Xenom Shiva SV15-S Review – 30% More Efficient, More Patented Performance

Xenom Shiva became the best-selling SKU after the All New Xenom series was introduced. The barebones design, which is much more stylish, slimmer, lighter but offers a bit more performance, boosted its sales several times compared to the previous version which used much thicker barebones. In this review of the Xenom Shiva SV15-S, pemmzchannel will explore what the latest version has to offer, which has been upgraded from the CPU side to this Skylake generation.

Xenom Shiva Review – Between Handling and Performance

We inform you again, Shiva is a notebook series from Xenom which is designed most seriously to maintain component temperature, especially CPU and GPU. It’s not that other series are not optimal, it’s just that Shiva is a medium series that is the most balanced between handling and performance. For that, he must remain slim even though he has to “carry” components with relatively high specifications. The problem is, maximizing the minimal cavity so that it remains qualified for heat dissipation is a difficult job. Well, this is what the Xenom Shiva SV15-S has to offer.

Design – Exterior

100% same as All New Xenom Shiva Haswell series. The design according to pemmzchannel is in the long term category. This means that even if he is compared to a notebook that will be released in the next few years, he can still “hang out together”. Just like European output cars. What is updated is the backlit keyboard setting which in this series has 5 brightness levels.

If it comes with a choice of new materials, for example aluminum metal like the Phoenix series, maybe we can discuss something in the Xenom Shiva SV15-S review this time. Unfortunately, Xenom still entrusts plastic materials throughout the barebon SV15-S down to the bottom cover, except for the speaker cover. Although it is much thinner, for the battery, the SV15-S still adopts a detachable system. You can also still find Optical Disc Drive in this series.

Specifications – Major Upgrades, Minimal updates

[button color=”” size=”” type=”square_outlined” target=”” link=””]Displays (LCD) : 15.6″ Full HD IPS Panel LED-Backlit Display with Matte Finished Surface (1920 x 1080)
Processor : 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Processor (6MB L3 Cache, 2.60GHz) Turbo Up to 3.5Ghz
System Memory (RAM) : 8GB DDR3L SDRAM at 1600MHz (up to 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 Memory capable)
mSATA SSD (Slots 1- Primary drive) : 256GB MSATA SSD
Hard Drive : 1TB SATA3
Optical Drive : 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive
Graphics Card : Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory
Operating System : Windows 10
Wireless : Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 +Bluetooth M.2 2230
Thermal Compound :-
Ports : • 4 x USB 3.0 ports
• 1 x Mini Display port 1.2
• 1 x HDMI output port (with HDCP)
• 1 x external VGA port
• 1 x Headphone jack
• 1 x Microphone jack
• 1 x S/PDIF output jack
• 1 x RJ-45 LAN port
• 1 x DC-in jack
• 6-in-1 Push-Push card reader
– MMC / RSMMC
– SD / mini SD / SDHC / SDXC
Keyboard : Integrated white illuminated keyboard and touchpad with multi-gesture and scrolling function
Audio : • High Definition Audio
• S/PDIF Digital output
• Built-in microphone
• Built in two 2W speakers
• Sound Blaster™ Cinema 2
• ANSPTM 3D sound technology on headphone AMP output
Battery : Smart Li-ION Battery Pack 6 cell
Power Adapter : included
Zero Defective Pixel Guarantee :-
Warranty : Xenom 2 Year Limited Parts and Labor Warranty[/button]

The change behind the barebones Xenom Shiva SV15-S is also considered by Pemmzchannel to be “the least” compared to several other brands. Noted, only upgraded CPU generation and Storage configuration. For the CPU, according to the additional “S” code at the end of the SKU name of this product, it indicates that the Xenom Shiva SV15-S is already using the Intel Core i 6th gen Processor “Skylake”. Which is a bit confusing, this SV15-S still uses DDR3 instead of DDR4 like other Skylake CPU-enabled gaming laptops. To keep prices down? We don’t even know. But for sure, Xenom must have a reason, why it still maintains DDR3 on the Shiva SV15-S.

On the storage side, the Xenom Shiva SV15-S is equipped with a 256GB SSD by default as the main drive. As we know, in theory, even though the price becomes more expensive, the performance we get is better than an SSD of the same quality but smaller capacity. The second m2 slot on the SV15-S actually supports SSDs with a PCI eX gen 3.0 x4 (NVMe) interface. So in the future, you can still optimize Xenom Shiva’s storage capabilities when the price of NVMe SSDs is more affordable.

