Power Gaming at a Premium

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Key Takeaways

• The Origin PC EON16-X laptop offers high-end gaming performance in a relatively understated package.
• The laptop has premium features like a 16-inch 240Hz display and mobile NVIDIA RTX4090 GPU.
• The EON16-X excels in gaming performance, benchmarks, and its reliable Wi-Fi connectivity, along with a robust port selection.

Origin PC, which was acquired by Corsair in 2019, is known for their high-performance, premium PCs. The EON16-X gaming laptop is no exception, promising high-end gaming on-the-go with top-of-the-line power and performance. However, despite high-end components and big 16-inch display, this laptop is offered in a relatively understated package. For the most part, Origin PC delivers on this lofty promise, but with few frills and an ambitious price.

Price and Availability

The EON16-X Laptop is available directly from Origin PC for $3400 as configured with the Waves 3 HD UV panel print. It includes a 16-inch WQXGA 240Hz display, Intel i9-14900HX (55W) CPU, Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) 4800MT/s SODIMM memory, NVIDIA RTX4090 mobile GPU with 16GB RAM, 2TB Samsung 990 Pro PCIe NVMe storage drive, and Windows 11 Home. Other configurations will affect the final price.

Games, Benchmarks, and Overall Performance

On paper, since the built-in display has a reasonable 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, the EON16-X should be able to maintain very high frame rates with high visual fidelity in even the most demanding games. In practice, that definitely proved to be the case, especially when paired with the display’s super-fast 240 Hz refresh rate and NVIDIA G-SYNC support.

Regardless of the game, be it Diablo IV, MythForce, Baldur’s Gate 3, Forza Motorsport, or High on Life, settings were high, and frame rates locked to 60 FPS or better. The quality display, with its excellent viewing angles and brightness even at 50%, allowed me to see each game’s finer visual details in rich color.

Although there’s a wired Ethernet port, one big surprise for me was how good the Wi-Fi performance was. Although there’s no Wi-Fi 7 support for my TP-Link BE33000, the laptop does support Wi-Fi 6E. My internet connection maxes out at around 1.3 Gbps download and generally no more than the 20-25 Mbps range for upload speeds. Connecting the EON16-X wirelessly using the Multi-Link Operation (MLO) option of my network, I experienced the fastest speeds for any device on my network setup, wireless or wired.

Even connecting wirelessly to the standard non-MLO portion of my network, my average ping was 24 ms, with download speeds of 1.2 Gbps. For comparison, in the same testing window, my desktop computer, which is hardwired into one of the TP-Link BE33000 satellites, averaged a ping of 19 ms, download speeds of 930 Mbps, and upload speeds of 18 Mbps.

One of my favorite games to play is Fortnite, and I would never consider using Wi-Fi over wired Ethernet for a competitive online shooter like this, except in this case. There was not a single connectivity issue with Wi-Fi and performance was as smooth as I’ve ever experienced. While there were the usual frame rate drops until shortly after landing, once in-game, the frame rate remained a solid 60fps. This was when paired with very high settings, and it felt like a fresh experience even after previously logging over 1,100 hours of playtime. Of course, if you want to run the game with a frame rate in the hundreds, that’s always an option, but you’ll sacrifice some of the higher-end visuals that really shine on this display.

The keyboard performed well for gaming purposes, with good responsiveness to quick presses. Of course, it can’t come anywhere near the performance of a good external mechanical keyboard like my preferred Logitech G915 Lightspeed, but it was never an issue when I needed to use it for a competitive game session.

It’s easy to switch between the laptop’s different operating modes. Either from the included Origin Control Center software or with the dedicated key next to the power button. “Office” mode is a lower performance mode for general non-gaming use that rarely, if ever, activates the fans. With “Game” mode, the laptop automatically adjusts the fan speeds based on the present situation. “Turbo” mode unleashes the laptop’s full performance potential, but also lets the fan run at full capacity and noise levels. Finally, there’s a “Custom” mode where you can set profiles for different games or applications and tweak processor, GPU, and fan settings to get exactly the performance you need.

With Turbo mode active and under heavy load, the fans were certainly loud, but never too overbearing. I did notice more heat venting out of the left side vents than the right side, which was fine with me as I mouse on the right side.

Of course, for all the subjective use of the laptop when gaming and how positive my experience was for me, benchmarks are always the best way to get a complete picture of a machine’s performance ceiling. I ran four popular benchmarks with the EON16-X plugged in and set to Turbo mode.

3DMark’s incredibly demanding 4K-centric Steel Nomad benchmark for gaming PCs resulted in a 3DMark and Graphics Score of 5,226, and 52.27 fps in the Graphics Test. While that’s anywhere from 30 – 50% of the performance of the highest end gaming desktop PCs with more powerful GPUs, it still beats out desktops with popular GPUs like the NVIDIA RTX 4070 or AMD RX 7800 XT, pushing, on average, more than 10 fps better. Needless to say, the EON16-X puts many other gaming laptops to shame in this test.

