My Octane III GTX1080 6700k

[Scott]

So, on Friday I received my Octane III. Brief specs are as follows:

Intel i7 6700k
NVidia GTX1080
16GB HyperX Impact RAM
512GB Samsung SM951 NVMe Drive
1TB Budget SSD
1080p 75hz GSync Screen

It was very nicely packed, my little girl helped me out...

 

[Scott]

So I ran a couple of VERY quick benches and found it overheating like mad. At first I thought it was the poor pasting job as it looked like it had been slapped on with a trowel. Some new paste (AS5) later and there was an improvement, but it was only 4 or 5 degrees.... not what I was after. Strangely I didn't receive the used tube of MX-4 so I'm wondering if it wasn't used in my build, even though I paid for it.




AS5 in its place.




As I said, I only got a few degrees from doing the above so I decided to check out the fan profiles. The control panel as installed stock is incredibly buggy, everything needs to be installed in the correct order or there are conflict issues that stops both the OC panel from working and XTU from installing correctly. I wiped the OS a few times though while playing so I got around all of that eventually. The Fan profiles works right off the bat though so I selected "Overclock" and everything ran great from then on. Very cool

 

[Scott]

So then the fun began..... benchmarks. Thankfully they didn't disappoint.

The first check was of the NVMe drive, it's unbelievable seeing such figures reported. I got varying results over the times that I ran it, this was actually one of the lower ones.



Next was some vanilla testing. This was all done with the fans at stock, this was before using the OC profile in the fan program.

3DMark 11


Firestrike Ultra


Prime95 Small FFTs


Skydiver (dat aasss)



As you can see, the temps were getting pretty toasty on the CPU. This was all completely stock (actually before the repaste too). I ran similar checks after the repaste but the temps were still up at 90 degrees for some.

 

[Scott]

Last vanilla check Timespy



In order to see what the system could do with a better fan profile I just maxed them (Fn+1). Everything else remained vanilla other than the paste.

Firestrike Ultra


Firestrike


Idle Temps


Prime95

 

[Scott]

More max fan benches....

Skydive


Timespy


3DMark 11



I forgot to take a screenshot but the max idle with the fans in normal was 32C

 

[Scott]

So then I messed around with a little overclocking. The end result is a rock solid 4.2GHz OC with a -100mV undervolt. Stock voltage I had it running 4.6GHz rock solid, the temps were hitting the 90s again though, even with the fans at max, so I pulled it back. I've got some GELid Extreme coming so I'll see if that brings temps down any.

The figures do the talking here. This is the laptop as it sits right now. Look at that result


I had a bit of fun and pushed it a little to see what it would do. Currently the 4th fastest single notebook 1080 in the Firestrike test.


Did OK in the Win7 performance rating too. Although this was before any OC at all so I think I could have got 7.9 across the board if I had tried

 

[Scott]

And so..... my journey.

My first set of results were done on the standard install of Win10 by PCS. I then set about putting Win7 onto the laptop as this was initially going to be my preference. It was fun figuring out how to install Win7 but even once it was on I had trouble getting the automatic updates to work. I've been using Win10 for so long as well that it's just that little bit prettier. It's a PITA turning off all the annoyances but in the end I felt it was worth it so I went back to Win10. FWIW the benches were pretty much exactly the same on both OS when vanilla (I can't comment on the OC as I only did that in Win10). Win7 was slightly higher in some benches, and slightly lower in others... only by 50-100 frames though so it's likely down to error factor than any OS differences.

So onto the laptop itself....

The Good:

The PCS packaging is excellent. Very happy with how the box arrived. It's sent with DPD as well which is a win as they give you hourly slots.

It's a very robust feeling laptop, I'm very happy with the way it feels and the way it looks overall. It feels completely solid, the hinge is excellent and the casing feels premium (it doesn't show fingerprints either which is a huge win).

The power - This thing is just unbelievable, the power that it's capable of in such a small form factor is unbelievable. It's definitely the perfect niche between size and power (The P870 is the laptop of choice for the 3 higher scores than mine).

