Colorful has been back in the notebook race for three years, mainly focusing on laptops with ultra-high cost-performance during this period, with few flagship products released. After a three-year hiatus, the flagship notebook finally made a comeback at the beginning of 2024 with the latest upgraded Colorful Jiangxing X17 Pro Max flagship gaming laptop. While positioning itself as a flagship, Colorful has also maintained its consistent high cost-performance approach.

The Jiangxing X17 Pro Max is equipped with the latest 14th generation Intel mobile platform and RTX 40 series graphics cards. The highest configuration option includes the 14th generation Intel® Core™ i9-14900HX processor, and the GPU can be selected as the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4090 Laptop graphics card. In terms of pricing, the configuration with i9 and 4TX4090 has a starting price of 19,999 yuan, and the i9 with RTX4080 configuration has a starting price of 14,999 yuan.

The overall shell of the Jiangxing X17 Pro Max is made of frosted aluminum alloy, with an overall color of pure black matte texture, which is very simple and atmospheric (even the brand logo is omitted). Although it is positioned as a gaming laptop, the minimalist design of the appearance will not be out of place in a daily work environment.

The B-side screen features a 17.3-inch 2560x1440 resolution with a 240Hz refresh rate, and the overall screen-to-body ratio reaches 86%. There is a Colorful brand logo in the lower middle of the B-side, with a brushed texture.

What is interesting is the design on the upper part of the B-side, corresponding to the front-facing camera and light sensor position, which adopts a slightly protruding design similar to a "big back head," which is a reverse "bangs" design.

Seeing this "big back head" for the first time, I thought of the Useless Phone 12 from the tech satire video by a Bilibili UP main, which turned out to be a real product made by a manufacturer~~~

The material of the C-side is consistent with the A-side. The keyboard is equipped with a numeric keypad and full-size directional keys, and the keyboard layout is non-standard.

The keyboard section supports per-key RGB, and it is also possible to choose zone control for RGB. The system's built-in Control Center software can control it.

In addition to controlling the keyboard RGB backlight, the Control Center can also control system performance modes, discrete graphics card switches, etc., and most of the common controls for the notebook are integrated into this driver program.

The touchpad is slightly larger than the 15ProMax, and the touch feels more delicate compared to the shell, with a clear distinction. The pressing and rebound force is also quite comfortable, achieving a strong yet soothing feel.On the interface front, they are distributed along three sides of the body. The left side features two USB 3.2 USB Type-A ports, a combined headphone and microphone jack, and a combined digital audio interface. The rear is equipped with a miniDP port, an HDMI port, a 2.5G Ethernet port, a power connector, and a security lock slot. The right side hosts two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports.

The commonly used interfaces are essentially all present, with the rare 2.5G Ethernet port making an appearance in a laptop, and the USB-A ports are conveniently located on the left side for easy connection to a mouse.

The D-side is also made of aluminum alloy, which is beneficial for hard drive heat dissipation. It has grille openings in the areas corresponding to the motherboard and fan, forming a V-shape. The fan area is elevated with foot pads to lift the body. Given the substantial size of the 17.3-inch body, there are also a considerable number of screws securing the D-side, totaling **number_of_screws**, all of the same specification.

The power adapter included with the Xing X17 Pro Max has a rated power of 330W at 19.5V and 16.92A. The corresponding cable has been thickened, with an overall length of approximately 3.2 meters.

Additionally, the accessories provided at random include an instruction manual, a lens cleaning cloth, and a quantity of phase-change thermal grease. The amount of phase-change thermal grease provided in the packaging is sufficient to cover three M.2 SSDs and a wireless network card, with the aluminum alloy casing aiding in the heat dissipation of the hard drives and the wireless network card.

The phase-change thermal grease for the three M.2 SSD areas can be affixed to the D-side casing and combined with copper plates for even heat distribution. This unique design is likely a thermal enhancement for M.2 support of PCI-e 5.0, and such detailed operations are a first in laptops, offering a very DIY experience.

In terms of weight, the bare body weighs 3417g, the adapter weighs 624g, and the travel weight is 4041g. The overall weight is not light, amounting to a substantial 8 jin (a unit of weight in China). The configuration with an i9 processor and a 4090 graphics card is quite robust, making it a must-have for those who are physically active.

Disassembly is straightforward: unscrew the sixteen screws on the back and push up the rear cover to separate the D-side. All screws are of the same specification.

The internal craftsmanship of the Xing X17 Pro Max is quite neat, with more than one-third of the area occupied by the cooling module. The PCH also has heat dissipation coverage. The entire machine has four M.2 interfaces and two DIMM memory interfaces, with two M.2 interfaces distributed on each side, and the system disk and wireless network card installed on the left side.

