***Aorus X7 Pro owner's lounge***

The Aorus X7 Pro Owners Lounge

The non official Aorus X7 Pro Owners lounge. Place to share your thoughts on the Aorus X7 Pro and for owners to share tips and tricks.

Given that the laptop is very much niche, I'll also put together a list of current & future owners. Hopefully we can get notebookreview to be the place to be for Aorus X7 owners!

Upgrades:
extra 2x8GB Crucial 8GB 1866 Ballistix RAM ( DONE )
Samsung 850 pro 1TB SSD as Main Drive
Re-Paste Gelid GC Extreme

First Impressions
Laptop's build quality was better than expected. I was pleasantly surprised that it actually came with an IPS display. Nothing comparable to a pro grade IPS monitor, but it's not bad at all. There's quite significant backlight bleeding on very dark backgrounds at 90-100% backlight, but given the form factor I won't complain.

LGD046C LP173WF4-SPD1. It comes with a predefined ICC profile. D6800 2.2 gamma XYZLUT + MTX


Trackpad and keyboard... not great to be honest. The keys while feel good, are very shallow, isn't exactly the best keyboard to type on after being on a macbook pro retina and using mechanical keyboards for a few years now. None or very minimal keyboard flex.

The trackpad... really not sure what to say about this one. The click zone is very shallow again, so hard to left click given the size of the track pad, it tracks quite poorly also. Can I also say finger print magnet on both the glass trackpad and the keyboard/

To me not a big deal, but for those that are going to use this on the go often, you might want to re-consider. This is also the reason why I got me a Poker II with MX clears so I can pack up a nice compact keyboard on the go.


Hardware & Temps

Without doubt it needs a re-paste. CPU is hitting 60C already just running windows updates @ 3.5Ghz with around 20-30% CPU load. No GPU load at all.
With just Prime95 running on CPU, there is no thermal throttling at all. However Prime95 running + Valley benchmark 1080P full screen 8X aa Ultra = some thermal throttling on CPU even though the GPU's are still well below 80C

Fan noise is quite pleasant actually, not much louder at 100% compared to the late 2012 base model macbook pro retina.

Running Prime95 powervirus mode the cpu stays at it's reference clocks peeds. Same with SmallFFT and in-page-fft. It power limit throttling which is normal. Nothing we can do about this.

As for temps sits solid at 71C fan speed spins up, it's audible, but nothing too bad. ( High performance fan auto mode )

Intel XTU Turbo Boost power limits are locked down. Dynamic CPU voltage offset is not. Running small-fft with a -75mv undervolt, I can get 1-2 extra bin of turbo boost. So instead of 2.5Ghz I can do 2.7Ghz. Not bad.

Temps are in the 70C range, and my room is around 68-72F.

Speakers & Audio Quality
The laptop has a pretty basic DAC. Realtek ALC892 if I'm not mistaken.
Speakers sound thin, bass does not have any distortion. The soundstage is quite shallow. I think it sounds thin because of this.
Volume is ok, at full volume they do not distort.

Review in Progress


Pictures

I've been taking pictures, no screenshots yet. I have work on the weekdays, so I don't have very much time. I still want to enjoy this laptop you know!


Questions & Answers
Make requests of any specifics, and I will get to you so far I have this:


Display Accuracy & Gamut: I'm not sure how to measure display gamut, but I can run a profile on dispcal and i1profiler

Audio: I will test shortly with a DT880 600ohm and T90 250ohm

Display Overclocking: Answer: Yes, I've tested up to 100Hz, but given that it's a IPS display there's quite a bit of ghosting. I don't have a camera setup yet so I can't see if it frame skips, but 75hz seems pretty good. There's something odd feeling at 100Hz

 

Can't wait!! Get the good stuff in!!!!

 

Since you haven't done the repaste yet... I'd be interested to see what the temp differences are between stock paste/repaste. It'd also be cool to see some pictures of the amount/quality of the stock paste.

I ordered IC Diamond repasting through Xotic, so I'll post the results of temps once I get mine in at the end of the week.

 

Sure. We need some comparable results though, and since I have more RAM installed, memory intensive benchmarks / stress tests will mean more heat as there's more load on the IMC. Thus also potentially more power limit throttling.

I'll be doing the repaste tonight hopefully, depending if I'm still awake.

Still debating installing a fresh copy of Windows 8.1 Pro, or using the restore functionality.


