Ultrabooks, shmultrabooks. Mobile or otherwise, gamers know there is no substitute for a massive slab of expensive and power-hungry hardware. Sure, the dividing line betwixt laptop and desktop performance is thinning, but the singularity at which both converge remains to be seen.

As a effect, Origin PC has implemented a straightforward tactic to grant laptops hairier chests: cram in an honest to goodness desktop CPU. Yep, Origin's EON15-X packs a full-fledged "Devil's Canyon" Intel Core i7 into a (relatively) modest 15-inch laptop. Nosotros'll talk details in just a moment, but know this: relative to its peers, the EON15-X's functioning is impressive.

The highest end configurations, similar the one we received, pair an i7-4790K with a single GeForce 980M and a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) display. Other options include upwardly to 32GB RAM, two x M.2 SSDs and 2 x 2.5-inch SSD or HDDs. The EON 10 comes in both 15-inch and 17-inch flavors. It should be said both models appear almost identical in terms of features, functioning specs and upgrade options; yet, the 17-Ten is a full pound heavier. The only reason you'll want to spring for the 17-inch model is for a more than expansive screen, but you'll need to make do with 1080p.

If stuffing desktop-course silicon into a laptop blows your mind, let information technology exist said Origin isn't the but visitor to achieve this feat. For starters, Clevo/Sager and MSI come up to mind. In fact, Origin works with Clevo to pattern many of its laptops, the EON15-X included. Just hybrids similar these are rare animals in the notebook kingdom, surviving in a niche ignored by the largest laptop makers. Additionally, finding one as "portable" as the EON15-X makes this laptop all the more than unusual.

First impressions

The crate. I loved the wooden crate. It's an boosted $4 and totally worth it for the novelty, if not for the protection. The UPS driver who delivered the laptop really told me, "I've delivered packages for 7 years... offset fourth dimension I've delivered something like this". This is a great start-impression earlier we even open up the box.

In the box, I received everything you may expect plus some extras: an EON15-X laptop (of form), a rather sizeable 230-watt power brick, a black neoprene sleeve instance, a poster, a t-shirt, reinstallation media and a transmission.

Blueprint and Build Quality

Origin states its EON15-X is the thinnest and lightest notebook of its kind to feature an overclocked 4th gen Intel Core i7 desktop CPU. Neither "thin" nor "light" are words you're likely to acquaintance with the EON15-X, but its size and weight are entirely genre-appropriate. Our config weighed in at vii.4 pounds with an boilerplate thickness of virtually 1.5-inches. By comparison, Origin'due south previous and current gen EON15-Southward (mobile CPUs) counterbalance six.eight and 5.five pounds, respectively.

Overall, EON15-10 exhibits a simple, solid and thoughtful design. Build quality is very good. Nosotros have a lot of plastic here, but the body and mechanical aspects (due east.chiliad. display hinges, buttons, switches) feel solid. The display lid is sparse and exhibits some flex, merely doesn't feel perilous or inexpensive. The base is rock solid with big, non-slip pads on the bottom.

The palm rest features a soft matte cease which mitigates fingerprints while offering a velvety feel. Any edges and corners that are in contact with your easily and wrists are soft and/or rounded. There are likewise no shortage of ports and they are placed intelligently with the power and video in the back, USB on both sides and non as well shut together.

The "gamer" aesthetic of the EON15-X is largely subdued. Origin opted for a small logo, clean lines and broad unadorned surfaces. There aren't whatever giant, lit-upward alien faces or garish decals. Instead, the true purpose of this laptop is betrayed mostly by its size, angles, custom lighting and modestly stylized rear vents. It'due south non over the top, just a straightforward gaming laptop.

Hardware Overview and CPU Performance

Origin EON15-X
Starts at $1,665, $3,300 every bit tested

  • 15.six-inch 4K QFHD (3840 ten 2160) Glossy Display
  • Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.5GHz (overclocked)
  • 16GB (8GB ten 2) Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M (8GB)
  • 480GB M.2. PCIe SSD + 1TB Seagate SSHD SATA
  • Full size keyboard westward/ customizable backlight
  • 4 10 USB three.0 (1 x powered, 1 x eSATA combo)
  • 2 x DisplayPort 1.2, i x HDMI-out (with HDCP)
  • Headphone, Mic, S/PDIF out, Line in, RJ-45 LAN port
  • 802.11a/b/grand/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0
  • six-in-i Card reader
  • Fingerprint / Biometric reader
  • Windows 8.1 64-chip
  • Removable 8 jail cell Lithium-lon battery pack, 82WH
  • 7.4 lbs, (West) xv.2" x (H) 1.40" 10 (D) x.31"

Origin'south review unit shipped with fourth-gen Intel Core i7-4790K. Origin too overclocked the thing to 4.5GHz for us, which is a 500MHz bump over its stock clock of 4000MHz. When paired with a GeForce GTX 980M, this is very probable the fastest laptop you've seen. I know it's the fastest laptop WE have seen (spoiler alert!). In fact, the EON15-10 would give a lot of sub-$2000 gaming rigs a run for their money.

Our config boasts the fastest CPU and GPU offered, 16GB RAM, 4K display panel, 1TB SSHD and a 480GB PCIe SSD. With all the extras included, our config runs an center-popping $3,300 plus revenue enhancement.

For a trivial more context, the base of operations config (i5-4460S, GTX 965M, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD) is $1,665, while one attuned to my own tastes (i7-4690K, 980M, 16GB RAM, 480GB SSD) runs about $2,500.

It's condom to say the inclusion of a high-end desktop CPU is the defining property of the EON15-X. You may observe this is an Intel "K" and not the hexacore "X" (retrieve of the power brick!).

