Is Skull Canyon really that bad?

[D2ultima]

Just now, coldwell said:

Sure a laptop may be better over all but they are a lot more expensive.....The Dell XPS 13 has everything as the SC but is 1800 on dell's US website....that's $800 more after configuring the SC with Win 10, 16gb ram and a 256gb ssd.....anyone know anything closer in price? with same or very close specs and ports?

Most anything Lenovo or if you find a Clevo N155RF it would have worked. My sister bought a N155RF with a 1080p screen, 250GB 850 EVO, 1TB HDD, i7-6700HQ, GTX 965M and an ODD with 2 years warranty for $1050 USD. That means it also has keyboard/mouse/wifi/odd/screen/battery/etc over the NUC, and a stronger CPU and a dGPU for the same price you're calling for the NUC. The XPS 13 is expensive by itself. Lenovo has consumer machines around that price often with similar specs to the NUC including the extras I just listed.

[coldwell]

1 hour ago, D2ultima said:

Most anything Lenovo or if you find a Clevo N155RF it would have worked. My sister bought a N155RF with a 1080p screen, 250GB 850 EVO, 1TB HDD, i7-6700HQ, GTX 965M and an ODD with 2 years warranty for $1050 USD. That means it also has keyboard/mouse/wifi/odd/screen/battery/etc over the NUC, and a stronger CPU and a dGPU for the same price you're calling for the NUC. The XPS 13 is expensive by itself. Lenovo has consumer machines around that price often with similar specs to the NUC including the extras I just listed.

Other than the Clevo which I can't find much on (I'm in Europe) do you know any specific models under $1200usd? my requirements are TB3, at least 1 usb-c port, 16gb ram and an i7 processor (I do a lot of photoshop work). I already have a monitor and keyboard at home.

 

At the moment I will probably get the SC and then use an old laptop for travel and light work in coffee shops. but if I can find a laptop with my needs at under $1200usd it'd be great but at the moment I can't.

[Eason85]

So, my skull canyon has been throttling (unable to hold turbo) so I tried to take it apart to access the CPU to repaste. Turns out you basically can't. You need to several wires and desolder/resolder them. The faq.

[D2ultima]

9 hours ago, coldwell said:

Other than the Clevo which I can't find much on (I'm in Europe) do you know any specific models under $1200usd? my requirements are TB3, at least 1 usb-c port, 16gb ram and an i7 processor (I do a lot of photoshop work). I already have a monitor and keyboard at home.

 

At the moment I will probably get the SC and then use an old laptop for travel and light work in coffee shops. but if I can find a laptop with my needs at under $1200usd it'd be great but at the moment I can't.

The skull canyon does not have an i7 you want. It has a crap ultra low voltage i7. The cheapest desktop i3 currently selling would be better. If you want a laptop with an i7 it's going to be over twice as strong, even the garbage-strength 6700HQ.

 

If you want a Clevo try www.mySN.de or www.mySN.eu for it. Alternately there's Dream Machines in Poland (they're a prema partner which is good). Otherwise, Lenovo Y700 or Y900 etc might be in your budget. Though, $1200 USD does not translate into euros; you all have excess pricing and taxes placed on your stuff. You'd need $1500 USD or so to get a $1200 USD-priced laptop in Europe, give or take.

[coldwell]

I've haven't seen any bad reviews of the processor in the SC....everyone seems quite happy and it was tested well on benchmarks....a laptop i7 would be twice as fast in the yoga etc? $1200 USD or Euro is max budget and the SC is $1000 euro so the laptops I find aren't comparable at that price point (except for the processor if that's true)

[Eason85]

My XPS 15 i7 6700HQ is faster than my i6770HQ, because it throttles.

[coldwell]

anything faster than the SC that is within $200USD/euro of the price? that's the question.  and I think there isn't. Some get close but then they are lacking a type C port or TB3 or have 8gb ram and not 16... etc. All of which I really want on a new computer.

 

Thanks too all for the input here.

[D2ultima]

2 hours ago, coldwell said:

I've haven't seen any bad reviews of the processor in the SC....everyone seems quite happy and it was tested well on benchmarks....a laptop i7 would be twice as fast in the yoga etc? $1200 USD or Euro is max budget and the SC is $1000 euro so the laptops I find aren't comparable at that price point (except for the processor if that's true)

Ah you're right, I was confused. I remember them using ULV chips; but the new ones have the full mobile HQ. On the other hand, since the original skull canyon I know throttled ULV chips, this one certainly will not handle the 6770HQ. The 6770HQ is basically the 6700HQ with an Iris Pro GPU in it.

 

Also, you'll never see "bad reviews". Go look for a review where any laptop, ANY ONE, said it thermal throttled. It doesn't matter what a laptop throttled from; if it doesn't fall below base clocks (the pitiful 2.6GHz nothing that these things have) which is almost entirely unlikely, it's reported in reviews as "not throttling". Except... Intel's own XTU software will report "throttling". Throttlestop will report "throttling". HWiNFO will report "throttling". The CPU will adjust MSR registers itself to toss the throttle flags that these programs read to return the fact that the CPU is throttling. Turbo boost is meant to be a constant under load.

 

As for finding a $1200 Euro laptop with focus on what you've listed, I don't know the ones around that level all that well. Someone like @Pendragon, @don_svetlio or @Dackzy can easier help. I'm more intimate with higher end models.

[Dackzy]

@coldwell What do you even use TB3 for? eGPU with TB3 is still shit...

Those are pretty much all the TB3 laptops that are out right now.

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10579-laptops-thunderbolt-3/

 

[coldwell]

ya I don't plan on gaming with the TB3...I feel that it will be used more and more for other peripherals in the coming years and having that port will be useful. help my computer last a little longer / remain relevant.... 

 

 

 

[coldwell]

What are ppl's thoughts on the Asrock mini?

The Q170m MB can support a TDP of 65W rather than the SC at 45W sooo there's a plus? Maybe the i7-6785R would be nice there and perform better than SC's 6770hq?

 

@D2ultima @Dackzy @Pendragon

 

Thanks for your assistance to everyone.

The only drawback for me that I see is lack of TB3 / 3.1 gen 2.

[Dackzy]

36 minutes ago, coldwell said:

SNIP

you cannot buy that CPU, it is business only from what I can see. You could put a 6700 or 6700T in it with maybe a Cryorig C7 cooler, but no iris pro graphics.

 

I haven't really looked into that thing, because I don't care about it.

[coldwell]

2 hours ago, Dackzy said:

you cannot buy that CPU, it is business only from what I can see. You could put a 6700 or 6700T in it with maybe a Cryorig C7 cooler, but no iris pro graphics.

 

I haven't really looked into that thing, because I don't care about it.

ha. fair enough. thanks anyway