Digital Storm x17 Notebook Review: Radeon HD 7970M And Enduro, Again

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The last time we looked at a notebook with AMD's Radeon HD 7970M in it, we stumbled across a problematic bug. Digital Storm's x17 employs the same graphics module. Do updated drivers cure what ailed the configuration previously? Let's find out!

Hardware And Test Setup

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Test System Configurations
Row 0 - Cell 0 Digital Storm x17 XoticPC / Sager NP9150 Eurocom Racer 2.0
CPU Intel Core i7-3610QM: 2.3 GHz Base, 3.3 GHz Turbo Core, 4C/8T, 6 MB Shared L3 Cache Intel Core i7-3820QM: 2.7 GHz Base, 3.7 GHz Turbo Core, 4C/8T, 6 MB Shared L3 Cache
Chipset Intel HM77 Express PCH
RAM Samsung M473B5273DH0-YK0 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 C11 Samsung M473B5273DH0-YK0 12 GB (3 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 C11
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 7970M: 850 MHz, 2 GB GDDR5-4800 Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M: 835 MHz, 2 GB GDDR5-4000
Graphics 2 Row 5 - Cell 1 Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M: 620 MHz, 2 GB GDDR5-3000
Hard Drive Seagate Momentus ST9750420AS 750 GB, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200 RPM Intel SSD 520 SSDSC2CW120A3 120 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD
Sound Integrated HD Audio
Network Integrated Gigabit Networking
Power FSP 19 V, 11.57 A Adapter FSP 19 V, 9.47 A Adapter
Software
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Graphics 1204122214-8.951.6-120329b-136980C-Clevo Nvidia GeForce 302.71

Even though the x17 is larger, it relies on the same P150HM battery as the competing mid-sized models in today’s review. Its 220 W power brick is carried over from larger-sized predecessors.

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Benchmark Settings
3D Games
Battlefield 3 Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" 90-Seconds Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Quality Defaults (No AA, 4x AF) Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Defaults (4x AA, 16x AF)
DiRT 3 V1.01, Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
Metro 2033 Full Game, Built-In Benchmark, "Frontline" Scene Test Set 1: DX11, High, AAA, 4x AF, No PhysX, No DoF Test Set 2: DX11, Very High, 4x AA, 16x AF, No PhysX, DoF On
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Update 1.5.26, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25 Seconds Fraps Test Set 1: High Detail Defaults (8x AA, 8x AF) Test Set 2: Ultra Detail Defaults (8x AA, 16x AF)
StarCraft II Version 1.5.3, Tom's Hardware custom map Test Set 1: High Texture, High Quality Test Set 2: Ultra Textures, Extreme Quality
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes Version 10.4.1.10 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format
Lame MP3 Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLI Version 0.95: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
MainConcept Reference Version: 2.2.0.5440: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS5 Version 12.1 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080
WinZip Version 15.5 Pro: THG-Workload (464 MB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
WinRAR Version 4.01: THG-Workload (464 MB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
7-Zip Version 9.22: THG-Workload (464 MB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
ABBYY FineReader Version 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • joytech22
    FAR OUT. I JUST.. JUST got my M17X and I see this review posted on a laptop with almost the same specs and half the price.

    The only differences were that mine has a Blu-Ray drive, 1TB Hard drive, HDMI In, all USB ports were USB 3.0 and the CPU was a 3630QM..
    My M17X set me back $2500 ON SALE from $3000 AUSD. I don't even know why since the Australian dollar is a lot bloody stronger than the U.S dollar.
    Reply
  • dudewitbow
    joytech22FAR OUT. I JUST.. JUST got my M17X and I see this review posted on a laptop with almost the same specs.The only differences were that mine has a Blu-Ray drive, 1TB Hard drive, HDMI In, all USB ports were USB 3.0 and the CPU was a 3630QM..My M17X set me back $2500 ON SALE from $3000 AUSD. I don't even know why since the Australian dollar is a lot bloody stronger than the U.S dollar.probably the difference between laws, importing cost. market size and such. as a smaller non relevant analogy, its similar to the situation between the U.S and Canada when it comes to oil. Canada has more oil(and i believe has a stronger form of currency) but oil none the less is cheaper in the U.S due to it having the processing and purification plants that Canada does not have as much of, so canada's oil goes across the border, and back again causing a higher price.
    Reply
  • shikamaru31789
    Nice to see some laptop benchmarks here on Tom's. I've been considering getting a gaming laptop and I must say I'm pretty impressed with the 7970m's performance. I wonder how it compares to the newer 675mx?
    Reply
  • amuffin
    shikamaru31789Nice to see some laptop benchmarks here on Tom's. I've been considering getting a gaming laptop and I must say I'm pretty impressed with the 7970m's performance. I wonder how it compares to the newer 675mx?Here ya go.
    http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-675MX.82580.0.html
    Reply
  • army_ant7
    I'm wondering if that port to the left of the ethernet port is a small 1394 port. I don't think it was noted in the article, but the specs listed said there wasn't a 1394. Just wondering though... :)

    This might sound funny, but is there still thermal paste between the CPU and GPU and their heatsinks? I'm just wondering if they're lapped to a point that they don't need it (and maybe because they're copper heatsinks). I know that the Atom CPU of this netbook I use didn't have any, though that might just be because it's such a low power CPU.

    Pretty neat that 2 drives are allowed. For a moment, I thought that you'd have to get rid of the ODD to add an additional HDD or SSD, but it was just "under" it. Is the mo-bo RAID capable with these two ports? :)
    Reply
  • army_ant7
    Also, Thomas, I hope you reply personally to this one.

    Do you use geometric means (instead of plain arithmetic averages) with your performance and efficiency charts, just like how Adam Overa does the Web Browser Grand Prix? I have approached Chris about this and also posted it in the feedback forums. In the feedback forums, the moderator told me that he/she would relay it to you editors.

    Also, what are the base (100%) numbers for your charts on the last page? That 100% performance number that comes up for the Xotic laptop? :)
    Reply
  • Marcus52
    Very nice...

    but why do I have to buy an Apple to get a decent display? Enough with TN panels! If Apple can put an IPS Retina Display in a 15" and sell it for $2200, surely someone like Digital Storm could at least offer the option.
    Reply
  • alterecho
    joytech22FAR OUT. I JUST.. JUST got my M17X and I see this review posted on a laptop with almost the same specs and half the price.The only differences were that mine has a Blu-Ray drive, 1TB Hard drive, HDMI In, all USB ports were USB 3.0 and the CPU was a 3630QM..My M17X set me back $2500 ON SALE from $3000 AUSD. I don't even know why since the Australian dollar is a lot bloody stronger than the U.S dollar.
    Well, you can comfort yourself with the fact that the m17x looks meaner and premium.
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    Things that should be in this review: There are no temperature readings, no information on if done in clean install of OS, version of OS, no ambient temps, no mention about if the CPU/GPU can handle a 100% load without throttle.
    Also, contrast, black levels, garmut color cover, viewing angle... Just check a review at notebookcheck.net and try to do them like that :D.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    army_ant7This might sound funny, but is there still thermal paste between the CPU and GPU and their heatsinks?Yes. As for additional options, Digital Storm has quite a few that you can check through. Or, for that matter, any other vender of the P170EM
    Reply