[REVIEW] Level51 Forge 15 Pro Laptop (i7-9750H, RTX 2060)

[genexis_x]

REVISITED: https://genexisx.blogspot.com/2020/01/revisited-level51-forge-15-series-with.html

 

Welcome to my 9th review in LTT forum (yes it's a laptop review again). I will be reviewing the Level51 Forge 15 Pro laptop. Main specs of the laptop are as below:

Spoiler

i7-9750H
RTX 2060 6GB

16GB 2666MHz RAM dual channel

512GB NVMe M.2 SSD (Phison E12)

144Hz IPS

Intel 9560

W10 Trial

Stock paste - buyers will get free Kryonaut repaste together with free display calibration

 

Based on Clevo NH58RDQ chassis

This is a quick review; thus, not everything will be covered in here.

 

Product page: https://www.level51pc.co/welcome/Productinner/forge-15-pro

External review from other parties: Jarrod'sTech

 

Intro

I have mixed feelings before reviewing this model since it's predecessor - MX-15 Pro (Clevo N850EP6) has mediocre cooling and OKish build quality. As a result, it's never a recommendation from me. However, this new NH58 chassis (same with NH50, NH55 and NH57) really exceed my expectations. Continue reading to find out why.

 

Part 1: Build quality, input devices

Build quality is quite good. The whole laptop is made of plastic - not surprising considering that it's priced quite low while the old model - N850 is also a full plastic build laptop.

 

The lid has brush finish on top of it. There is flex when the lid is twisted - rigidity could be better. Applying force on the middle of the lid results in some flex, but nothing worrying. The lid has minimal wobbling; however, you can't open the lid with 1 hand (the first 45 degrees tilt is tight). The hinge is a bit loose when opened over ~100 degree and when closed below ~40 degree. There are 2 dim blue LED strips on the lid.

 

The area surrounding the keyboard has brush finish. There is minimal flex when twisting the body - still it feels solid. The keyboard area has little flex when pressed down hard. The bottom chassis also has little flex - the closer to middle the more flex. Overall, the amount of flex is good for a plastic build.

 

The keyboard is a new, upgraded Clevo membrane keyboard. Typing is very pleasing - it has good actuation force (~55g?) and key travel (~2mm?). Keys are very clicky. Probably one of the best keyboard I've ever used in gaming laptops. You can set keyboard lighting via included software: Control Center. Note that it has only 1 zone lighting. The keyboard is easy to be replaced.

 

The touchpad is good enough from my perspective. It uses Precision driver and it's quite big - precision is OK-good but not top level. Due to plastic surface, the surface will become rough to be used if you have wet fingers. In normal usage, the surface is smooth. The touchpad layer feels thin when tapped hard on it. The dedicated L/R clicks have very shallow travel - feels a bit weird but the clicking feel is OK. The touchpad is slightly aligned to the right of spacebar to make it more centered.

 

Part 2: Display, Audio, Battery

The 15.6 inch display is a 144Hz IPS panel from LG – LGD05E8. Display feels smooth, it gets bright enough and colours are vibrant. Contrast is OK. It has thin bezels.

 

The 2 down firing speakers has good enough audio if tuned via Sound Blaster software.

 

Audio profile I used: Bass 0, Treble 12; Surround 80, Crystalizer 90, Bass 20, Smart vol 70, Dialog+ 40

 

There is a bit of bass and the volume can be quite loud. Overall, sound quality is quite balanced (mids could be better though)

 

I don’t have time to test the battery life, however you can expect 3-4 hrs of battery life from the 49Wh battery. Note that the battery is removable from outside.

 

Part 3: Cooling performance Update: Will retest with custom fan profile soon

 

The cooling design consists of 3 heatpipes with 2 shared on CPU+GPU (2 of them are not connected to both fans). There is only 1 exhaust vent for CPU and 2 exhaust vents for GPU. The fans are very powerful - I can feel the heat being push out even from ~50cm distance, especially for the CPU fan. There are intake vents for both fans (N850 has none) - the vents are quite small but sufficient.