Display Monitor & Audio

Display and Audio Shiva SV15-S

The panels used are slightly different even though they are both matte, IPS technology, and full-HD resolution. The Xenom Shiva SV15-S panel used is the LG-Philips LP156WF4-SPL1. Previously, Shiva used AU Optronics B156HAN01.2. Both have almost the same character, especially in the superior contrast points. For audio, Xenom still entrusts onkyo-made speakers without a polished sub-woofer with the Soundblaster X-Fi gen II. It’s quite resonant, although not arguably the most powerful.

Ports & Connectivity

The back side is used for the easy display out port

The connectivity side of the Xenom Shiva SV15-S is also exactly the same as the Haswell version. Even though it is very possible for this series to get a little change, for example 4G connectivity with an LTE modem dongle, USB 3.1, or thunderbolt. The placement of the indicators is also the same, on the front left. This is good, because it makes it easier for us to monitor some hardware activities such as hard drives and the charging process.

Performance – Sorry, No DDR4 Support

From the results of the overall Xenom Shiva SV15-S review, for general computing according to pemmzchannel DDR4 it is still not “kick”. At least for today’s games. But there is no technology that provides a decrease in performance. If anything, it would be a failed technology development. Readers can check out the DDR4 vs DDR3 test test video which will be published by pemmzchannel next week after this e-Magazine is published. So, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel too.

For the Xenom Shiva SV15-S itself, the Intel Core i7 6700HQ CPU is really a mainstay. Without support from DDR4, the improvements are definitely there. In synthetic testing there was a slight increase in points, but only around 1 to 2%. Even in the dx10-based test, the points obtained are up to 6.7% less. This is slightly inversely proportional to the results of the Resident Evil 6 test which shows a significant increase.

Cooling System – 20% More “Cool”

Again, this is due to the smaller Skylake fabrication which of course makes the heat dissipated also less. By using CPU ID HWMonitor, Intel core i7 6700HQ only recorded the highest temperature of 67°C with the Resident Evil 6 Benchmark bad test (FHD, High, All effect Off) looped 3x. In the skylake version, HWMonitor noted that the core i7 4720HQ broke the 81°C mark. In percentage terms, Intel managed to make Skylake cooler by almost 20% compared to Haswell.

Although it still uses the same GPU, the Geforce GTX970M, the recorded temperatures are slightly different. And this is inversely proportional to the condition of the CPU where the temperature of the Haswell GTX970M series is only recorded at 83°C, while the new skylake is 88°C. This difference of about 6% cannot be ignored. Quality Control from Xenom may need to be tightened so that this can be minimized.

Power Management

The surprise we got from battery testing on the Xenom Shiva SV15-S review this time. Using the same bad test i.e. BatteryEatPro 2.7 classic mode, in the Haswell version we got a result of 119 minutes. Whereas in the Skylake version we get 153 minutes. For information, the type and capacity of the battery used by the SV15-S is the same as the previous version. This means Skylake provides an efficiency increase of almost 30% in mid-range uses such as watching HD movies, browsing with rich content to streaming. Great skylake and Xenom.

Conclusion

Xenom Shiva SV15-S Review

Actually, Xenom can provide something more to maximize the Shiva SV15-S. An NVMe SSD for example, or a 4K panel if necessary. Here, Xenom really relies on the increased performance of Skylake as the main selling point of the Shiva SV15-S. Although it turns out, the increase is not significant, especially for general computing activities. For gaming performance, Skylake’s base clockspeed is higher than Haswell and Broadwell, giving a “boost” to be proud of. And don’t forget the efficiency in power management, which will make this new Shiva more successful when it comes to working away from electricity.

The price increased to 21.4 million (January 2021) due to the “introductory” price of the Skylake CPU and SSD which currently uses a capacity of 256GB, is too meaningful for some potential users. Considering, some fragrant products that use the Geforce GTX960M, are still offered in the 19 million price range. There is a tendency, potential new users will be interested if the SV15-S is offered at a price below 19 million. This is of course due to what potential users spend, not accompanied by a significant increase in performance from this Xenom Shiva SV15-S.