By loosening the thirteen screws on the cooling module and disconnecting the fan cables, the cooling module can be removed. One of the screws has a fragile sticker, but after inquiring with Colorful (the manufacturer), it is confirmed that disassembly will not affect the warranty.The entire cooling module is quite substantial, with a total of 9 heat pipes on both the front and back sides. The side corresponding to the D face, which is facing down, has been blackened, but both sides of the heat pipes are covered with copper plates, making it difficult to discern the specific distribution of the copper tubes.

The Star X17 Pro Max is equipped with the 14th generation Intel® Core™ i9-14900HX processor, featuring a 24-core, 32-thread design, 36MB of L3 cache, a maximum single-core turbo frequency of 5.8GHz, and a maximum E-core turbo frequency of 4.1GHz, with 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores.

The GPU utilizes the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4090 Laptop graphics card, which is based on the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, has 9728 CUDA cores, 16GB of GDDR6 memory, and is manufactured using TSMC's 5NM process technology, with a maximum power consumption of 175W.

The wireless card employs the latest Intel BE200, supporting the latest WIFI7, covering 2.4G/5G/6G frequency bands, with a peak rate of 5.8Gbps, supporting 2x2 spatial streams at 320MHz, 4K QAM, and Bluetooth 5.4. [According to national regulations, some WIFI7 features are not available in mainland China.]

For wired networking, the Intel Killer E3100 2.5Gb is used, based on the Intel I225-V solution, supporting the Killer Priority Engine, which can detect gaming network traffic and prioritize its transmission, thereby reducing network latency. The new card also supports GameFast technology, which can reduce CPU usage by up to 10% and network stack memory usage by up to 20%.

In terms of storage, the PC411 provided by Yangtze Memory is used, featuring a design without external cache [supporting HBM], offering two form factors, 2242 and 2280. The Star X17 Pro Max uses the 2280 form factor, both in single-sided design, with a maximum sequential read speed of 7000MB/s and a maximum sequential write speed of 6000MB/s, providing 600TBW for the 1TB model.

The entire system can accommodate up to three M.2 solid-state drives, and all three M.2 slots have good thermal conditions.

For memory, two 16GB DDR5 5600 C-timing memory modules provided by Samsung are used, with a maximum of two memory modules that can be installed in the system.

The test environment temperature is around 22 degrees Celsius, and the test is conducted entirely indoors, with only the notebook's exhaust vent propped up by 1.5CM. The test process uses Entertainment Mode with automatic fan settings, and any other settings will be mentioned separately.The system used for testing is the Windows 11 Home Edition, with a graphics card driver version 537.53, and the graphics card is set to a dedicated direct connection mode.

Firstly, the Master of Entertainment (a benchmarking software) was used to detect the configuration of the X17 Pro Max, which provided a detailed report. However, during the testing, some software had not been updated and could not correctly identify more information about the CPU.

The overall performance score from the Master of Entertainment is 2,443,667 points, with the CPU score exceeding one million and the graphics card scoring 79.1W points. The AI test from the Master of Entertainment scored 12,108 points, and the ray tracing test scored 120,854 points.

The Game Plus Plus test scored 146,296 points, which is rated as an S grade.

In the CINEBENCH R23 benchmark, the multi-core score is 19,486, the single-core score is 2,031, the R20 CPU score is 10,260, the R15 OpenGL score is 291.84 FPS, and the CPU score is 4,402.

After changing the system performance mode to performance, the R23 CPU multi-core score increased to 27,659, and the single-core score is 2,035. The detailed reasons will be specifically analyzed in the stress test.

The latest version of CPU-Z is currently unable to correctly identify the CPU model, so some parameters may vary. The CPU-Z single-core score is 897.1 points, and the multi-core score is 12,960.3 points.

With performance mode enabled and fans set to full speed, the CPU-Z single-core score is 874.8 points, and the multi-core score is 13,485.5 points. The single-core score slightly decreased, but the multi-core score saw a certain improvement.

In the CPU cache and memory performance tests, the memory read speed is 85,863 MB/s, and the write speed is 76,454 MB/s. The memory latency has dropped to 86.6 nanoseconds, which is a 20-nanosecond decrease compared to the earlier DDR5 memory latency.