Using the older Time Spy Extreme, which is a 4K DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs, resulted in a CPU score of 9,637 and Graphic’s score of 10,836, for an average of 10,637. That’s better than 78% of all results and well beyond the average score of a 2023 gaming desktop PC at just 8,090.

Running PCMark 10, which bills itself as the complete benchmark for the modern office, resulted in a score of 8,704, which was better than 96% of all results. It was far above the average 2023 gaming laptop score of 7,066, although not near the average 2023 gaming desktop PC score of 9,483. While the EON16-X wouldn’t necessarily be your first choice for a productivity machine, its power can certainly be put to good use for even very demanding photo and video editing scenarios.

In the VRMark Blue Room benchmark, the EON16X-16 scored 6,850, and had an average frame rate of 149.34, besting the average of 5,198 from 2023 gaming desktop PCs and not too far off the 7,815 average of 2023 high-end gaming PCs. As expected, this laptop makes an excellent platform for even very demanding VR use cases.

Switching to Office mode, running from battery, 53% screen brightness, and leaving the keyboard and light bar lighting on, I ran the UL Procyon benchmark and its Office Productivity One-Hour Battery Consumption test. It gave a performance score of 18,400, noting a 33% drop in battery life over the first hour of use. This translates to roughly three to four hours of maximum battery life, even with minimal screen brightness and no GPU usage. This falls in line with Origin PC’s own estimates of three to six hours under normal usage and one and a half to two hours under heavy loads, such as gaming. In any case, you’ll probably want to be close to an outlet even when you’re not gaming.

Design and Hardware: Basic Good Looks with Power

The EON16-X sports a conservative design and traditional all-black styling. This is no thin and light laptop, but you wouldn’t necessarily suspect it’s a gaming powerhouse either.

Where Origin PC does let down its hair, so to speak, is with a customizable display backing. You can choose from 19 different HD UV prints for $30 each, or a custom HD UV print for $140. Mine came with the Waves 3 print, which has color that really pops and a nice tactile feel to the white lines. In another nice touch, Origin PC includes the same HD UV print design as a Windows desktop wallpaper.

As mentioned, while the keyboard is not the best I’ve ever used, even for a laptop, and there’s no Copilot key, it’s still pleasant to type on with good balance and responsiveness to each key. For anyone who says you don’t need a tenkey, maybe you don’t, but I certainly found its inclusion convenient for entering numbers, even if each key is only half the width of the letter keys.

The per-key RGB lighting for the keyboard is generally excellent, with just a little bit of light bleed around the key edges. There’s also an RGB light bar that spans much of the center below the front lip of the base.

The trackpad is a good size and has silky smooth performance. As far as trackpads go, it’s a joy to use, although it’s a bit unfortunate there’s no lighting option.

As previously indicated, overall thermal regulation is excellent. Unless I was playing a demanding game, I barely felt any heat and rarely heard the fans. When I wasn’t gaming, I left it in Office mode and, other than warmth above the function keys and some heat from the sides of the laptop body, I could hardly tell it was doing anything at all. If not for the limited battery life, this would also do well, outside some of its bulkiness, as a good general usage laptop.

There’s not much Origin PC adds to the basic Windows 11 Home operating system installation, so there are no real worries about bloatware. The most useful inclusion is the aforementioned Origin Control Center, which lets you monitor and modify general, performance, lighting, battery, display, and system settings. It’s not as robust as some of the offerings from other companies, but I appreciated that the user interface for things like adjusting the keyboard and light bar lighting was straightforward and not overwhelming.

Input and Output: Ports for Every Need and Few Other Frills

The EON16-X has a robust port selection. On the right side is a USH-I full-size SD card reader and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports. On the left side is a 3.5mm combination microphone and headset audio port, USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, another USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, and a Kensington Lock Port. At the rear is a USB-C Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 port with power delivery, a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, Ethernet port, and DC power port. Using the Thunderbolt 4 ports you can drive up to two 4K displays or one 8K display.

I was not particularly impressed by the quality of the built-in speakers. The default sound profile sounds good at about 60% volume, but beyond that level I noted some muddiness. There’s a little bit of bass, which is nice, but not a great deal of overall presence or noticeable surround effects. In short, these speakers will do in a pinch, but you’re better off using external wired or Bluetooth speakers or headphones.

The built-in microphone is serviceable and did a good job of picking up my voice, but also recorded some background noise. Similarly, the full HD webcam, which, in a nice touch, has a physical switch to block the camera when needed, does a good job with keeping focus, but is otherwise unremarkable in terms of image quality or handling challenging lighting conditions.

There’s no Windows Hello or fingerprint security validation, so you’re limited to entering a passcode from the keyboard. This is yet another example of how this is designed as a relatively no-frills laptop primarily dedicated to delivering top-notch gaming performance.

Should You Buy the Origin PC EON16-X Laptop?

There’s no question that Origin PC has delivered an ultimate gaming, and performance-oriented laptop (with a price to match) in the EON16-X. As expected, battery life is not one of the EON16-X’s strong suits, making it more of a transportable workstation than a truly mobile companion. However, if you’re a dedicated gamer and general power user, it would be difficult to find a better performer, especially with such a big screen size in such a relatively understated, and customizable, package.