cool so it is a bit of a shame that I may have to get rid of it if I switch to the X580.

 

According to XMG / Schenker it will take 4 double sided drives, I specifically asked for that. So that is good news for those of use that really have 4 double sided NVME drives to fill up all those slots.

 

If you did not have those freezing issues before then it may indeed be because of the memory but there also seems to be something that keeps Schenker / XMG from launching the Key 18 model as it still isn't available for order on their website.

 

 

[the jg89]

I donno I think they might fit, I measured it give you an idea and all

 

but if it doesn't I can probably remove the heatsinks on the ssds so they can fit(or try and remove the heatsink parts

on the bottom cover lol)

@1610ftw yeah I'm trying to order from scan as well but it's preorder only.

 

Update: I think this might have something to do with it ^_^'

https://www.pcguide.com/news/nvidia-driver-issues-are-causing-headaches-for-rtx-5090-rtx-5080-laptop-reviewers/?callback=in&code=YTBLOTMXMTETNGY2MY0ZYZCWLWFIZJGTZJLMODGXNGRINWEY&state=bdef95d0aaaa47678c7ab579a5c7ed5d

[win32asmguy]

19 hours ago, the jg89 said:

What does the bottom cover look like? can I see a pic?

 

These are the heatsinks on the bottom cover for the SSDs.

 

The freezing issue was the mixed RAM modules. With only 2x Crucial it did not freeze. Now I am testing 4x Kingston Fury so hopefully it will not freeze and also work at higher speeds.

 

I have not had a bluescreen yet with Clevo's drivers. They did post updated drivers the other day so I can test them out once I have the RAM stability ironed out.

 

[win32asmguy]

Update, using two sticks in dual channel does work fine, I just missed the correct slot combination with my initial testing. Use slots 2 & 3 in this case for the best performance which is pretty close to using four sticks at the same 5600 CL40. It has the benefit of reduced memory temperatures under sustained combined loads.

 

With two Kingston Fury 5600 CL40 kits:

 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/130810731?

 

[1610ftw]

On 4/10/2025 at 6:21 AM, win32asmguy said:

 

These are the heatsinks on the bottom cover for the SSDs.

 

The freezing issue was the mixed RAM modules. With only 2x Crucial it did not freeze. Now I am testing 4x Kingston Fury so hopefully it will not freeze and also work at higher speeds.

 

I have not had a bluescreen yet with Clevo's drivers. They did post updated drivers the other day so I can test them out once I have the RAM stability ironed out.

 

 

Great to hear that you solved your bluescreen issue!

Across multiple devices I have noticed that unless you put 4 of the same memory sticks in all slots those 4 slot designs are often lacking documentation about how to populate those slots. Luckily we can test everything with programs like AIDA64 but it should not be so difficult to give the customer instructions which slots to use in which order and/or what best to do with a given number of memory sticks.

 

That SSD cooling solution does not seem to be well thought out at all. I wonder if anybody even tested it as I have a hard time believing that after some testing they would have come up with this.

 

• Why isn't it unified to improve cooling and share the load?
• How does it even differ from a user supplied NVME heat sink?
• How is it even much of a benefit in the first place when the SSDs seem to have zero airflow over these heatsinks - that surely can't be a good idea? 

 

Makes me want to get a spare bottom cover and do my own SSD cooling solution in case that I get the X580.

 

In any case this is not that big of a deal really and I share your sentiment that this is a good one and for me it is the first Clevo that I consider since the X170 chassis.

We will probably never get something like the X170 again but at least this is their first flagship BGA book design that gets the basics right.

[wqwave]

18 hours ago, win32asmguy said:

Update, using two sticks in dual channel does work fine, I just missed the correct slot combination with my initial testing. Use slots 2 & 3 in this case for the best performance which is pretty close to using four sticks at the same 5600 CL40. It has the benefit of reduced memory temperatures under sustained combined loads.

 

With two Kingston Fury 5600 CL40 kits:

 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/130810731?

 

Great testing! I thought they would run at 4400mhz max based on intel's cpu specs for 2x 2r slots. Do you think 128gb/192gb/256gb would be able to achieve this speed as well? Also it's unclear if csodimm is supported. Do you have any idea? 

[win32asmguy]

4 hours ago, 1610ftw said:

Great to hear that you solved your bluescreen issue!

Across multiple devices I have noticed that unless you put 4 of the same memory sticks in all slots those 4 slot designs are often lacking documentation about how to populate those slots. Luckily we can test everything with programs like AIDA64 but it should not be so difficult to give the customer instructions which slots to use in which order and/or what best to do with a given number of memory sticks.

 

That SSD cooling solution does not seem to be well thought out at all. I wonder if anybody even tested it as I have a hard time believing that after some testing they would have come up with this.

 

• Why isn't it unified to improve cooling and share the load?
• How does it even differ from a user supplied NVME heat sink?
• How is it even much of a benefit in the first place when the SSDs seem to have zero airflow over these heatsinks - that surely can't be a good idea? 

 

Makes me want to get a spare bottom cover and do my own SSD cooling solution in case that I get the X580.

 

In any case this is not that big of a deal really and I share your sentiment that this is a good one and for me it is the first Clevo that I consider since the X170 chassis.

We will probably never get something like the X170 again but at least this is their first flagship BGA book design that gets the basics right.

 

We have to give credit to Tom at XMG for finding out the optimal memory options:

 

https://download.schenker-tech.de/media/products/schenker-key-18-pro_e25/key-18-pro-e25_memory-guide_2025-04-11.pdf

 

As far as the SSD heatsinks I cannot comment how well they work as I have not paid attention to the SSD temperatures closely. The plates attached to the bottom cover appear to be somewhat thick and heavy, hopefully they are powdercoated copper. I have not swapped in a higher performance drive yet from the stock Crucial P3 1TB which likely does not generate much heat under sustained transfers. I will try to test those things out when I can.

 

2 hours ago, wqwave said:

Great testing! I thought they would run at 4400mhz max based on intel's cpu specs for 2x 2r slots. Do you think 128gb/192gb/256gb would be able to achieve this speed as well? Also it's unclear if csodimm is supported. Do you have any idea? 

 

Based on research from Tom's posting CSODIMM should benefit. I don't have 4x matched dual rank modules so I cannot comment on my own testing but it looks like they might run a few bins over the stock speeds.