For graphics performance, the 3DMARK test was used, with the following scores: Time Spy Extreme graphics score is 9,760 points, Time Spy graphics score is 20,158 points, Fire Strike Ultra graphics score is 12,442 points, Fire Strike graphics score is 45,823 points, and Solar Bay graphics score is 94,480 points.DLSS 3.0 Test: With DLSS disabled, the frame rate was 27.52 FPS, and with DLSS 3.0 enabled, the frame rate increased to 111.77 FPS. Monitoring showed that after enabling DLSS, the frame rate became more stable and smooth.

Running the Time Spy stress test, the WASD area and palm rest were relatively cooler, while the middle of the keyboard was warmer. The hottest spot was near the exhaust vent, reaching around 57 degrees Celsius. After further unlocking the power consumption, the maximum surface temperature on the C side exceeded 60 degrees Celsius, which is also related to the all-aluminum alloy casing.

In terms of hard drive testing, CDM was used for tests with 1G and 64G data volumes. The 1G test volume achieved and surpassed the sequential read/write performance advertised by Yangtze Memory. With the help of HBM technology, the hard drive's 4K read/write performance was also good. However, during the 64G data volume test, there was a noticeable decline in performance, most notably in 4K read speeds. The overall performance is consistent with that of a hard drive without external caching. Additionally, testing as a system drive can have some impact, and another factor affecting 4K performance is CPU performance; generally, better CPU performance can also result in better 4K hard drive performance.

Regarding SLC Cache, the capacity is around 150GB, with cache internal write speeds at 4.3 GB/s, and cache external write speeds stabilizing around 1.6 GB/s.

The 3D MARK storage benchmark test score was 2665 points, with a storage bandwidth of 454 MB/s and an access time of 67 microseconds.

The 3DMARK complete system drive benchmark test score was 3531 points, with a storage bandwidth of 570.77 MB/s and an access time of 48 microseconds.

The Superposition benchmark test score was 35,081 points, and the VR READY score was 10,000 points.

Blender tested both the CPU and the graphics card. The RTX 4090 laptop GPU outperformed the CPU in this test, with some projects showing that the CPU score was only a fraction of the GPU score. The advantages of a dedicated graphics card are very evident in specific applications.In the field of industrial software, the SPEC test was used, and the results are as mentioned above, which can be run relatively smoothly.

The Heaven benchmark test result is 309.7 FPS, with a score of 7802 points.

The Pov-ray test utilized all cores/threads, rendering 262144 pixels with an average of 9702.21 PPS, which tested the CPU performance. The multi-core performance of the I9 14900HX, especially the P+E core architecture with big and small cores, significantly enhances the multi-core performance.

Regarding thermal testing, starting with the idle condition, in the integrated graphics mode with "dedicated GPU disabled," the CPU idle temperature is around 40 degrees Celsius, and the fan is relatively quiet with a noise level of 36 decibels.

When single-burn testing the FPU with integrated graphics mode + entertainment mode + automatic fan, the initial power consumption is 130W, which then stabilizes at around 55W, with the temperature around 60 degrees Celsius. At this time, the fan noise is around 55 decibels, with the CPU P-cores running at approximately 2.5GHz and the E-cores around 2.1GHz.

After enabling the dedicated GPU and conducting a dual-burn test of CPU and GPU, the initial power consumption is 120W+180W, which then stabilizes at 55W+150W. The CPU P-cores run at around 3GHz, the E-cores at around 2.6GHz, the GPU frequency is 1395MHz, the GPU temperature stabilizes at 75 degrees Celsius, the hot spot temperature is 82 degrees Celsius, and the CPU temperature is around 80 degrees Celsius.

Next, with performance mode + automatic fan, after enabling performance mode, the CPU power consumption is unlocked from 55W to 125W to meet higher performance demands, and the corresponding fan strategy becomes more aggressive.

Under performance mode + automatic fan, when single-burn testing the FPU, the CPU power consumption starts at 150W and then stabilizes around 125W, with the temperature also rising to a maximum of 96 degrees Celsius. The CPU P-cores run at approximately 3.7GHz, and the E-cores around 3GHz.

Similarly, the GPU power consumption has also improved, with the power limit increased from 150W to 175W. When conducting a dual-burn test of CPU and GPU in performance mode, the initial power consumption can reach 130W+180W (initial power consumption may be limited by the 330W power supply), and then stabilizes at 80W+175W. At this time, the CPU P-cores run at around 3.6GHz, the E-cores at around 3GHz, the CPU temperature has approached 100 degrees Celsius, and the GPU temperature has also risen to 83 degrees Celsius, with the hot spot temperature reaching 91 degrees Celsius.

