[Review] Clevo/EVOC PA71ES-G

Hi guys,

Nice review, nice thread, but I am a little bit lost. I really want buy this laptop but the heat performance are really scary ?

With LM repast on CPU and GPU, it's still not ok ?

According to the market in this price range, there are not so many alternatives (144hertz / 1070 / 8th generation Cpu :

-Asus is out (except the GM501 repasted apparently)
-Aorus X7/X5 too expensive,

...and the newest generation of Nvidia Gpu , will make these laptop outdated in 2 months...

In other words, @LeiEn after this week, how do you feel ? Still satisfy ? Do you keep the highest frequencies on CPU ? Can you repost some temperatures after gaming sessions (R6 / Fornite etc...) ?

thanks a lot for your support

 

Well there ya go. Shame. Thought it might be a contender.

Right, and being that this one has the new 144hz, that's what I concluded as well.

It's a nice machine...it's also $400 more at base cost ($2049 @ HID, ProStar, and Xotic) than mine at base. I'm not going to bother looking around to validate your "$1850 - 2K" price quote, but if you've actually seen it somewhere for that price (with 8750 + 1070), please link it up as THAT would be helpful for potential buyers. After upgrades and extended warranty, it's pretty easy to push the pricetag to $2500+.

Superior warranty and suppport depends on what you're talking about. MSI may offer more frequently updated drivers, and their Dragon Center is more polished than Clevo's Joke Time Center, but if something more serious goes awry, I'm happy that I only have to deal with HID for repair or replacement parts. One of the reasons I bought it is so I only have to deal with the people who sold it; not a faceless mega-corp processing dept. I'd say it's pretty well-known how poor big name brand customer care is all around. As for accessibility, it took me all of a minute (after screws were out) to pop the bottom panel off when I put a new drive in as well; the MSI does not look as willing to show you her private parts:



I basically had to decide between the Raider or the PA71ES-G, and I valued the IPS, TB3, and cost over the MSI's advantages. End of story. Remember that I'm not really concerned with the pissing contest difference in bench scores, because again, marginal differences in performance at this price level are to be expected, but not very easily experienced...unless you're running benchmarks. A few more FPS, a few degrees cooler or warmer, a second (or fractions) of difference in task processing perhaps. It really is silly how obsessed some people get with these bragging right anymore. You piss a few inches further than me. Congrats, Bigus Dickus. At the end of the day, sportscars all go fast.

All machines at this performance level + form factor get hot man. Some a little hotter than others. The average 80C CPU + 60C GPU temps I experienced after an hour of gaming are well within the realm of "OK" temps. You have to ask yourself what you value: do you want to pay $400 more for a CPU that runs 3C-5C less while gaming? A few more points in benchmarks? Better speakers and a more polished hardware interface? More LEDs? You get all that with the MSI GE73 that's been contending (with LM repaste, of course...lest we forget, my machine's GPU temps were 10-15C less than the average of the review below, ha).



I had to decide between the two, and I was intrigued by the Clevo. I like the brandless, stealth styling that doesn't scream GAMER!, sturdy construction, thinner profile, higher res webcam, IPS display (I'm primarily a content creator, not a gamer, thus my preference for accuracy at all angles), the ability to utilize TB3 if I wanted in the future, and it was the right price for the budget at the time. With the money I saved going with the PA71 instead of the MSI, I was able to buy a nice external mouse, keyboard, stand, case, bluetooth speaker + headphones, AND still have money left over to put towards HDD upgrades. So again, it made sense for ME, which is why a lot of these trivial debates are entirely subjective in a lot of ways.

As far as CPU frequencies, I let everything do its job at stock at the moment. The only thing I may do is undervolt a little to see if I can drop temps a few degrees. I only have a few heavy-duty games right now (BF1 + PUBG), but if I find some time to get a sesh in next week with PUBG (or I install Fortnite), I'll post up. Would like to have as many stats for pre + post undervolt at any rate. I'll also try to run a few more benches with Afterburner to see how it's throttling.

Now that I've had it for a month, I still like it just fine man. Yes, the aluminum faceplate gets a bit warmer than I'd prefer at times, and if Clevo could fix the Control Center, that'd be greaaaat, but overall, I feel very much like I got what I paid for, and at the end of the day, that's what's going to make anyone a content consumer.

