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Kraken M15 (Intel NUC X15) Q Essential GeForce i7 11800H/RTX 3060/QHD 165Hz Gaming Laptop $1199 Shipped @ BPC Tech

2451
ZIP100

Intel® Core™ i7-11800H Processor 24M Cache, up to 4.60 GHz
15.6" Narrow bezel, IPS 16:9 display with QHD 165 Hz
1x 8GB RAM (3200MHZ) + 256GB SSD
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6G graphics 140W
Seems to be a pretty good deal, has a second ram slot and a second nvme slot for upgrades
Doesn't seem to actually require zip pay as my purchase went through with Klarna for those people who don't have $1000+ limit with zip pay

Review of the NUC X15 from Jarrods tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AmtDtw2XtQ

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closed Comments

  • +24

    What an absolute killer deal. Nothing at the price range compares close to the screen nor the gpu wattage.

    Checks zip app $500 credit limit dies inside

    Even at 1.3k I would still bite. Add another 8gb ram (thats like what 30 bucks) and another stick of storage (so ~90 bucks for a 1TB cheap cruicial in a sale?) to get awesome performance. No mux switch but at this price you cant really ask for more.

    Also an extra FYI, because there were confusions in the last legion deal with the 11800H:

    • Laptop 11th gen chips are very powerful unlike desktop 11th gen, because they moved up to 10nm node a generation early, as such, you are looking at competitive performances against zen 3 5800H, and would actually see better frames in games thanks to the larger 24mb of L3 cache. Its only in sub 40w workloads would you see AMD getting an advantage. And of course battery life goes to AMD.
    • Mine is $1k limited.

      How can I increase my limit?

      I only use Zip pay once a month for ISP bill because I forgot to change it to debit card.

      • +1

        I have no idea. When I click on 'credit limit' in the app it says ' we are sorry, we cant offer you a limit increase right now…..keep making repayments….and we will review your eligibility again next time.'

    • +3

      Upon testing I think you can use the other payment methods with the coupon I think? Don't quote me on it though haven't actually placed an order myself

      • +1

        Cheers for that. Should I go for it even though I already have a better laptop hmmmm its at such a good price though and the ozbargain me tells me to buy first worry about it later.

        • I just placed a purchase myself even though I don't need one

      • New to posting on here, hopefully isn't inappropriate to ask, but do you know if the other Kraken M15 3060 laptops at BPCtech are also 140W?

    • About to grab an asus rog strix g15 with an rtx 2070 for $950, is this worth the extra $250?

      • +5

        Mind telling where?

    • +2

      I hope they ironed out the issues with this model.

      I got one (3070, FHD 240Hz) from BPC a year ago, and returned it because of quality issues:
      - fans weren't spinning up appropriately when gaming, thing was heating up considerably, with scary creaking noises inside
      - control software was trash (was showing random values for fan speeds, was switching to predefined distorted color management profiles instead of one I got from calibrating it, rendering it useless for any color sensitive work, despite having a great screen)
      - strong coil whine from keyboard backlight

      otherwise I believe a lot of people were happy with the model, maybe I got a faulty one, along with a few others who returned theirs.

      • +1

        There is and will always be faulty laptops delivered to people, varies per brand but you can see something like 1-2% of laptops produced are faulty and you just happened to get one of those, I believe if you asked for a replacement the chances of getting a good working laptop is pretty high.

        • +4

          I guess I was super unlucky back then. one after another I had:
          - Razer Blade 17 Pro with screen flicker and sound card static
          - this X15 with heating issues and other problems
          - Omen 16 that would crash after 15-20 minutes of gaming consistently
          - Gigabyte with severe backlight bleeding

          all of these went back where they came from, then I got Aorus 17 I posted here, and then another blade 17, and now finally L5iP gen 7 which I am FINALLY happy with

          what a journey huh

          • @shabaka: that's seriously unluckly.

            • @wiltonson: Book an appointment with doctor luck, hopefully he'll fix him up.

          • @shabaka: Those aorus laptops suck hey :( mine had the worst coil whine I've ever heard in a laptop, could hear it from other rooms in the house.

          • @shabaka: wow even the giga aorus wasnt good at the end? i remember at the beginning you said it was one of the best purchases so far. i remember because of that , i created gigabyte alert on ozb haha

            • +1

              @CyberMurning: Oh dear

              Legion is OZB favourite now it seems

            • @CyberMurning: yes I liked it a lot, was a super solid gaming setup

              however I decided it's time to get 12th gen / 30x0 refresh / QHD panel for future proofing.