The flexibility of the storage media I find fantastic. It's a real breath of fresh air for me as I'm so used to 1 drive or 2 max with no CD Rom. Years ago I had a huge HP laptop that took 2 drives, I absolutely loved that. The fact that this can take 4 is just insane. I had 2 HDDs in it along with my SSD earlier and it was just surreal copying things over at 100mb/s. MILES faster than my normal network transfers.

The SCREEN!! - It's absolutely stunning. It's very bright and incredibly sharp. I'm really glad I went with the 1080p screen as I don't think the 4k screen would have been able to better it all round. Not a pixel out of place either

The trackpad is really good. Very sensitive with just the right amount of feel to it. It needs tweaked from stock due to the large screen but once you set it to your preference it's very good. The buttons feel a tiny bit cheap but I think that's very much function over form.

The fingerprint sensor doesn't get in the way at all and it's brilliant for logging into windows. I can't believe how good this technology has gotten (phones included).

The NVME drive, seriously.... how fast is this thing?


The not so good:

It's a bit of a list here but it's mostly niggles.......

The pasting job was pretty poor, you can see in the pictures that it was a bit much. I'm going to be contacting customer services to see if they even used MX-4 like I paid for as I'm not convinced. There was 2 small tubes of the stock stuff in with my manuals etc but no MX-4.

The keyboard could be better. It's a fine keyboard and it works exactly as it should, I had a keyboard in an old Acer years ago that absolutely puts it to shame though. My Grandfather still has that laptop and everytime I'm sorting something out for him I can't get over how good the keyboard is. It's something that could definitely be doing with the premium upgrade. The lighting on it is brilliant though, love the customisation on it.

The power cable - People are going to think I'm going to moan about the size of the brick.... well I'm not, it's the length of the cable coming from it that has me disappointed. The thing weighs a ton, which is fine by me, but to have just over a meter of cable to work around your space is just not good. This seriously needs addressed IMO as it's a plug in the back that's carrying this weight if it's not angled perfectly (which it never is where I sit). I fear this may be the first fail point in the coming months/years. If that turns out to be the case, and I'm out of warranty, I'll need to address the situation myself with a custom cable. I cannot live with this failing twice.


I'm going to mention the weight, not as a niggle though...... it's 4.2kg with my 2 drives in it. Just for reference


Overall I'm absolutely over the moon with the laptop. Tonight I setup my FSX install and had a play around. My previous AW 17 R3, that I sent back to get this, was cooking the CPU in the 90s when game was doing its thing..... I barely crept over 70 in this. That's a true testament to just how good the processor is along with the cooling.

Happy camper. Now I'll just need to let my credit card cool down before I get myself a VR kit

 

[Scott]

My FSX install taking off from Glasgow Airport (Heavy on the FPS). This is it completely maxed with everything on ultra. I've not seen the temps of the CPU go over 75 while gaming yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUZDahiS2Y4

 

[Hewhoist]

I'm sure people will really appreciate this honest detailed review. I was the same upon opening my machine really disappointed in the paste job. The scores you've posted show just how powerful a machine this is even the P870's may have SLI but the complaints from people about heat and other issues puts me right off. My benchmarks and heats are very similar so I'm happy now as well wasn't at first. I'm shocked by how cool the 1080 runs after a re-paste I've never hit over 70% on anything yet. I'm tempted to clock it up to desktop level and see what it does to the benchmarks.

This isn't a laptop anymore haha

p.s the length of the power lead isn't a petty complaint I've noticed it constantly pulling and coming free which makes me worry for the socket/connecter wear and tear over time.

 

[Scott]

I may be wrong but overclocking the GPU shouldn't really affect the temperature. You won't have access to the voltage controls, well there will be a way to but it would be an instant warranty ender, so the temperatures should remain fairly constant. It's the voltage that affects the temperature due to the amount of power the unit consumes (TDP) as long as that remains at a constant maximum the temperature won't change.

 

[Oussebon]

Apparently overclocking the GPU is an instant warranty ender anyway: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?3284-Warranty-When-Overclocking! I assume PCS's definition of overclocking including altering the frequencies, not just the voltage.