I will say though, that I am in the middle of summer here right now, and am in a room that's probably about 75-85F most of the time, so take that into account. Once it gets cold outside, my opinion of having a bit of warmth resonating off the palm-rest is going to invert completely. I spend long hours at the helm (dunno about anyone else, but I have poor circulation in my extremities), so my hands tend to get really cold when the temps drop. So FOR ME, using a slim external keyboard in the summer completely negates the heat issue, and in the winter, I'll honestly be glad to have something that slightly warms my fingertips. Best of both worlds.

 

Superior warranty? In that budget you can have 3 years coverage. Plus it's made out of their value plastic chassis.

 

LOL ...taking the bottom cover off that MSI GE73 Raider is so ridiculously (not to mention annoyingly) difficult ...way to go MSI
@LeiEn ; your choice to purchase this EVOC PA71 seems quite sound (and admirably logical) based on all the things you have mentioned, and the obvious research you put into your final decision & purchase (going with HID is always a great way to go, truly one of if not the best places to purchase a high-end rig). thanks for all the excellent detailed info on this Clevo model, much appreciated !

 

They used to keep it so simple too.

 

actually the odd difficulty on the MSI GE73 Raider reminded me of the unusually odd difficulty of upgrading the latest MSI GS65 (16 bottom cover screws, upside-down motherboard etc) ...another major turn-off for potential customers who want the reasonable option to upgrade themselves, or re-paste etc.. .

 

My pleasure dude! I'm not much of an early adopter, but I always appreciate reviews (especially tech) of people who buy early and give feedback. Really allows people to be more informed consumers, and in the sage words of G.I. Joe, 'Knowing is half the battle.' Of course, the other half is wading through the insane amount of options out there, but reviews help filter potential choices at least.

I concur about HID; I have nothing but good things to say about my experience with them thus far. It's very reassuring to only have to deal with a handful of people (on a first-name basis no less), and have access to their site with the ticket system, so your whole ownership history is on file.

Yeah, I really liked the exterior styling of the GS65, and it's decently reviewed, but access to internals (or lack thereof) completely scared me away from it.

 

@LeiEn ; yes, agree about the GS65 ...totally had me running away from that model as well, and looking elsewhere ...like Clevo (although i am also checking others and waiting for reviews of the new Thinkpad P52/P72 ). just saw this Vid by Dave Lee > which covers some comparable models in this price range (and to the GS65), and actually makes this Clevo PA71 look more appealing in some/many ways, not only in terms of price, but also some of it's features too.

 

I am following this thread carrefully. thanks guys for your recent udpate, i am still looking for a nice new laptop after having sold my Aero X5V6 (I regret it but I really hate the keyboard).
That being said, for all the readers hesitating, with LM repast, screen calibration, and if you find it under 1900€ , it's definitly a must go ! (that's a lot of 'if' )

 

It's a shame that more manufacturers don't try to attract the very people they're marketing to with accessibility in the same way Asus does with their easily removable panels. It's obvious that most of the consumers who buy $2000+ rigs are going to upgrade them along the way, so why not cater to them in the easiest ways they can? I've no doubt it's all motivated by bottom line decisions, but it seems like they'd get that many more sales with some simple panel mods.

Agreed. We're pretty spoiled for reseller options here in the US, I admit. It's not as easy to find it at such a great deal internationally, but if you can, it should definitely be considered.

At least they're starting to move away from black+red+rgb everything with the GS. I hope it's kind of a test to see the response, and being that's it's mostly been positive, they'll inject more of those subtle high-end touches throughout their line. It seems like most of the manufacturers have noticed that their gaming laptops aren't just attracting gamers, and are catering to a wider audience with deeper pockets and a preference for less flashy appearances overall.

Case in point, all those laptops in Dave's video are pretty sleek and quiet in terms of presence. Aside from a few splashes of color (ROG can't resist the light-up logos), and the obvious moths-to-a-light illuminated keyboard factor, they're all pretty muted. Me likey. I also like that Clevo is just kind of this leftfield brand that is quietly doing it's own thing purely through resellers, and completely ignoring the need for marketing in order to keep their products competitively priced. I have a track record of being drawn to anything non-conventional, so it would figure I ended up with the PA71.

