Optimus VIII case woes

[Szaki]

Hi,

I am considering buying an 15.6" Optimus VIII for daily use. I need it for general web browsing, office tasks, image and video editing (even 4k), compiling code, and some gaming, but I have two concerns before purchase:

First, the optimus looks butt ugly. I know this is subjective, but think of it from a business perspective. I can't walk in to a meeting to show off my latest renderings with an optimus as it looks like something a 13 year old would buy to play videogames. The cheesy racecar design does not seem to be a cost saver, but rather a conscious design choice. I just don't see why this is a must. Instead of needless ridges and bulky looks could I have the option for a simple, clean design for the case somehow? Clevo is not the only one with this problem, the whole industry seems to be suffering from the same issue: http://www.theverge.com/ces/2017/1/5/14165402/gaming-pc-design-ces-2017-lenovo-samsung-razer

The second point is less subjective, its about overheating. Looking into the optimus case I can see two single, meandering heatpipes which go all over the place before finally reaching the fans. They appear to be doing a great job at conducting heat over to other components inside the case, while being quite inefficient at actually pushing heat outside. Have a look yourself: https://s30.postimg.org/rj0ov8go1/n850_inside.jpg
This is unfortunately the worst heatpipe design I have ever seen.
Compare it to competitors.
[Competitor links removed as they are not allowed]

The competitors all come with two dual heatpipes that push out heat at the back in the shortest path possible. Hard drives, wireless card, and everything else are kept far away from the hot bits, plus the air comes out at the back and is not blown onto your hand on the right. It appears to me this poor design choice by Clevo leads to increased fan speeds, more overheating of other components and as a consequence a shorter product life. Why is that good for anyone? The high end Octane model actually has the excellent dual fans pointing to the back similar to all the competitors, and the low-end genesis model also offers decent cooling for its components. So why not the midrange case?
The optimus (or rather the Clevo n850 its based on) seems like the worst design in its range in terms of heat management:
https://img.purch.com/o/aHR0cDovL21...4LzYvNjU3MzY2L29yaWdpbmFsL2ltYWdlMDQ5LnBuZw==
(in the image above, the Sager is also using the Clevo N850 case, same as the optimus)

The choice of components for midrange laptops is amazing here, but why do they have to all come in the same, unfortunate case?

TL;DR:
Could there be an option to choose a case for midrange laptops that is more work-friendly and less prone to overheating?

 

[mantadog]

As far as the design goes it really doesn't look to bad to me, but it is obviously very subjective. I think if you want a laptop that does a little of everything you need to expect a little bit of a compromise in case design as they need to make it appeal to as many people as possible.

as far as temps go, it may well not be the best in the world I'm really not sure. I do doubt you would run into real world issues as aida64 is incredibly intensive and even other things that utilise the cpu to 100% load will not land you with temps that high.

 

[Marrgon]

The Sager gets good reviews for heat management, there are actually some differences in the Sager and the Optimus' cooling if you look at both.

Also the CPU vents to the rear and the GPU to the right.

 

[ubuysa]

I understand your concern but, having done way more than my fair share of business presentations, I am pretty sure that if your clients are looking at your laptop case then you've already lost their attention.

 

[Szaki]

I am of course only theorycrafting here in terms of heat management, as I haven't actually held an optimus in hand, let alone tested it. Can anyone who already has such a unit give some pointers as to how cooling works?

@Ubuysa: You are right. Also, I am very much for function over form, and I am certainly not going to pay £1000 extra for a Macbook which has similar or worse components inside.

 

[keynes]

Hi,

I am considering buying an 15.6" Optimus VIII for daily use. I need it for general web browsing, office tasks, image and video editing (even 4k), compiling code, and some gaming, but I have two concerns before purchase:

First, the optimus looks butt ugly. I know this is subjective, but think of it from a business perspective. I can't walk in to a meeting to show off my latest renderings with an optimus as it looks like something a 13 year old would buy to play videogames. The cheesy racecar design does not seem to be a cost saver, but rather a conscious design choice. I just don't see why this is a must. Instead of needless ridges and bulky looks could I have the option for a simple, clean design for the case somehow? Clevo is not the only one with this problem, the whole industry seems to be suffering from the same issue: http://www.theverge.com/ces/2017/1/5/14165402/gaming-pc-design-ces-2017-lenovo-samsung-razer

