P34G v3 news

Just contacted XoticPC, they said they'll have it in early next week.

 

Does anyone know when will the broadwell varient of i7-4710HQ is to be released? I read somewhere it was Q2 2015, does anyone know?

Also would it be better to wait for the broadwell, in terms of performance and CPU temps how much of an improvement do you guys think, maybe 10%?

Thanks in advance!

 

No one knows at this stage, really. Broadwell seems to be aimed at low power chips though, not high performance (which should appear with skylake) but maybe intel launches something during summer (?).

If they do, as the architecture is the same but in a smaller form (which makes it more energy efficient and therefore, runs cooler) we might see similar performance with better temps, which would be great as specially the iris powered mobile i7s seem to run very hot.

 

Should be late Q2 or early Q3 if Intel's mid-2015 announcement holds true.

 

I just got the update from XoticPC too! Apparently they will receive them in 3-5 business days from today. They were shipped from Gigabyte today.

I'm all ordered up.

 

Broadwell is a die shrink of Haswell. They've taken Haswell's design and shrunken it from 22nm to 14nm. Intel also improved the integrated graphics, and tweaked some minor hardware functions. But for the most part it's a shrunk-down version of Haswell, so you should expect it to perform almost identically in a laptop with a dedicated GPU.

Most of the improvement you'll see will be in lower power draw and temps. How much lower remains to be seen (especially since they haven't even announced quad core versions).

Frankly, if you're going to play the waiting game, you should wait for Skylake. That's going to be a completely redesigned CPU on 14nm. Broadwell was delayed almost a year due to problems getting the 14nm process working. So we're already close to Skylake's launch window - it's scheduled to launch towards the end of this year.

Or you could just buy the Haswell version in a couple weeks.

 

As previously stated, I was wrong about that the P34 was not at CES 2015, and since then, there has been posted a lot of videos about it, so I made a little collection of the ones I found. Some of them have been posted before in this thread, but I thought it would be easier with them all at the same place:
Tek Syndicate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tluh5ZlyJ9I
HiTechLegion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7G_NkN3aE
MaximumPCMag:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl8PSAsf3Hs
Linus Tech Tips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPWH-_xbxv8
Newegg TV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvq4mYPpMhg
JayzTwoCents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJyXiyRiUw8

That's all I could find, please reply if you find more

 

So there's going to be a 965m version coming out in February.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M - NotebookCheck.net Tech
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

965m = 1024 shaders @ 924-950 MHz, 128 bit memory path
970m = 1280 shaders @ 924-1038 MHz, 192 bit memory path

Synthetic enchmarks put the 965m at about 70%-75% the 970m.
Gaming benchmarks look to be in the same ballpark as well.

 

(this is the worst naming scheme in the history of computers not even the MBP and iPad models are this confusing)

I'm really lost what is the difference from the P34Gv3 and P34Wv3 and why do people keep posting Wv3 in this thread? I can only find the Wv3 for preorder not the Gv3.

I personally have never followed Gigabyte stuff before. Purchased a Blade and regretting it and most likely returning it. What's the benefit to either of those to the X3+ V3? So far it seems like the Aorus has QHD+ res whereas the P34G/W = 1080p. The Aorus is slightly "flashy" but that's pretty much it. Oh and for some god awful reason the P34G/W has no display port but has a VGA port? (no one cares about HDMI anymore especially since you can't push 144hz on it) Not sure what ANYONE was thinking there.

 

It's actually not that confusing. They just don't document it anywhere.

P3 = thin gaming series
4 = 14"
K = low/mid-range GPU
G = mid-range GPU
W = high-end GPU
X = top-tier GPU
v3 = third design revision
CF4 = configuration 4

THe Aorus X3+ display is the same panel as in the Razer Blade, except matte.

The Aorus is a true gamer's notebook. The P34 is more for the businessman who likes to game while on business trips. The styling is more subdued so it doesn't scream "gamer!" at business meetings. And the VGA is there because most business projectors still use VGA input.

 

P34 is the model.
W indicates the graphics chip it uses
V3 indicates that it's the third generation of P34.

The change from G to W occured because the third generation has a 970m while the previous generations used the 760m and 860m. Gigabyte uses W to indicate a notebook has a 70 series nvidia chip and G for a 60 series. And K is used for 65 series chips so of they make a 965m powered P34 to sell along the P34W v3, it'll be the P34K v3.

There won't be a P34G v3 unless Gigabyte makes a version featuring a 960m (a chip that is rumoured but not announced IIRC). The only reason people talked about a P34G v3 prior to the official unveiling of the P34W v3 is because they didn't realize that the move from 860m to 970m would result in it being a P34W rather than a P34G.

 

Makes sense now, thanks for the clarification!

 

Don't even tell him about the P34K v3 coming in February! Haha

 

Guessing that will be the 960M.