Spoiler

Notes on all thermal testing:

Spoiler

• PL1 – 45W, PL2 – 78W (standard)
• GPU driver tested is 419.45
• Test is conducted in an A/C room (ambient 24C, feels more like 26C)
• Entertainment (balanced) profile and auto fan control are used (default)
• BD PROCHOT for CPU is 90C
• Max fan noise is ~51dBA
• Laptop is plugged in
• The fan speed changes quite fast according to the load
• You cannot change CPU power limit settings via any software
• There is undervolt applied out of the box: -50mv

Undervolt profile: CPU core+cache -100mv. I didn't undervolt the GPU since it usually sits at frequency at low voltages (<0.8V), however you can try to undervolt it if you want. Blue highlighted part is the undervolted result

 

CPU temp - Cinebench R15 multi core

Starting 75-76W, then drop to 45W (PL1). 86-88C, then drop to max 73C. 4GHz, then drop to 3.2-3.3GHz. 1150+cb

Starting 67-68W, then drop to 45W (PL1). 80C, then drop to max 71C. 4GHz (can sustain longer), then drop to 3.4GHz. 1200+cb

Starting ~40dBA, then drop to ~37dBA. Same fan speed after undervolted

 

CPU temp - Aida64 FPU 45W

2.8-2.9GHz, 74C

~3GHz, 74C

~38dBA for both

 

GPU temp - Unigine Valley (extreme HD profile)

Clock speed fluctuates, +200MHz higher than boost clock (1200MHz)

Max 67C, ~80W

~43dBA

 

FPU (with undervolt) + Valley (extreme HD) with max fans

CPU: 84-85C, 3-3.1GHz, 45W

GPU: Max 74C, +200-600MHz, ~80W

No throttling under extreme load! (CPU power throttling due to PL1)

 

Uneven core temp recorded is 5C max. Yes tripod heatsink is gone - it really helps in uneven core temp issue.

 

There are 4 power profiles to choose from:

Quiet, Performance, Power saving, Entertainment

In short - just stick with entertainment (balanced) profile

 

The included power adapter is a 180W unit from Chicony and it's quite compact. Take note that temps will be a little higher when running dual channel memory.

 

Part 4: Miscellaneous

This laptop weights at 2.2kg and has 28mm thickness. Quite light I would say, partly due to the plastic build.

  

Ports (from back to front):

L: USB A 3, USB A 2, mic, headphone

R: Full sized SD card reader, mDP, USB A 3

Rear (L to R viewing from back): USB C, HDMI, LAN, power

 

Other settings in Control Center software besides power modes and led keyboard setting:

- Flexikey for Macros

- Fan speed control (2 points only, can drag anywhere to adjust fan speed and target temperature)

 

Default fan speed:

CPU: 40C 20%, 60C 46%, 80C 70%, 100C 100%

GPU: 48C 26%, 60C 50%, 80C 84%, 100C 100%

Fans do run while idling (cannot turn off) but it's very quiet. GPU fan is slightly louder.

 

Conclusion

Being the cheapest i7+2060+144Hz model out there*, you have to made some sacrifices like all plastic build and single zone keyboard back-lighting. However, the build quality is alright and the cooling is superb. Clevo engineers really worked hard on upgrading the cooling solution from what I heard. If you're hunting for a new 2060 gaming laptop but have limited budget, this is really an attractive choice. Definitely worth considering.

 

*NH58 in US and Malaysia, based on prices at the time of writing. Same applies to NH70.

 

Pros:

Spoiler

Excellent thermals

Excellent keyboard

144Hz display

Plenty of ports

Quite portable

Very attractive pricing

Cons:

Spoiler

As expected from an affordable priced gaming machine - it still uses plastic body and has a small battery

Audio needs tuning

Thanks for reading!

Edited January 22, 2020 by genexis_x

[Wen Sheng]

What do you recommend between Level 51 Forge 15 Pro and Illegear Prodigy in terms of overall performance and after sales services?

[genexis_x]

3 hours ago, Wen Sheng said:

What do you recommend between Level 51 Forge 15 Pro and Illegear Prodigy in terms of overall performance and after sales services?

Prodigy is a thin and light so cannot compare directly

 

Forge 15 Pro has slightly faster GPU (2060>1660TI)

 

Both have decent after sales

[COODIE]

On 5/11/2019 at 2:51 AM, GeneXiS_X said:

The dedicated L/R clicks have very shallow travel - feels a bit weird but the clicking feel is OK. The touchpad is slightly aligned to the right of spacebar to make it more centered.