UPDATE: I did a re-paste last night, it took quite awhile actually. The thermal compound they used looked like some sort of Shin Etsu type paste. My temps didn't really improve, it might have been worse, but I think I know why.

I'll post pictures over the weekend, but the CPU heatpipe, the one that is the widest, goes over the heatsink of the small two heatpipes. And it's not soldered, you need to use paste. The problem is that the QA of the heatsink isn't as good as it should be, so contact gap is quite significant. I feel that I didn't put enough thermal compound. In between the heatplate and the heatpipe. Some additional contact pressure may help also, so I'm going to re paste that part, and add a thermal pad in between that particular heatpipe and the back cover. ( It's metal ) If temps continue rising.

But under BF4, -45MV undervolt I don't see any worries of thermal throttling. Before it will throttle just a tad.

 

Sounding pretty good based of your initial impressions. Glad to hear that it is in fact an IPS panel.

I'm still at phase 1. No updates yet.

I also ordered the IC diamond repaste from xoticpc so we can all compare temps later on.

 

Mine is ground shipped and will be here on the 23rd.

 

Xotic had some issue with UPS on Tuesday (when mine was supposed to be sent out), so I upgraded to overnight and got it this morning. I really like this machine, the build is quite solid, and it feels nice. Screen looks pretty damn good. The fans are definitely loud at max setting though - but I don't really mind.

 

Arghh. I'm so jealous you guys got yours already .

 

I couldn't wait! I ordered their highest level of rush order and then the overnight shipping. In total it took 4 business days to reach my door.

So far, it looks like the repaste with ICD seems to be helping the GPU more than the CPU... I havent seen them run much hotter than 70c, and the CPU is topping out around 78c. Will run some load tests to be sure.

 

This five day wait of mine will be excrutiating!! They shipped before I decided to upgrade to overnight Anyway, since its already on the way, i'l the 60 bucks on getting a good USB DAC for it. Should be good!

 

I was plugged into my desktop speaker system last night (Polk bookshelf speakers w/polk subwoofer and a 100w per channel stereo receiver), and TBQH - I'm not too happy with the built in audio processor. Considering getting myself a DAC as well. I didn't do much in the way of equalization, which would probably help quite a bit. I'm used to my desktop PC which has a nice audio card, and this does seem a bit on the tinny side (even when plugged into speakers).

 

78c on the cpu is great. But what are the clocks? Is it throttling?

 

No thermal throttling at all on the CPU. With or without cooler on high cpu profile. It's possible to get it to thermal throttle in worst case scenarios. High ambient temps etc, but it's not terrible at all.

GPUs run well, no throttling that I can tell. Power limit throttling is unavoidable, just the nature of the chip. Worst case is 2.5Ghz, and because of the low volts on 2.5ghz it's practically impossible to get it to thermal throttle below 2.5ghz.

 

How has the display been so far?? Sad thing about the audio. Hopefully it doesn't have any distortion or crackling static on it. I have highly sensitive ears and I pick up the slightest bit of static. Glad it has soo many USB ports though, a DAC won't eat up I/O space. How has the battery been so far? 2-3 hrs for movie watching is too much ??

 

Display is quite nice. Colors are good. I haven't ran a profile can calibration just yet. On battery power it has this dynamic contrast mode and it's annoying, I'm not sure if you can disable it. I'd expect 120-180minutes of run time max. I've gotten about 130 minutes of moderate -> heavy usage, so it's not bad at all.


Audio is fine. However because of the realtek ALC892 chipset, anything higher than 24bit and 48khz sampling rate means you will get some odd audio artifacts. It drives a pair of Beyerdynamics T90 250ohm headphones quite nicely.

My only gripe with this laptop is that I feel like it can't take the abuse that a macbook can take. Surface quality of the exterior is not on par with apple, but better than most laptops out there. The keyboard is actually really nice to type on quickly if you can get over the shallow travel. However the coating on the keyboard seems like it will wear out quickly.

There definetly are minor flaws to this laptop, but for the price factor an the specs packed into this baby. 32GB of RAM, 3 mSATA + 1x 2.5" and 2 GTX970M's this thing is a beast. And it runs pretty cool too also!

 

Ok. A issue here. The audio levels when I switch from my headphones to speaker is the same. The laptop does not recognize when headphones are connect. Any idea which device controls the front left jack ?? It's driving me nuts with that difference.

