Eurocom Racer 2.0 Review: Intel's Ivy Bridge Meets Nvidia's Kepler
Are you tired of gaming notebooks that have to be tethered to a power outlet? We test Eurocom’s Racer 2.0 to see if its combination of a 22 nm Intel-based CPU and 28 nm graphics processor from Nvidia can help enable playable performance on the road.
Inside Eurocom's Racer 2.0
Two covers on the bottom of the Racer hide a single drive bay and the main system components. The drive bay cover also hides the optical drive’s security tab.
Eurocom wants its buyers to experience the ultra-fast launch times enabled by SSDs, and so it equipped this system with Intel’s 120 GB SSD 520. Other options range from a 500 GB Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ($200 cheaper) to a 600 GB Intel SSD 320 ($800 higher).
Eurocom also offers an upgrade from the base 8x DVD burner to a 6x Blu-ray burner for $120. If you need more hard drive space, the company will also remove the optical drive altogether and replace it with an empty 2.5” hard drive tray, charging you $50 in the process.
A base approximately 1” thick leaves too little space to put components under the cooling fans. So, the Racer 2.0’s motherboard is cut around the fans. That also means you don't have to remove the fans in order to access the CPU or graphics module. Once you factor in the notebook's lid and feet to its dimensions, thickness climbs to nearly 2”.
Eurocom shipped us its Racer 2.0 with an older GeForce GTX 675M graphics module, adding the GeForce GTX 660M for additional performance analysis. The company can also sell you an upgrade kit for your existing mobile platform, though you'd need to call Eurocom directly to ask about availability, pricing, and compatibility.
A more powerful 180 W FSP power adapter charges a 76.96 Wh battery carried over from the previous Racer notebook.
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azathoth I would have loved to see some Temperature readings on the GPU/CPU during usage. A lot of gaming laptops even whilst brand new can generate enough heat to be uncomfortably hot in some areas.Reply -
xanagu
Seriously Tom? you can get a much better deal with 3610QM, 16GB RAM, 750GB HDD and 7990M for $14709535607 said:$2146
WHAT!
You could get a laptop with a 680M for that price! :ouch: -
Crashman xanaguSeriously Tom? you can get a much better deal with 3610QM, 16GB RAM, 750GB HDD and 7990M for $1470Remember Eurocom loves high-end CPUs and SSDs. Besides, why would I want 16GB in a notebook?Reply -
esrever Seems a bit too pricy. Battery life isn't good either, only slightly better than the other models. Also not really portable so why would people care that much about battery life?Reply -
uglynerdman u could get a clevo with a 680m for 1800. this whole article only recinforces my belief in buying a p150em even with a normal 670 installed itll still be better for the price. i find eurocom a lil over priced. xoticpc ftwReply -
uglynerdman i really dont get why xangu's comment was downrated and crashman's was uprated. its true you could get a better deal 1500 does get you a i7 3rdgen with 8 gbs ram and a 7970m. and saying that eurocom likes highend ssds and cpus? ummm.. im sorry are there different cpus available everyone sells all the intel i7 mobile quads. all the boutiques. Same with SSDs and hard drives. What has to stand out from a place is the build quality cooling slight performance difference > competitors and other bits to justify an inflated price. The battery life is always hovering around 4 hours max. not matter which model you have you still gotta plug in a power brick eventually. theres car adapters, plugs on greyhound and amtrak. heck airport seats have plugs nearby. the 670s can game unplugged for a few hours. a few more minutes on the 660? i feel the 660 should be in a ultrabook not a rugged sized notebook. Look at the size. it looks as big and heavy as its competitiors. Dont get me wrong i like eurocom they have some great stuff just, i dont see a noticeable difference to justify the price/performance of that setup vs other boutiques. Id really like to see a toms review of more clevos and msi customs/ does anyone offer superior cooling builds etc.Reply -
uglynerdman xanagucuz its a free upgrade?while above 8gbs is nonsense for gamers if you like playing in a window and running other programs and doing other things such as uploading a vid coding a vid, doing other activities a lil bit of ram goes along way. i myself go out of the way to tweak my games to use 4gbs if they dont support it and multitask. Besides 16 gbs is usually about 40-80 bucks more > standard 8gbs. it has its uses unless ur solely gaming. 16 gbs is my standard. i have enough ram to abuse skyrim on ultra full of mods windowed while talking online watching a news feed and streaming video in another window and extra monitor.Reply