 

The upcoming 965M

 

I was close

 

I hope the 970m 3 vram is good enough to last 2 or more years I might buy the Aorus x3 v3 with 6GB vram depending on the price and I also don't like the sound of aorus build quality with the lid and keyboard flex

 

Plastic will always have some flex

 

Flex is not necessary bad. Think about situations when excessive but realistic forces are applied to various sections of a notebook. "Excessive" means beyond design criteria, further:
* "excessive realistic" means for example gently bending a screen lid with both hands, dropping an opened notebook from a table to carpeted floor, dropping a small book on a laptop,
* "excessive unrealistic" means subjecting a notebook to scenarios well beyond what it can realistically be expected to encounter in normal use, for example a strong person twisting the screen with both hands, throwing a notebook from the window of office tower, doping a heavy bookshelf full of books on it.

When a notebook is designed a mixture of materials is used (not only to save dollars). Engineering aims to provide good compromise between usability, quality as perceived by users and survivability in "excessive realistic" scenarios. It is always a price/weight (plus a few other factors) compromise. Back screen panel made of light metal (like aluminum) is typically perceived by users as more solid. But it is not necessary so: if "excessive realistic" test is applied, it could bend possibly a bit less, but it may also loose its original flat shape after the test. Not good. If the same lid is made from a properly selected plastic material it will also bend, but when the force is removed, it is more likely to "pop back" to its original shape. Good, this is what we want, no permanent shape change.

What some people refer to as "plastic" is very, very wide range of very, very different materials with different specific names. There are right and wrong "plastics" for a specific application. NEVER judge quality of a design by simplifying: "plastic bad, metal good". F1 racing cars, space shuttle, military jets, passenger planes also use many non-metal (AKA "plastic") components, yes, they are often structural, load bearing or stress loaded parts. It is a mixture of different materials in proper places which make a good design.

BTW: if you worry about "flex" next time when you fly look at aircraft wing flexing, "flopping". Boeing 747 destructive deflection at the tip (in "excessive unrealistic" test) is, depending on a model, around 30-36 feet. Expect to see considerably less during standard flight - but well above zero!
[disclosure: yes, I used to design equipment (but not laptops)]

 

Are there any good ways to evaluate how resistant a design is to damage?

The one I've generally used is to try applying moderate pressure to the middle of the screen cover. Generally, one of three things will occur:
1) I can see distortion on the LCD where I press
2) I can feel the screen bend, but can't see any distortions
3) The cover barely bends or doesn't bend at all

My second laptop (Dell Inspiron 1501) and third laptop (Thinkpad X120e) don't really bends at all in this test and have had not durability problems. My first laptop (Seanix SL955 I think - it was a house branded version of a Uniwill design IIRC) would show distortions if pressure was applied to the back of the screen. It developed a cracked LCD panel within 14 months, and I can't figure out why as I don't recall having any accidents with it and the exterior housing around the LCD was undamaged. About the only thing I can think of is that I or someone else may have ended leaned against the backpack it was in while on the train - the trains I ride can be pretty crowded during rush hour.

One of the laptops I'm considering getting is the MS GS60, has no distortions but does flex when I flex on it. Scares me a bit because it's a $1900 laptop, way more than I've ever spent in the past. I have no idea what the P34G is like, I'd love to try one but Gigabyte has almost no retail presence in Canada and hence I can't find a demo.

 

I'm very interested in seeing how loud this unit gets when the GPU and CPU is on load, if it's better than the previous versions. Also would like to know the max temps on both GPU and CPU. I hope even on idle or basic tasks it's whisper quiet and doesn't randomly go on.

This laptop is definitelyon my list. I'm also interested in the Razer v3 is they are making it

 

Here's the test to failure of the 777 wing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai2HmvAXcU0

And here's an old Thinkpad crash test commercial. You can see why you want some flex. the less flex there is, the greater the resulting forces (same reason why bungee jumping is safe while hitting concrete is not - the deceleration happens over a greater distance).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw78gcU713g

As a structural engineer, the most baffling trend to me has been people buying phones with metal bodies, then wrapping them in a huge case to protect against drops. Just get a phone with a plastic body instead of metal and you don't need a huge case to protect it.

 

double post

 

Idk about other people, but I prefer metal over plastic because it feels more premium to me. Rigidity may not man more strength, but it makes a product feel better to me.

 

Though the 970M is actually better, no? The 965M would be cheaper, though

 

Hi, does anybody knows exact parameters for p34 g/w power supply? Will razers blade one work with gigabyte?

 

Should be 150w, same as the Aorus...No confirmation though.

