Now earlier last week, I gave a preview on my new Laptop Aftershock X11 that I just received from the Good folks at Aftershock PC. These guys are the only ones that operate a custom laptop shop in Singapore. Now the review will be based on the many components and also their showroom and service. The Aftershock X11 is based on Clevo's W110ER barebone, the smallest laptop with a beefy Graphics card. It's very very similar to the Clevo W110ER that Elric Phares of Tech of Tomorrow got from AVA Direct. Cost generally doesn't matter because I got this laptop for free then I upgraded my parts. Would like to thank the Wee Brothers for conducting the giveaway!
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| Aftershock X11 / Clevo W110ER 11.6 Incher compared to the X17 / Clevo P370SM, the flagship 17' This is taken at the showroom in FUNAN |
Intel Core i7 3630QM (2.1GHz, 3.1 GHz Turboboost)
8GB RAM at 1600MHz
250 GB Samsung 840 Solid State Drive.
2GB DDR3 nVidia GeForce GT 650M (835MHz Core Clock; Boosts to 950 at load, 900 MHz Memory. 384 CUDA Cores) - 314.07 Driver
Diamond IC Cooler.
Other Accessories that it goes with:
90W Power Brick
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Installation Disc
Clevo W110ER Utility Disc
LG Pouch for the Laptop.
There are not so much add-ons when it comes to accessories. However, whatever that is required is already provided and more or less already installed, including the Laptop utilities and the GT 650M GeForce Drivers. They should be however updated as soon as more updated versions are available.
Keyboard: The letters on each key are standard size and the keys themselves are however slightly smaller than standard (but not by much). It does take some getting used to but with practice, you can be pretty efficient with the keyboard without too much of a problem. The Function Key above the right arrow key is IMO, the best ideal location since it doesn't have a dedicated Page Up and Down Key. Despite the keyboard having some limitations, it is fully functional and the chiclet feel of the keyboard feels relatively easy to transition from a slightly larger keyboard of a similar layout. You can use an external keyboard, but the current layout is enough for the task at hand. 8/10.
Sound: Surprisingly, the speakers provide A LOT for such a small baby. May be on the soft side, I understand. However, nonetheless the integrated speakers work well and provides more than adequate sound quality. It even does give out slight bass there as well. Score HAS to be high considering the form factor. 9/10. Nice!
Heat: Even with the Diamond IC cooler, it does give out a fair amount of heat. It gets warm at times even at idling. Then again, it's the drawbacks of a form factor. As long as you have something to cool it down, then it should be fine. Still, I'm thankful for the Diamond IC Thermal Compound. 7/10.
Noise: It is completely silent at idling, seriously. You can hardly hear anything at all when the laptop is idling. A lot more so since I'm using an SSD in place of a Normal Hard Drive, so it does keep the noise level further down due to the lack of moving parts inside it. It does kick up a bit during loads but well within the acceptable range. 8.5/10.
Touchpad: Again, considering the form factor-wise, the touchpad is more than adequate for your needs. The touchpad is responsive and you gotta love the nice clicky sound. If you're gaming though, you would probably use an external mouse anyway. Still it does feel alright, and not sticky and problematic. Ugh! Lenovo Y500, that touchpad was uber pain in the butt. 8/10.
Performance: Most laptops of such size will operate on Low Voltage CPUs. However, the Core i7 3630QM is a full-fledged 45W Quad-core/8-Threaded CPU, with an option of going up to a 55W 3840QM or the 3940XM. The GT 650M DDR3 chip is essentially an OVERCLOCKED Desktop DDR3 GT 640 and it trades blows with the GTX 560M, the GPU that is extremely close in comparison in terms of performance. Trivia: there are rumors of a slightly under clocked version of the 650M and will be rebadged as the GT 740M.
That said, this baby godzilla doesn't compromise power at all, no sir, not a bit. It was even able to take some of the latest games like Bioshock Infinite, Battlefield 3 and Diablo 3 in completely maxed out settings at playable levels. Continuous driver updates will make the GPU handle that even better overtime. Also, having an SSD does greatly help in Application performance. The Samsung 840 Write Speed is bottlenecked by the TLC Memory Flash it uses, but you'll still get an obvious boost over a normal hard drive at a more mainstream cost, so can't really complain. For all this hardware in a laptop smaller than the size of an A4 Sheet of paper or 2 of my hands, thoroughly deserves a 10/10 score. Benchmarks to follow.
