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

I'm kind of surprise the x7 pro is sold out

 

MSI Ghost Pro -066

It's a dream. Not the most powerful but by far the best for me and powerful enough.

This thing runs so cool bone stock.

I am playing BF4 on Ultra with 4xmaa and have no problems around 60 FPS. I could easily overclock and get 65-70 solid or more.

IPS
Raid 0 m.2
4.4 LBS
.76 thick
970M
Amazing Keyboard

I have tried these laptops:

X7
P35x v3
P34w v2
Various GS60'S

And by far this is my favorite.

If i want more power k will build a desktop so that I have proper cooling so my XTU benchmark looks like the this on but for 980 SLI Desktop.

 

Hi guys!
Please help me find answers to the following questions about the Aorus X7 Pro:

1. Will it accept a M.2 PCIe SSD?
2. If yes, will I be able to boot Windows 7 or 8 from the PCIe SSD?
3. If I add a third SSD (SATA3 mode) will I be able to RAID 0 all of them?
4. If yes, will I get 3x550MB/s max data transfer rate?
5. Considering a RAID 0 of 3x Samsung 850 Pro (SATA3) against a single Samsung XP941 (PCIe): what's fastest on the random 4K operations?
6. Any problems with overheating?

 

You absolutely do not know what you're talking about. The reason you aren't encountering CPU throttling is due to the fact that you are heavily GPU limited now with a 970M.

I can show you plenty of XTU graphs. I'm not justifying my purchase, I'm just spreading appropriate information since almost EVERYWHERE has misinformation.

Feel free to continue basing all your findings off just XTU. Refuse to understand how turbo boost functions, and also refuse to REALIZE the most basic concept of more GPU load = less CPU load.

The more power you have on GPU side = more CPU power needed to fully mazimize the GPU's. You aren't experiencing CPU throttling anymore is simply because your CPU is less taxed.


Anyways, good luck with your build, and we're all glad that you've found a laptop you're happy with.

 

I hope when I post something that's way off base, I get a response from someone as knowledgeable and patient as cookiesowns. Great post again. Thanks.

 

I have posted nothing off base.

So what that my GPU is Maxed out. That means NOTHING! it's maxed out but running extremely cool. Also my CPU is running extremely cool.

PLUS I can mod the bios and overclock my 970M and have it run like an 980M and GET MORE THAN MY MONEY.

People know that I am right.

I am just saying I got exactly what I paid for. Nothing more or nothing less.

If i want to tax my cpu to its limits I can. But I wanted this level of GPU and that is what I paid for and content with.

I know I am getting based on XTU while everything is running cool. SO MY COMPONENTS LAST LONGER.

Go ahead and buy a slim laptop that out of the box melts it's self and struggles to maintain a simple turbo.

 

Silver it's just that you are comparing apples to oranges. It's great you found a system that fits what you want perfectly. Some people want more power and portability. So for then this is a better option. It doesn't mean this system is crap, it just doesn't suit your needs. I am excited because I do a lot of video editing and since the macbookpro stopped making 17inch books I am excited to see another option with loads of horsepower to do work with and play games.

 

You don't understand. Your GPU is a bottleneck for your CPU. Running just one of the 970Ms by disabling one in an X7 Pro would produce the same, if not better due to the chassis being larger, temps. Picture CPUs and GPUs as runners. The reason why the X7 Pro gets so hot is because the CPU has to run to catch up with the GPU. It makes the CPU work more since it works more. Since your GPU runs much slower than the GPU config on the X7 Pro, your CPU does not have to run that fast to keep up.

These X7 Pro owners want their GPUs to run faster, and were willing to pay for that with higher temps. The fact is that this configuration is very powerful, no matter how much power limit throttling the CPU is doing. Their config matches and sometimes beats a desktop 980; yours can't touch a desktop 970. They paid for true high-end desktop class performance in a slim package with a large screen, which is what they are getting. Please do not come here and call these owners 'delusional' in their own forum because they're not.

Good day.

 

I never said that that my laptop is not bottle necked.

I just said that my GPU is running at max peformance.

I would rather have cpu spillage or abundance with cool temps than anything else in a small form factor.

What I am saying is that I am getting what I paid for.

My cpu will run at max when I want to encode or do cad. That is what I paid for.

