Tools

These are some common tools used to work on this device. You might not need every tool for every procedure.

Background and Identification

The Gazelle Professional 9 is a 15.6-inch laptop sold by the American computer company System76. In terms of the hardware, it is a customized version of the Clevo W650SZ, so most of the specifications for this page are based on the Clevo W650SZ user manual. As explained on the NotebookReview forum and a System76 Reddit post, System 76 specifies design parameters for the laptop and Clevo manufactures a barebones computer without memory or storage. System76 adds these final pieces and ships the computer with Linux pre-installed. Note that the laptop can run any Linux distribution of your choice or even Windows if you like.

The Gazelle Pro 9 is very simple to open; the back cover comes off once you remove two screws. Inside, the laptop has two slots for up to 16 GB of memory along with a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive bay for storage. Some configurations also come from System76 with an mSATA SSD in a slot on the motherboard. All of these components—plus the optical drive—can be replaced or upgraded relatively easily. If you can’t find a guide here on iFixit, the Clevo W650SZ user manual mentioned above has instructions for removing these components.

The best way to identify the Gazelle Pro 6 is to look on the bottom of the laptop for an informational sticker. This should feature the System76 logo and the model number “GazP9.”

Technical Specifications

Processor

  • 4th-generation Intel Core i7 processor

Memory

  • Up to 16 GB
  • Two upgradeable 204-pin SODIMM slots
  • DDR3(L) at 1600 MHz

Storage

  • mSATA SSD
  • and/or 2.5-inch SATA hard drive
  • Blu-ray disc/DVD/CD optical drive (SATA interface)

Graphics

  • Intel HD Graphics 4600
  • or Nvidia GeForce 740M/750M (with 2 GB dedicated video memory)

Display

  • 15.6 inches (39.62 cm) on the diagonal
  • 1366x768 pixels or 1920x1080 pixels

Connections

  • Three USB 3.0 ports
  • USB 2.0 port
  • eSATA port (combined with one of the USB 3.0 ports)
  • HDMI port
  • VGA video port
  • Gigabit Ethernet port
  • Multi-format card reader
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • 3.5 mm microphone jack

Wireless

  • PCIe Half Mini-card

Power

  • DC power adapter
  • 19 volts, 4.7 amps (~90 watts)

Additional Information

System76 on Wikipedia

System76 Gazelle laptops store page

System76 GazP9 quickstart guide

System76 Gazelle review on Dieuwe de Boer’s blog

Clevo W650SZ manual downloads (original version of the GazP9)