[REVIEW] Illegear Rogue Laptop (i7-9750H, GTX 1660TI)

[genexis_x]

Welcome to my 12th review in LTT forum. I will be reviewing the Illegear Prodigy laptop. Main specs of the laptop are as below:

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i7-9750H
GTX 1660TI 6GB

16GB 2666MHz RAM (dual channel)

512GB NVMe M.2 SSD

144Hz IPS

Intel 9560

W10 Trial

Kryonaut paste and display colour calibration included

 

Based on Tongfang GK7CP6R chassis

This is a quick review; thus, not everything will be covered in here. Also, this review will mainly focus on thermals instead of performance.

 

Product page: https://store.illegear.com/portable-performance/190-illegear-rogue.html

 

Part 1: Build quality, input devices

Build quality is good overall. The plastic lid has some flex on the middle of the lid cover when force is applied. Twisting the lid is possible but the flex isn’t too bad. The lid is noticeably wobbling – probably due to QC. You can barely open the lid with single hand.

 

The body uses all plastic build (soft touch). Despite that, there is little to flex on the entire keyboard+palm rest. Most flex is at the part between keyboard and clickpad, but the amount of flex is very little. There is some flex at the bottom bezel when being pressed in.

 

The membrane keyboard has a bit of mushiness. Key travel is ~1.7mm, actuation force is 55-60g. You can set the effect, brightness and speed of the keyboard lighting via Illegear Command Center.

 

The Precision clickpad has plastic surface and it’s slightly elevated to the back. Wet fingers will result in rough surface. Movements are quite precise. The L/R clicks requires moderate pressure to be pressed and the click noise is OK. Not bad overall. You can disable the clickpad by double tapping the left top corner of the clickpad.

 

Part 2: Display, Audio, Battery

The display is the same 144Hz IPS panel found in Selenite - BOE07B6. As you can expect from a high refresh rate panel, everything feels smooth. It gets bright enough and colours are vibrant. Contrast is good.

 

The 2 down firing speakers has good enough audio only if you tune the audio via Sound Blaster software.

 

Example of a tuned audio profile: Bass 0, treble 6, surround 80, crystalizer 90, bass 20, smart vol 80 dialog+ 60. Volume is a bit soft/quiet.

 

I don’t have time to test the battery life, however don’t expect much from the 46.74Wh battery (there is optional 63Wh upgrade which sacrifices 2.5 inch bay).

 

Part 3: Cooling performance

The cooling design consists of 3 heatpipes with 1 shared on CPU+GPU (same with Selenite). The heatsink is stretched to both left and right.

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Notes on all thermal testing:

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PL1 – 60W, PL2 – 75W

BIOS N.1.01, EC 1.05.10

GPU driver tested is 430.64

BD PROCHOT for CPU is 95C

Test is conducted in an A/C room (ambient 22C)

Game mode and equilibrium mode are used (turbo mode in some tests)

Laptop is plugged in. The fans take a while to speed up when load is applied

Max fan noise is ~51dBA

Undervolt profile: CPU core+cache -100mv. You can undervolt GPU if you want, but it takes time. Blue highlighted part is the undervolted result.

 

CPU temp - Cinebench R15 multi core (single run)

Max 88C, 74-75W, 3.8-3.9GHz, 1230+cb

Max 87C, 74-75W, 1280+cb

~38dBA

 

CPU temp - Aida64 FPU 60W

Max 82C, 3.05GHz

Max 82C, 3.2GHz

~35dBA

 

GPU temp - Unigine Valley (extreme HD profile)

Clock speed fluctuates: at least +100MHz higher than boost clock (1590MHz)

Max 67C, ~80W

~34dBA

 

GPU temp - Unigine Valley (extreme HD profile with turbo mode)

Clock speed fluctuates: at least +200MHz higher than boost clock

Max 75C

~36dBA

 

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

CPU (UV): Max 88C, 3.1-3.2GHz, 50W (PL1 will drop to 50W)

GPU: Max 75C, same clock speed behaviour

 

Time Spy (Turbo mode, 1 run):

Score: 6057, Graphics: 5941

 

Fire Strike (Turbo mode, 1 run):

Score: 13664, Graphics: 15305

  

The chassis stays quite cool while under load.

There is noticeable uneven core temp, therefore CPU peak temp might be higher.

To get best performance+thermal result for GPU, you need to undervolt GPU and use turbo mode.

 

In Illegear Command Center, there are 3 modes to choose from: Turbo, Game or Office mode. Turbo mode increases TDP/power consumption of GPU to allow faster GPU clock speed. Office mode gives you access to control fan speed but has a 35W CPU power limit. There are 4 power profiles: High performance (same with Windows), Game, Equilibrium, Power saving.

 

The included power adapter is an 180W unit from FSP. Take note that temps might be a little higher when running dual channel memory.

 

Part 4: Miscellaneous

The laptop is thin and light for a 17-inch gaming laptop – 2.35kg and 27mm thickness. The footprint is also relatively small.

 

Gallery (credits to @D13H4RD)

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Illegear Command Center:

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Conclusion: Well-cooled 17 inch light weight gaming laptop with almost no flaws

 

Pros:

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Well-built, well-cooled

Portable for a 17 inch gaming laptop

144Hz display

Plenty of ports

Priced competitvely

Comes with optional battery upgrade (no 2.5 inch bay)

Cons:

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Audio needs tuning

Thanks for reading!

Edited July 26, 2019 by GeneXiS_X

[Bananasplit_00]

i see you have listed a vast amount of pros and cons here, well done!

 

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[genexis_x]

1 minute ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

snip

https://linustechtips.com/main/profile/456522-genexis_x/?status=233015&type=status

[dhyaschwnyzx]

Hi bro..just..if illegear rogue vs legion y540..same spec..what if the best buy for you in your personal taste. Thanks

[genexis_x]

3 hours ago, dhyaschwnyzx said:

Hi bro..just..if illegear rogue vs legion y540..same spec..what if the best buy for you in your personal taste. Thanks

Both are good models...1 15 inch 1 17 inch so cannot compare directly