              L5iP compared to Aorus 17G is not a straightforward comparison: L5iP wins in raw power (higher TGP, 20 thread CPU, MUX switch) and screen quality (500nit QHD+ 16:10 panel 165Hz G-Sync), while Aorus is quieter, pushes out same kind of frames per second due to lower resolution, has mechanical keyboard with per key RGB, and has a much better solid metal build

      • +1

        same here, but the machine also randomly died. got refunded but they deducted $150 for the windows license and $30 for ‘restocking’ bc of the SSD and RAM

        • +1

          If it's was faulty, they should have give you a full refund.

          • @syswong: you’re right, not sure why I let it slide. I’m normally pretty stingy about stuff like that. Ill be requesting a full refund tho now. Thanks

        • Are you talking about the x15? Did it come with a windows license?

      • Lol people don't want to hear actual criticism or commentary other than 'bargain hurr durr' in this thread lol.

      • +1

        Once I ironed out the issues I had with mine it has been rock solid.

        I wouldn't suggest anyone with less tech ability than me get one though. Intel support is completely useless on this, most of the time they were reasonably convinced that Intel didn't even make an x15 NUC when I spoke with them.

        I ended up working everything out myself with a rather alarming amount of serious issues, that many others have faced.

    • I think you mean an absolute kraken deal.

      I’ll show myself out.

  • +4

    This is a great deal.great screen, 94Whrbattery and thunderbolt 4 + full size hdmi 2.1 port. Great find!

  • Wow, great deal!

  • Is this a good deal or should we wait on Black Friday?

    • +1

      If the 3060 card suits your needs, then I suggest this.

      • Can you elaborate more? What's wrong with 3060? Any limitations that I should be aware of?

        • +3

          It's actually very good for games, but not as good as other 3070 or 3080 graphics cards.
          This website has gaming test results for you to assess whether it will sufficiently support the games you want to play.
          If you're not gaming, then this is still a great deal, although you might be able to get a laptop without a GPU at a better price that meets your needs.

    • i was thinking the same thing, i bought this now because its a pretty killer deal. for more ram and storage im waiting for black friday though.

    • If ur contemplating if u wanna buy this as an upgrade but dont use it for gaming then whats the point? Do u mean content creation? If not u can buy for the same price a very high quality laptop meant for everyday/work/ school needs like Intel NUC's.

  • 1x 8GB RAM

    What a bummer!

  • Does anyone make a laptop fast CPU, 16gb ram but upgradable?

    So difficult to find, solely for music production.

    I have no need for a GPU.

    What's it weigh?

  • +3

    Support for up to 64 GB total memory (Dual channel DDR4-3200 SODIMMs) ensures performance that will never slow you down.

    • Yeah,

      But I need something lighter, and AMD is better for multi processing and music is running various VSTS.

      So basically I need powerful CPU, and ram.

      Just seems a hard mix to find with a portable laptop. It's either a work station, or gaming.

      • +1

        Just seems a hard mix to find with a portable laptop.

        That's because a powerful CPU requires big and heavy cooling internals.

        • Lenovo has latest gen in their Yoga 7, but only attached to 16GB ram and it's fairly portable.

    • What would be a good RAM upgrade offer to get the 64GB for this?

    • +9

      Dont do that. Check the last page for this model on the Intel site

      PROBLEM: Due to the memory design layout the total memory capacity on the Intel® NUC Laptop Kits - LAPKC51E, LAPKC71E, and LAPKC71F is limited to 2x16GB or 32GB.

      IMPLICATION: A total maximum memory configuration of 64GB memory may cause performance instability.

      Workaround: None.

      STATUS: This issue will not be fixed in a subsequent release of the Intel® NUC Laptop Kits - LAPKC51E, LAPKC71E, and LAPKC71F.

      • Wtf why? Even my Nitro 5 is running 64gb with no performance instability.

  • Last deal is 500gb ssd and 16gb ram and still available.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/727997
    $1,449 and possible to use zip pay $100 off code too.

    Buy this 250gb/8gb deal and self upgrade is a little bit cheaper than 500g/16gb version?

    • +7

      150$. So yeah upgrading yourself would be cheaper. 8gb 3200mhz can be had for 30-40. 110$ can net you a pcie3.0 1TB drive.

      • Hey Brrrrt! Would you recommend any specific 8gb DDR4 from BPC's website?
        I see the 'Crucial 8GB (1x 8GB) DDR4 3200MHz SODIMM Memory' for $34 but don't wanna screw up buying something that is not compatible or underperforms :S

        • +14

          At first I would have said that any 3200mhz 8gb stick should work just fine, as this chip is not exceptional at CL22 with subpar latency so it couldnt get worse and even if it was you would see no real differences.

