Final thoughts
There is no doubt in my minds that the rockdirect Xtreme SL is the fastest gaming laptop around. One NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX 256MB card is damn fast and its G70-derived architecture is the reason why it is specified on the majority of high-end desktop-replacement laptops.rockdirect's choice of an extra-large Clevo M590K chassis allows them to house two of NVIDIA's top GPUs in tandem, cooled by large, well-designed heatpipe-based coolers. rockdirect then adds in CPU grunt in the form of an AMD Turion 64 ML-42 CPU, pushing out 35W TDP. Whilst it's more than decent for laptops where battery life is a real concern, we reckon that rockdirect would have been better off by adding in a desktop AMD Athlon 64 FX-60, a 2.8GHz dual-core CPU which is, arguably, the best gaming CPU around and a perfect complement to the SLI'd GeForce Go 7800 GTX cards. Yes, battery life would be next to non-existent, but who cares about that when the laptop, complete with Turion 64, already weighs 6.7kg and battery-life is a completely secondary issue.
A sensible smattering of additional complements, headlined by a 19-inch wide-aspect display, makes it a decent choice for the gamer whose budget extends to the £2,349 asking price for the rockdirect Xtreme SL.
In fact, referring to it as a laptop is something of a misnomer, really, as it's patently not. Rather, we'd refer to it simply as a desktop-laptop and remove the word laptop completely. Further, if we were to specify the machine we'd probably add in a WUXGA screen, an aluminium chassis for better heat dispersal, an Athlon 64 FX-60, and hope for a smaller form factor. Battery life of a secondary concern, really, although power-efficiency technologies that exist in both the mobile CPU and graphics cards, when idle, allowed us to use it for almost 2 hours in battery-powered mode.
The Xtreme SL is simply a statement of the amount of graphical power available at the very top-end of the desktop-replacement market. Loud? A little. Huge? Yes. Fast? Oh, yes. If you buy it for the right reasons, that is, in the area where it really excels: gaming, you won't be disappointed. A niche product for a niche market ensures it will sell well. It's refreshing to see the performance envelope not just being pushed but positively ripped to pieces.
HEXUS Where2Buy
You can buy the rockdirect Xtreme XL from the rockdirect store.
