HP is adding a new product to its line of gaming-focused Omen laptops (and glowing desktop cube). Announced today at Gamescom, the Omen X laptop is aimed squarely at the enthusiast market, something that's reflected in its long feature list and high price tag.
Thanks to its new design, which includes vapor chamber cooling, bottom vent holes, the removal of the optical drive, and high-powered fans, the Omen X is designed with overclocking in mind. Not only can you OC the high-end option i7-7820HK CPU, but you can also overclock the GPU (a GTX 1070 or 1080) and the RAM as well.
Upgrading the Omen X's components is easier than most laptops, with the HDDs, SSDs, and RAM all accessible via a single panel. It features a mechanical keyboard with programmable macros that boasts 2.5mm of key travel, along with programmable RGB LEDs for each key.
HP is using 7th-generation Kaby Lake chips in the Omen X, rather than the eighth-gen Kaby Lake Refresh mobile CPUs announced yesterday. It comes with either a Core i7-7700HQ or an unlocked i7-7820HK, and there's the option of a 1080p/120Hz screen or a 4K display with a lower refresh rate. Plus, both 17-inch screens are G-Sync enabled.
Buyers can choose up to 32GB of RAM, and storage options include single HDDs, single SSDs, a combination of both, and PCIe SSD variations. There are also three USB 3.0 ports, two USB-C Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI port with HDR support, mini DisplayPort, Ethernet, and a card reader slot. While the laptop screen itself doesn't support HDR, it's able to project the content onto external displays.
Add in the DTS Headphone support, a RAID 0 option, and Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, and you've got one impressive machine. But at just over 10 pounds, it's also quite hefty - about twice the weight and 3/4 of an inch thicker than Asus' ROG Zephyrus, which uses Nvidia's Max-Q design technology.
Prices start at $1999 for the base model (7700HQ, 1070, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD/1TB HDD). Those with deep pockets might want to fork out $3699 for the high-end version, which include the i7-7820HK, GTX 1080, 4K display, 32GB of RAM, and 2 x 1TB of SSD storage / 1TB HDD.