Defiance XS - Few queries

[relax24]

Hi Guys,

There's not much detail on the net about this model/P950HR in terms of reviews so I had a few queries.

1) I understand the Max-q has a TGP guideline of 80 and 90 Watt. Does anyone know what it is for this model and the clock speeds?
2) How about the Thermals? I really want a thin laptop (the Defiance III is a bit too bulky for my liking), but I'm a bit worried that there may be heat issues.
3) I've noticed PC Specialist have changed from Arctic Silver thermal paste to EK-TIM Ectotherm in their options. Never heard of this and can't seem to find any detail about it. Has anyone got any experience with it, or is it just cheaper and that's why they've gone for it?
4) There's no configurable option for 2x8Gb Ram. Can I choose the 16gb option, and then ask them to put 2x8 instead?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tony1044]

Hi Guys,

There's not much detail on the net about this model/P950HR in terms of reviews so I had a few queries.

1) I understand the Max-q has a TGP guideline of 80 and 90 Watt. Does anyone know what it is for this model and the clock speeds?

> A bit of Googling suggests that nVidia knock 300MHz of a comparably 1080

2) How about the Thermals? I really want a thin laptop (the Defiance III is a bit too bulky for my liking), but I'm a bit worried that there may be heat issues.

>Honestly no idea on this one. I have a DII and once I repasted it, it cooled down, but under load it still hits high temps. Whilst the XS is using new chipsets, it's something that would personally concern me at this stage as the Defiance range on the whole does seem to run hot from what I can see on here.

3) I've noticed PC Specialist have changed from Arctic Silver thermal paste to EK-TIM Ectotherm in their options. Never heard of this and can't seem to find any detail about it. Has anyone got any experience with it, or is it just cheaper and that's why they've gone for it?

> Not one I'd heard of either but again a quick google of "ek-tim ectotherm vs arctic silver 5" seems to suggest it is a good alternative. Or at least no worse.

4) There's no configurable option for 2x8Gb Ram. Can I choose the 16gb option, and then ask them to put 2x8 instead?

> Why? If you do that you are limiting your future upgrade options. Ok you get the full bandwidth of the RAM but as others have pointed out on here there isn't much difference / benefit these days

Thanks in advance!

Welcome. Sorry if it's not much help in the long run

 

[Oussebon]

as the Defiance range on the whole does seem to run hot from what I can see on here.

The Defiance is just PCS's brand name however - the chassis would have little to do with each other.

It's the Clevo P950HR chassis which is apparently equivalent to the Sager NP8952. There's a video review on youtube and may be other reviews as well.

There's a discussion of dual vs single channel in this thread: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...f-Defiance-III&p=399665&viewfull=1#post399665
The only credible evidence I've seen suggests it won't make much difference. However, someone apparently got PCS to sell them 2x8gb. Though others have asked and been refused before.

[FONT=&quot]¯\_(ツ)_/¯[/FONT]

 

[Tony1044]

The Defiance is just PCS's brand name however - the chassis would have little to do with each other.

It's the Clevo P950HR chassis which is apparently equivalent to the Sager NP8952. There's a video review on youtube and may be other reviews as well.

There's a discussion of dual vs single channel in this thread: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...f-Defiance-III&p=399665&viewfull=1#post399665
The only credible evidence I've seen suggests it won't make much difference. However, someone apparently got PCS to sell them 2x8gb. Though others have asked and been refused before.

[FONT="]¯\_(ツ)_/¯[/FONT]

You may want to rethink that given the Defiance III my mate bought (on my recommendation, I might add) has an identical chassis to my DII. I am basing it on what I have seen with my own two eyes. The only noticeable exterior difference was a redesigned keyboard on the III.

The XS looks identical again but smaller due to removing extra drive bays etc.

 

[Oussebon]

You may want to rethink that

No thanks. I already thought about it pretty thoroughly.

It's no surprise whatsoever that the Defiance III turns out to be pretty similar to the Defiance II since Clevo will have just updated their chassis design for the latest stuff. But that's down to Clevo, not to the fact PCS have slapped the name Defiance on it.

Given that the Defiance XS is significantly smaller and designed with a different purpose, as well as having different hardware in it, I don't feel comfortable claiming it's clearly the same as the full-fat defiances without any actual evidence other than the name.

Apologies if the phrasing above wasn't clear. What I meant was that the Defiance laptops have little to do with each other just because they're called Defiance. If Clevo make them clearly there are going to be similarities. But I took that as so bleedingly obvious I didn't bother stating that explicitly.

Like I said, there's a review on youtube. It also includes a teardown starting around here for the underside and heatsink https://youtu.be/1KO0NcR5jhk?t=918

The OP can make their own mind up about the hardware. Personally I CBA with any more discussion of PCS branding semantics.

 

[Tony1044]

We're talking specifically about PCS builds here so disingenuous to keep throwing the Clevo bit at it. Whatever the branding - I didn't buy a Clevo xxx I bought a PCS Defiance.

What I've seen of the chassis is that it is a smaller version of mine.

I was relating to a) my own experiences with my DII and a friends DIII and b) what I've seen on here on more than one occasion WRG to temperatures.

So...trying to use my own experiences to provide some guidance.

Put it another way - my DII always ran hot. 90+ degrees. Even if that's not down to the chassis and the way it's built then it's down to how it was put together. Either being the case, cramming more into a smaller version of it...

The search isn't great on vBulletin but various combinations of defiance hot temps temp temperature bring (what I assume is the maximum) 20 pages on average of hits. Granted not every one will be about high temps but still.

 

[Oussebon]

so disingenuous to keep throwing the Clevo bit at it.

Neither disingenuous nor irrelevant since they use the Clevo chassis. Bit like saying the discussion of an Asus Z270E vs an Asus B250H has no place in a discussion of the PCS Apollo K VR and the PCS Apollo Zen because they are both called Apollo

I don't at all disagree that quite a few people have found their Defiances, especially with the 7700HQ, to have run hot - though hopefully many more have not. I'm simply reluctant to assume this will also apply to a different chassis that just has the same label.

That said, having watched the review linked above at around 11:30 they discuss temps, and show the CPU having gone to a max of 86 with the GPU having gone to 72 degrees C under a Firestrike benchmark. Which is pretty impressive. Though ofc that is just one unit, etc.