 

Also if anyone wants to order the razer blade power supply from Razer for $100 PM me for info. (not posting publically)

 

Thanks for the links! Very interesting. Indeed, couldn't agree more with the phones trend - but customers still tend to perceive metal as solid, reliable, strong.
My defense of flexing notebook body design was weakened by the fact that there are many bad designs around - here is is one shocking example: look at post #60 and linked photos of cracked screen frame after one month use, Aorus X3 Plus:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gig...-aorus-x3-x3-owners-lounge-6.html#post9893040

 

The one that always surprised me was the use of glass in phones.

Aside from drops, there's two scenarios where I really worry about damaging my laptop:
1) Crowded trains. I worry about falling or even just leaning against the wall with my laptop backpack on. Not sure some of these really thin designs could take the pressure.
2) Restaurants. I usually stow my backpack under the table and I sometimes worry about someone accidentally kicking it when they try to get up.

So impact/pressure to the LCD basically.

 

Been lurking around here for a while absorbing info and trying to choose my next laptop. Finally bit on this one today. Supposed to get here this Friday. Will try to post early opinion if Friday ever comes...

 

May I know where you purchase it? Gentech?

I am still waiting for Xoticpc to confirm coz I want the 6MB graphics card and ability to customize.

 

I think you meant 6GB. The P34W v3 is confirmed to have 3GB NOT 6GB as originally intended.

 

I ordered it from ExcaliburPC. When I called them to inquire about availability yesterday afternoon they happened to have some arriving. I didn't ask them about 3 vs 6gb. I suspect it will be 3, but will post what comes in the box once it comes.

 

Thanks. I was just correcting @shermansee (love these new tag features )

 

Great to hear it's not just me. I hate that metal trend (and all trends towards the cheap). Plastics are in almost all regards superior to metals - but of course they are also more expensive. Aluminium is dirt cheap. Everyone wants light weight and then they use metal again??? How about stone - it feels nice! Audi developed a polycarbonate (same as plastic sun glasses) transmission housing (one of the most stressed parts in a car). The only reason they aren't using it is aluminium is cheaper.
I don't give a flying fock about the feel - but if I did I'd much rather feel plastic than sharp, hard, cold or hot metal.
The plastic doors on my car you can bang on poles, curbs and other cars all day long - they never get dents and don't cause dents. And because it gives it hardly even damages the paint. And even if it does it doesn't matter since the plastic is similar color and never rusts...

Oh well I guess this thread still doesn't have any info about the P34W

 

Aluminum is more expensive than plastics, not sure what you are referring to. It absorbs impacts where plastic just fractures. Yes the metal will bend or dent but it's better than cracking. Also, as thin as these screens are metal holds shape better and doesn't allow the screen to flex or make squeaky sounds when you open/close the laptop

 

There are many plastics that can not break. They are unbreakable. For example polycarbonat or Makrolon. Aluminum costs roughly 2$ per kg while PC costs up to 5$ per kg and can barely be had below Al price.
The problem is that most people commonly know plastic only from packaging material that is thrown away (An incredible waste and crime against the future).
Anyway, there is a plastic for almost anything you can wish for. Transparent, unbreakable, self-lubricating, self-cleaning, impact-absorbing - btw. Aluminum can not absorb impacts as plastic can. Plastic flexes. Aluminum, however, usually deforms permanently when it absorbs an impact. Just look at all the i-things that have been used a lot. Unless they were covered by a PLASTIC case.

Human development from stone age to copper to bronze to iron to steel to aluminium and it should be plastic now - but we'll run out of it before we actually get there since we rather burn it then use it.

 

Per weight or volume of material aluminum is more expensive. But depending on what your strength requirements are, the amount and design of the plastic part to make it equivalent in strength and stiffness to an aluminum part may make plastic more expensive.

But expense is a stupid way to measure strength or quality. Its strongly affected by scarcity and refining costs. You could make a laptop out of pure gold, but it wouldn't be very good despite the expense.

I interned at Lockheed during undergrad, and had the plethora of tradeoffs of material choices for aerospace drilled into me. Strength, modulus (ratio of load to bending), elasticity, hardness, fatigue resistance, creep, weight, cost, density, and combinations of all the above like strength per weight, strength per volume, strength per dollar, etc. If you're judging things based on metal = good, plastic = bad, you're seriously oversimplifying and are going to be wrong a lot of times.

Not if the plastic part has been designed to have the same strength. The concern with plastic is actually the opposite - it is so flexible that it will harmlessly bend under an impact load, but another attached part may not be able to bend as much and will fracture. In fact I'd say that if a plastic part is small/thin enough to fracture, then the expected loads at that part were so small that an equivalent metal part would have buckled and bent under the same load.

On top of that, making the device out of flexible plastic means it sometimes experiences lower forces than if it had been metal. Imagine you put your laptop on the bottom of your bag with your textbooks on top, then you put your bag on the ground. Unknown to you, the ground is not flat - there's a small 3mm pebble right underneath the middle of your laptop.

