17.3" Recoil

[L Miller]

Hi I was looking into buying an Alienware m17 R4 for my wife in the next month or so but I am unwilling to spend £3500 on a laptop that is completely unserviceable, thus now looking at your i9 3080 17.3" Recoil.
Please can you tell me If the Memory, Cpu Gpu Ect is Replaceable in the future or is everything soldered to the motherboard

 

[Deleted member 41971]

Hi I was looking into buying an Alienware m17 R4 for my wife in the next month or so but I am unwilling to spend £3500 on a laptop that is completely unserviceable, thus now looking at your i9 3080 17.3" Recoil.
Please can you tell me If the Memory, Cpu Gpu Ect is Replaceable in the future or is everything soldered to the motherboard

if I need to be corrected by anyone on the forum who knows or owns the recoil then by all means,

from what I would think is the ram is definitely easily replaceable, the gpu i would think would not be as with laptops I would think it is soldered onto the motherboard, cpu would depend if its socketed or soldered. I would also expect the storage drives to be easily replaceable

 

[Macco26]

AFAIK Recoil 17 has the GPU in a MXM slot (it's the only laptop sold by PCS in 2021 having that) and the CPU is definitely replaceable, as it has Desktop CPU socket for 10th and 11th gen. That's why it requires two Power bricks to operate.

It has RAM replaceable (I might be wrong but it might have 4 slots, 2 on one side, 2 on the back of the motherboard, near the keyboard)
Has 4 PCIe NVMe M.2 slots (one of those being PCIe 4.0 if you equip a 11th gen CPU, aka Rocketlake). It might be only 3 M.2 slots if you go the 10th gen CPU, as the 4th is directly driven by the PCIe lanes at 4.0 available only by Rocketlake-S.

PS: despite GPU being replaceable, you have to have MXM modules compatible with those Clevos, there are quite a rarity, so don't expect a certain path to upgrade in the years to come. Like it might not happen a future RTX 4000 MXM card is compatible with this one. The only certain benefit is that if GPU breaks you can replace it. That's a given. Future proof? We don't know.

Branded in a different name, Notebookcheck has done a good review of this product. I can't help you further.
I can only tell the name of the chassis is Clevo X170KM-G.

 

[L Miller]

Thanks for that, the user serviceability was my main concern, I have myself the Alienware 18 and have needed to replace almost everything since the 3year warranty ran out, Spending 3k or more for an unserviceable laptop is just unaffordable for me if it needs replacing every 3 years.
I am now interested.
Many Thanks xx

 

[solidus1983]

I own a Recoil 17.3, Its totally user serviceable friendly.

CPU is socketed and thus can be replaced (Albeit you will need to contact PCS before replacing the CPU as their warranty has a clause in there Section 78-7.10 are important.)

GPU is using a MXM 3.0B/3.1 slot which makes replacement easier however due to how Nvidia's new generational releases are there can be chances which makes it not compatible with older systems when it comes to upgrades (Speaking from personal experience as some whom has had the chance to upgrade MXM GPU's on laptops before). It also makes it expensive too.

RAM and M.2 SSD's are replaceable as well as the keyboard and battery with ease.

It was one of the main reason i was moving from MSI to Clevo DTR's because of serviceability of the Clevo DTR was vast. the fact my MSI died on me just speeded up the transition.

Last time i checked Alienware was using DGFF GPU's which is Dell's proprietary form factor where as MXM is more open.

 

[L Miller]

LOL that's fine, would have no intention of upgrading anything other than the drives until the 3yr warranty ran out, By about that time my savings should have recovered, also by that time the Cpu extreme version's "if any" will be affordable but I'm already looking at the i7-11700k build to start of with, as for 3080 its going to take years before games catch up, especially on a 1080 screen and 4k is just not needed on a 17", maybe if her eyesight was 20years younger but sadly not the case.

 

[solidus1983]

Hope you enjoy it bud, i sure am. Playing Warzone @ 144fps on 1080p Max settings with 200% res scale and DLSS on is sweet. better then the 60-75hz i had on my old system which i upgraded to 120hz that extra 24 frames i could tell straight away.

 

[L Miller]

Sounds like its going to be a nice system, but as for Warzone, we both refuse to play anything our kids can destroy us at.

 

[L Miller]

Sorry but just one more question, How far in the future will it take before Clevo brings out a Cascade Lake or 4th gen Ryzen Motherboard as its no problem waiting a few months

 

[solidus1983]

You sure you don't mean Alder Lake?

Cascade Lake is 10th Gen HEDT LGA2066, which as far as i know hasn't seen a mobile counter part.