My 970M will always run at max. This is a gaming machine. That is what I paid for.

I want it to run cool. That is what I paid for.

X7

CPU will throttle at 91 degrees and bottleneck two GPUs. You are Not getting what you paid for.

It's a gaming machine. My 970 runs max. Your two 970 will not. No matter what you think.

Now will they run as best as the designer designed it to to do under the circumstances. Sure.

But it's not optimal.

But like I said a few posts ago. Good luck. I wish everyone the best with the laptop. For me I just wanted cool temps with decent gaming experience that was real light. I got it.

The 17 inch screen was very nice and I miss that but I really like 15 too. And if I want more room I'll buy external monitor and get over 20 inches.

In either case we all want what we want.

I hope everyone is happy.

 

Everyone will be happy if you stop trashing the Aorus. Clearly your needs and requirements didn't fit the Aorus. So be gone.

If I cap my FPS to what you now get with your GS60, the Aorus will run in definitely cooler than the GS60.

Why do that? You said it yourself, you want everything to run max. The Aorus X7 can run max without any issues. CPU nor GPU temps are never unreasonable for me. I'm guessing you didn't lift up the lappy, do a repaste, or you left it on the low fan profile.

Or the kicker, you're running BF4 at 1080P which shifts the bottleneck towards CPU..

the thermal components are designed to run at these temps. My GPU's and CPU's are max of 87C on CPU and 80C on GPU under some very intense BF4 load. 3K with 2x AA 64 player server doing 60FPS+. Can your MSI do that? I think not.

If you want to game at 1080P, then yes, the Aorus definitely is not for you.

 

Just got my laptop, amazing so far. Didn't get the 2133mhz memory, budget at the moment. so got 32gb 1866mhz, well the 2 ddr that was missing. Quick question, What is the best laptop cooling pad to get for the x7 pro? anybody know which one can help keep it cool, running ultra on some games makes the laptop sound like a plane lol

 

I know this is OT but I have the P650SE and I have been using it more and more. I have an 880M SLI and I know what real high power feels like but this is more than adequate and so much easier to bring around. I think I am sold on lightweight laptops. The utility of having something so light really outweighs (no pun intended) having the extra power.

 

Exactly.

The problem is that sure some laptops here and there are better than others in different ways.

BUT.

Laptop for laptops sack is portability. And that is what I want.

I thought more power was possible but the technology is not there yet. Sure you can squeeze a little more here and there. But you end up in the end with bottlenecks somewhere.

I think extreme gaming portability with extreme desktop gaming options is still the best balance in spending your money.

2K for amazing gaming laptop
2K for amazing gaming desktop

Instead of 4K huge heavy hot laptop.

The technology is here for balanced gaming laptops with slim profile, just not extreme ones yet.

For example an extremely cooled GTX 980 Desktop would just be the sweet spot right now for an extreme gaming machine.

 

Personally, I think the technology IS here. The user has several options for managing temps, whether it's a cooling pad, downclocking items, or whatever. Laptops are probably always going to make sacrifices over desktops. They're much smaller, so you can't really expect them to have the same performance. The more you cram into a small space, the harder it's going to be to keep it cool. Regardless, the Aorus does a pretty good job I think and gives a lot more performance for not really much more money than the MSI. If it makes you feel better to have lower temps, that's fine, but the Aorus isn't hurting anything with the higher temps, either. I haven't seen anything that makes me uneasy about buying one. This is much smaller than my Alienware 17, much better performance, and can't possibly have worse build quality. I've looked at the MSI GS70 (I really want a 17"), but really think the Aorus looks to be worth the extra ~$300 for the better display and the extra GPU.

 

To me the build quality is no comparison. The MSI I'd extremely solid with an amazing keyboard. The X7 and the P35 x both feel like they have a slap on keyboard.

Don't get me wrong. The x7 is great if you want to work out all the quirks here and there from a new manufacturer. Me on the other I love the solid build of the 3 to 5 year old msi ghost frame. They have worked out all the quirks.

To me I originally wanted the lightest most portable gaming laptop around. I always wanted the gs60. But the X7 caught my attention for 500 more and the P35 for the same price.

