Aero 15 or Aero 15 X ?

Hi.

It's my first time post here.

I was looking for a new laptop (to replace my 2013 Macbook air) and almost decided to go with Gigabyte Aero 15, but then I accidentally stumbled on news feeds about Aero 15 X and now I'm slightly torn apart.

I think the new Aero 15 X is at least $400 more expensive than the Aero 15.

But, a review from Hexus indicated that the Aero 15 X not only performs better but also lasts longer on battery and gets lower temperatures. ( https://hexus.net/tech/reviews/laptop/110294-gigabyte-aero-15x/).

I do want a portable-long-battery-life-high performance laptop, but not because I'm a big gamer. I do play some games from time to time, but they are not graphic heavy. Yet. Never know what will happen to my gaming appetite

Mostly some Civilization 6. Hearts of Iron4, Football Manager. That's about it.
Borderlands 2 should be the latest shooter(ish) game I actually enjoyed.
And, I do some photoshops and illustrations for hobby.

I believe the new Aero 15 X is more future proof, some people say, for a 1080 display, the GTX 1060 powered Aero 15 is just enough and 1070 grade GPU is a overkill.

So, at the moement, I am not sure which one I should go.

Hope I get some advice on this.

Thanks!

PS. I also would like to know how Aero 15 is doing in terms of temperature. One of the reviews I saw claimed that it is too hot at 89 C in stress tests and can't be a full time gaming laptop because it won't last long. Is it true?

 

Since you do not consider yourself quite the gamer, I would suggest to save some money and get the 1060 variant. The only difference between the two models is the dGPU (1070 MQ gives around ~20% more performance than the 1060).

IMO Battery life should be identical since they have the same battery. It could just be that hexus might have gotten a better unit.

You could also pick the Aero 15 for less as an open box unit. I got mine for ~$1500 (rounding down) with a voucher code, though it currently runs for $1699 ($200 less than a new Aero 15).

Considering that, you could potentially save $400-$700 in getting the 1060 version.

For thermals, I would suggest a re-paste, since doing intense tasks does get the temperatures to rise quite a bit, but idle temperatures are fine!

 

Unfortunately in the Aero 15 Owner's Lounge there aren't that many reports of temperatures in measurement units.

If you click the signature in my link, you'll see my max recorded temps during my benchmark runs. I should note that I have liquid metal paste and my unit was tweaked by iunlock so my temperature case is probably a little better than the average. FWIW, those temps were recorded in 28c ambients.

Here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...15-owners-lounge.804575/page-81#post-10579275

I'm not sure how the stock paste would respond to the 1070MQ, but if I were getting a 15x, I would be doing a liquid metal application myself anyway, which is something the Aero 15's heatsink design seems to respond to.

Keep in mind the Aero 15 has custom fan control which means you don't have to run the 1070MQ within the 40db "spec" nVidia promotes.

It should be noted that the 1060 is perfect for 1080p gaming, and the 1070MQ will really only help in edge-case games like Witcher 3 (very demanding) or PubG / Deus Ex MD (very unoptimized). Since the screen is only 60hz, the extra frames are being 'wasted' in essence if you are running at above that.

There is no such thing as 'future proofing' and don't make your purchasing decision off that.

It may seem like my argument leans toward buying the 1060 version, and if budget is a real concern, then that's the most practical and value-worthy solution.

If it were me in your shoes, however, I'd get the 15x because I enjoy having better hardware, and put aside the money accordingly in order to do so.

At 400 extra dollars, you'll have to decide if that's worth it on your price to performance curve.

 

HussainQ. Thanks for the advise!

If I save that money from Aero 15 X, do you think its worth investing on SSD or RAM for Aero 15?
I've never done any upgrades myself, but trying to see if XoticPC.com can do it for me.
They have Samsung Pro SSD or Evo for SSD and Ripjaw DDR4 3000 or Corsair DDR4 3000.

 

Thanks CedricFP.

The review I read about temperature problem was on a foreign one. He did reopen video to prove his point and his thermal paste didn't work at all for him. 89 C for CPU and 75 C for GPU. Same as before he repasted thermal. Not sure in what condition he did the test, but heres the video in case you are interested.

 

Thanks for the update reply.

Really great help.

 

So regarding thermal repaste i would go with the Grizzly Kryonaut instead of liquid metal, as out of my perspective liquid metal is weird on a notebook.

Regarding the topic itself: i also think 1060 will reach goals in 1080p gaming, instead maybe the 4k display maybe an option. Regaring memory, i guess 2 x 8 GB should be enough upon what usual gaming load is required. But if money does not matter pick the 1070MQ or await serious reviews from NBC what they might find out

SSD´s always good, i´ve reocgnized in the real world there´s almost not that difference between NVME/PCIE SSD´s and SATA3 SSD´s, so a cheaper one (but bigger) will do the job fine. Bedside of that they won´t get hot

 

I guess it also depends on whether you'd consider using an external monitor with your laptop where e.g. 27" 1440p is the norm, rather than 1080p.

 

I will second this, LM is much better for desktops, paste is almost always better on a laptop.

 

What would you say is the most optimal paste for this laptop?
Also anywhere you can redirect me for doing a re-paste on this specific laptop?

I really want to bring down the temps under load.

Thanks!

 

First of all I would recommend to check if youre fine with the Notebook as its Out of the Box and how it Runs before thinking about to thermal repaste the device.

If no complaints over a week or something and you know you will hold device, I guess to pickup the Kryonaut paste (1g) which should be one of the top 5 thermal pasts out there. It would be enough spoken for CPU and GPU DIE, but not sure if you remove further thermal grease or pads alike on the memorie from GPU whatever ...so I would vote to go with kryonaut as that should be a safe bank.

Greetings.
aVa

 

It seems longer battery performance on the Aero 15X has to do with software tuning (underclocking) done by Gateway. Taken from page 10 of the review:

 

So, I have some more questions. Especially for Xotic PC.

1. Could you tell me what QA tests XoticPC do for Aero 15?
Or benefits of buying a laptop from XoticPC?

2. Which DDR4 3000 Ram do you think will work better with the Aero 15?
XoticPC.com currently offers either RipJaw or Vengence.

3. It doesn't seem like XoticPC offers Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste option
Instead they have IC Diamond Thermal Compound ($35)
or CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra Thermal Compound ($79)
Do they worth the price? and why?

Hope I'm not being rude.

 

These sort of questions are generally better for an ask the resellers sort of thread, but I'm happy to answer here. Mods remove if this isn't appropriate.

1. Not the exact tests but generally upgraded components and any systems they may affect are stress tested. In addition if during customization or testing any OEM-installed hardware appears to have a problem it too is checked. There are a lot of benefits to buying from XPC but I'd say the best is before and after sale support, you have any questions/problems, drop our sales or support departments a line and they're ready to assist.

2. None work "better" than any other at higher than the rated frequency, those options are offered if you have a brand preference. I have a slight preference for Corsair in this case, but that's just a little brand loyalty showing through.

3. Right now our thermal compound options are limited (and I don't know the exact reason, those decisions are a little above my pay grade) but I've mentioned a few different alternates to management that I think would be good to offer (based mostly on what you guys here like!). For a laptop there's no choice in my mind between those two though, the IC Diamond is much more appropriate for a laptop than the Liquid Ultra. You want a more viscous paste because of the fit between the heatinsk and chip, whereas on a desktop they are generally closer and you benefit more from the conductivity of a liquid metal. Whether they're worth it to add to your purchase depends on you. The compound itself is definitely worth adding, what you're looking at here is whether you want to have a tech do it for you or do it yourself. For this model, it's better to let a tech do it IMO.