Review: Schenker XMG P506

Introduction and design

Gaming laptops are fast becoming a hotly contested part of the market. No longer are they unfeasibly expensive, heavy or lacking power – they’re bona fide platforms that can run state-of-the-art titles at high settings.

The Schenker XMG P506 isn’t a desktop PC in a laptop’s clothing like the PC Specialist Octane Pro II, but it still promises to pack a punch thanks to Nvidia’s GTX 970M GPU inside.

An upgrade to XMG’s U506 range, the P506 is an intricately customizable proposition that’s both portable and powerful. Its Clevo P651RE6 chassis allows for a plethora of configuration options including extra slots for hard drives and more RAM.

Unlike Gigabyte’s new P35X v5, the P506 can’t be configured with a 4K (or Ultra HD) display, instead topping out at 1080p (or Full HD). The 970M inside would struggle to run demanding games with any level of smoothness at 4K, so XMG’s decision to stick at Full HD to keep costs and weight down is a welcome one.

Another worthy competitor exists in the form of MSI’s GS60 Ghost Pro, which sports an Nvidia GTX 970M with 3GB of GDDR5 video memory and has a 1080p display.

Design

The P506’s matte black finish will appeal to gamers, along with its hard wearing and cold-to-touch aluminum casing. The keyboard’s front corners aren’t rounded – they’re cut off at angles to give a boxier, more utilitarian look. There’s also an array of flashing warning lights on the front – far more than, say, an office machine.

While the design won’t completely wow you – the backlit keyboard is just a single colour and there are no real design flourishes of note – it certainly won’t offend either. The P506’s look is functional and sturdy.

There are four USB 3.0 ports, one of which is powered and sits on the back edge beside the power inlet socket, which is useful for hooking up an external storage device or charging a phone quickly. There’s no internal optical drive, which isn’t a disadvantage in the age of digital downloads. You will, however, need to plug in an external drive if you want to use the supplied Nero CD-ROM software.

There’s a good quality trackpad on the base. While it’s not up to MacBook standard, it’s still reliable and doesn’t skit about. The P506’s display is a thing of beauty. Viewable from all angles, it’s crystal clear and has consistent brightness throughout.

While the P506’s Full HD resolution is a great fit for gaming, it means that fonts and icons on the desktop aren’t as sharp as they would be on a 4K or even QHD+ display — so don’t expect much eye candy in Office-styled applications — if you can tear yourself away from games long enough to use them.

Specifications and performance

The P506 weighs in at just over a pound heavier than the GS60’s slight 4.2lb frame. MSI’s machine is mostly the smaller machine, though Schenker’s is a little less wide at 0.65 inches.

The XMG has double the video RAM, with 6GB to play with. All this for not much more money than the GS60 seems like a pretty good bargain if you don’t mind the extra weight.

Spec sheet

Here is the Schenker XMG P506 configuration sent to techradar for review:

• CPU: 2.60GHz Intel Core i7-6700HQ (quad-core. 6MB cache, up to 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost)
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M (with 6GB GDDR5); Intel HD Graphics 530
• RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR4 (2,400MHz)
• Screen: 15.6-inch (39.6cm), (1,920 x 1,080)
• Storage: 256GB Samsung SSD + 1TB HGST 7,200 RPM HDD
• Optical drive: No
• Ports: 4 x USB 3.0 Ports (inc 1 x Powered USB 3.0), 2 x MiniDP, 1 x HDMI, 1 x Headphone, 1 x Microphone, 1 x S/PDIF, 1 x RJ-45 LAN, 6 in 1 Card Reader
• Connectivity: Qualcomm Atheros Killer Wireless-AC 1535 (with Bluetooth)
• Camera: 2.0 megapixel FHD video camera
• Weight: 5.5lb / 2.5kgs
• Size: 375 x 271 x 25mm (W x D x H)

As configured, the P506 costs $1,792 (around £1,347, or AU$2,531). With all the bells and whistles selected, it’s possible to configure the machine to around an eye-watering $5,000 (£3,500, or AU$7,000). We’d recommend keeping an eye on the price, and we’ve heard from XMG that there’s currently a 10% sale on at the time of writing.

Performance

Unlike the higher-priced P35X v5, which has a GTX 980M with 8GB of video memory, the P506 has a GTX 970M with 6GB of video memory. However, the lack of a 980M in the P506 didn’t appear to affect the frame rates in gaming benchmarks as much as you might think.