The second point is less subjective, its about overheating. Looking into the optimus case I can see two single, meandering heatpipes which go all over the place before finally reaching the fans. They appear to be doing a great job at conducting heat over to other components inside the case, while being quite inefficient at actually pushing heat outside. Have a look yourself: https://s30.postimg.org/rj0ov8go1/n850_inside.jpg
This is unfortunately the worst heatpipe design I have ever seen.
Compare it to competitors.
[Competitor links removed as they are not allowed]

The competitors all come with two dual heatpipes that push out heat at the back in the shortest path possible. Hard drives, wireless card, and everything else are kept far away from the hot bits, plus the air comes out at the back and is not blown onto your hand on the right. It appears to me this poor design choice by Clevo leads to increased fan speeds, more overheating of other components and as a consequence a shorter product life. Why is that good for anyone? The high end Octane model actually has the excellent dual fans pointing to the back similar to all the competitors, and the low-end genesis model also offers decent cooling for its components. So why not the midrange case?
The optimus (or rather the Clevo n850 its based on) seems like the worst design in its range in terms of heat management:
https://img.purch.com/o/aHR0cDovL21...4LzYvNjU3MzY2L29yaWdpbmFsL2ltYWdlMDQ5LnBuZw==
(in the image above, the Sager is also using the Clevo N850 case, same as the optimus)

The choice of components for midrange laptops is amazing here, but why do they have to all come in the same, unfortunate case?

TL;DR:
Could there be an option to choose a case for midrange laptops that is more work-friendly and less prone to overheating?

you put me off the optimus

I am of course only theorycrafting here in terms of heat management, as I haven't actually held an optimus in hand, let alone tested it. Can anyone who already has such a unit give some pointers as to how cooling works?

@Ubuysa: You are right. Also, I am very much for function over form, and I am certainly not going to pay £1000 extra for a Macbook which has similar or worse components inside.

There are other options but I think you get what you pay for. Clevo offers more options in terms of customisation but there is a trade off with the chassis and cooling in some cases.

 

[Szaki]

Based on your signature I don't think you are planning to buy an optimus

I might be though. Compared to all other options this still seems like the best choice. The price is unbeatable and the choice of components allows me to build exactly the laptop I need. I think when it comes to heavy load I will just use a cooling pad and simply turn the video card off when being on the go.

Though if PCS suddenly comes out with a new case I'm still interested. And also, if any optimus owners could comment on CPU and GPU temps during prolonged use, I'd be grateful.

 

[kuzuri]

Hello,
i have the optimus VIII with a 7700hq and a 1050 ti and the temp on prime95 in a 15min cpu test are around 90-95 °c ,And 80°c in a gpu stress test on furmark.
But in photshop and after effects im around 65-70 °c for the cpu and while playing gta 5 thats around 80-85° for the cpu and gpu.
that's it if you have others questions im here .

 

[Szaki]

Thanks for this information, this is just what I was looking for.

And unfortunately it confirms my fears: this laptop does get hotter than it's supposed to. I'm not really worried about prime95 and Furmark, those are the toughest tests for their respective components and are essentially pure torture for the machine. No surprise they overheat a lot, anything else would too. But photoshop should not push a laptop up to 70C and a 3 year old game should not make it go above 80C. Those temps are both at least 10C above what they should be.

It appears I have to undervolt at least the CPU if I want this setup to last me 4-5 years. Or maybe call PCS and ask for an optimus configuration, but in an octane chassis. Wonder if that's doable...

 

[mantadog]

i think you are mistaken if you believe those temps re a problem. yes it would be nice to have them 10 degrees lower but in the real world you are going to be quite happy operating at those temps forever basically.

a 3 year old game will push the GPU just as hard as a modern game will if you don't limit the FPS, and photoshop can and will push a CPU to 70 degrees if you work it hard enough.

I think those temps are perfectly acceptable.

 

[Szaki]

Its not too high in itself, I'm just worried about any long-term effects of 80C+ temps. But I decided to buy it. I am looking forward to it actually.

Thanks for the kind advice and help everyone, I really appreciate it.

 

[mantadog]

Just to put you at easy, long term effects of 80 degrees are going to me minimal. some of the AMD stuff needs cooler temps, particularly on the CPU side but Nvidia GPU's don't mind 80 degrees. Where practical buy a cooling stand and it could knock a couple of degrees off. Keep the vents dusted down to air can circulate and if playing older games that don't need much horsepower, limit it to 60 fps and it will give the components an easier ride