However the gs60 won me over with:

IPS
4.4 lbs
Amazing keyboard
M.2 raid 0 = 3 second boot time
Extremely cool
Very quiet

Plays all the games just like the P35 and x7 with a lot less weight.

But if you are not really needing it on the go then the X7 is the best bet for you if you don't care about those things.

The keyboard is important to me because I use it for school to.

 

The gs 60 is not the lightest around. theres the p34 with 970m gpu which is only 1.7kg and the aorus x3+ at 1.8kg.

As i am a user of the gs60 the fan definitely runs loud as compared to the others even while doing normal surfing of the internet it always stays above 3k plus rpm which can be heard in a quiet room like maybe in a lecture hall or in the library. definitely not the machine to be used in quiet places. ALL slim gaming laptops are not very quiet they are really loud when playing games.

Raid 0 config can be found on all 3 laptops gs60 x7 and p35 so idk why is that a plus point for you. the boot timings will not vary by much too and the more data you store it will slow down also.

All 3 laptops also uses IPS panel so idk why are you stating that.

The p35 has better temps than the gs60. and the x7 even though its dual gpu temps on gpu is only around mid 70s only the cpu tend to be on the high side even so it packs more power than the gs60 and able to output much much higher frame rates.

The gs60 and p35 have roughly the same weight only around 200grams diff so not sure why you are saying as if the weight differs by a few kilos. and the x7 is in the 17inch category dont compare these 2 laptops of diff sizes.

Keyboard feel is based on users preference anyway although u might like the gs 60 keyboard some others might like the p35 or x7 keyboard so it differs from person to person...

 

You must have a lemon because everything you said is false.

 

Planetside 2 in 1080p High with Shadows and Flora on medium. Around 50-60 fps:





Shadow of Mordor in 1080p Ultra. Around 80-90 fps:

 

Just a thought... Everyone bashing the Aorus, please go to the other thread. This is the "OWNERS LOUNGE".

Thanks.

 

please go back to the gs60 forums and hear about it then and stop criticizing here cause you dont own an aorus... i have both laptops at the same time so am able to tell each one's weaknesses and strengths.

 

I bought both laptops as well. So there. Nanny nanny boo boo.

 

I just got an X7 Pro yesterday and my CPU hits 90c regardless of what game I play. I would like to try the undervolt trick to see if I can get it to run cooler.

Do you know how to do this? If you can let me know or link me to a guide I will really appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

Yikes! I haven't seen a number that high on my machine yet... I guess the repaste seriously helped. I'd take a look into that for sure.

 

Get that fixed soon bro or return it fast.

I got a defective GS60 one time. It was having memory problems and and was crashing left and right. The last one I got is perfect.

Don't get stuck with a lemon at that price.

Call tech support.

O wait Auros doesn't have phone support. Lol.

 

So I am considering buying one of these, maxed out on XoticPC. I'm trying to buy the top of the line and someone recommended me to the X7 and thus the X7Pro.

Is this the right thing to get? Here are my parameters:

-mobile
-thinner the better
-big accurate screen
-32gb RAM (or more)
-at least 3 SSD's (3 in Raid) probably 1tb size
-processor ...faster is better of course
-money is no concern

Is there anything better for performance in a mobile solution?

 

If money is no concern get the MSI GT80 Titan. It is "thinner and better" than a Desktop.

 

OK, I had the original Aorus with the 765m SLI config, and even had the first Aorus x3 with the 870m. In between that I had the MSI Ghost with 970m and even the red edition (really sexy) MSI Stealth with the 970m, which I just returned. Picked up the Aorus X7 Pro from Newegg and have had it for two days, so back on the Gigabyte bandwagon.