I ran these games at the native resolution unless stated. Videos to follow. And this is what it can do at playable settings:
StarCraft II Heart of the Swarm - Ultra
Battlefield 3 - Ultra on 1366 x 768, Medium at Full HD
Borderlands 2 - Ultra on 1366 x 768, Medium at Full HD
Bioshock Infinite - Ultra at 1366 x 768
Torchlight 2 - Ultra
Crysis 3 - High with 4x AF, AA Disabled.
Dungeons and Dragons: Neverwinter - Medium High at Full HD
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| Samsung 840 (Non-Pro SSD Benched) |
Aftershock X11 / Clevo W110ER Overview
Dungeons and Dragons: Neverwinter, 1080p Gameplay: Medium High
Bioshock Infinite at 1366 x 768: Ultra Settings
Crysis 3 Gameplay: 1366 x 768, Low to High Details 4x AF, No AA
Connectivity: The Aftershock X11 comes with decent connectivity. VGA, HDMI, 2 USB 3.0 Ports, 1 USB 2.0 Port, a Kensington Lock and a Card Reader. It doesn't have an Optical Disc Bay. Understandable, since the laptop is small and you have to cramp tonnes of already high-end hardware in it. Then again, this day and age, CDs are the thing of the past. And if you need to use a disc, just grab an external drive. They're cheap. 8/10.
Portability: Small and Light, Nuff' Said. 11.6 Inch and at 1.75 Kilos / 4 Pounds makes it lighter and more compact than most mainstream laptops. Despite other lighter laptops lighter than this, it's great as a second rig or main porta-rig. Rightly so, if you relocate from place to place like I often do from Bedroom to downstairs' living room where I can relax and work on a couch with a glass of Ice Lemon Tea. 9/10.
By the way, this is how tiny the Clevo W110ER Aftershock X11 compares to the following 2 Laptops:
- Acer Aspire 5742G, Core i7 2630QM, 6GB RAM, 1GB GT 540M, 14.1 Inch (Dad's Laptop).
- Aftershock Titan with Twin GTX 680M in SLI. (Funan Showroom)
Price: I can't really rate how expensive the laptop could have been. But what I do know is that the recommended configuration of the Aftershock X11 will cost around $1750 bucks. Not really for the meek of wallet especially due to the SSD which jacks the price a bit, but it's still nonetheless cheaper than the closest competitors Dell Alienware's M14 even without an SSD and Razer's whopping expensive blade. The Base Config comes at around $1170, but it comes with pretty much everything that you need for a pretty decent gaming experience. So no rating for price.
Ease of Upgrades: Maintenance and access to the system's components for further upgrades is absolute tool-less since there are no screws that hold in place. The Battery release catches also loosens the base cover, allowing you to open it and reveal the sick hardware from within. Majority of the components save the GPU can be swapped out and you can ask Joe and Marcus Wee to do it for you. With that sort of ease of opening the chassis, cleaning on the fly is easy with your can of compressed air on hand. That said however, just be careful not to open it too much with force or the clips that secure the panel to the laptop might fail on you.
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| The Aftershock X11 / Clevo W110ER Setup in my living room. |
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| If that's not enough, here's my 2nd Mode in my Bedroom. Hartke KM60 Keyboard Amplifier, DIY Laptop cooler, Armageddon Aquila X-1 Mouse And SteelSeries QCK Black MINI Mousepad. |
SUMMARY:
As with Aftershock X11's slogan, this machine is undoubtedly TINY but MIGHTY. Basically a netbook on steroids. It's a gaming laptop mind you and you'll rarely find hardware like this in a tiny package. The laptop which used to fulfill this role was the long obsolete 2-kilo Alienware M11X with a GT 540M. Since it's pretty much in the tomb, the X11 has no real rivals when it comes to a high-end gaming system in a a lot more compelling portability as a LAN party system. The closest rival to that would be the current M14, more pricy and heavier, with even the base model priced more than a decked out X11. Even the fully decked out M14 doesn't even have a Dedicated SSD storage and NO USB 3.0 unless you get all this customed.
You'll have to content with heat emissions as most Clevo W110ER models are notorious for and also sacrifice the Optical Drive bay. But as long as you maintain every now and again, gamers will always be assured that in such a form factor like this, you're never going to run out of power.
In all, it's safe to say that the Aftershock X11 is a great baseline Laptop for a big number of purposes, especially if you want something smaller to take with you everywhere.
PROS: Performance within Lightweight and compact size. Adequate Mainstream SSD which cuts down laptop noise in general. No real competitors.
CONS: Not so ideal screen quality despite being matte, Heat Emissions. No internal Optical Drive (unless using external).
Average: 8.4/10 - Good!