Those Lenovo workstation units are always pretty beefy; setting that spec bar just a little higher with that 128GB ram limit, and I'm sure you'll be able to pair the Xeon chip with a Quadro M4000 or something that'll really make your wallet sweat. As long as whatever machine you have can play Cyberpunk 2077 on ultra when it comes out in 2020, you're all set, amiright?!

 

Or gm501

 

Unfortunately, power users are a margin in the overall sales of gaming notebooks.
Most of the people are inexperiencednced, they buy and use a product in their original configurations. Any upgrades happen either via the store or even via manufacturer support center. It's not like 200 power users from notebookreview forum can influence the thousands units that are sold worldwide. And even power users do not statistical upgrade their system that often. You mostly slap additional ram stick, ssd or Wi-Fi card. And you're not doing this 5 times a year unless you're very special or picky. It could be a pain in the ass but power users can deal with it and changing entire manufacturing process just to please couple of users is not cost effective.

I do not mind personaly. To repaste my Probook I need to dissaemble everything because of the upside down design. Still, apart from looking over so many screws, it is not a long process and I am doing it once a year. But I can imagine other people being not comfortable with such design, especially when they manufacturers can make it an easier process.

 

Honestly, I'd rather sell easier to access systems too.

 

zactly brah

btw ...found this interesting, a mainstream smackdown that features a ....Clevo ? (note Lisa hyperventilating with ...um anxious praise ?) >

 

Yep, another front runner, but way out of my price range and was specifically looking for a 17" myself.

True true...plenty of people out there with more money than sense, which means they'll just buy a newer model in a few years when theirs ages out or expires due to poor maintenance. It's easy to get your perspective skewed hovering around in these forums, and the last thing big manufacturers really want is people taking good care of their machines and upgrading the parts they can, ha.

Nice one - pretty rare to see them in comparison videos. If they appeared in them more often, they'd prob gain a little more clout and recognition amongst the masses...or minority of power users as it were. Though it doesn't make much difference to me in the actual usability, it's nice to see the PA71 benchmarks holding up fairly well between Dave + Lisa's videos. I still haven't seen anything that's on par with the nearly 6K PCmark10 score it managed, but what do I care anyhow.

 

I didn't hear the fan noise at all! Even at 3000 rpm on GPU and 2851 rpm on CPU the machine was fairly quiet.
I agree with you regarding the sound quality and buggy CCC. The sound was inferior and after tweaking its somewhat better than stock settings.
@LeiEn I felt the review was good. You stated your opinions and you're happy with HID's work and the laptop itself. You can tweak the BIOS settings and Windows 10 optimisation session from @Falkentyne and @Phoenix (If you purchased it from HID)

 

There is apparently a new bios available since yesterday for the Defiance V.
Did you check if you have one for your version ? Any improvement ?

Source :
https://www.pcspecialist.fr/forums/...my-defiance-V-8750h-1070-Lots-of-issues/page2

 

Cheers! Yeah, I can see if you're used to really quiet fans how you'd be a bit put off by louder ones, but as I said in the review, I think it's pretty subjective in terms of how sensitive you are to the noise. Are you talking about the fan + speakers from personal experience?

Good eyes! I'll message HID and see about a BIOS update for my build specifically.

 

From your video of course.
I barely heard fans spinning. I actually noticed after reading dan blunt's post and seeing rpm readings.
Did you turn on Performance mode fans in Prema BIOS?

 

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, would've been nice if I could've reviewed with better equipment, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, no PremaBIOS available on this machine (which I learned after purchasing). It would be nice, but I don't think he makes BIOS for U series chips.

 

Trying to justify purchasing the PA71ES. No matter what builder I configure with, the base config with paltry storage and a windows license is $1900. I can get an omen 17 or alienware 17 with the same specs and even better nvme drive for $1700-$1800 from newegg, amazon, best buy, and even builders themselves that customize these units. Usually you buy clevo because it's cheaper and you can customize it. But the clevo here is MORE expensive and you have to deal with half ass software.

