Not too long ago, overclocking a processor to squeeze out every last drop of performance was the domain of relatively few dedicated hardware or gaming enthusiasts, but is now becoming more and more commonplace. We could feel the salivation at Alienware's announcement of a new gaming laptop that's factory-overclocked to 4GHz. Now ORIGIN has announced that its EON17-S performance notebooks are available with mobile processors overclocked to a world-beating 4.5GHz.
ORIGIN says that updates to the B3 stepping motherboards and Turbo Boost technology have allowed its engineers to increase the speed and power of a second generation Intel Core processor to 4.5GHz, without shortening expected system lifespan or adversely impacting on stability. This achievement was undertaken using a second generation Intel Core i7-2920XM Extreme Edition processor, but the EON17-S performance laptop is available with a number of other second generation Intel Core i5 or i7 Processor configurations on the Huron River platform with the HM67 chipset.
The laptop also features a 17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 resolution full HD, 16:9 aspect, LED backlit display, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (with 1.5GB dedicated video memory) or GTX485M (with 2GB dedicated video memory) graphics, up to 32GB Dual Channel 1333MHz DDR3 or 16GB Dual Channel 1333MHz or 1600MHz DDR3 memory over four slots and HDD, Hybrid or SSD storage solutions with RAID support. There's also a full size keyboard with numeric keypad and touchpad with multi-gesture and scrolling features.
Physical connectivity includes two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports (one with PowerShare capabilities), HDMI 1.4, e-SATA, mini-Firewire, Gigabit Ethernet and a 9-in-1 card reader. The wireless variety takes the form of 802.11n gaming network connectivity and Bluetooth 2.1 or 3.0 , and there's a built-in TV tuner available. The 16.22 x 10.87 x 1.65 - 1.79-inch (411 x 276 x 41 - 45 mm) device comes with five internal speakers and one internal subwoofer, but 7.1 HD Audio with THX TruStudio support is made possible courtesy of S/PDIF optical digital audio out. Optical drive options include a 6x Blu-ray burner/reader and DVD burner/reader.
The EON17-S runs on Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium/Ultimate/Professional, and included NVIDIA Optimus technology gives the 8-cell Smart Lithium-Ion battery a helping hand to maximize usage between charges.