Origin EON17-SLX
You pay for what you get
PRICE $ 5699 originpc.com.au
The previous two laptops both delivered solid gaming performance at a great price point, which is basically the opposite approach to this megabeast from Origin. This company is renowned for its ridiculously fast, super-expensive machines, and the EON17-SLX is no exception. With more horsepower than most $4,000 desktop PCs, this is an absolute speed demon of a machine, aimed at those who need the ultimate in frame-shredding capabilities.
Like the MSI, this too uses a 17.3-inch display, but Origin hasn’t tried to make this laptop thin nor light. Weighing just under 5kg, it’s almost twice as heavy as the MSI, so I wouldn’t plan on moving this thing around regularly. Despite the large screen, it’s only a 1920 x 1080 panel, but it’s got an ace up its sleeve. Not only is it a 75Hz panel, leading to even silkier performance, it’s also G-Sync compatible, which is even more valuable in laptops were performance can vary so much. Not that the twin GPUs of this behemoth will struggle with much…
A huge range of ports adorn the exterior, with five USB 3.0 Type A, and a single USB 3.1 Type C, along with twin mini DisplayPort and HMDI out. Audio is delivered courtesy of Creative’s Sound Blaster Xfi MB5 chipset, which has enough outputs to power a 7.1 sound system. This makes this laptop perfect for mounting under your TV as a moveable gaming system, and it even has S/PDIF.
But it’s what inside that makes this machine remarkable… with one minor exception. Intel’s Core i7 6700 is a desktop part that can boost up to 4GHz, and Origin claims it can even be overclocked. 16GB of DDR4 2133MHz is more than enough for anything you can throw at it, though I was surprised at the lack of storage. A single 240GB M.2 SSD is included at this price, which will fill up in no time – thankfully there are multiple options for extra storage if you do choose to purchase this behemoth.
Most impressive of all the specs is the inclusion of twin GTX 980M GPUs, each packing 8GB of dedicated memory. These perform on par with a desktop GTX 970, and the fact there are two of them explains the scorching benchmark results. Best of all, this laptop measured just 44dB of fan noise under load, making it the quietest of the bunch!
If money is no obstacle, and you need the ultimate in power, Origin has once again delivered an insanely fast laptop that finally smashes the old fan-noise problem.
Most impressive of all the specs is the inclusion of twin GTX 980M GPUs, each packing 8GB of dedicated memory.