P170EM uses Intel’s new mobile Ivy Bridge chip Core i7-3630QM which is quad-core with a clock speed of 2.4GHz – boosting up to 3.4GHz when loaded. This chip has 6MB of Smart Cache and has 8 threads to use. The chip sits on a CLEVO P170EM (where the laptop gets its name from) which uses the HM77 chipset. So from a processing point of view this laptop is very capable indeed.

Other components include 8GB of Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 and a small capacity SATA 3 SSD for the OS drive for fast bootup times – ADATA SP900 64GB. OcUK have also installed a bigger drive for general storage since the 64GB will not be sufficient for hosting all data, they have opted for Seagate’s Momentus XT 750GB which operates at 7200RPM.

The graphics power is delivered by AMD’s high-end mobile GPU – HD7970M. This has 2GB of VRAM, is ready for DX11 and has the following specifications: Core speed 850MHz, Memory speed: 1200MHz, Memory bus: 256 bit. As you will appreciate, this is high in specification and should be able to deliver excellent 3D performance.

Opening up the P170EM we are met with a large 17.3" SuperBright LED True HD Display which is capable of up to 1920x1080 resolutions. This screen offers truly vibrant and crystal clear results and even has an integrated 2 M/Pixel webcam placed within the top bezel for Skype and other activities. Again, like the top of P170EM the underside has very good build quality with yet more brushed aluminium attributes.



Surrounding the keyboard is plastic whilst the palm rest uses brushed aluminium. Running along the top is a speaker and LED indicators with power on/off button.

The keyboard uses a standard QWERTY layout and as with most laptops the gap between the numpad and alphanumeric keys has been removed in order to fit within the provided dimensions. Typing on P170EM feels fluid and efficient, the key clicks are soft.

This keyboard has the added bonus of having backlit keys to assist with late night usage. A blue glow emits from behind the keys to help with visibility and create atmosphere. The colour and brightness of the lighting here can be modified via the fn and respective adjustment keys.





The speaker system comes courtesy of Onkyo – the exact model is unclear but one thing is sure, this system delivers crystal clear audio without any compromise. Audio from movies, music and games are reproduced with clarity and the bass effects are surprisingly good. The sub-woofer has been integrated to sit on the underside of the laptop and helps to deliver bassy tones to audio.



As previously mentioned the palm rest area has been given the brushed aluminium treatment. Another region which sees similar implementation is the touch pad. The click controls on the touch pad have perforated holes for grip and feedback. We’re pleased to say these buttons don’t require excess force to supress – like many other laptops. In the centre a fingerprint reader has been installed as a security feature.

Above the touchpad you will notice a slight indentation – this is a built-in microphone to correspond with the integrated webcam and is useful for conference calls and the like.



With the overview of P170EM now complete, let’s move on to testing this laptop and see how it copes with our benchmarking suite.