By the way, Newegg Premiere membership is worth the $50 or so if you want 30 days to try out your product and return it with no restocking fees, and get a great discount on shipping, that and ebay is how i've managed to cycle through so many laptops so quickly.... that, and a forgiving wife.

anyway, my 2 cents on these laptops
the 970m Ghost Pro is really nice, but a fingerprint magnet. Super lightweight, great keyboard, gets really, really hot on the bottom rear. The IGZO display is gorgeous, probably what i miss most about it.

the 970 Red MSI Stealth is truly beautiful, just gorgeous. Haven't loved the aesthetics of a laptop this much since my first Razer Blade purchase (owned the original with the 555M when it first launched. oh, and the 2nd gen, and the blade 14...) I'd say if you're gonna go with MSI try and get the red edition. Its fingerprint resistant, with a great metallic touch, runs cooler than the Ghost Pro by far, and the 17" screen even though only 1080p, is just better for me as gamer. I'd really rather have more screen real estate than higher resolution. The only real letdown on the MSI Stealth 17 was it had a TN panel. Good quality, but noticeably dimmer.
Only reason I jumped ship from the Stealth which I had for 6 days or so, was because the Aorus Pro was an great deal (OPEN BOX), $500 off. FYI, I'd gotten the Red MSI from Newegg for $1750 open box as well. Open box deals with Newegg are amazing, highly recommend them.

The Aorus has just about everything I wanted in my gaming laptop with some compromises. not a fingerprint magnet like the black Ghost Pro, though the keyboard will probably get oily fingerprint marks faster than the steelseries. It also feels more sturdy in its construction, though not as sturdy as the MSI stealth.

It also has the 17" display, which is just more practical for me in gaming on the go than the 15" Ghost one. Even better, really pleased to find its an IPS display, and is significantly brighter than the Stealth. It also has less lightbleeding.

Battery life sucks on the Aorus, but it was never great for the Ghost or Stealth either, and I have an i3 Surface Pro 3 just for on the go productiviy anyway.

This thing gets warn, but stays cooler than both the Ghost and the Stealth, and doesn't even need the fuzzy heat pads on the bottom line the MSI ones did to keep me comfortable. The cost of keeping it cool is of course the fan noise, which can get loud. Just as lound as the Ghost I think. Have the say the Stealth stayed quieter than the others...

So I get most of what I want with a few tradeoffs:
-relatively lightweight, very thin and portable gaming machine
-a larger 17" screen with IPS display, albeit without 3k or 4k
-great looking laptop, nicer IMHO than the Ghost Pro but not the Red Stealth
-the freedom to upgrade my innards without fear of losing warranty!
-THE ABILITY TO PLAY ANY GAME I WANT maxed out so long as it plays nice with SLI

if only Aorus would come out with a red machine.... Like I said, miss my steal of a deal $1750 MSI Stealth, but a $2000 Aorus Pro was also too nice to pass up.

 

Never knew about the open box deals by Newegg. I also didn't know that Amazon had the same thing too. Learn something new...

So I keep going back and forth trying to figure out which one of these beauties I should get. I have a couple more questions to all you owners here. I asked these questions in a different thread earlier this week, but I should have asked it here:

1. How loud is the laptop if you are browsing the web, working with MS Office/Photoshop/etc or watching videos (either streaming or on the computer on VLC for instance).
2. Have you tried running the laptop on just one GPU if you are off battery?
3. Can you get better battery life when you run on one GPU since it can't use integrated graphics?
4. Are there any negatives to the laptop's life/health for doing so and is it easy to turn off one of the GPUs?
5. Does the CPU throttle at 70c? There are several people that insist on these forums that the CPU throttles at this temperature. Is that true? If not, at what temperature does it throttle? 70c seems low for it to throttle so soon.

I don't mind the laptop being loud when I'm gaming at home. But when I use it at work or when I go to meetings, I would like for the laptop to be as quiet as possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

Better in a mobile solution? Well, going with the "thinner the better" then the answer is yes, this is the most powerful laptop under 1" in height. Only a few gaming laptops are thinner or as thin as this. Most of them use a single 970m. One uses the 980m that will be out in the next month or so (Gigabyte P37x). And then there is this one that uses dual 970m in an SLI configuration.

You can go thicker than 1" and your options get a lot bigger. Potential performance wise, only another laptop with dual 970m or dual 980m will beat this in performance. And the most powerful option is potentially the MSI GT80 Titan, but there could be some Sager/Clevos that have 980m SLIs with desktop CPUs that could beat it. We won't know for a few months till all these upcoming laptops are out in the wild.

In the end, just remember that when laptops are this thin, they run hot. They all do. Aorus maybe more than most. Other than that, I think this is the right option.

 

If you want the absolute best performance possible underneath eight pounds, the Aorus X7 Pro is your best bet. If you're very concerned about heat and noise or want a bit more battery life, then go with the Clevo P670SG/Sager NP8672.

