Vortex IX first look

[debiruman665]

That pad's presumably there in part as a cushion for the drive. Most SSDs will be 7mm and I'm not sure I'd want to install a 9.5mm HDD without the padding...

this!

I put a superslim HDD into the second bay of my Optimus without any padding. My laptop slid off the footrest and had a little bump at a drop of about 1ft, and although the disk was fine and is still working in my new one, the bay itself never worked again and was the entire reason I started looking for a new machine.

 

[ixende]

Finally, someone who does a proper review on this forum of specialists.

I personally think this heatsink is not designed to work well with LM. I highly advise you try using Kryonaut on the CPU as well and see if the temps are any better. And if that is not helping, you can try another paste with higher viscosity, based on your TjMax.

Also, if you right click on a HWInfo row, you can have a graph over time, which is more useful than seeing the spiked max temp.



Could you also run AIDA64 and see if the CPU is able to maintain 3.9 for more than 2-3 minutes? (maybe with a stronger UV?)

And don't forget to select Performance Mode in Clevo Center which should set the PL1 to 55W, as opposed to the starved 45W.

Awesome review.

Kyronaut will not help as it is lower in thermal conductivity. I dont think there is a heatsink there isnt designed to work with LM unless it is aluminium based.

Thank you for this very detailed informations !!

I'am very surprised about that HIGH CPU temp... like A_BOLOG said did you set the good profile for the fan ?
95 degrees with LM is not acceptable...

Tests were done with stock -0.050V undervolt and auto fan profile, will test more.

Looking at YouTube review on the chassis it was recommended to place the laptop on a stand, apparently the rubber feet block a lot of the airflow from the fans. Lifting the back of the laptop reduced temps by 6-8 degrees

Oh I already had the laptop suspended between two boxes from either side, so there isnt anything blocking the large vent below.

this!

I put a superslim HDD into the second bay of my Optimus without any padding. My laptop slid off the footrest and had a little bump at a drop of about 1ft, and although the disk was fine and is still working in my new one, the bay itself never worked again and was the entire reason I started looking for a new machine.

Hmmm maybe a thinner pad could be used or even something like double-sided tape to secure the drive without sliding around maybe?

 

[debiruman665]

Kyronaut will not help as it is lower in thermal conductivity. I dont think there is a heatsink there isnt designed to work with LM unless it is aluminium based.


Tests were done with stock -0.050V undervolt and auto fan profile, will test more.


Oh I already had the laptop suspended between two boxes from either side, so there isnt anything blocking the large vent below.


Hmmm maybe a thinner pad could be used or even something like double-sided tape to secure the drive without sliding around maybe?

The second bay had a lot of room at the back of the disk so it was more like the disk unplugged itself from the SATA easily on the second bay and fried something on the way out. Coulda woulda shoulda thought :'(

 

[ixende]

The second bay had a lot of room at the back of the disk so it was more like the disk unplugged itself from the SATA easily on the second bay and fried something on the way out. Coulda woulda shoulda thought :'(

Ouch. Did your laptop have any drive bracket or securing mechanism? Or was it only held by the connector?
The Vortex IX has a metal bracket that screws into the back end of the ssd/hdd, and then you screw that down into the chassis. The padding more for vibration purposes I guess.

 

[debiruman665]

I got the laptop second hand and it came with 1 drive, when I bought a newer SSD I cloned the main drive to that then moved the HDD to the second bay. There was no bracket, and I was oblivious to the knowledge of such things.

 

[ixende]

Added -0.250v undervolt thermals with aida64 run. Custom fan profile also used.

Short summary: just under 80c thermals, seems to be 55w powerlimited to only 3.4/3.5ghz all core during run. Fan profile kept fans at 55%

 

[Pokkai]

Quality review thank you, I'd be interested in a Vortex if it came in a 17" form factor, I wouldn't buy the Recoil from PCS, there is more customisable options for that particular chassis with other re-sellers.

Have you settled on that undervolt now?

 

[ixende]

Quality review thank you, I'd be interested in a Vortex if it came in a 17" form factor, I wouldn't buy the Recoil from PCS, there is more customisable options for that particular chassis with other re-sellers.

Have you settled on that undervolt now?

I would say yes. -0.250v seems to be stable for now, though it *may* be pushed further. Its a fine line between temps and stability.
The vortex has a quite beefy cooler imho but thin and light laptops are definitely going to thermal throttle VERY fast with the 9750h. Especially on stock paste or not on LM for that matter.

EDIT:word change

 

[ixende]

Last benchmarks:
Superposition stock vs overclocked

 

[a_bolog]

Awesome, super thanks.

Believe me. Just test Kryonaut on the CPU and you will be surprised.

The moment any core hits 80 degrees, the Turbo Speed will downclock to 3.2, 3.5 with UV, in sustained CPU loads.

Also, I'd go .130 on both Core and Cache.