          However I just realised another thing that the stock ram is actually an Kingston KVR32S22S8/8 which is singled ranked, heres another special case concerning all 2021 gaming laptops with 8gb sticks in stock configs that they come with dual ranked ram that is slower and may bring performance down by 10% or more.

          So in this specific case it would be better to buy a similiar single ranked 8gb ram rather than the much more common dual ranked 8gb ram, and the stock ram happened to be sold on BPC as well for 55$, cheapest is 39$ + shipping from other retailers and I personally think its worth the extra 10, 20 dollars, of course if you can find other single ranked 8gb ram for cheaper it would be great as well.

          • +1

            @Brrrrt: Amazing, you're a legend!
            The Kingston single ranked it is then :)
            Much appreciated

            • +1

              @awes0me: :) always happy to help fellow ozbargainers

              • @Brrrrt: hi @Brrrrt thank you for the suggestion for the RAM single ranked (I add it instantly) may I know what you recommend for the SSD or is doesnt matter whether pcie3.0 or pcie4.0 because the slot mention pcie4.0 and any brand suggestion for that? Sorry for asking, really newbie in this computer thing
                Thank you so much

                • +1

                  @coky: Speeds differ a lot from pcie3.0 to 4.0 drives but in games most people wont be able to tell the difference and I certainly would recommend just going for a gen 3 drive which goes for ~110$ at 1TB in a sale.

                  The machine does come with 4.0 capability but thats only one slot, the other runs at pcie.3.0 because there isnt enough bandwidth for it. I think the stock drive occupies the 4.0 bay so if you do get a pcie4.0 drive just move the stock drive into the other slot.

          • @Brrrrt: Hi, thanks for the above info! Can you point to specific 8Gb RAM to look for? A brand and shop even.
            Seem like I'm looking for: DDR4, 1Rx8 (Single rank), 3200mhz
            E.g: https://www.amazon.com.au/Crucial-PC4-25600-SODIMM-260-Pin-M…

  • On a scale of Dell Inspiron to Surface Laptop how is the quality?

    • +5

      This is co deved by Intel and Tongfang and manufacturered by Tongfang, closest equiv you will get to purchase here is Aftershock laptops which also buys from Tongfang.

      Build quality should be solid but its QC that you may need to pay attention to.

  • just a small thing is I dont think it charges via usbc :(

    • +5

      Most gaming laptop dont. Only gaming laptops that supports it are - Alienware X series, Lenovo Legion series, Razer Blades, and all ROG laptops. None of them are any cheap certainly not below 1.5k.

    • +1

      Can confirm, it does NOT charge through USB-C. Attempting to do so, will cause the port to shutdown and reconnect continuously.

    • Sorry if this is a stupid question but doesnt the Thunderbolt 4 charge while outputting video at the same time? How come it doesn't charge?

    • Thanks for the info - didn't know this and deal breaker for me

  • +2

    Ahh man, copped one. Think its time to retire the ol' 960m when I'm around at the missus to play minecraft at a smooth almost 30 fps.

  • +2

    This is a killer deal. 140W RTX3060 can easily outperform any 80-95W RTX3070 and the QHD screen is just cherry on top. Wished they could include 12th gen Intel chip but then again it won’t sit at sub $1,200 like this. The closest deal to this machine was the Acer Nitro 5 three months back but that laptop doesn’t even have 140W RTX3060 and only 1080p screen with very abysmal thermal (trust me I bought it) and this deal is only $100 more for all the extra perks it got.

    If you haven’t got one then this is the best budget gaming laptop rn bar none. Hell I don’t think we’ll see as good a deal as this even on Black Friday. Jump on it now guys if you can, don’t HODL.

  • Damn I was after one of these a few months ago, quite like the look of them.
    Ended up spending about the same on a similar spec HP Victus which is going a bit too well to change just yet :(

  • Just looking at this and tempted. Does anyone know the screen brightness please? Thanks in advance

    • 350 nits

  • Man thats cheap
    There goes my resale haha

    Good laptops, bit finicky with the intel software when i first installed

  • +1

    Great deal. Shame it's not a 17 inch otherwise I would bite.

  • How long does it take to arrive on the free delivery to Sydney?