I'm also pretty sure that upping the clocks can increase temps even without voltage being increased, as I've seen that happen, though I share your understanding that voltage is a bigger factor.

 

[Hewhoist]

Apparently overclocking the GPU is an instant warranty ender anyway: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?3284-Warranty-When-Overclocking! I assume PCS's definition of overclocking including altering the frequencies, not just the voltage.

I'm also pretty sure that upping the clocks can increase temps even without voltage being increased, as I've seen that happen, though I share your understanding that voltage is a bigger factor.

if that is the case why do they supply the software with the computer? there is no altering the voltage to the gpu only the clock speed

 

[Oussebon]

Altering the clock speed is still, well, overclocking, even if the voltage is the same. And I've no idea why, it's possible their post is out of date and OCing the GPU no longer invalidates the warranty. I personally don't see eye to eye with that policy, but my opinion doesn't make it not apply.

Since there isn't anything newer confirming that OCing the GPU doesn't invalidate the warranty, I'd probably check before doing it myself. If you don't check, OC the GPU, something breaks (not necessarily due to the OC), and PC Specialist's response is that you OCed the GPU so it's not under warranty any more, you might not be very happy Your call ofc. I'm just pointing out the info, such as I have it.

I'm not familiar with the software and what it does, whether it's just the CPU or if it allows for both the CPU and GPU to be OCed. I'm assuming its not PCS's own software and it comes with the Clevo chassis. In which case PC Specialist would probably say that it's there if you want to use it, but that it's your choice. Just like the Palit software CD I got with my GTX 670 in 2012 (ordered from PCS) included ThunderMaster, which can let you OC the GPU.

 

[Scott]

Probably worth getting in touch with them to see what the score is. I know the 980 had built in OC right from the off but you could then manipulate the firmware to allow over-overclocking including the voltage etc. I would suggest that it's probably out of date given the software etc all supplied with these units and that it's advertised as such by NVidia, but it's definitely worth checking.

 

[pauhay158]

Hey Scotster,

Could you let me know what order everything needs to be installed in and what software is used for fans etc?

I am getting a very similar spec to your in the next couple of weeks (just waiting on the build now) and it is going to be OS free so i'll be starting from scratch.

Great figures and tweaks by the way.

Paul.

So I ran a couple of VERY quick benches and found it overheating like mad. At first I thought it was the poor pasting job as it looked like it had been slapped on with a trowel. Some new paste (AS5) later and there was an improvement, but it was only 4 or 5 degrees.... not what I was after. Strangely I didn't receive the used tube of MX-4 so I'm wondering if it wasn't used in my build, even though I paid for it.

View attachment 8794View attachment 8798View attachment 8797View attachment 8799


AS5 in its place.

View attachment 8800


As I said, I only got a few degrees from doing the above so I decided to check out the fan profiles. The control panel as installed stock is incredibly buggy, everything needs to be installed in the correct order or there are conflict issues that stops both the OC panel from working and XTU from installing correctly. I wiped the OS a few times though while playing so I got around all of that eventually. The Fan profiles works right off the bat though so I selected "Overclock" and everything ran great from then on. Very cool

 

[Scott]

Thankfully windows only takes about 10 minutes to install on the thing so I decided to just install the Control Panel first.... and make sure it was working. This is effectively what worked for me.

The control panel has the OC options for the CPU/GPU and the Fan Profile options. It's actually really good.

Have fun with it

 

[pauhay158]

Is that the Control Panel that comes with the Octane? Do you download it or is the info for it in the documentation?

And cheers man, can't wait to try this beast!

 

[Scott]

I believe there is a disc with the drivers but I downloaded them all from the Clevo website before I started. There have been a few updates since the launch so best to get them direct.

 

[pauhay158]

Ah, that makes sense.

What model of Clevo is the Octane based on mate?

Many thanks,

Paul.

I believe there is a disc with the drivers but I downloaded them all from the Clevo website before I started. There have been a few updates since the launch so best to get them direct.

 

[Oussebon]

The 15.6" one is the P751DM2-G and the 17.3" one is P775DM3-G