Both laptops have G-sync, which makes games run silky smooth by locking game frame rates to the fresh rates of the laptop’s display to eliminate screen tearing.

Benchmarks

Here’s how the XMG P506 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

• 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 21,661; Sky Diver: 19,023; Fire Strike: 6,524
• Cinebench: CPU: 684 points; Graphics: 67.55 fps
• GeekBench: 3,638 (single-core); 12,883 (multi-core)
• PCMark 8 Home Test: 3,327 points
• PCMark 8 Battery Life: 3 hours 11 minutes
• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: (1080p, Ultra): 52.71 fps; (1080p, Low): 119.76 fps
• Grand Theft Auto V: Ultra: 22.4 fps; Low: 138 fps

Battery life is at the higher end of the time bracket than expected for a traditional gaming laptop, clocking in at over three hours. I repeated the test to make sure this wasn’t an anomaly, and it racked up 3 hours 13 minutes the second time — over an hour more than the GS60 — but less than the 3 hours and 31 minutes achieved by the P35X v5.

The P506 beat the GS60 in nearly all of the 3DMark tests, only losing out on Fire Strike by a mere 34 points. It was, however, soundly beaten by the P35X v5’s GTX 980M in all three benchmarks by around 2,000 points.

If you’re planning on playing games at Medium settings, our GTA V and Shadow of Mordor benchmarks show that there’s little between the two machines. The P506 scored 138 fps versus the P35X v5’s 137 fps in the former game, and it achieved 119.7 fps versus 122 fps in the latter. However, the gap widens when settings are flicked to ‘Ultra’, with the P506 scoring 22.4 fps versus the P35X v5’s 30 fps. It makes for a subtle, yet noticeable difference at the high-end.

Aside from the benchmark tests I played Campo Santo’s Firewatch on the highest settings Our initial test found that frame rate suffered and to make it playable most settings had to be tåçurned down to the lowest level. (Note: We are currently running repeat benchmarks of Firewatch and will update this review with confirmation of the game’s performance in the week commencing March 14.)

However, the P506 runs incredibly quietly for a gaming laptop – the fan kick in after a while but it isn’t a whirring helicopter of a sound, more of a gentle hum that won’t impede significantly while shooting aliens, or as in our case, scouting out for forest fires. The built-in Onkyo speakers are surprisingly loud, with the top end cutting through more than most internal speakers — and it isn’t piercing.

The P506’s chiclet-spaced keyboard has a little bit of bounce, but nothing that will impede gaming. And as a nod to gamers, the WASD keys are marked with red arrows.

Bundled software

You only get Nero on CD. However, there’s no optical drive to use it with. And that’s it, there’s no other bundled software — a refreshing change.

Verdict

We liked

This P506’s battery life, solid construction, upgradable memory slots (up to 32GB) and lack of horrible bloatware are all significant plus points. In benchmarks, Schenker’s machine holds its own against more expensive rigs with better GPUs — particularly Gigabyte’s P35X v5 and its GTX 980. The XMG might not boast a 4K screen but its 1080p display is a delight, and the aluminum backing means it’s unlikely to get damaged when being carted about.

The placement of the power socket on the back edge is a rather pleasing part of the design as the cable won’t get in the way of using an external mouse or drive. The 1TB HDD means big games like GTA V won’t make a huge dent, and the inclusion of a generous 256GB Samsung SSD for the OS speeds up the wake and sleep. All that, and a free sticker and lanyard.

We disliked

Despite the impressive benchmarks we’re unsure as to how future-proof this notebook is as some newer games had to be played on the lowest setting. It’s also a pound heavier than its closest rival the MSI GS60 Ghost. Another potential downside is that the design might not be flashy enough for some gamers, though others may love its black brutalist architecture.

Final verdict

This is a well-performing midrange gamers’ laptop that won’t break the bank. In addition you get the benefit of the customizable elements and sound, if blocky design and oodles of ports. The P506 is hard enough to take many a knock too.

It might not be a 4K gaming marvel or have an Nvidia GTX 980M inside, but that’s to be expected at this cost. Its battery life isn’t market leading, but it’s impressive for a gaming machine, and the screen is a marvel to behold. Overall, this is an above average performing gaming laptop which is more than the sum of its parts.

Source: techradar.com