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Preview: Aftershock S15 gaming notebook with GeForce GTX 970M

By Vijay Anand & Kenny Yeo - 10 Oct 2014
Launch SRP: S$2039

Preview: Aftershock S15 slim gaming notebook with GeForce GTX 970M

The brand new Aftershock S15 portable gaming machine.

Aftershock's first slim performance notebook

Local custom notebook vendor Aftershock has been making great inroads in the gaming notebook scene as former giants like Dell’s Alienware lineup has been lacking somewhat to cater to the demanding needs of this niche but growing market. Not only can Aftershock customize the usual key configurations, you get to even have screen choices and even get the notebook spray painted with your choice of color and artwork for an extra fee. And yes, they do they get their basics right, which is great performance at a decent price and that has been demonstrated time and time again as we reviewed different models from the last two years.

Being a boutique gaming vendor hasn’t stopped them from being at the forefront as they’ve been in close talks with ODM/OEM giant Clevo to help develop the Clevo P650 notebook to coincide with the availability of the new GeForce GTX 900M series of GPUs. Afterhock’s edition, which they customize locally, is called the S15 and will offer either the GeForce GTX 970M or the GTX 980M.

The clammed-up Aftershock S15 gaming notebook. Most of the notebook is constructed out of aluminum alloy, hence the sheen you see is that of true metal.

For those familiar with Aftershock’s product line-you would immediately realize that this is a new series. It aims to remove the heft and thickness seen on the X-series by eliminating the ODD and limiting the some upgradeability aspects by soldering the mobile GPU and CPUs in place instead of housing them in upgradeable formats like MXM modules and sockets respectively. Looking into their XG series and Titan products, those notebooks are over 30mm and 40mm thick respectively. The S15 however, is down to just 20 to 25mm; a considerable improvement.

The left profile shows that it’s sleeker than its predecessors. On this edge, you’ll find a HDMI, USB 3.0 and dual Mini-DisplayPort outputs. Also noticeable is an exhaust vent for the CPU/GPU.

Over on the right, you’ll find three 3.5mm black audio jacks that correspond to the following: S/PDIF digital output audio connector, a dedicated microphone input and a headphone output jack. The rest of them are a multi-card reader, optional SIM input for mobile data connectivity, dual USB 3.0 ports, an RJ45 LAN jack and lastly a Kensington lock slot. Oh did we not mention the notebook is a looking sleek for a serious upgrade friendly gaming notebook?

The notebook in its full glory.

As the name implies, the S15 model is in the 15-inch class, sporting a 15.6-inch display to be exact. For the prospective buyers of the S15, you’ll be happy to know that you’ve a total of four display panel options; depending on the screen type chosen, you’ll have to top up more accordingly:-

  • 15.6-inch 1080p glossy display with AVHA technology (AUO panel)
  • 15.6-inch 3K display with matte finish and IPS-Pro technology (Panasonic panel)
  • 15.6-inch 4K display with glossy finish and PLS technology (Samsung IPS panel)
  • 15.6-inch 4K display with wide color gamut and IPS technology (Sharp panel)

Below the screen and next to the hinge, you’ll find a 2W Onkyo speaker on each side.

A close look at the decently spaced out keyboard. Note that a number pad is available and all the keys are programmable, including setting up macros. The keyboard well is one of the few locations where metal alloy isn’t used. Plastic is used instead as Aftershock believes the user shouldn’t have to feel the heat while using the keyboard (metal is of course a good conductor of heat).

Here’s a side view once more but with the display open; now you can notice how the keyboard is sunken in so that it doesn’t make contact with the screen.

On the front-edge of the notebook, you’ll find a long row of indicator LEDs. However, there are so many of them crammed tightly next to each other that it’s hard to decipher these indicators at a glance.

Around the back, you’ll find notice some chrome highlights to jazz up the otherwise mostly metallic black tone for the machine. Besides more exhaust outputs, you’ll find the power input jack and an eSATA/USB combo port.

The underbelly of the Aftershock S15. Note the three exhaust fans and at the bottom left side, that's where you'll find the storage drive(s) located.

Underneath, you’ll notice a tri-fan setup to cool the internals of this slim gaming machine. Two of them are dedicated to cooling the GPU which is definitely comforting seeing that it now has the world’s fastest performing single GPU. As highlighted earlier, GPU options are either the GeForce GTX 970M or the GTX 980M and we’ll be sharing its preliminary results shortly. The single CPU fan is to cool down the Core i7-4710HQ processor (2.5GHz, 6MB L3 cache).

