Comprehensive Review of the Ninth Generation Core i5: Time to Upgrade to a Versatile Laptop

This evaluation is of the Hasee Super Warrior GX8-CR6S1. As usual, when Intel updates the latest generation (currently the 9th generation) CPU, Hasee is quick to follow suit, making it the first to market this year, showcasing remarkable production speed. This article is structured simply, divided into three parts: appearance, internals, and gaming experience.

First, let’s look at the packaging, which is as robust as ever, with sufficient sponge cushioning inside to prevent damage during transport. This earns Hasee a big thumbs up, as I had to exert a lot of effort to unwrap it layer by layer. Of course, the packaging of laptops is generally similar across the market; as long as the main unit and power supply are intact, that’s all that matters. Some workpapers are included, and they also prepared cushioning pads and hard drive brackets for DIY enthusiasts, along with the GX series’ well-known thermal grease (commonly known as thermal paste). The power supply is as high as 230W, indicating that the desktop-grade processor combined with the NVIDIA GTX 1070 has a relatively high power consumption — of course, if you compare it to a desktop, it’s still quite energy-efficient, especially if you plan to use it as a desktop replacement. Looking back at the main unit, the latest GX8 still uses the Blue Sky factory mold, this time utilizing the P77FN-201, which has been updated from the previous P775TM, but it’s hard to spot any differences in appearance. Notably, the A-side still uses engineering plastic, with a brushed metal finish in the rear area. From the B-side, although the bezels are not the currently popular “ultra-narrow bezels,” they are still acceptable. Hasee has never been one to prioritize aesthetics; they are a solid “strength type”. (Upon powering on, it directly enters the configuration interface, with a genuine Windows 10 pre-installed, so users do not need to mess with the system.) The screen comes from Chi Mei, model CMN1747, supporting a refresh rate of 120Hz — the same as the previous generation. The thickness of the display is within the “very thin” range compared to the body. The C-side also shows no changes; the fingerprint unlock in the upper left corner of the touch area is a small upgrade, eliminating the need to swipe a finger to unlock like before, with improved accuracy and efficiency. The keyboard backlight adopts an RGB style, adjustable via the built-in FlexiKey, but unfortunately, it still does not support individual key lighting adjustments; the selection can only adjust the lighting in regions. The labeling on the C-side is similar to the previous generation, which is easily understandable. Thanks to support from several audio companies, the GX8 has four 3.5mm AUX ports. The D-side has not changed much; this mold set does not need to worry about heat dissipation. (Let me reiterate, heat dissipation is extremely, extremely, extremely important for gaming laptops. A laptop with good heat dissipation can perform up to its hardware standards. Some brands may look perfect on paper, but due to heat issues, their efficiency is very low. When purchasing gaming laptops, be sure to pay attention to heat dissipation issues — of course, if you’re buying an office laptop or a web laptop, or if you plan to use a gaming laptop as a web laptop, then you can ignore this.) Interestingly, although Blue Sky upgraded the mold, they retained the required subwoofer, which indeed adds some immersion during the gaming experience.

It still has a removable battery, the familiar 82Wh (5400mAh), with an actual usable capacity of about 79Wh, with a standard 1.1% loss at the factory. I believe friends buying this laptop won’t expect the battery to ensure long battery life; it should be sufficient for emergencies. On the side, the GX8 still provides a powerful set of ports, including a network port, Thunderbolt Type-C port, standard Type-C port, two USB 3.1 ports (one of which supports power supply when off), and an SD card slot. On the other side, there are multiple audio ports along with two USB 3.1 ports and a computer lock.

The rear is used for screen expansion with an HDMI port and two mini DP ports, with the most significant being the power port. Overall, for a high-end gaming laptop, Hasee GX8 still meets the expansion needs of most users.

Compared to the Dark Night Spirit 4, which has a narrow bezel and is 15.6 inches, the 17.3-inch Hasee GX8-CR6S1 does not appear much larger visually.

It is essential to conduct a simple disassembly to observe the internal structure; a good structure allows users to upgrade later with ease. As a globally renowned mold manufacturer, Blue Sky has rarely disappointed in the Gaming series. How does this updated P77FN-201 perform? Removing the D-side requires only unscrewing seven cross screws, making it very easy.

Gently pushing it open reveals the heat dissipation copper pipes, fans, memory sticks, hard drive bays, etc. The overall structure is not much different from the previous generation. However, it is worth noting that the number of heat dissipation copper pipes has been reduced from seven to six. Of course, this should not be simply understood as a “step back”; the curvature of the copper pipes also affects heat dissipation efficiency.