 

On 6/18/2019 at 1:13 PM, GeneXiS_X said:

Prodigy is a thin and light so cannot compare directly

 

Forge 15 Pro has slightly faster GPU (2060>1660TI)

 

Both have decent after sales

How about if compare to Illigear SE-R? Which one is better in Cooling System?

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, COODIE said:

How about if compare to Illigear SE-R? Which one is better in Cooling System?

I've yet to test SE-R so can't tell

[NickLuthfy]

On 5/11/2019 at 2:51 AM, genexis_x said:

BEFORE READING: I will update the display section when I get to test the 240Hz Sharp IGZO display. Also, due to time constraint, I don't include gaming performance results yet; however, I will test performance+thermals of a few games in future when I have sufficient time. Let me know what games you would like to see.

 

Welcome to my 9th review in LTT forum (yes it's a laptop review again). I will be reviewing the Level51 Forge 15 Pro laptop. Main specs of the laptop are as below:

  Reveal hidden contents

i7-9750H
RTX 2060 6GB

16GB 2666MHz RAM dual channel

512GB NVMe M.2 SSD (Phison E12)

144Hz IPS

Intel 9560

W10 Trial

Stock paste - buyers will get free Kryonaut repaste together with free display calibration

 

Based on Clevo NH58RDQ chassis

This is a quick review; thus, not everything will be covered in here.

 

Product page: https://www.level51pc.co/welcome/Productinner/forge-15-pro

External review from other parties: Jarrod'sTech

 

Intro

I have mixed feelings before reviewing this model since it's predecessor - MX-15 Pro (Clevo N850EP6) has mediocre cooling and OKish build quality. As a result, it's never a recommendation from me. However, this new NH58 chassis (same with NH50, NH55 and NH57) really exceed my expectations. Continue reading to find out why.

 

Part 1: Build quality, input devices

Build quality is quite good. The whole laptop is made of plastic - not surprising considering that it's priced quite low while the old model - N850 is also a full plastic build laptop.

 

The lid has brush finish on top of it. There is flex when the lid is twisted - rigidity could be better. Applying force on the middle of the lid results in some flex, but nothing worrying. The lid has minimal wobbling; however, you can't open the lid with 1 hand (the first 45 degrees tilt is tight). The hinge is a bit loose when opened over ~100 degree and when closed below ~40 degree. There are 2 dim blue LED strips on the lid.

 

The area surrounding the keyboard has brush finish. There is minimal flex when twisting the body - still it feels solid. The keyboard area has little flex when pressed down hard. The bottom chassis also has little flex - the closer to middle the more flex. Overall, the amount of flex is good for a plastic build.

 

The keyboard is a new, upgraded Clevo membrane keyboard. Typing is very pleasing - it has good actuation force (~55g?) and key travel (~2mm?). Keys are very clicky. Probably one of the best keyboard I've ever used in gaming laptops. You can set keyboard lighting via included software: Control Center. Note that it has only 1 zone lighting. The keyboard is easy to be replaced.

 

The touchpad is good enough from my perspective. It uses Precision driver and it's quite big - precision is OK-good but not top level. Due to plastic surface, the surface will become rough to be used if you have wet fingers. In normal usage, the surface is smooth. The touchpad layer feels thin when tapped hard on it. The dedicated L/R clicks have very shallow travel - feels a bit weird but the clicking feel is OK. The touchpad is slightly aligned to the right of spacebar to make it more centered.

 

Part 2: Display, Audio, Battery

The 15.6 inch display is a 144Hz IPS panel from LG – LGD05E8. Display feels smooth, it gets bright enough and colours are vibrant. Contrast is OK. It has thin bezels.

 

The 2 down firing speakers has good enough audio if tuned via Sound Blaster software.

 

Audio profile I used: Bass 0, Treble 12; Surround 80, Crystalizer 90, Bass 20, Smart vol 70, Dialog+ 40

 

There is a bit of bass and the volume can be quite loud. Overall, sound quality is quite balanced (mids could be better though)

 

I don’t have time to test the battery life, however you can expect 3-4 hrs of battery life from the 49Wh battery. Note that the battery is removable from outside.