Storage options are aplenty as the S15 can accommodate dual 2.5-inch 7mm thin drives, as well as two more M.2 based SSDs.

The basic configuration that starts from S$2,039 comes with a GTX 970M GPU, Core i7-4710HQ processor, 750GB hybrid hard drive and a 15.6-inch Full HD screen. If you’re interested in a more immersive experience and don’t mind a larger sized notebooks, there’s also a S17 model in that will be coming soon with a 17-inch screen.

 

Performance Review

Note: The results shown here previously been published in our primer article for the GeForce GTX 970M and GTX 980M GPUs.

Our test unit is the similarly configured to the base model, except that it comes with a 120GB Intel SSD drive.

We’ll specifically be comparing the notebook’s gaming performance against previously tested gaming machines. Most of those were from our Great Gaming Notebook Shootout article from end of 2013 and as such they sport the GeForce 700M series of GPUs. Fortunately, we do have one notebook utilizing the GeForce GTX 870M for direct comparisons - the MSI GS60 2PE Ghost Pro.

As it stands, the performance figures look amazing from the GeForce GTX 970M on the Aftershock S15!

In 3DMark, the Aftershock S15 managed more than 60% performance leap against the MSI GT70 Dragon Edition 2 with its GeForce GTX 780M. It’s so fast that it’s actually just 15% short of the performance rendered by a pair of GTX 780M GPUs in SLI from the Dell Alienware 18 machine. Against a ‘similar class’ GPU like a GeForce GTX 770M, such as the ASUS G750JX and the Toshiba Qosmio X70, the Aftershock S15 and its GTX 970M generated performance figures that are more than twice the previous generation products. More importantly, it's 50% faster than the MSI notebook equipped with the previous generation GeForce GTX 870M.

The outcome is fairly similar even in Tomb Raider where the GTX 970M garnered more than twice performance score of a GTX 770M class product. Up against a GTX 780M, the differential dropped to 40%, but that’s still a huge lead for the GTX 970M. Compared to a GTX 870M equipped notebook, the GTX 970M easily maintained a 35% lead.

We have to admit that when we first tested the MSI GS60 2PE Ghost Pro, we were already contented with the capabilities of the GeForce GTX 870M. However, the gains made by the incoming GTX 970M are far greater than we expected. In fact, the Aftershock S15 is even marginally faster than the highly acclaimed Gigabyte Aorus X7 v2 running dual GeForce GTX 860M GPUs in SLI!

How do you think battery life and power consumption fared?

Of course most notebooks compared were of the 17-inch class, but still you can easily make out that the Aftershock S15 is doing really well. Especially when compared to another 15.6-inch notebook that is the MSI GS60 2PE Ghost Pro. In terms of battery capacity, Aftershock has a 60Wh battery while the MSI notebook has a 52Wh battery. Though that’s just 15% differential in capacity, the Aftershock S15 managed over 45% better in battery life than the similar sized MSI notebook. Dice it whichever way you want, but a substantial portion of the good performance is thanks to the efficient new GPU.

 

Power Packed and Affordable

The combination of the Aftershock S15 notebook and the new GeForce GTX 900M GPUs are quite a match and offer a very competitive product that should interest many who don’t have a big budget but love the big performance of the notebook. Starting from S$2,039, the performance is quite commendable. Of course our tested configuration would cost slightly more as our unit is equipped with a true SSD drive.

Probably the only concern some might have is its bulk. Even though it has slimmed down considerably compared to their existing notebook series, the fact that it’s still a configurable machine by the local vendor with lots of storage options means that the notebook isn’t designed specifically for a particular spec that it can be trimmed down to its exact design requirements. This is essentially a design trade off that you’ll have to settle with for such a notebook. In return, you do get a decent value and great performance as seen in our preliminary benchmarks.

With the new S-series range, this is how the rest of Aftershock's lineup will look like for some time to come:-

  • M series - Entry level 15.6-inch unit, GeForce GTX 850M soldered in, socketed CPU.
  • XG series - Mid-range level offering 13.3, 15.6 and 17.3-inch sizes. GeForce GTX 860M soldered in, socket CPU.
  • S series - High-end slim series in 15.6 and 17.3-inch variants. GeForce GTX 970M/980M and CPU soldered in.
  • X series - High-end upgradeable. Details to be revealed later.
  • Titan - Dual GeForce GTX 980M and socketed CPU.
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