 

[L Miller]

You are probably correct, it would be the next Clevo Desktop laptop hybrid MB upgrade from this Rocket Lake Board. I just seem to have the ability to order Tech the day before the next upgrade.
On a lighter note, can anyone tell me what Length the cable is from Power bricks to Laptop "Not kettle plug to Mains" as my better half is disabled and is often bed ridden as her back is knackered so will be constantly moved on and off the bed, basicly the longer the better.
Sorry about all the questions btw.

 

[Nedd Ludd]

AFAIK Recoil 17 has the GPU in a MXM slot (it's the only laptop sold by PCS in 2021 having that) and the CPU is definitely replaceable, as it has Desktop CPU socket for 10th and 11th gen. That's why it requires two Power bricks to operate.

It has RAM replaceable (I might be wrong but it might have 4 slots, 2 on one side, 2 on the back of the motherboard, near the keyboard)
Has 4 PCIe NVMe M.2 slots (one of those being PCIe 4.0 if you equip a 11th gen CPU, aka Rocketlake). It might be only 3 M.2 slots if you go the 10th gen CPU, as the 4th is directly driven by the PCIe lanes at 4.0 available only by Rocketlake-S.

PS: despite GPU being replaceable, you have to have MXM modules compatible with those Clevos, there are quite a rarity, so don't expect a certain path to upgrade in the years to come. Like it might not happen a future RTX 4000 MXM card is compatible with this one. The only certain benefit is that if GPU breaks you can replace it. That's a given. Future proof? We don't know.

Branded in a different name, Notebookcheck has done a good review of this product. I can't help you further.
I can only tell the name of the chassis is Clevo X170KM-G.

Thanks for the link. This is more or less the same spec I have ordered for my grandson. Makes me feel good to see that review.

 

[solidus1983]

You are probably correct, it would be the next Clevo Desktop laptop hybrid MB upgrade from this Rocket Lake Board. I just seem to have the ability to order Tech the day before the next upgrade.
On a lighter note, can anyone tell me what Length the cable is from Power bricks to Laptop "Not kettle plug to Mains" as my better half is disabled and is often bed ridden as her back is knackered so will be constantly moved on and off the bed, basicly the longer the better.
Sorry about all the questions btw.

1 Meter from PSU to connector on laptop.

 

[Nedd Ludd]

There is only item I do not like about the 17.3" Recoil and that is the twin power supplies. I asked PC Specialists why they did not use a larger one and they said that this is how they are supplied by the manufacturer.

Now Clevo make a 330W power adpator so my question is ....would the input sockets take a larger current and has anyone else tried to use just one power supply at a higher output?

 

[Macco26]

There is only item I do not like about the 17.3" Recoil and that is the twin power supplies. I asked PC Specialists why they did not use a larger one and they said that this is how they are supplied by the manufacturer.

Now Clevo make a 330W power adpator so my question is ....would the input sockets take a larger current and has anyone else tried to use just one power supply at a higher output?

This laptop hits the 400w spikes, with 360w sustained under load. I know someone (PremaMod) managed to use one only special brick but then it can't be used at its full potential. Only light works..

 

[Nedd Ludd]

This laptop hits the 400w spikes, with 360w sustained under load. I know someone (PremaMod) managed to use one only special brick but then it can't be used at its full potential. Only light works..

I think I still have to go down this route as the reason I purchased it was for my grandson to do coding and cyber work at Uni and not for gaming. (Yes, I know...students). However, he only lives 5 miles from the UNi and has his own gaming rig at home so hopefully, this laptop will not be maxed out on power.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Nedd Ludd]

OK, been doing some diging. It is a green EU energy initiative and the regulations state that an external power supply cannot exceed 250W. Strange that these bricks are 280W which is more than the EU permit.

Regulation - 2019/1782 - EN - EUR-Lex

eur-lex.europa.eu

Maybe now we are out we can get back to reality.

 

[L Miller]

Sales have confirmed the cable is 1 Meter long, its just to short for us and without any alternative option or 3rd party PSU available have needed to shop elsewhere so gone for the fully twinked out Area 51 "With 2m cables...!", It just seems insane to lose sales of such an expensive taylor made unit due to trying to save a few penny's on the PSU cables, Thanks all for the help peeps.

 

[Nedd Ludd]

Sales have confirmed the cable is 1 Meter long, its just to short for us and without any alternative option or 3rd party PSU available have needed to shop elsewhere so gone for the fully twinked out Area 51 "With 2m cables...!", It just seems insane to lose sales of such an expensive taylor made unit due to trying to save a few penny's on the PSU cables, Thanks all for the help peeps.

Just measured my Acer and my nieces HP. Both are 1 mtr long. I don't see any problem here, just use an extension cord and place the psu near the laptop.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just measured my Acer and my nieces HP. Both are 1 mtr long. I don't see any problem here, just use an extension cord and place the psu near the laptop.

This is what I do.