Origin EON17-X v2 review: powerful, big, hot, and loud

Origin EON17-X v2: Two-minute review

Gaming laptops typically come in two different flavors: the lighter variant that requires some performance compromises, and the desktop variant that is about as mobile as a large turtle. The Origin EON17-X v2 is the latter.

For many, these desktop replacements are the best gaming laptops for them. While heavy, they’re still much easier to fold up and transport than an actual desktop. You just wouldn’t want to carry it around on your back all day. Yet, they still have the bona fide internals to allow playing AAA games on higher settings with ray tracing and all that jazz. Unfortunately, it shares some of the drawbacks of these types of computers with its loud fans and issues with thermal efficiency, not to mention it blows hot air out its sides around where one would most likely have their hand when using an external mouse.

On the bright side, it comes with a large, sharp, and vibrant screen like the best 17-inch laptops. And like some of those bigger models, the Origin EON17-X v2 gets up there in price. Depending on what you’re looking for – especially if you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop with an HD UV printed lid – the Origin EON17-X v2 might be the gaming laptop for you.

Origin EON17-X v2: Price and availability

•  How much does it cost? Starting at $3,400.00 (about £2,610.00 / AU$5,120.00)
•  When is it available? Available now 
•  Where can you get it? Available in the US 

Though the basic configuration listed on the Origin site for the EON17-X v2 is discounted down to $2,480 at the time of writing, it generally starts at $3,400.00 (about £2,610.00 / AU$5,120.00). Even if that’s one of those deals where it’s constantly discounted so most are never paying that price, this is still an expensive computer. That said, $2,400 is a much more accessible price and an easier one to swallow.

Even that basic configuration is plenty powerful as well. It comes with an Intel Core i9 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and a 1440p screen with a 240Hz refresh rate.

If you want to max out the configuration, which has that same i9 CPU, an RTX 4090 GPU, 64GB RAM, 8TB SSD with an additional 8TB SSD and a 4K screen with a 144Hz refresh rate along with one of the preconfigured UV printed lids, the price is going to be $5,681 (about £4,360 / AU$8,550). Now, those massive SSDs both add on a lot price-wise, specifically $824 for the main 8GB SSD and an additional $930 for the additional 8TB SSD.

The review configuration here is a happy medium as it keeps the Intel Core i9, RTX 4090, and 4K screen, and pairs that all with a more modest but still very robust 32GB RAM as well as a 2TB SSD and an additional 2TB SSD. That will set you back $3,913 (about £3,000 / AU$5,890) give or take (there are multiple options for the same configuration of hard drives at slightly different price points). Of course, it’s discounted at the time of writing to $3,098.

Origin is not the only game in town for these sorts of desktop replacement laptops that are more than likely to be very powerful, very loud, and very stationary. The MSI Titan 18 HX is another such computer. It starts at an even pricier $4,999.99 / £4,379.98 / AU$6,999 and comes with an Intel Core i9, RTX 4080, 64GB RAM, and 2TB SSD, along with an 18-inch screen with a 2400p resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The one thing it does have over the Origin is that that screen has HDR1000 on hand. Still, it starts at an even higher price point for a similar package.

If you’re willing to compromise, particularly on screen resolution, the Acer Predator Helios 18 starts at a much more palatable $1,699.99 (about £1,339 / AU$2,576). Of course, the specs are more modest as you get an Intel Core i7, 4060 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and an 18-inch 1200p screen with a 165Hz refresh rate. 

• Value: 4 / 5

Origin EON17-X v2: Specs

All models come with an Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU, but you do have a few ways to customize (and a whole bunch when it comes to the SSDs). The GPU and screen are tied together, so if you get the cheaper Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, the PC will come with the 17.3-inch 1440p screen with the faster 240Hz refresh rate. If you get the 4090 GPU, it will come with a 17.3-inch 4K screen with a still blazing fast 144Hz refresh rate.

As far as RAM goes, you can select from 16, 32, or 64GB. When it comes to SSDs, the options are too numerous to mention here. I’ll only say that you have options ranging from 1 to 8TB for both the main and the additional hard drive. For some sizes, there are multiple options.

Besides the two different screens, there’s one other way to customize the Origin EON17-X v2 externally, and that’s with the HD UV printed lid. For a small upcharge, you can choose from 19 different prints. Or, for a bigger upcharge, you can upload your own design to be printed on the lid. 

Origin EON17-X v2: Design

•  Massive in every way, including weight
•  Port selection is great
•  HD UV printed lid is unique

The Origin EON17-X v2 is massive. Yes, that’s to be expected of any computer with a 17-inch display not named LG Gram, but this PC is 16 pounds (despite the fact that a lot of the verbiage online says 7.25 pounds). It’s clearly not meant to be routinely lugged around. It just happens to be more portable than an actual desktop setup. That said – as I’ll get into below – the battery life is good enough that, if you’re actually comfortable carrying around an extra 16 pounds, you can use this on the go.

The upside of the EON17-X v2 being so big is that it comes with a large 17.3-inch display with either a super sharp resolution (4K at 144Hz) or blazing fast refresh rate (1440p at 240Hz). The only thing really missing with the display is any kind of HDR.

It also has a full-sized keyboard layout thanks to its larger size, which can be customized with Macros and per-key RGB lighting. The touchpad is likewise sizable. Both work well, though the keyboard has enough stiffness that I prefer typing on my MacBook or using an external keyboard. 