Even amongst similarly named models, the desktop vs. mobile performance gap can exist pregnant as desktop processors are invariably faster. Some other thing is the cost of mobile processors. If yous desire to match the performance of something like an i7-4790K using a mobile fleck, you'd be looking at something like the i7-4940MX which is about four times as expensive. Yikes.

Even our recently reviewed Alienware 15 with its i7-4710HQ (mobile model) can't keep pace with the EON15-X's i7-4790K (desktop model). Cinebench and x264 encoding benchmarks both illustrate an beyond-the-board advantage of about 20-25 percent.

Considering the variables here (i.e. +500MHz overclock, Intel Cadre i7-4790K, laptop course factor, GTX 980M), I fully expected CPU throttling to exist an effect. When a processor gets too hot (~100°C in this case), it volition downwardly-clock to lower frequencies to maintain prophylactic functioning. It pleases me to report that the EON15-Ten showed no signs of throttling while gaming.

For the most part, CPU temps hovered between 80 to 90° Celsius while shooting things. Intel'due south thermal interface textile improvements on its Devil's Canyon chips should be helping a bit hither. Where throttling did become an result though were our synthetic benchmarks.

During the most rigorous multi-threaded CPU tests, the arrangement lowered gears from 4500MHz to to equally "depression" every bit 4290MHz. Mind you, this is nevertheless higher than the i7-4790K'south actual default clock of 4000MHz, and so information technology is hard to complain. However, this drop in performance is also reflected in our benchmark results.

Upgradability

In terms of upgradability, Origin has made it as easy as it gets for this form factor. Two screws, a quick push of the lesser panel outward and presto -- y'all now have admission to every user upgradeable office. Aye, the processor really sits in a real LGA1150 desktop socket which makes replacements/upgrades believable.

Too, the GPU is seated in an industry-standard MXM slot making graphics upgrades technically feasible also. Both chips are smothered underneath a unified cooling system which is fully removable without diving downward the rabbit pigsty of laptop base disassembly. Honestly, the EON15-X looks easier to upgrade than some desktops, so any challenges yous'll face will probably exist sourcing parts and ensuring compatibility.

Sound

The "Onkyo" sticker hints that Origin takes your audio seriously. Onkyo is a well-known sound company typically associated with audio receivers and home theater equipment. The speakers are independent inside a audio bar located just underneath the display which points directly toward your ear holes. The resulting audio is crisp and loud, just ultimately light on bass. With the included optical SPDIF and Sound Blaster XFI EQ controls though, residual assured that you tin can squeeze some decent sound into your choice of headphones or external speakers.

Display, Keyboard and Trackpad

With a glossy 4K UHD (3840 10 2160) display, the 15-inch EON-X boasts a pixel density of 283 PPI, a figure once reserved for high-end smartphones and tablets. Consequently, the resulting image is impressively sharp and detailed. Inside our review unit was a Samsung LTN156FL02 display. For the tape, this is a TN console, but ostensibly a high quality one. The aforementioned panel also appears in some of Lenovo'southward 4K-equipped gaming laptops such as the Y50.

The factory specs are: 270 nits (brightness), 700:one contrast ratio and a 72% color gamut. Subjectively, blacks and contrast were proficient, colors were vibrant and viewing angles were decent, particularly for TN. All the same, multimedia professionals may not find the EON15-Ten'due south color accuracy and viewing angles up to par with their specific needs.

Comparing: Origin EON15-Ten (270 nit TN panel) and Thinkpad T450s (300 nit IPS console)

If there are any complaints near the screen here, it'southward (literally) nit-picking: Windows DPI scaling and very possibly screen effulgence.

On the beginning point, Windows' DPI scaling implementation has vastly improved since Windows 8.1 only remains imperfect. There's always "that plan" which doesn't piece of work well, doesn't work at all or simply ignores the Windows DPI scaler. It's an irritation that hopefully improves past the time Windows 10 is released, simply for now, this is merely the burden of being a 4K/UHD early on adopter.

On the 2nd point, the screen brightness seemed a fleck below average. Although perfectly acceptable for indoor lounging, I institute myself double-checking the screen brightness in well-lit areas. A bright screen is nice thing to accept for gaming, so I was surprised this was an consequence at all. Overall though, the display's visual quality is a positive and these are fairly small complaints.

Keyboard and trackpad

Every bit a long-time bear on typist who has hacked abroad on many, many laptop keyboards, I judge the EON15-X's membrane keyboard to be "to a higher place boilerplate". I give it good marks for beingness placidity, responsive, full-sized, sturdy and comfy. The keys are concave in shape and accept a off-white amount of travel for a laptop keyboard. It's considerably different in comparison to chiclet-mode keyboards institute on some notebooks similar Razer'southward Blade but preferences do vary.

My preference? Well, "chiclets" are mucilage, okay? Not keys. The keyboard backlighting is highly customizable (whatever color beyond three different sections). Flexikey, the utility provided to configure cardinal lighting, is a pleasure to use. The aforementioned utility is too a powerful macro-key editor, which remains useful despite the absenteeism of dedicated macro keys.

The Synaptics trackpad is spacious with soft-finish buttons that are both quiet and satisfying to click. Annotation that the mouse buttons are physically carve up pad and not integrated into some weird, giant clickpad. Clickpads -- trackpads with no distinct buttons -- are something PC manufacturers still struggle to implement well. When it comes to multi-touch on, the EON15-X has all the gestures you expect from a modern touchpad (e.g. one-finger tap, 2-finger curl, two-finger right-click, three-finger flick, pinch/zoom/rotate etc..). The trackpad worked perfectly and even though I tin be a bit ham-fisted, I experienced no bug with sensitivity or palmcheck.