 

Most laptops behave this way. Solution? Get yourself a pair of higher impedance headphones or a standalone dac =)

The front-jack and the speakers share the same output, however I think the realtek control panel will recognize whenever something is connected. Maybe you can adjust it there?


I just realized i forgot to post my pictures, so I'll do that this weekend.

However have you noticed the surface is extremely easy to scuff? Mine already has like 5 different layers of textures and odd imprints. I can't remember if it was like that from the factory or after I wiped it with my cloth :/

 

I'm considering buying the X7 pro however the temps and fan noise are a major concern for me. Could you possible do two things; 1) Take a video of you playing on the laptop in order to hear the fan speed in a normal gaming environment (Rather than max) and 2) If you go to power settings and set the max CPU speed to 99% (In order to disable turbo boost) what temps do you get when gaming? I'd really appreciate the help! Laptop sounds great but it seems to thin to be true

edit: To clarify; I've never needed turbo boost and normally prefer lower temps. If disabling the turbo boost in the Aorus solves that problem then I'm sold Thanks in advance for your help!

 

911!

Can someone do me a favor.

1. Install intel XTU.
2. Add these settings
1. CPU Temp
2. GPU Temp
3. Thermal throttling
4. Power Limit Throttling
3. Play BF4 for 1 hour on Ultra without vsync
4. Take a screen shot of XTU and post on here.
5. Please

Thank You.

 

Hi I'm interested in is it possible to use the iris pro 5200, because I think that should be able to increase some battery life

 

I am interested in this as well but i do not think Aorus has a manual switch like MSI does unless you can do it in the BIOS?

I can actually deal with the battery. What I am more concerned with is the CPU throttling at 70°.

Is this true? Can anyone confirm this?

 

Noise is subjective, I'm not going to record a video. If someone else wants to, go right ahead. It does not throttle under worst case conditions, so if you want it to run cool, down clock the CPU via the 99% trick, and set the profile to low.

It WILL BE very quiet.

Read the OP please. All the info is there. CPU does not throttle at 70C. It will start thermal throttling at 91C which is default Intel behavior. CPU power throttles like any other Intel non Extreme chip. Turbo boost and power limits are not adjustable.

CPU will stay around 3Ghz without any issues. If you run in a 64player server with SLI and 1080P on low..... you shouldn't be buying this laptop.

Iris Pro 5200 is not accessible at all. Period. This is a plus as you then get gsync support from the GPU's ( still need to test this )

 

You are saying that the Auros X7 Pro does not throttle the CPU at 70° degrees or higher?

 

This laptop does not throttle period. It will never go under the 2.5Ghz base clock ever. In most cases under gaming load it will stay at its 3Ghz+ turbo boost bins.

The i7-4870HQ has a TDP of 47W and its thermal limits are defined as so. It behaves like any Intel CPU with turbo boost will.

 

Can you please explain to me in layman terms what this review is taking about then?

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/laptop/76145-aorus-x7-pro/?page=7

And ...

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/laptop/76145-aorus-x7-pro/?page=3

 

Awesome, thanks for the response. I currently undervolt my G550jk so I figured doing the same for the Aorus would solve most problems ;-) Thanks again mate, looks like I'll be buying one!

 

Also ...

The MSI has a featured called "switch" to reboot into Intel video card only and save battery power. It does not have optimus either.

The Auros X7 Pro does not have optimus either. Is there a way either in the BIOS or somewhere else where you can boot into Intel video card only and get at least 5 hours battery life instead of 2.5?

 

The Aorus does not have a hardware Mux to do this. Again, I prefer this. I don't mind the 2.5hr battery life.

The review is irrelevant, that review was done on a pre-production sample.

Sure thing! I honestly don't even need to undervolt at all. But if noise really is a concern ( the laptops fan is really only as loud as a retina 15" macbook pro to me. )

The fan tables are quite conservative especially at the low settings. If you can keep it under 70-80C between the CPU & GPU which you can, it won't spin up that much. Just remember to do a re-paste, if you aren't technically inclined, have someone do it for you. =)

 

Why would you prefer not to have this? MSI can support 4 monitors as well.

...

And how are you completely writing off that review? You are saying that it is completely invalid?

Do you have BF4?

 

Can anyone confirm or deny this information.

 

I will receive a review sample shortly (maybe not before New year's). Cpu test in BF4 is on my todo-list.

 

Can you do BF4 test now please ... Pretty Please ...

 

You missunderstood, I don´t have it yet. If DHL is cramped I wont get it untill after New Years Eve.

