6 million won laptop equipped with RTX 5080: Should you endure 'airplane engine' noise?

A product that tests the limits of performance has emerged in the gaming laptop market. According to an ITSub video, the 'HyperX OMEN MAX 16', released as HP's premium gaming lineup is reorganized under the HyperX brand, is designed to target top-tier performance among existing gaming laptops.

Brand reorganization, changes in appearance, and increased weight

One of the biggest features of this new product is the change in branding. 'OMEN', which was previously HP's high-performance gaming brand, has now changed its name to 'HyperX OMEN'. As HyperX, famous for gaming gear, is incorporated into HP's brand, it signifies the expansion of the OMEN product line. The video mentioned that because the logo on the top cover has changed, it doesn't look as clean as the OMEN from the previous model, giving "a feeling of being slightly nerfed." However, the HyperX logo at the bottom of the display is small, which was evaluated as being fine.

The external layout is similar to the previous model, but there are detailed changes. The rear exhaust vent design has become wider and changed to a single-bend form, which HP has named the 'Engrand Exhaust Vent Grill'. The port configuration considers the convenience of gamers by evenly placing USB-A and USB-C (including Thunderbolt) types on both sides. In particular, ports such as power, HDMI, and Ethernet are neatly placed at the rear for 'scissor mode' users who use the laptop in a fixed position. As for the keyboard, it has finally been changed to a full-size keyboard to resolve the up-down-left-right key arrangement issues pointed out in the previous model. Additionally, with the application of the HyperX brand, the 'HyperX Action' feature has been added, upgrading the keyboard response speed (polling rate).

However, in terms of physical specifications, the weight has increased slightly. It increased by about 200g from the previous model's 2.68kg to 2.89kg, and the power adapter also grew from 330W to a 460W Gallium adapter, lowering overall portability. The video explained this as "equipment for 'scissor mode' users, like athletes who take their desktops on expeditions rather than for commuting."

OLED display and performance approaching desktop levels

The display is a key improvement of this model. It has been upgraded from the existing IPS 240Hz panel to an OLED 240Hz panel with 2.5K (2560x1600) resolution. It supports 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and 1100 nits of brightness, and the video evaluated it as "the colors are very deep and vivid, like the glare panel of the Apple Studio Display." However, due to the nature of the glare panel, light reflection during outdoor use was pointed out as a limitation.

In terms of performance, it is equipped with Intel's top-tier 'Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus' processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU. This processor is part of the HX series, the top-tier line for desktops, and its clock speed has improved by 100MHz compared to the previous model. As a result of the 3D Mark test, the Time Spy score recorded 23,115 points. The graphics performance is higher than the desktop RTX 5070 but lower than the 5070 Ti.

In actual game testing results, when running the high-spec game 'Crimson Desert' at QHD resolution, if the DLSS 4.5L upscaling is set to 'Ultra Performance', it was possible to secure 80–90 frames, which provides an experience similar to a desktop. It also recorded very high frames in online games such as Lost Ark (average 220 frames), PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS (average 274 frames), LoL (346 frames), and Overwatch (119 frames). Additionally, it showed stable performance in AAA games such as Cyberpunk 2077 (average 85 frames) and Forza Horizon 6 (average 81 frames).

'Airplane engine' noise and 3-fan structure cooling system

As much as the powerful performance, heat and noise control remain tasks to be solved. HP adopted a '3-fan structure' by adding one more fan to the existing 2-fan structure, designed to discharge heat in three directions: left, right, and rear. Through this, it ensures that the heat at the top of the keyboard remains at a tolerable level even during high-load tasks. However, when the CPU is running at full capacity under high load, the peak temperature can reach 100 degrees.

However, the noise issue was unavoidable. When the power is connected and it is operated in the top-tier performance mode 'Elliside', the fan speed soars to 6,400 RPM, generating powerful noise that can be described as an "airplane engine sound." On the other hand, in Balanced mode (around 4,000 RPM) or Eco mode (around 3,000 RPM), it was relatively low-noise and possible to use comfortably. The video also suggested that the frames when playing in Balanced mode (70–110 frames) actually felt like a proper balance.

In terms of software, performance can be controlled through the 'OMEN Gaming Hub'. It includes the 'OMEN AI' feature, which automatically suggests optimal configurations for supported games, and cleaner and booster functions that close unnecessary processes when running games. In particular, in 'Elliside' mode, automatic overclocking is activated to allow the best performance to be drawn through GPU boosting.