The Ultimate Desktop Replacement: EUROCOM Sky DLX7

[Brian]

These days a lot of the rage is in thin and light notebooks and while that is fine for a lot of people, there is a substantial number of performance enthusiasts (especially found on this website) that want the exact opposite. This group of enthusiast demands the pinnacle of performance built right into the notebook and not a thin and light compromise saddled with an Intel BGA processor and soldered GPU.

 

Well Clevo and Eurocom are listening and Eurocom let us know that they have launched the new Sky DLX7 notebook that is aimed squarely at those aforementioned enthusiasts. But you don't have to be a gamer to want this DTR (desktop replacement) because it will offer the same amount of productivity as any formidable desktop, especially with it's 17.3" display with 4k resolution and 64 GB of DDR4 RAM. It can also support up to 4 active displays thanks to its two mini Display Ports, USB 3.1 and HDMI 2. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sky DLX7 uses Intel's latest Z170 chipset with socket LGA 1151 which allows it to support the latest 14nm Skylake desktop processors up to the Core i7-6700K that operates at 4 GHz and has a turbo boost of 4.2 GHz. In addition, the CPU can be further overclocked for true high end desktop level performance. For those that like to keep upgrading their notebooks, the Sky DLX7 supports MXM 3.0b graphics cards such as the NVIDIA GTX 980 desktop (full desktop level card in an MXM package) and professional Quadro mobile cards. 

 

 

Unlike many competing notebooks, this DTR won't have trouble keeping itself cool as it features high capacity copper heatsinks and fans to keep things chilled. 

 

 

There doesn't appear to be a shortage of space either as it can support two 9.5 mm HDD or SSD bays and two M.2 SSD PCIe x 4 SATA drives with RAID 0/1/5/10 availability.  There's no word on final pricing but given all the power this thing packs, it probably can get pricey very quickly. 

 

EUROCOM Sky DLX7 Specifications:

Special Feature(s):	Intel Z170 Chipset; Skylake-S; supports both mobile and a desktop based GTX 980 GPU
Main Chipset:	Intel Z170 (Skylake)
Processor:	Socket LGA 1151 Skylake-S; up to i7-6700K, unlocked
Video / GPU:	- MXM 3.0 slot; up to 180W GPU - NVDIA GeForce GTX 980 (desktop) N16E-GXX MXM 3.0 (83x 115mm)or GTX 980M, 970M, 965M; MXM 3.0b (83x105mm)
Built-in PC Camera:	Built-in 2M FHD
Display:	17.3" UHD IPD eDP 3840x2160 Supports 4 active displays
Memory:	Four 260-pin, 1.2V, SODIMM sockets  DDR4-2133/2400; up to 64GB
Total Storage:	up to 4 physical drives: - 2x M.2 2280 SSD PCIe Gen3 2x/4x or SATA - 2x 2.5" 9.5mm/7mm HDD/SSD/SHDD - RAID 0/1/5/10
Optical Drive:	External USB based DVD-RW or Blu Ray Burner
Card Reader:	6-in-1 Push-Push Card Reader MMC/RSMMC SD/mini SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-II (SD 4.0)
Audio Architecture:	High Definition Audio S/PDIF Digital Output Built in array microphone Built in two 2W speakers and subwoofer Sound Blaster X-FI MB5 External 7.1CH output (headphone, mic, line-in and S/PDIF) ANSP 3D Sound Technology (headphone output)
LAN/WLAN/Bluetooth:	- WLAN / Bluetooth; M.2 2230 slot - 1Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 LAN on-board; Killer E2400
Data and Physical:	Kensington Lock Fingerprint TPM 2.0 on-board (Infineon SLB9665-TCG)
Internal cards / # of slots/Type:	Three M.2 slots  -1st: WLAN M.2 2230 Card with PCIe x2 and USB (A Key) -2nd for SSD M.2 2280 Card with SATA / PCIe x2/x4 (M key) -3rd for SSD M.2 2280 Card with SATA / PCie x2/x4 (M key)
I/O Ports:	1 x USB 3.1 type C / Thunderbolt 3 / DP 1.2 / HDMI 2.0 3 x USB 3.0  1 x eSATA / USB 3.0 (1x Powered USB AC/DC) 2 x miniDisplay Port 1.2 1 x HDMI 2.0 output 1 x Headphone 1 x Microphone-in 1 x S/PDIF (digital) 1 x Line in 1 x RJ-45 LAN  1 x DC-in
Internal Keyboard:	Backlit full size keyboard with numeric pad TouchPad with multi-gesture and scrolling W/A/S/D Gaming key
AC Adapter:	330W 100-240V 50-60Hz Auto-switching (worldwide) optional 660W (2x 330W) for Extreme Performance
Battery:	8cells Smart Li-Ion; 89W FexiCharger (via BIOS)
Weight:	3.9kg / 8.58lb with battery
Dimensions WxDxH:	418x295x39.9mm / 16.72x11.81x1.6-inch

 

 

View full article

[StamatisX]

What a beast.... 

[fatboyslimerr]

I'm confused, how is this different to the SKY X9? 

[Brian]

59 minutes ago, fatboyslimerr said:

I'm confused, how is this different to the SKY X9? 

 

The difference is the SKY X9 has two MXM 3.0 slots, different speakers and aesthetics from what I see. There may be other differences as well but someone like @Prema or @Mr. Fox would know more.

[Guest]

Yeah, it shares some similarities, but totally different cosmetically and only a single MXM slot.

 

That looks more like the new and improved equivalent of the Clevo P75xZM "Batman" machine. 

 

Looks like a really nice machine, but the Sky X9 is more robust. Even with the single GTX 980 the heat sink is much larger and should offer better cooling. Both are 17.3" models.

[ssj92]

The DLX7 is thinner, lighter and smaller than the Sky X9. 

 

Like @Mr. Fox said it is closer to the P770DM "Batman 2.0" design, but sports a 180W desktop 980. The heatsink is unified, whereas in the Sky X9, each component has its own heatsink. 

[Brian]

Yep, both have their trade offs as the Sky X9 is heavier but with option to house a second GPU which is great for those that want absolute max performance and don't mind the trade off in weight. If I were buying a pure gaming laptop today, I'd definitely have a tough time picking between the two but it should be noted that as time passes, SLI is becoming less and less supported by newer engines and developers. In fact, I've stopped using SLI in new games like R6: Siege simply because the scaling is just not there and causes more problems than it solves and those same issues translate over to the mobile side of things. Another issue with SLI is that the min. fps is often the same as a single card so you feel the dips more so than you would a single GPU. 

 

As soon as we get our classified section back up and running, I plan to sell one of my Titan X's and go single GPU for the future.

[fatboyslimerr]

I've been looking at the X4 also, has there been any coverage on this forum?

Sent from my m8 using Tapatalk

[titancomplex86]

This looks like an evolution/upgrade of the clevo P75x/P77x DM as Mr. Fox and ssj92 have stated above, which is exciting because although the performance increase between haswell and skylake is largely negligible especially when overclocking as enthusiast do it should be more power efficient from the smaller process and some new features like the virtualization that was dropped on the haswell k versions i believe is back for the skylake k versions. So all in all it should be a nice upgrade for users who were looking for the P75x/P77x DM but hadn't pulled the trigger yet. I for one am quite excited for this continuation of proper desktop replacement notebooks, although sadly excitement never makes up for a lack of cash... XP