The touchpad, however, is very responsive and accurate. Almost enough to use during gaming, though it’s held back by the fact that if you’re pressing down to simulate a right click, you won’t be able to left click. This is a combination of actions needed in games where you would aim before shooting. Otherwise, I was very impressed by the touchpad.

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The port selection on here is pretty great. Though I don’t like having ports on the back, there are so many that it makes sense. Anything outside of a SD card reader is here. It even has an optical style audio jack to go along with a regular 3.5mm one. And, of course, two thunderbolt 4 ports are on hand as well.

Taking a step back and looking at the whole package, the Origin EON17-X v2 is mostly matte black with an aluminum chassis, and, when open, only really looks like a gaming laptop thanks to its size and the RGB lighting on the keyboard. However, the lid with its HD UV printed design is going to give it away. Regardless of the design, it’s not a look I would personally go for (you can choose a standard black lid), but it’s certainly unique and something that someone would appreciate.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Origin EON17-X v2: Performance

• Powerful performance
• Loud fan
• Gets hot under stress

It’s no surprise that Origin bills the EON17-X v2 as “[its] most powerful laptop ever designed.” Its specs are impressive. It has a top-of-the-line CPU in its Intel Core i9 as well as the most powerful consumer-grade GPU with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (even if you get the 4080, it’s incredibly powerful).

It’s a testament to how ambitious Origin got that you can still run games like Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Hellblade 2:Senua’s Saga and really push the laptop, ending up with 20-30 fps. But, that’s with maxed settings and ray tracing on full blast. Singling out Cyberpunk 2077 for a second, I get 20 fps with everything maxed out at 4K including ray tracing. With ray tracing off, it’s 29 fps. At 1080p with ray tracing off but all the other settings still maxed out, I get 89 fps.

That’s actually pretty impressive. And, with a lot of AAA games, you can get up to 150 - 160 fps in 1080p but still with the settings all the way up.

Also remember that the Origin EON17-X v2 is powering a 4K display (or 1440p one if you go the cheaper-ish route) with a high refresh rate even if you’re not fully utilizing it. And it’s a wonderful display. Its Delta E > 0.25 is incredibly accurate and the color coverage is very wide, specifically insofar that it has an sRGB of 153.5% and DCI-P3 of 108.7%. With those numbers and the powerful internals, I could imagine doing quite a bit of video editing on this machine.

Where the Origin EON17-X v2 is not quite amazing is in the fact that its fans are very loud, though you can adjust that in Origin’s Control Center app. I literally could barely hear the maxed out audio of games over it. Strangely, the laptop still got very hot under duress, measuring 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) right above the F10 / webcam key in the middle of the keyboard. 

More distressingly is the fact that while there’s venting on the back and the sides of the computer, a lot of the hot air is getting blown out the sides. Unless you’re using an external keyboard, you probably will have your mouse and therefore your hand right next to one of the side vents.

On the bright side, if you choose to use the speakers instead of external headphones, the audio sounds decent. Not a lot of low-end, but it’s full enough. More importantly for a gaming computer, it actually has a decent soundstage so you can hear what’s supposed to be on the left or the right.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Origin EON17-X v2: Battery life

• Solid battery life for a gaming laptop
• No fast charging

I always say this when I review gaming laptops, but it’s worth repeating. They’re notorious for having, at best, mediocre battery life. So, to test a 17-inch model with very robust specs and have it last a little more than seven and a quarter hours in our web surfing battery informant test is very impressive. Typically, I expect to see two to three hours of battery life in these kinds of machines.

Also worth noting is that the Origin EON17-X v2 does not have fast charging on hand. However, that’s more the purview of Ultrabooks. On the bright side, you do have some customization over how the laptop charges in the Control Center app so you can set it to charge when it’s under 70% and stop at 80. You can also select your own personal parameters. That’s a nice feature if you care about the longevity of the physical battery.

•  Battery life: 4.5 / 5

Should I buy the Origin EON17-X v2?

 Buy it if…

Don't buy it if...

Also Consider

If our Origin EON17-X v2 review has you looking for other options, here are two laptops to consider...  

MSI Titan 18 HX

The MSI Titan 18 HX does a lot of what the Origin EON17-X v2 does and adds in HDR1000. It’s powerful with a great display and plenty of ports. It’s, however, even more expensive and you can’t add your own design on the lid.

Read our full MSI Titan 18 HX review 

Acer Predator Helios 18

The Acer Predator Helios 18 proves that, if you’re willing to compromise on some settings, you can get some great gaming done for a much cheaper price. It’s much cheaper while still offering up a very large display. While that display as at a lower resolution, it’s still blazing fast.

Read our full Acer Predator Helios 18 review 

How I tested the Origin EON17-X v2

•  Tested for two weeks
•  Used it for work, gaming, and streaming 
•  Pushed it as hard as possible with demanding games

I used the Origin EON17-X v2 for two weeks, gaming on it primarily, but also typing up most of this review and watching / listening to streaming. I pushed it as hard as possible, running AAA games at various settings including at their max to see how it would respond.

The Origin EON17-X v2 is an interesting machine as it’s for a very select group of people who want as much performance as possible, but still want a single laptop instead of all the individual parts of a desktop setup.

I’ve spent the last few years reviewing tech gear for gaming and otherwise, where I’ve gotten a feel for what to look for and how to put a piece of kit through its paces to see whether it’s worth the recommendation.

•  First reviewed September 2024