 

Good good Najsman, very curious about your impressions!

 

Oh man.

Are you not concerned with the throttling.

So many people say that it throttles so bad?

Does this laptop Throttle or not? What do you think about all this?

 

There are some conflicting info regarding cpu throttling, yes. I expect like the P35X, given the same undervolt etc, it will be ok. Sadly undervolting is the one thing they ask me not to do.

 

Yes the conflicting info is very confusing but to me there are many more people and reviews that state the Aorus X7 Pro throttles heavely.

 

Maybe undervolting can help with Aorus, did anyone try it yet? The reviews we saw so far are probably at stock (including the awful paste job), maybe by undervolting + repasting, you can get around the throttling. It has better cooling design than previous iteration (extra pipes), might be doable. Najsman, just undervolt using XTU, don't worry, if it crashes it will go back to default, just do not increase it all of a sudden, one at a time.

 

Have there not been many buyers of this laptop? Just doesn't seem like a lot of activity in this thread.

Makes me kind of hesitant.

 

I know XoticPC sold out of all of the ones they got in the first run. But it seems there's only a few of us that are aware of the forums and posting about our experiences.

I've had mine for more than a week now with, knocks on wood, 0 issues thus far. It did randomly decide to shut down one day, but I think it was windows 8 being lame. I don't have BF4, but BF3 runs on Ultra settings without an issue. GPU's rarely reach 70% utilization. CPU sits around 75c. No throttling to speak of there.

 

So is the 70° degree CPU throttle a myth?

Can you run BF3 on Ultra without vynsc?

And Firestrike or Heaven?

Will the CPU get to 90°?

If this CPU does not throttle then this would be a very good contender for the price.

 

Also what do you think about the 3GB Video cards? You think that will be enough for today's games?

Doesn't BF4 use about 3.8 or something in Ultra on the bug maps?

 

I actually haven't seen the CPU drop below the base clock, even at 90°. It will clock-out of the "turbo boost" range, but it will not underclock.

Yes, as mentioned in my previous post, BF3 runs on full Ultra at 1080p with 0 issues or stutter. I have my FPS locked at 60 on NVIDIA control panel, no reason to go above 60 since the monitor is only 60Hz.

Don't feel like paying for Firestrike, but I did try out "Valley", similar to Heaven, and I was maxing out around 139 FPS, averaged over 50. CPU/GPU temps were both in the 80s range for this.

Yes. Plain and simple. If the fans are running at max speed, it will not stay at 90 for long. I am going to purchase a cooling pad just to keep the components cooler so it will last longer. While running some of the "Burn Tests" I did reach 90, but the fans immediately kicked into full speed and brought the temp down to the 80 range quickly.

3gb video cards are ample, unless you're planning on playing in 4k resolutions on an external display. Even 1440p should fall under the 3gb range. For 1080p you won't need anything more than 3gb. There are some games which are optimized poorly (Watch dogs is a killer) which will go over 3gb, but it's rare to find. I'm also hoping that NVIDIA figures out how to use both sets of VRAM in the near future.

 

O that's a good point if Nvidia figures out how to split the vram that would be nice.

So 1080p should be fine?

How much would BF4 need on Ultra settings with 64 player map?

 

BF4 uses under 3gb of VRAM with all settings maxed out, even FXAA turned on high.

 

I should also mention that my CPU/GPU's were re-pasted by XoticPC, so my temperature findings may differ from other folks with stock paste or a different thermal compound than what Xotic uses.

 

Is it close to 3GB though?

Do you think BF5 would use more?

Can you install Intel XTU. And check for thermal throttling and power limit throttling?

How is your experience with this laptop so far?

 

BF4 reaches a max of approximately 2.2gb usage on Ultra for 1080p

I imagine that BF5 won't be much different, but I still doubt it would reach 3gb. Game companies need to appropriately optimize games so that they run on everyone's computers. If a game is not optimized, it will use a ton of vram. The BF series has consistently shown good results in terms of optimization and not causing massive frame drops like some other titles.

I'll have to get back to you on this. I have it installed, but haven't done much with it yet.

How is your experience with this laptop so far?[/QUOTE]

I really like it.

I had a few criteria when looking for a gaming laptop:
1. Budget wasn't a huge concern, but it should be around 2500 bucks.
2. Looks - If I'm spending that much money, it has to look awesome.
3. Size - I wanted something that was less than 1" thick. Screen size wasn't super important. Weight should also be less than 7lbs (not including the power adapter).
4. Performance - Had to have SSD, had to be 9xx series GPU, had to have 16gb ram.
5. Screen - Should be at least IPS, if not 3/4k. I don't like glossy screens, so matte was a must as well.