The default configuration still uses a Hitachi mechanical hard drive (1TB, 5400 RPM), with dual SATA and dual M.2 interfaces, making this laptop’s expandability very robust; if you have the budget, you can install SSDs in all four bays.

Next to the subwoofer is the M.2 interface hard drive bay. The memory stick is a Crucial (Micron’s brand) 8GB 2666 memory stick, and the dual slots allow for memory expansion, supporting up to 64GB.

It’s worth mentioning that these two inconspicuous ADDA fans are very aggressive when operating at full performance, and the significant cooling effect comes at the cost of increased noise.

After removing the heat dissipation module, you can see the CPU and GPU, which are Intel’s Core i5-9600K and NVIDIA’s GTX 1070, respectively. The GTX 1070 does not need much introduction, as it has been out for about a year. (The new version of RTX has only updated the 2080Ti, and there has been no movement in the mid to low-end products.)

This GPU’s pixel fill rate, texture fill rate, and GPU clock parameters are still superior to the standard GTX 1070.

Although the 9th generation Core does not have the same sense of “leap” as the 7th to 8th generation, it is still stronger than the previous generation’s i5, which is quite reassuring.

Compared to the 8600K, the 9600K has the same architecture, core count, and manufacturing process, and even the architecture code has not changed at all. The only difference is that the base frequency and turbo frequency have increased by 0.1GHz compared to the previous generation, which can be considered very typical of Intel.

In fact, the Intel Core i5-9600K combined with the NVIDIA GTX 1070 provides users with significant hardware assurance. The above image shows that using the Master Lu benchmark can easily exceed 300,000 points (it is said that this machine’s score is forced to lock frequency, so the processor score is actually lower), but I am still curious whether the new mold with one less copper pipe can maintain a good heat dissipation reputation.

PUBG is undoubtedly the hottest game of 2018 (no need for “one of”), and this game has high demands on the graphics card and memory, but the requirements for the CPU are not high (the official states that even the 4th generation i5 can run smoothly). Due to the negative optimization for hardware, many machines will need to run at full performance just to hold up. On ultra-high quality settings, the entire gaming process can still maintain a frame rate of over 65 fps; the GTX 1070 can indeed perform at this level — interestingly, even with high memory usage, there was no lag.

After checking the temperatures later, it was found that during gaming, the graphics card still reaches relatively high temperatures, and the fans will switch to “crazy mode” during gaming, showcasing the strength of ADDA — dropping from over 80 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius in under a minute…

League of Legends has been a popular game for seven years, and its popularity has not diminished. Every weekend and holiday, the Ionian region is still packed — of course, you have to admit that mobile games have taken a considerable share, and aside from the first district, there is hardly any pressure in the major regions. Of course, this game has seen significant improvements in graphical fidelity as it has been updated. Let’s see what the GX8 can achieve. Still at the highest graphics settings, when there are few elements on screen, the FPS can reach over 160 (actually, at the start, it easily soars to over 200 FPS, even approaching 300, but once I turned on anti-aliasing, it stabilized above 100 FPS), compared to 60 frames being smooth, 160 frames can fully let you experience the joy brought by the 120Hz screen. Even when there are many elements on the screen, it can still stabilize above 100 FPS. For the GX8, playing games like “League of Legends” and “DOTA 2” is undoubtedly overkill.

Warface is a military shooting game developed by the German company Crytek, with the Kyiv studio developing it, and the Seoul and Frankfurt studios assisting. Set against the backdrop of near-future military conflicts, it is built using Crytek’s proprietary CryENGINE engine. As a classic first-person perspective game, the attention to detail in the textures is quite impressive.

Even in complex scenes, the GX8 can still easily exceed 100 FPS while running Warface, maintaining smooth operation even with all high graphics settings. Compared to PUBG, it seems the fans do not need to run at full power. Besides the graphics card needing to work hard, the CPU and hard drive seem to be taking it easy — but the game shows no signs of lag whatsoever.

The GX8-CR6S1, as the latest GX8 laptop equipped with the 9th generation Core CPU, despite using a slightly modified mold and reducing one heat dissipation copper pipe, still achieves top-tier heat dissipation standards in the industry. If you have a budget of around 10,000 yuan for a desktop, this laptop can fully serve as the main machine for home use, with three video expansion ports ensuring its output capability. Its powerful performance can handle most tasks, and thanks to Hasee’s cost-effectiveness and the good reputation of the GX8 series, the chances of “regret” should be minimal.