System builders are in the midst of upgrading their product lines with new CPUs from Intel and AMD. On the mobile side, Origin PC recently announced the return of its 15.6-inch EVO15-S with an Intel Comet Lake-H CPU inside, along with several display options, including a 1080p screen at 240Hz. The same CPU and display combo is now available on the boutique builder's 17.3-inch EVO17-S as well, but it's an expensive pairing. More on pricing in a moment.
At it's core, the EVO17-S is mostly a larger version of the EVO15-S, but they're not exactly the same. One of the key differences is the lack of a 4K OLED screen option on the larger model. A bit of a shame, though by sticking with an LCD screen across the spectrum of refresh rate and resolution options buyers avoid any risk of burn-in.
The benefits of a 4K resolution are somewhat muted on smaller displays (compared to bigger desktop monitors). Nevertheless, it's an option on the EVO17-S, just with an LCD screen instead of OLED, and with the same 60Hz refresh rate as the EVO15-S. Otherwise, buyers can choose between 144Hz or 240Hz, both at 1080p.
Other hardware options and features include:
- Intel 10th generation Core i7 10875H
- Up to a GeForce RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q
- Up to 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4-2666 RAM
- Up to 2x2TB (4TB total) M.2 NVMe SSDs
- Intel dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) + Bluetooth
- Sound Blaster Atlas audio
- 3x USB 3.2 Gen1, 1x Thunderbold 3, 1x mini DisplayPort 1.3, 1x HDMI, microSD card reader, 1x RJ45 (GbE LAN)
- Full RGB per-key backlit keyboard
The Core i7 10875H is one of Intel's newest CPUs. It sports 8 cores and 16 threads clocked at 2.3GHz to 5.1GHz, along with 16MB of L3 cache. Paired with an RTX 2080 Super, there is plenty of grunt to play demanding games with the settings cranked up.
There are some caveats, though. One is the refresh rate. Playing the latest games is one thing, but taking full advantage of 240Hz or even 144Hz is not so cut and dry. Faster refresh rates are desirable for competitive gaming, but even an RTX 2080 Super will struggle to keep up in some games.
The other caveat is pricing. Here's what the $1,999.99 starting price gets you:
- 17.3-inch 1080p (144Hz)
- Intel 10th generation Core i7 10875H
- GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q
- 8GB DDR4-2400 RAM
- 240GB Corsair Force MP510 M.2 NVMe SSD
The RAM and storage are rather anemic for a laptop that costs two grand. On the plus side, upgrade options are at least reasonable—it costs just $29 to double the RAM to 16GB and $42 to double the storage.
For the display, the 240Hz option is only available with the RTX 2080 Super. That combo adds $592 to the price, so you're looking at $2,591 for a laptop with just 8GB or RAM and 240GB of storage, or $2,652 if wisely opting to double up on both.
While expensive, pricing is actually more in line with the competition at the top end. Gaming laptops with a 17.3-inch display powered an RTX 2080 Super (Max-Q) GPU typically sell for between $2,500 to $3,000 (or higher with a 4K display).
For anyone interested, the EVO17-S is available now.