This is a pretty demanding list of requirements, and only a few laptops actually fit the bill. The X7 blew me away with the specs, and that's what drew me to it.

I paid $2850 for it after rushing the order and shipping, as well as the IC Diamond re-paste, I expected something over the top - This machine is definitely over the top.

Build/Aesthetics: My initial impressions when I first opened the box up was something along the lines of; "Holy crap this thing is massive". It has a solid build, definitely more solid than any other laptop I've ever owned (business-class ones). It looks great, but without being over the top. It doesn't have that "Macbook" look that you might get from the Razer Blade, but it definitely holds its own. It's sleek, thin, but is seriously dominating with its overall size. This is the first laptop I've owned that's 17", purchasing strictly 14" screens for personal use for the last 8 or so years. The size took some getting used to. Not only is it wide, but it's also pretty deep at 12". Having used it for a week while at my parents house for the holidays, I'm definitely happy with the 17.3" screen as a standalone gaming rig. Biggest complaint with the size is that it does not fit into most laptop bags due to the depth, I will need to purchase a new bag just to carry this machine around.

Keyboard/Trackpad: The keyboard is - okay. I'm used to the keyboard on my work laptop (Thinkpad), which has a seriously awesome set of keys for typing out emails on - but that's what it's built for. The depth of the strokes is a bit shallow, and the feedback/resistance is a bit light for my tastes. I'm getting used to the light key presses, as I also purchased a Corsair K70 RGB with Cherry MX Reds, which are only 45g of force. It's nice for gaming since you can do rapid key presses, but I do find myself double taping letters when quickly writing out an email. The back lighting is a pretty cool feature, I've never owned a laptop with built in back lighting, so it's definitely a plus for me. I leave it on the highest setting all the time. I haven't used the macro keys at all, so no feedback there.

I actually like the trackpad. It takes some getting used to, and doesn't necessarily work the best if you're fingers aren't completely dry, which is a bit of a negative. It will also get in the way, and I found myself getting stuck in a first person shooter when my palm would touch the trackpad. You can disable it through the "Aorus Command" center, which is a must.

Performance: As I mentioned earlier, this thing is a BEAST. The performance is amazing, but this is also the fastest and most expensive PC I've ever owned. Cold boot to full windows usability is less than 10 seconds. Apps load up in no time. Every game I own plays on the highest setting without any issues. DayZ, which is non-optimized, will drop frames in the big cities - but this is a known bug. SLI seems to work flawlessly for almost every game as well (except DayZ). Multitasking is simple, and the machine almost begs for more apps to be thrown at it.

Thanks to IPS, the screen is very nice. Even though I have a 22" Acer 1080p monitor, I'm now using the Aorus display as my main display. No complaints at all about the display.

Heat is obviously going to be something to talk about, since there's two high performance GPU's and one of the top mobile CPU's. At idle, GPU temps sit at about 42c. CPU will usually idle around 48-52c with the fans running very little to not at all. At idle, the machine is completely silent. There are times where the fans won't run at all, and the only sound you'll hear is the 1TB hard drive. During the Valley benchmark test, the fans kicked into full gear - and they are loud. Obviously since they are laptop fans it is a bit "whiney". My girl and I share an office, and we both have Antec 300 Illusion cases which are loaded with around 7 fans each, but I can still hear the laptop over the low pitched groan of the desktops. Unless you're constantly maxing out your GPU and CPU, the max fan speed should be rare.

During regular play of DayZ/BF3, the fans rarely if ever kick into full speed mode. If they do, it's only for a minute or two as to cool down the components, then it's back to medium-high speed. The medium-high speed is not bad at all, it doesn't bother me one bit. As previously mentioned, I will definitely get a cooling pad to help manage the heat and make the components last longer.

Did I cover everything?

 

Correct. It was done on a pre-production sample. BIOS differences combined with different display writes it off for me. I purchased a production sample, it works perfectly fine. Does not throttle, why would I "lie" about this?

Let me iterate once more. There is absolutely no thermal throttling, especially after repaste, and -45MV undervolt. No thermal throttling even at stock. The throttling that some people mention, is an Intel restriction. The CPU is not designed to turbo boost 24/7 at 100% load. If you keep the load reasonable such as in BF4, it will run around 3.0Ghz - 3.2Ghz.

