[REVIEW] Commandos Glock 5 Plus Laptop (i5-9400, GTX 1660Ti)

[genexis_x]

Welcome to my laptop review on Commandos Glock 5 Plus gaming laptop. Main specs of the laptop are as below:

Spoiler

i5-9400

GTX1660Ti 6GB

8GB 2666MHz RAM

512GB SATA SSD

Killer 1550 (aka Intel 9260)

W10

 

Based on Clevo N950TC chassis

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

 

Product page:

https://www.techarmory.my/v2/index.php?route=product/product&path=305&product_id=294

 

Part 1: Build quality, input devices

Build quality is OK. The whole laptop is made of plastic. The alloy lid has brush finish on top of it and there are some orange accents. There is noticeable flex when the lid is twisted. Applying force on the middle of the lid results in some flex. The lid has some wobbling. You can open the lid with 1 hand.

 

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 to none flex when pressed down hard, very solid – mainly due to the thick chassis.

 

The keyboard is the new upgraded Clevo membrane keyboard. It has good actuation force (~50-55g) and key travel (~2mm). Keys are very clicky, typing with it is very pleasing. 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 Precision touchpad is decent. Precision is OK. Despite the plastic surface, wet fingers will not cause rough surface. The dedicated L/R clicks have very shallow travel and the click sound is silent.

 

Part 2: Display, Audio, Battery

The 15.6 inch display is a 60Hz IPS panel – BOE06AF. Since it’s a low sRGB panel, colours are washed out. Brightness is decent and contrast is OK. It doesn’t have thin bezels.

 

The 2 front+down firing speakers has OK audio quality if tuned via Sound Blaster software.

 

Audio profile I used: Bass 0, Treble 4; Surround 90, Crystalizer 70, Bass 20, Smart vol 65, Dialog+ 80

 

I don’t have time to test the battery life, however you can expect around 5 hrs of battery life from the 62Wh battery. Note that the battery is removable from outside.

 

Part 3: Thermals, performance

The cooling design is very unique – CPU has 2 heatpipes (1 stretch to GPU - covering on top of GPU heatsink) while GPU gets 2 dedicated heatpipes. There is only 1 exhaust vent for CPU (left side) and GPU (rear). The fans are very powerful - I can feel the heat being push out even from a distance.

Spoiler

Bottom cover. Hasee is TechArmory partner BTW (also a Clevo reseller)

Overall cooling solution

CPU cooling

GPU cooling

Notes on all thermal testing:

Spoiler

PL1 – 65W, PL2 – 122W

BIOS 1.07.01RHZX1, EC 1.07.09

GPU driver tested is 431.60

Windows 1903, build 18362.267

Ambient temp is 26-27C

Entertainment profile and auto fan control are used (default) unless stated

BD PROCHOT for CPU is 98C

Max fan speed is 4700RPM - probably around 51-52dBA (can't test acoustics due to external noise)

Laptop is plugged in

The fan speed changes slowly according to the load

Undervolt profile: CPU core+cache -100mv. I didn't undervolt the GPU, however you can try to undervolt it if you want. Blue highlighted part is the undervolted result.

 

CPU temp - Cinebench R15 multi core (1 run)

57-61W, max 76C, 3.9GHz, ~930cb

46-48W, max 71C, 3.9GHz, ~930cb

 

CPU temp - Aida64 FPU 65W

~61W, ~3.6GHz, max 80C (for some reason clock speed won't go up)

~60W, ~3.9GHz, max 80C

 

GPU temp - Unigine Heaven (Extreme profile)

72-73C, 1600+ to 1800+MHz, ~80W

 

FPU + Heaven with max fans

CPU: max 90C, 3.45-3.55GHz, 57-62W

GPU: 76-77C, similar clock speed behaviour, ~80W

 

CPU: max 89C, 3.7+GHz, 55-58W

GPU: 75-76C, otherwise same

 

(raised) CPU: max 86C, GPU: max 75C

 

CSGO Mirage no bots, 1080p max, FXAA VSync Motion blur disabled, tuned fan (81% 65C)

CPU: ~40W, low-mid 70s, mostly 3.9GHz

GPU: 66-67C, 1860MHz (not sitting at 80W due to under utilization)

 

(more benchmarks+thermal testing coming soon)

 

Uneven core temp recorded is 4-5C. Keyboard and right palm rest area will get warm under load.

 

There are 4 power profiles to choose from: Quiet, Performance, Power saving, Entertainment

In short (for i5-9400): just stick with entertainment (balanced) profile, performance mode only provides marginally faster clock speed.

 

The included power adapter is a 200W unit from Chicony. Take note that temps will be a little higher when running dual channel memory.

 

Part 4: Miscellaneous

This laptop weights at ~2.62kg and has ~30mm thickness (source: product website)

  

Ports (from back to front):

L: USB A 3.0, USB A 2.0, headphone, mic

R: Full sized SD card reader, USB C, USB A 3.0. HDMI, x2 mDP, RJ45, Kensington lock

 

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 50%, 80C 80%, 100C 100%

GPU: 40C 20%, 60C 68%, 80C 99%, 100C 100%

Fans do run while idling (cannot turn off) but it's quiet.

 

Conclusion

Under RM4k for 1660Ti GPU, Commandos Glock 5+ or Asus FX505DU? No doubt Glock 5+ is a much better choice. Yes, it is all plastic build, but the cooling is excellent (FX505 has bad thermals). If you’re looking for a 1660Ti laptop in Malaysia but have limited budget, Glock 5+ is worth considering.

 

Pros:

Spoiler

Excellent thermals

Excellent keyboard

Plenty of ports

Fairly big battery

Priced competitively

Cons:

Spoiler

All plastic build as expected

Audio needs tuning

Thick bezels, a bit bulky

Thanks for reading!

[LukeSavenije]

wait... if i understand this correctly

 

there's a desktop processor in that thing? with or without socket?

[genexis_x]

Just now, LukeSavenije said:

there's a desktop processor in that thing? with or without socket?

Yes it uses desktop CPU, socketed

[LukeSavenije]

1 minute ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Yes it uses desktop CPU, socketed

hm... interesting to see

 

loved the time that was something for granted