 

Part 3: Cooling performance Update: Will retest with custom fan profile soon

 

The cooling design consists of 3 heatpipes with 2 shared on CPU+GPU (2 of them are not connected to both fans). There is only 1 exhaust vent for CPU and 2 exhaust vents for GPU. The fans are very powerful - I can feel the heat being push out even from ~50cm distance, especially for the CPU fan. There are intake vents for both fans (N850 has none) - the vents are quite small but sufficient.

  Reveal hidden contents

Notes on all thermal testing:

  Reveal hidden contents

• PL1 – 45W, PL2 – 78W (standard)
• GPU driver tested is 419.45
• Test is conducted in an A/C room (ambient 24C, feels more like 26C)
• Entertainment (balanced) profile and auto fan control are used (default)
• BD PROCHOT for CPU is 90C
• Max fan noise is ~51dBA
• Laptop is plugged in
• The fan speed changes quite fast according to the load
• You cannot change CPU power limit settings via any software
• There is undervolt applied out of the box: -50mv

Undervolt profile: CPU core+cache -100mv. I didn't undervolt the GPU since it usually sits at frequency at low voltages (<0.8V), however you can try to undervolt it if you want. Blue highlighted part is the undervolted result

 

CPU temp - Cinebench R15 multi core

Starting 75-76W, then drop to 45W (PL1). 86-88C, then drop to max 73C. 4GHz, then drop to 3.2-3.3GHz. 1150+cb

Starting 67-68W, then drop to 45W (PL1). 80C, then drop to max 71C. 4GHz (can sustain longer), then drop to 3.4GHz. 1200+cb

Starting ~40dBA, then drop to ~37dBA. Same fan speed after undervolted

 

CPU temp - Aida64 FPU 45W

2.8-2.9GHz, 74C

~3GHz, 74C

~38dBA for both

 

GPU temp - Unigine Valley (extreme HD profile)

Clock speed fluctuates, +200MHz higher than boost clock (1200MHz)

Max 67C, ~80W

~43dBA

 

FPU (with undervolt) + Valley (extreme HD) with max fans

CPU: 84-85C, 3-3.1GHz, 45W

GPU: Max 74C, +200-600MHz, ~80W

No throttling under extreme load! (CPU power throttling due to PL1)

 

Uneven core temp recorded is 5C max. Yes tripod heatsink is gone - it really helps in uneven core temp issue.

 

There are 4 power profiles to choose from:

Quiet, Performance, Power saving, Entertainment

In short - just stick with entertainment (balanced) profile

 

The included power adapter is a 180W unit from Chicony and it's quite compact. Take note that temps will be a little higher when running dual channel memory.

 

Part 4: Miscellaneous

This laptop weights at 2.2kg and has 28mm thickness. Quite light I would say, partly due to the plastic build.

  

Ports (from back to front):

L: USB A 3, USB A 2, mic, headphone

R: Full sized SD card reader, mDP, USB A 3

Rear (L to R viewing from back): USB C, HDMI, LAN, power

 

Other settings in Control Center software besides power modes and led keyboard setting:

- Flexikey for Macros

- Fan speed control (2 points only, can drag anywhere to adjust fan speed and target temperature)

 

Default fan speed:

CPU: 40C 20%, 60C 46%, 80C 70%, 100C 100%

GPU: 48C 26%, 60C 50%, 80C 84%, 100C 100%

Fans do run while idling (cannot turn off) but it's very quiet. GPU fan is slightly louder.

 

Conclusion

Being the cheapest i7+2060+144Hz model out there*, you have to made some sacrifices like all plastic build and single zone keyboard back-lighting. However, the build quality is alright and the cooling is superb. Clevo engineers really worked hard on upgrading the cooling solution from what I heard. If you're hunting for a new 2060 gaming laptop but have limited budget, this is really an attractive choice. Definitely worth considering.

 

*NH58 in US and Malaysia, based on prices at the time of writing. Same applies to NH70.

 

Pros:

  Reveal hidden contents

Excellent thermals

Excellent keyboard

144Hz display

Plenty of ports

Quite portable

Very attractive pricing

Cons:

  Reveal hidden contents

As expected from an affordable priced gaming machine - it still uses plastic body and has a small battery

Audio needs tuning

Thanks for reading!

I am wondering if the Forge 15 Pro can be charged via USB type c charger? 

[genexis_x]

20 hours ago, NickLuthfy said:

I am wondering if the Forge 15 Pro can be charged via USB type c charger? 

No (same for 99% gaming laptops)