 

You gotta buy for you man. There are so many variables that factor into everybody's purchase, and price is just one of them. Drives, display, ports, construction materials, dimensions, weight, support, accessibility, aftermarket upgrades, etc. The bottom line is to buy something that suits your needs, fulfills your desires, and satisfies your budget.

Shortly after you buy anything, there will inevitably be better deals out there simply due to the ever-shifting landscape of new options and incentives from dealers. I bought what was the best deal for me at the time (almost 2 months ago now), which is already becoming outdated thanks to the pace of tech advancement.

I'm all for analyzing the competition, so if you've found contending items, link them here so people can utilize the info in the event they come across this post while trying to decide what to buy.

On that note:

 

Not forgetting to compare build materials and weight too.

 

@LeiEn U series? Isn't the CPU in the PA71 the 8750*H* ?

 

Correct sir. Did I write U somewhere?

 

Yes, a few places here and there (in your review in the serviceability section and some posts) but it's an unimportant matter.

 

HP Omen has bad thermals, it's a no go from the start judging by reviews.

 

Ok guys.

I think i will personally wait for this Asus release in 2 weeks :

https://www.ausgamers.com/reviews/read.php/3597167

 

Can you get to the fans to even clean the thing though?

 

Thanks for the heads up! Will go back and try and fix the typos at some point.

Definitely. Being able to wait is one of the most advantageous factors in eyeing + buying. My clock ran out, so I had to make a decision. Great specs + review from Dave on the Strix II Scar though! Not sure if the Hero comes with the 1070 option or if it's just the Scar that has it, but both of them seem much improved from previous generation...as long as you don't need TB3 or a usable webcam. A 144hz IPS screen with 78% aRGB tho!? I might have to consider selling my PA71...or just upgrading the display myself

I look fwd to hearing how thermals are on these with aftermarket repastes, cuz the thermals look pretty good with the beefier 12v fans and extended heatplate.

https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review/laptops/asus-rog-strix-scar-2-3678517/

 

Your better off with the Scar 2
GTX 1070 in it

 

The bottom of the LCD is nasty....they should have made it like Razor did

 

Yeeaaaah....it's always something. There may never be a perfect notebook, but they're closer than ever to making one that is an all around killer. Soon as they invent a revolutionary cooling method, the holy grail of portable, powerful, and cool may be within our collective grasp.

 

No such thing as a perfect laptop, every machine is a compromise in one way or another. That's just how design/engineering works.

 

Doesn't the ASUS scar CPU reach 95+C temps?

 

YHavu are best off looking at reviews when they launch to see how they fair.

 

@LeiEn Thanks for the review. You gave me some good information about this model that I wasn't finding anywhere.
In my country I don't have allot of options that can give support and warranty that my Clevo resseller have. The only other option that I have is Alienware but here they only sell the 4K version of the Alienware 17 R5 and to me 4K is too much for the GTX 1070 to handle well.

 

Not out yet mid july

 

But yeah:

 

No prob, glad it was of use to you man! Yeah, I agree that 4K gaming is still a little premature on most platforms, especially in the powerbook sector...and Alienware isn't gonna win any beauty contests with their current models, IMO. If I was getting a laptop that thicc, it'd have to have beefier components.

What bench is he running that it hit those temps on? Best guess: 3dmark? Would be nice if that screengrab wasn't cropped.

BTW - Steam is running a killer deal on a benchmark bundle if anybody's looking to pick up full versions on the cheap:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/3743/3DMark__PCMark_10__VRMark/

 

Its 3dmark firestrike.

 

Fire Strike. It's not cropped, that was from Dave 2D's review.

 

It’s easy seeing it’s Fire Strike. Just look on the scores and hardware used.

 

what machine is this??? I was talking about a scar 2 strix.

 

The exact machine you were talking about, GL504GS.

 

temps look horrible!! would it benefit from a repaste?

 

Can't say, but I would ask here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-new-asus-rog-strix-gl504g.817713/

 

Yeah, cropped in the review snap I mean.

Figured as much, just getting confirmation.

 

The chips can run pretty hot.

 

Nice, thanks.

This is the first time I'm hearing about this utility. Learned something new today.