Unlocking power consumption in performance mode does not enhance the single-core performance of the CPU; it may even slightly decrease. However, it significantly improves multi-core performance and also enhances the maximum performance of the GPU. In actual use, one can switch to performance mode based on the performance needs of the applications or games being used.In terms of noise, when the performance mode is activated and the fan speed is at its maximum, it can reach up to 60 decibels. In entertainment mode, the fan noise is around 55 decibels.

Regarding the endurance test, with the screen brightness set at 50%, entertainment mode + automatic fan, and keyboard backlight turned off, first, with the dedicated graphics card connected directly, using PCMark 10's battery test and testing in modern office mode, the endurance time is 4 hours and 1 minute, with 7% of the battery remaining at the end of the test, estimating the full endurance time to be around 4 hours and 18 minutes.

When testing in integrated graphics mode [with the dedicated graphics card disabled], the endurance performance improves to 6 hours and 49 minutes, with 5% of the battery remaining. For daily light office use, it is basically usable for most of the day.

For the screen, using the Spyder to test, the X17 Pro Max screen achieves 100% sRGB, 89% AdobeRGB, and 97% P3, which is in line with the official promotion. In terms of color accuracy, the minimum value is 0.63, the maximum value is 3.13, and the average value is 1.55.

In terms of gaming, starting with League of Legends (LOL), the average frame rate on the ARAM map is 436 frames, with the CPU temperature at 65 degrees and the graphics card temperature at 62 degrees. In reality, for games like LOL, excessively high frame rates can cause movement stuttering, affecting operation, and the integrated graphics are sufficient to run the game.

After enabling vertical synchronization, the CPU temperature drops to 62 degrees, and the graphics card temperature drops to 59 degrees, with a reduction in fan noise as well.

For games like LOL that are more CPU-intensive and can be run on integrated graphics, disabling the dedicated graphics and using only the i9-14900HX can lead to a better gaming experience.

In the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption, during the snowfield horse riding segment, the average frame rate is 131 frames, with the CPU temperature at 72 degrees and the graphics card temperature at 68 degrees.

The built-in test for Assassin's Creed Valhalla shows an average frame rate of 126 frames.Chapter 1 of Atomic Heart, with an average frame rate of 215 frames per second, the CPU temperature is at 73 degrees and the GPU temperature is at 69 degrees. At this point, the CPU load is mainly concentrated on the P-cores, which can be seen to have much higher frequency and utilization rates compared to the E-cores. There are few background programs, so the E-cores are essentially idle. Game-related processes run on the P-cores.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has an average frame rate of 197 frames per second, with the CPU temperature at 76 degrees and the GPU temperature at 71 degrees.

The Witcher 3's built-in assessment test has an average frame rate of 126 frames per second.

The Colorful X17 Pro Max is a microcosm of Colorful's entire product line striving for flagship status. Colorful aims to challenge itself to reach new heights with this, while not forgetting its market positioning of ultra-high cost-performance ratio. Thus, it has ultimately brought forth the Colorful X17 Pro Max, a laptop that coexists with high cost-performance and high performance.

The Colorful X17 Pro Max offers a variety of performance mode options. The Entertainment mode is suitable for many usage scenarios, providing a better balance between high performance and noise, with a power consumption of over 55W for the CPU and 150W for the GPU, and lower fan noise. For those pursuing extreme performance, the Performance mode can be activated to unlock the 120W CPU power limit and the 175W GPU power limit. For games or work with lower performance requirements, the Silent mode can be activated or the discrete GPU can be turned off to run with lower noise and temperature. A variety of preset modes, combined with various usage scenarios, can meet the needs of more consumers.

In terms of configuration, it is Colorful's first attempt at a flagship top configuration and also the first product to feature the i9 14900HX. The i9 14900HX offers an unprecedented maximum turbo frequency of 5.8GHz, with an increase of 0.1GHz and 0.4GHz in the turbo frequencies of the P-cores and E-cores compared to the previous generation, and the incorporation of APO technology, which allows AI to judge the state of the computer and unleash the maximum potential of the CPU.

In terms of pricing, the configuration of i9 14900HX + RTX 4090 laptop is only 19,999 yuan, and the configuration of i9 14900HX + RTX 4080 laptop is only 14,999 yuan. Compared to prices that often reach thirty to forty thousand yuan, the cost-performance ratio is very high. Although the configuration is top-notch, the price remains relatively affordable.

In terms of internal expandability, three M.2 hard drives + dual memory slots can basically meet the needs of most people. Three M.2 hard drives can even achieve a capacity of 24T, which is quite impressive for a laptop. Additionally, attention has been paid to the details, such as the cooling of M.2 hard drives and wireless network cards.