 

I really like it.

I had a few criteria when looking for a gaming laptop:
1. Budget wasn't a huge concern, but it should be around 2500 bucks.
2. Looks - If I'm spending that much money, it has to look awesome.
3. Size - I wanted something that was less than 1" thick. Screen size wasn't super important. Weight should also be less than 7lbs (not including the power adapter).
4. Performance - Had to have SSD, had to be 9xx series GPU, had to have 16gb ram.
5. Screen - Should be at least IPS, if not 3/4k. I don't like glossy screens, so matte was a must as well.

This is a pretty demanding list of requirements, and only a few laptops actually fit the bill. The X7 blew me away with the specs, and that's what drew me to it.

I paid $2850 for it after rushing the order and shipping, as well as the IC Diamond re-paste, I expected something over the top - This machine is definitely over the top.

Build/Aesthetics: My initial impressions when I first opened the box up was something along the lines of; "Holy crap this thing is massive". It has a solid build, definitely more solid than any other laptop I've ever owned (business-class ones). It looks great, but without being over the top. It doesn't have that "Macbook" look that you might get from the Razer Blade, but it definitely holds its own. It's sleek, thin, but is seriously dominating with its overall size. This is the first laptop I've owned that's 17", purchasing strictly 14" screens for personal use for the last 8 or so years. The size took some getting used to. Not only is it wide, but it's also pretty deep at 12". Having used it for a week while at my parents house for the holidays, I'm definitely happy with the 17.3" screen as a standalone gaming rig. Biggest complaint with the size is that it does not fit into most laptop bags due to the depth, I will need to purchase a new bag just to carry this machine around.

Keyboard/Trackpad: The keyboard is - okay. I'm used to the keyboard on my work laptop (Thinkpad), which has a seriously awesome set of keys for typing out emails on - but that's what it's built for. The depth of the strokes is a bit shallow, and the feedback/resistance is a bit light for my tastes. I'm getting used to the light key presses, as I also purchased a Corsair K70 RGB with Cherry MX Reds, which are only 45g of force. It's nice for gaming since you can do rapid key presses, but I do find myself double taping letters when quickly writing out an email. The back lighting is a pretty cool feature, I've never owned a laptop with built in back lighting, so it's definitely a plus for me. I leave it on the highest setting all the time. I haven't used the macro keys at all, so no feedback there.

I actually like the trackpad. It takes some getting used to, and doesn't necessarily work the best if you're fingers aren't completely dry, which is a bit of a negative. It will also get in the way, and I found myself getting stuck in a first person shooter when my palm would touch the trackpad. You can disable it through the "Aorus Command" center, which is a must.

Performance: As I mentioned earlier, this thing is a BEAST. The performance is amazing, but this is also the fastest and most expensive PC I've ever owned. Cold boot to full windows usability is less than 10 seconds. Apps load up in no time. Every game I own plays on the highest setting without any issues. DayZ, which is non-optimized, will drop frames in the big cities - but this is a known bug. SLI seems to work flawlessly for almost every game as well (except DayZ). Multitasking is simple, and the machine almost begs for more apps to be thrown at it.

Thanks to IPS, the screen is very nice. Even though I have a 22" Acer 1080p monitor, I'm now using the Aorus display as my main display. No complaints at all about the display.

Heat is obviously going to be something to talk about, since there's two high performance GPU's and one of the top mobile CPU's. At idle, GPU temps sit at about 42c. CPU will usually idle around 48-52c with the fans running very little to not at all. At idle, the machine is completely silent. There are times where the fans won't run at all, and the only sound you'll hear is the 1TB hard drive. During the Valley benchmark test, the fans kicked into full gear - and they are loud. Obviously since they are laptop fans it is a bit "whiney". My girl and I share an office, and we both have Antec 300 Illusion cases which are loaded with around 7 fans each, but I can still hear the laptop over the low pitched groan of the desktops. Unless you're constantly maxing out your GPU and CPU, the max fan speed should be rare.

During regular play of DayZ/BF3, the fans rarely if ever kick into full speed mode. If they do, it's only for a minute or two as to cool down the components, then it's back to medium-high speed. The medium-high speed is not bad at all, it doesn't bother me one bit. As previously mentioned, I will definitely get a cooling pad to help manage the heat and make the components last longer.

Did I cover everything? [/QUOTE]
Thank you so much for this review kind sir.