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Overview of the Cyberpower X6-9120 Gaming Notebook
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The notebook arrives with a protective strong film on the laptop which did not allow a single blemish to the chassis even with a set of car keys smacking into it. The laptop itself was also rigorously packed within a styro enclosure and a box within a box.
Flipping it open we see the screen, keyboard and pretty much any surface has the same treatment. All in the names sake of protection im sure.
Once all of the film is removed we see the Clevo chassis which is standard for use by many system builders. One thing we really wish Clevo would change is the Piano finish as it is a complete dust and fingerprint magnet. Keep a lens cloth handy if fingerprints will bother you on this.
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Overall at the lower right edge you can see the default multimedia card reader which actually is quite nice since it is spring loaded and therefore with a card inserted it sticks out very slightly as to avoid being broken off. It comes by default with a dummy SD card or simple plastic piece shaped like an Sd card in place to keep debris from getting into the port.
Like most laptops, this one has the infamous stickers advertising which tech is onboard. This includes notation of the Core i7 chip, GT640, Optimus Technology and Windows 7.
The lid is super shiny and sleek looking. It is an actual mirror finish as you can see a perfect reflection from the lid when directly looking at it.
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Here you can see the connectivity portion going around the notebooks perimeter starting at the front left hand edge. There are dual USB 3.0 ports located here along with a HDMI port for external display connectivity. The front USB 3.0 port also is a special charging port which is also denoted bya lightning bolt icon on the wrist rest area above the port.
Moving to the rear of the left hand side there is a standard Dsub connection along with a gigabit network port and also the charge port for the notebook.
On the right hand side of the notebook you can see a pair of USB2.0 ports along with audio jacks for a headset a microphone should skype or gaming chat be needed. Also a DVD+/- RW multi drive is included which is nice as some notebooks recently have started omitting optical but we always like it there in case OS loading or other software is needed. The ability to burn a disc while on the go is a plus as well.
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Looking at the bottom you can see the large plastic plate which covers most of the innards of the X6-9120. Removing the many screws allows the panel to be lifted away, and now you get a real feel for what you have. Once the cover is lifted away we see the lower left hand corner houses the storage drive, while the mid section has the DIMM slots and the upper right is where the chipsets and CPU is located along with their respective heatpipe coolers.
Looking more closely we can see that the heatpipes come from the cooling grid to the GPU then terminates above the CPU which means the CPU and GPU share cooling heatpipes to allow for a more efficient cooler design. This is an interesting move by Clevo as in previous models such as the X6-9200 each chipset had a single heatpipe running from it to a common cooler whereas this one has dual heatpipes to service each. This could be a plan in that heavy GPU loading rarely sees heavy CPU loading at the same time or vice versa so the thermal load can be better managed in that way. We will be interested to see hwo thermals look under load for this unit when we get some gaming time in on it.
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Now here’s an even closer look at each components below the lid. First up is the CPU which as you can see the heatpipes terminate right after the contact with the CPU Die.
The GT640M is up next with the dual heatpipes making a pass above it to get heat usered away from the GPU and out to the cooling fin array.
The memory that came installed is 8GB in total (two 4GB DIMMS) rated at 1333MHz with cas rating of 9. These modules are G.Skill branded which we have used for quite some time.
Lastly is the OCZ Agility 3 SSD. There are many specs we can go into on the SSD but let’s just say it definitely is an improvement over any mechanical drive in any way except available capacity. It is simply fast.
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Here you can see the previously mentioned lightning bolt icon on the palm rest which denotes the USB port which is made for charging devices. It is a power port of sorts since so many devices such as your smartphone charge via USB.
The touchpad itself is very responsive and works like we would expect it to; it also carries the same piano finish as the rest of the chassis.
The top near the power button is where you will find the Cyber power branding in a simple vinyl type decal, it is nicely done and does not cheapen the look or feel of the laptop.
The top of the screen is adorned with a 1.3 megapixel webcam which is good for video conferencing or chats such as Skype.
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The speakers above the keyboard are good little speakers as they playback video well and even game audio. However like any built in speaker it might not be a bad idea to plug in a headset or high end audio components if your a serious audiophile as these speakers can only offer so much fidelity with their small size.
The keyboard is a chicklet style island design where each square keycap sits above a common grid and is separated so that each key is its own island in a sense. The key press is quite linear with no clicks or feedback that we could detect. These kind of flat key caps have grown in popularity and they work quite well. Gamers may want to plug in a keyboard for games such as Starcraft II which require a lot of precise keyboard commands in rapid succession.
