iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17 Notebook Review: MSI and iBuyPower Tangle With Alienware
by Dustin Sklavos on August 21, 2012 12:01 AM ESTApplication and Futuremark Performance
It goes without saying that without an SSD in our review unit, the iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17 just isn't going to put in a strong performance against the other notebooks in PCMark. PCMark continues to bias extremely heavily towards SSDs, and while it's true an SSD can appreciably improve the computing experience, PCMark's reflection of this is a matter of some debate around here. That said, upgrades to SSDs from iBuyPower are far, far less expensive than from a major vendor like Alienware, so if you're custom building it may not hurt to stretch your budget a bit.
As expected, the PCMark scores range from being alright to a bloodbath. Virtually every other system tested enjoyed a faster storage subsystem than the CZ-17 did. So let's see what happens when we shift the load back to the CPU.
The improvements in Ivy Bridge's efficiency coupled with the higher clocks allow even the entry level i7-3610QM to put in a strong showing.
The 3DMark scores, on the other hand, paint a rosier picture. The GTX 675M trades blows with the 580M, essentially boiling down to slight differences in CPU performance and driver optimizations. There's a reason this chip was the top of the heap for a while, but also keep in mind that the CZ-17 is among the least expensive, if not the least expensive, notebooks on this chart. There's an awful lot of value here.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
35 Comments
View All Comments
Darkstone - Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - link
The driver support is a bit different this time. The endiro drivers are horrible, whatever brand you take, the drivers suck. Except for alienware. Hit fn+F7+reboot and the computer uses the AMD GPU as primary graphics card. No enduro, no issues, and performance improvements in the double digits.http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-M17x-R4-Not...
ctrl+F "worse performance"
danwat1234 - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
This MSI laptop uses a 12 Volt fan I believe, which moves about 25 CFM of air and uses about 7 watts at full RPM! In this case I believe a single fan can effectively cool the CPU and GPU even if they are both under a full load. Why use two less powerful fans when you can use 1 powerful fan?9Breaker - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
ASUS G7x series if you're on a budget .... you must be richFlunk - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
$1000 is about the cheapest gaming laptops come, get over it. Otherwise you need to learn to game on a discount model AMD's trinity processors are good on the low end.SilthDraeth - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
This MSI chassis reminds me of the Asus G7 chassis.cknobman - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
Old last gen GPUSlow HDD
Ugly design
Stupid keyboard layout
Need I go on?
Next please
extide - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
x2, a Clevo P150EM w/ 680m is a much better choice, IMHOJackattak - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
It's a purchase from me. You've got my dollars, iBuyPower. I've gotta Samsung 256GB SSD to slap into that empty 2.5" bay, too.Hrel - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - link
Looking at the configurations offered by cyberpowerpc.com I can't help but remind you all that you can get a laptop just like this for less. You can choose between a Clevo base and an MSI base, whatever your preference. They also have Compal's under a new name available. Though in my experiences Compal is less reliable than Clevo or MSI.Draconian - Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - link
"ASUS G7x series if you're on a budget, Alienware M17x if you're not."Neither. Asus doesn't use the x80M series cards (580M, 680M, etc.) and Alienware only uses glossy screens. MSI rectifies both those problems. Plus the MSI's Dynaudio is superior to anything Asus or Alienware has.