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Aftershock overhauls gaming notebook line-up with NVIDIA Pascal GPUs and new features

By Koh Wanzi - on 16 Aug 2016, 1:00pm

Aftershock overhauls gaming notebook line-up with NVIDIA Pascal GPUs and new features

Aftershock S-15

Aftershock has announced a comprehensive refresh of its high-end gaming notebooks, which includes a host of new features, improved designs, and – you guessed it – NVIDIA’s brand new mobile Pascal GPUs. This comes hot on the heels of NVIDIA’s unveiling, so you’ll be able to snag yourself a notebook with the latest mobile graphics card almost immediately.

The overhaul applies primarily to Aftershock’s higher end notebooks, and the S and W series of machines will receive significant upgrades like support for the latest connectivity standards, tactile RGB keyboards, and better audio.

For starters, both the S-15 and S-17 notebooks can now be configured with up to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card. NVIDIA has actually removed the ‘M’ suffix from the naming of its mobile GPUs, which could be indicative of a shift in performance expectations to be more in line with their desktop counterparts.

How much faster are the new GPUs? Aftershock actually told us that initial testing on the GeForce GTX 1060 shows it to be more powerful than even last generation’s flagship GeForce GTX 980M, which should have you licking your chops at what to expect from the GeForce GTX 1070 and 1080.

That aside, the S series notebooks retain features like the aluminum alloy chassis and triple-fan cooling system, but they now also boast USB 3.1 Type-C ports, an RGB keyboard with tactile keys, and an ESS Sabre Hi-Fi Audio DAC for audiophile-grade sound.

Both 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch models are identical hardware wise, and they only differ in terms of screen size. Other key specifications are as follow:

  • Intel Core i7-6700HQ (2.6GHz, 6MB cache) or Intel Core i7-6820HK (2.7GHz, 8MB cache)
  • Up to 64GB DDR4 RAM
  • 1,920 x 1,080-pixel IPS display (G-Sync or 4K display also available)
  • Two M.2 PCIe x4 SSD bays and two 2.5-inch HDD bays

The S-15 starts at S$2,016, while the larger S-17 will cost S$2,089.

Aftershock W-17

On the other hand, the W series of ultra-enthusiast desktop replacements can be equipped with up to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 mobile GPU. They are built on a desktop Intel Z170 motherboard, and feature desktop-class hardware like an Intel Core i7-6700K processor (4.0GHz, 8MB cache), in addition to USB 3.1 Type-C connectivity, ESS Sabre Hi-Fi Audio DAC, and the RGB tactile keyboard like the S-series notebooks.

The W-15 starts with a 1080p G-Sync display, but you can opt for a 3,840 x 2,160-pixel panel as well. The W-17 starts with the same panel as its smaller brother, but you can upgrade that to a 120Hz G-Sync display also (this is coming to the S-17 soon).

The W-15 has a starting price of S$2,899, while the W-17 starts at S$3,699.

Both S and W series notebooks are now available to buy on Aftershock’s website.

Source: Aftershock

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