With an unyielding metal case, there is very little deflection of the metal. The entire weight of the laptop and all your books ends up concentrated on the tiny point where the pebble contacts your laptop, and it ends up making a small divot in your case.

With plastic laptop case, the case will deflect upwards right where the pebble touches. As you're putting the bag down and more of the books' weight is transferred to the laptop, the case deflects more. Eventually it deflects enough that the feet of the laptop touch the ground, and the rest of the weight is distributed through the feet. The plastic case ends up experiencing a much lower load where the pebble is touching, than the metal case does.

Again, the forces typically encountered by laptops (and phones) are so low that whether you use plastic or metal, you need so little material that even the metal will flex. The key to designing it is to add stiffeners, ridges, and curves to give the part some resistance against buckling. (Yes, those angular ridges on the Aorus laptops are structural, not decorative. So to are all the curves on your car's body for that matter.)

Look at the bottom corner of any laptop and you'll see it's rounded in both axes. Double-curves like that add an incredible amount of stiffness. It's why a piece of sheet metal is floppy, but if you hammer it into a bowl it's incredibly stiff.

The squeaky sound comes from the hinges (which are always metal since they're held in place by friction), not the metal or plastic lid or case. I suppose if the hinges have a loose screw, that could make a squeak as it rubs up against the plastic case the hinge is mounted on. But the same would be true with a loose screw and metal case.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying metal is always worse. But neither is it always better.

 

Good info, thank you.

In this case I'm specifically referring to the Aorus. The build quality isn't as bad as some things I've seen but you are essentially paying for an overpriced 970M at this point (I am, anyway, returning my Blade to keep it, these ACU FPS are too good!)

My M17x R4 for example is plastic but it's done well. Minimal flexing on the screen (because it's thicker), the Aorus screen is very thin and I feel like I could accidentally break the LCD at any time. Just typing on it the screen wobbles back and forth slightly.

The squeaky sounds are not metal, they are plastic rubbing on plastic when opening and closing the screen.

 

Its very rare to receive a response so knowledgable, well thought out and easy to understand for the "layman". I truly appreciate your post. Thank you Solandri.

 

P34Wv3 CF2 showed up today via FedEx from ExcaliberPC.

CPU is i7-4720, GPU is 970M 3GB

First impression is pretty good. Feels impressively light. Build seems solid enough. Low key but no blemishes or loose parts that I can see. Screen looks nice.

Fan turns on and off and ramps up sometimes with general use, though not much once I switched to stealth fan mode. It is about as loud as I'd expect, not deafening. I had it on my bare lap during some install stuff and it didn't heat up enough to bother me.

Unfortunately I'm on sucky wifi today so I haven't gotten many games on yet. Probably not the best test of anything but I maxed out every setting I could find in League (the only game that I managed to get installed so far) and couldn't get the DPS to drop at all from the set 60. CPU core max temps during game 79-80C, GPU max temp 64C according to HW monitor. I felt the underside after gaming and it was warm but not enough to light me up. Never felt any heat through the keyboard.

Surprisingly little extra junk preinstalled. And most of the stuff that initially looked like junk was actually useful. Smart updater that covers many of the drivers and Smart manager that gives direct control of fan, bluetooth, video, usb settings etc.

So far I'm happy with the purchase

Just realized after writing that this post is titled P34G. Hopefully this info on the W is useful.

 

How is the track pad? (i use one all the time when not gaming).

 

I used it for the first hour or so until I plugged in my mouse. I've never used the P34 v2 so I'm not sure if it was updated.

It seems average size. There is a separate (single) button which covers right/left click. While I was using it it seemed fine. Nothing really quirky or annoying though I didn't try to game with it. It was easy to disable the pad thru the desktop app.

 

That's awesome! What do you think is the approx size and weight of the PSU?

 

Congrats for the purchase!
If you could make a small video review it would be amazing
I'm real curious about the black chassis, gaming temps and screen quality.

 

Agreed!
Please let us know how loud the fans get under load with nice long gaming marathon.

 

Congrats! This laptop really ticks many boxes for me

I agree a small video review would be very cool! I am also curious about build quality (especially after the bad review on the new aorus x3+). It may be a bit early but an idea of how the battery withstand in a office/web browsing usage would also interest me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Congrats on your purchase!
So, 3bg of vram finally?...Hm, if you can, could you run a game like Shadow of Mordor on ultra, 1080p, see if the 3gb will be a problem or nothing to worry about.
Some words about the build quality would also be welcome: I'm considering this laptop, but I have been a firm clevo buyer for the past 6 years!

 

So awesome! Mine won't be here for another week I bet.

Video would be great if you could. I would also like to know dimensions of the psu. What else can you say about the chassis? I would also love what info you could give regarding battery life on wifi and video.

Congrats and thanks!!!