Can you please check when running AIDA64, if both fans run at the same speed in Auto mode? Traditionally they run independently in respect to GPU or CPU loads, but considering the heatsink is shared, I'm wondering.

 

[ixende]

Awesome, super thanks.

Believe me. Just test Kryonaut on the CPU and you will be surprised.

The moment any core hits 80 degrees, the Turbo Speed will downclock to 3.2, 3.5 with UV, in sustained CPU loads.

Also, I'd go .130 on both Core and Cache.

Can you please check when running AIDA64, if both fans run at the same speed in Auto mode? Traditionally they run independently in respect to GPU or CPU loads, but considering the heatsink is shared, I'm wondering.

I probably wont be repasting the cpu again, LM isnt cheap and I rather not change to kyronaut.
Fan speed are independent of each other even on auto mode. If the cpu gets too hot, only the fan next to the cpu will ramp up. Same for the gpu.

Sort of done doing more testing, as my finals are around the corner and need to study

 

[SlimCini]

Yeah yeah yeah... What we all really want to know is what fps do you get playing minesweeper?

 

[ixende]

Yeah yeah yeah... What we all really want to know is what fps do you get playing minesweeper?

Bbb..b..but Minesweeper doesnt uses FPS *runs away*

 

[TheUberMedic]

Quality review thank you, I'd be interested in a Vortex if it came in a 17" form factor, I wouldn't buy the Recoil from PCS, there is more customisable options for that particular chassis with other re-sellers.

Have you settled on that undervolt now?

I know there is a version of the chassis that is 17" but it is strange that PCS don't sell it. Also, what do you mean there's more customisable options for the Recoil chassis elsewhere?

I'm actually currently stuck between the Vortex and the Recoil III. Dunno if I should go for a smaller screen or a larger one.

 

[ixende]

I know there is a version of the chassis that is 17" but it is strange that PCS don't sell it. Also, what do you mean there's more customisable options for the Recoil chassis elsewhere?

I'm actually currently stuck between the Vortex and the Recoil III. Dunno if I should go for a smaller screen or a larger one.

Yes there is a 17 inch version PB70RF of the vortex (15 inch is PB50RF) but currently pcspecialist doesnt carry it https://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_prodetail.asp?id=1213&lang=en

I think he meant you can get the Recoil III TONGFANG GK7CP0S(17") or TONGFANG GK5CQ7Z (15") from another retailer.

Do note that if you go for the recoil, you will lose gsync panel and thunderbolt 3 (over usbc) which the vortex includes.

 

[Pokkai]

I know there is a version of the chassis that is 17" but it is strange that PCS don't sell it. Also, what do you mean there's more customisable options for the Recoil chassis elsewhere?

I'm actually currently stuck between the Vortex and the Recoil III. Dunno if I should go for a smaller screen or a larger one.

I'm not going into details because this is PCS's forums, but you can get G-Sync on that chassis's display elsewhere, as one customisable option.

I'd be surprised if PCS don't offer a 17" version of the Vortex at some point, but despite me asking a few times I don't get a definite answer.

 

[TheUberMedic]

I'm not going into details because this is PCS's forums, but you can get G-Sync on that chassis's display elsewhere, as one customisable option.

A GSYNC option? That implies it's been put into discrete mode which, as far as I'm aware, doesn't exist for the recoil chassis. Mind PMing me this particular place?

 

[markh]

If Ixende is still knocking about, I'd be interested to hear how they're getting on with the Vortex laptop a few days down the line ...

 

[ixende]

If Ixende is still knocking about, I'd be interested to hear how they're getting on with the Vortex laptop a few days down the line ...

Hey Im still here. But Im unfortunately not going to be able to play/test the laptop more due to my final exams which finishes at the start of Jun. I hope the information/benchmarks are enough so far to provide insight on the Vortex IX (which seems to be a very capable laptop).
As for daily use it performs everything smoothly for videos/web browsing.

I will still be able to answer any question that do not require any extensive testing.

 

[debiruman665]

I would say yes. -0.250v seems to be stable for now, though it *may* be pushed further. Its a fine line between temps and stability.
The vortex has a quite beefy cooler imho but thin and light laptops are definitely going to thermal throttle VERY fast with the 9750h. Especially on stock paste or not on LM for that matter.

EDIT:word change

is that -0.25V? as in -250mV?

That's a pretty substantial undervolt!

Did you cause any BSOD when going lower than that?

Last benchmarks:
Superposition stock vs overclocked

GPU and CPU benchmarks simultaneously can be used to simulate real gameplay.

I run MSI Kombuster to get the GPU nice and hot

then run CPU-z with a limited thread count and increment the count gradually to gradually test different loads on the cpu.

The GPU benches don't stress the cpu enough, and the GPU benches hardly bother the cpu and don't really give a good real world example.

optimising for both seperately tended to end up with a lot of throttling for me when I actually started using them