Aero 15x questions (considering switching from Razer Blade 15)

Context: I work with music and sound for games, and want a gaming laptop that is quiet when temps are around or below 50 degrees. I love my new Razer Blade but the fans are always on when plugged in to an external screen, even at low temps, and there is no fan control. This is a big problem for the work I do. The Aero 15x was always my 2nd choice, so here are some questions:

1 - Are the fans off / inaudible when plugged in to an external monitor (and not running intensive GPU tasks/games)

2 - How effective is the built-in fan control? Will I be able to tweak it so that the laptop is quiet when not under heavy GPU load?

3 - How is the keyboard? I love the typing experience/layout of the Blade and it was one of the main reasons for me to buy that machine.

4 - How is the trackpad, after installing Windows Precision drivers? I'm a bit of a trackpad snob (ex-Macbook Pro user) and this was another Blade selling point for me.


Thank you

 

Have you tried connecting the RB using the thunderbolt port to display port of the monitor? Like this the laptop will use the iGPU instead of the dGPU.

 

Not tried this nor have I been able to try it, as my monitor only has HDMI in (and DVI + VGA). However that is interesting information and potentially useful for the future, if/when I end up getting a new monitor, but I would need to verify that this works first to be sure. Thank you for your suggestion, gives some extra food for thought.

 

You could get Type-C to HDMI adapter (or even Type-C/Thunderbolt dock). In regards to your question
1. The fans generally always on in this laptop, at 30% it was quite inaudible. There is a high pitch whine a bit, but I think this is random
2. You can set it at most 30%, not lower than that (but you can set it at any set temperature).
3. I would say Razer kinda win the keyboard, the Aero with numpad is kinda packed
4. Trackpad with Windows precision driver was okay, I would say other laptop have better trackpad.

edit: While at it, I wonder if you can add additional notebook cooler, that might solve your problem.

 

1/2. As above the fans are always at least 30% however while audible to me this is a low and unobtrusive level. I don't find the noise high pitched like some laptops. I use my machine as a development machine so often have short bursts of performance used and virtual machines running in the background and even the the noise is pretty good. Obviously when under full load for long periods it does get a lot louder but not worse than I'd expect given the form factor of the device.

3. I needed to press the keys firmly or in the centre to get them to work correctly on a lot of keys, light presses to the edges often didn't register. I've just had the keyboard replaced under warranty and it's a revelation with no missed keys when typing (other than my usual mistakes). It's not the best keyboard out there but it's pretty good.

It is a fraction smaller than most laptops due to the keypad and making it fit a small device but you get used to it and I'm happy with the tradeoff. If it helps to compare size then the measurement from the left hand edge of the 'Q' key to the right hand edge of the ']' key is 218mm.

Also when coding I use the Pageup/Down/Home and End keys all of the time and the fact these keys are missing on lots of keyboards like the Dell XPS really puts me off them.

4. With the Windows Precision drivers installed I find the trackpad good and very usable, I notice myself using it more than usual when I'd often reach for a mouse.

 

Btw, can you wait for the new Aero 15 gen 9? It seems to have precision touchpad built in, but I bet the fan gotta ramp up faster as RTX is a beast and not power optimized yet. Even then I believe the 8 series will be discounted by then.

 

Some real interesting replies here, thanks to all who have responded. It seems that if the fans are audible at 30% then that may be equivalent to the Blade being plugged into an external screen via HDMI. Hard to know for sure without actually trying the laptop for myself. Thing is, I am extremely picky with noise, so if it's quiet but like an audible hum then it's likely too loud for me.

For reference, I am used to working on a 2014 Macbook Pro, which only becomes audible once the CPU goes over 60 degrees (and loud as it ramps up further), but anything below that is simply inaudible (fans running at about 2100 RPM).

 

There is a quiet switch in the smart manager which turn off the fan, I will try to test it with HDMI see if it actually turn on the fans.

Edit: It turns on the fan at around 2200rpm, and cycling around to 2600rpm with Track Lives running, so I would say it is audible under load
Maybe another alternatives will be Asus GX/GM series? They have the unique raised bottom for cooling
Or the new Alienware m15?
You can also check @notebookcheck the review in regards to noise level between laptops, they do measure it.

 

Thank you for checking into this! Much appreciated. Shame that the Aero sounds like will give me the same (admittedly very niche) issues as the Blade. As for the other laptop models you mentioned, I've considered them all, but they were much lower on the favourites list for various reasons. I will have to go back to the drawing board and reconsider.

While I've not tested this yet, I found out that it won't necessarily solve my problem as I also use the HDMI out for surround sound. I've run a test with my external display unplugged but still using the HDMI for sound, and that turns the dGPU back on, fans and all. That said, the fans do turn off occasionally in this setup, but generally fairly quickly go back on again. I may have to do some more testing to see if I can stop the fans, but it's starting to look like I will return the Blade.

 

Is your RB still in the return period?

 

Display port can also transfer audio, you just need the right adapter (the active one). Notebookcheck do commen that RB has occasional fan ramp up on idle, which doesn't generally happen on other laptop. MSI seems to be the quitest (the GS series)

 

The Aero 15 is much quieter than the Blade 15. Steakikan mentioned quite mode which is what I used. I couldn’t hear anything unless doing extremely intensive tasked and even then it had much better noise levels. No comparison with the keyboard. Blade wins every time. I’ve had both

 

It is, yes. I've only had it for about 6 days now.

But Display Port is also connected to the dGPU so it would give me the same issue I suspect.

That's interesting feedback. Though if I understood Steakikan other comment correctly, the fans do turn on with an external monitor plugged in via HDMI, even on quiet mode.

 

Since your RB is still in the return period, and the new gen machines will be out soon, I would just return it and wait for the new models, and then decide on which one is best for your needs. Even if the newer models do not offer that much performance increase for the cost, it is still a bummer to have an older model so soon after purchase. Also, as an option, the older models can usually be bought at a discount.

 

I agree with your reasoning, although I got this Blade with a £200 discount already. I also suspect that the newer ones will only be noisier due to increased power and still same chassis. But yes, regardless of these reservations I am pretty close to pulling the trigger on returning it because its noise profile is simply leading me to waste a lot of time trying to solve it rather than being productive.

 

FYI, I got an Aero 17 a few months back. And I regret buying it for exactly this fan issue. Horrendous software design on Gigabyte's part. My XPS 15 would go from silent to full speed without having to switch fan settings. The quiet setting throttles the CPU. I will never buy another Gigabyte product!