  • +7

    Bought the Kraken M15 Q Lite a while ago for $1,499 and added an extra stick of RAM, to make a total of 32GB of RAM. These laptops are nearly all identical, bar a few specification changes. Runs everything great assuming you're not set on 4K or anything extreme, with reasonable temperatures for a laptop too. Without a cooling pad, and on performance mode it can hit 100 degrees Celsius, but seemed to more hover around 85°C overall. With the CPU undervolted by 50mV, and the GPU set to 0.850mV in MSI Afterburner, it rarely exceeds 80°C on the GPU with a maximum of 90°C on the CPU; with a cooling pad it never exceeds 75°C on the GPU or 85°C on the CPU. Something to note though, with the laptop not plugged in and the RGB lighting enabled, it does have a weird coil whine issue, but this can be resolved by disabling the RBG on battery power. The 6GB of VRAM can be limiting though, I try to push 4K due to an external display I have, and it does struggle due to that. But this is nothing unexpected, it's a midrange GPU.

    TLDR: Great laptop, runs everything well, reasonable temperatures (75°C+), strange coil whine when on battery power with RGB keyboard on and VRAM can be limiting depending on titles/resolution.

    If anyone has questions, please don't be shy and ask me, I will try to respond to everyone.

    • +1

      Thanks your priceless experienced.
      How much did you pay for 32gb?

      • +1

        I only had to pay for an extra 16GB stick of RAM, costing me $79. All up, the laptop was $1,578.

        • What are the specs of the additional RAM you purchased? Just bought this laptop, want to upgrade straight away to 32GB, 2x16GB.

          • +2

            @bobbyverona: Both the RAM modules are the same within the laptop, being KVR32S22D8/16. They're 3200MHz, at CL22.

    • Thanks for detailed explanation mate.. may I know what's idle temperatures like?

      • +1

        No problem! Idle is around 40°C-50°C, fan noise is basically non-existent at idle too. I don't have a DB metre, but did have a desktop prior and it made much more noise at idle, even with the lowest fan speed.

    • What's battery life like in reality?

      • I haven't tested the laptop battery that much, but just from a little test I dropped 10% over about 25 minutes of browsing the web with many tabs open in power saving mode, in-addition to this I have many USB devices plugged into the laptop and charging off it too, so likely a worst case. Windows estimates I would get 2 hours in this mode, for gaming I would only expect around 1 hour maximum with the dedicated GPU.

        Hopefully this is helpful, sorry I couldn't assist more in this case! :c

      • I have the 3070 version.

        Configured and tweaked out I can get up to 9 hours of browsing. Just normal power saver mode 6-7 hours.

        The nvidia software can bug out and keep turning the gpu back on constantly for no good reason and limit it to 2 hours. I've found DDU removing the drivers and only ever using clean install when updating stops it reoccurring.

    • Was windows included? I cant see it anywhere on the description. thanks!

      • Windows 10 was pre-installed on the laptop, but had no activation key nor is one included. What I did, was purchase a cheap $20 Windows 10 Pro key from a website, and it still works to this day no problem.

  • What is this Kraken Brand? It's ok? I've never heard of it…

    • +4

      Kraken is the custom sticker brand used by BPC, all of them have Intel NUC x15s as the base kit that anyone can technically buy a slap some branding onto it.

      The Intel NUC kits are barebones and retailers with their own 'brands' will 'customise' it by adding different RAM sizing and SSD capacities and charge a price based on that

    • +3

      Kraken is a brand made by BPC Tech, this laptop is just rebadged but has no branding on it at all. The laptop is manufactured by Tongfang and Intel.

  • Hmmm i am about to pick up an asus rog strix g15 g512lw with an rtx 2070 for $950. Would this be a better deal? The asus has 240hz also.

    • +2

      Yes. You get far better cpu (10750h is a 6 core 14nm+++ vs the 10n 11800H 8core with double the L3 cache. 3060 is also overall 20% better give or take than 2070 across games and 2gb less vram isnt much of a issue. 240hz is nice but its 1080p while this is a 2k165hz panel, the differences between resolution would certainly be more noticable than 165hz vs 240hz.

      • Thanks mate, ill go for it

        • :) wont regret it

          • @Brrrrt: Wait how does zip pay work? Which zip thing do i sign up to. I dont wanna pay any fees.

            • @Shanetrain: Just use the code and pay normally with a debit card. No need to use ZipPay as payment method.

              • @bobbyverona: How do i do that? Using the code at checkout only gives me a few options, klarna, bank transfer, zippay etc.

                • @Shanetrain: Use the first option that shows the ANZ symbol. It's the normal payment method.

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