 

thanks for the input.... a few more things:

I was looking at the Titan...thought to truly max that machine out i'd go over my budget (even though i thought i didnt have a budget it looks to be around $7000)...i could still get the titan but i wouldnt be able to get it maxed out...though i am starting to rethink that..

same goes for the AMG U705....not much info on it out there yet, but looks promising

the thinness = running hot issue concerns me some especially if it throttles and stops the benefit of the SLI in the first place.

Question though. I am probably going to buy via XoticPC.... is their thermal paste going to significantly help with the temp problems/concerns? I will be buying a large cooling thing for it too, though i'd hate to be dependent on a cooling fan at all times just so the thing can keep it from throttling...

along with that... the overclocking and any other things like that that XOTIC does how good are they and will they adversely effect performance

Also with 4 SSD's of 1TB each...what is the optimal RAID/ storage setup for maximizing speed

I am justifying the cost of this laptop based on the facts that it will be able to not only replace a desktop solution but also outmatch many

As for the thinness I really love the look of the Aorus and it's thinness is good for me as i will be moving it around a lot.

Anyways...as you are all owners i'd love to read more input with pros and cons....

 

The Titan looks amazing, I'd be tempted to buy one (open box hopefully via newegg) as well, but the dual 970ms are pretty dang powerful, and I do like having a lighter laptop. I've been playing Watch Dogs on my actual lap all day long (4 hours straight) and it hasn't been uncomfortable. Even better news, its run warm and loud, but not nearly as hot as my other MSI laptops. Also the headphones are the way to game anyway. I'm sure the Titan will probably run pretty cool as well given its thickness, but I don't see me keeping a monster like that on my legs for very long. That said, I think it looks great, wish it had HDMI in like the Alienware 18 does.

 

biggest turnoff for me about the titan, however, aside from the fact I cant quite afford one, is that there is no palmrest whatsoever. maybe i'd get used to that, but doubtful. I don't mind the touchpad being off to the right side, as that reminds me of the razer blade pro, but no palmrest is just a little too weird for me, unless I am playing on a desk at all times.... but I really play on my lap in bed or on my recliner. Like having a comfy laptop actually on my lap....

 

The thing weighs 4.5 kilograms...

 

yes, and with the power supply, its like 14+ pounds which is a little much to carry around. I'd probably keep it at home like i did with my alienware 18. still, mechanical keyboard also has me pining over it... by the way, apparently the Aorus X7 Pro does have a TN Panel, not IPS. Its just such a freaking bright TN panel I couldn't tell, brightest TN panel I think I've ever owned. Makes the MSI Stealth look way too dim in comparison.

 

Are you sure it's a TN panel?

According to cookiesowns, he mentions that the Aorus X7 Pro comes with an IPS panel. See first paragraph under First Impressions: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gigabyte/767435-aorus-x7-pro-owner-s-lounge.html#post9864858

Then when I read reviews, I get conflicting information:

TN reviews:
Notebookcheck says it's a TN panel: Aorus X7 Pro Notebook Review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
Computer Shopper also mentions it has a TN panel: Aorus X7 Pro Review - ComputerShopper.com

IPS reviews:
Hexus says it's a IPS panel: Review: Aorus X7 Pro - Laptop - HEXUS.net
And IT Pro Portal also mentions the IPS panel: Aorus X7 Pro v3 review: Powerful but is it worth it? | ITProPortal.com

On the Aorus website, it mentions in small letters under Full HD Display "Product specifications and availability may vary by country and region. We recommend you to check with your local dealers for the latest product information."

So I'm confused. Does it have a TN panel or an IPS panel? Is it based on who or where it's sold that it may have a different panel?

 

From my understanding, many of the reviews were done on pre-production models. Those seem to have had TN panels installed. I think the production models have IPS displays.

 

Hmm, that is what I thought but then johnnobts mentions:

So just wanted to double check.

 

with the ol' eyeball exam when i first got it was so blown away by the display brightness and quality i assumed it was an ips as well, and maybe it is. i did have the 15" ips 3k display from msi just a few weeks ago, and this one is just as bright and has great viewing angles. colors are also better than other 17 inchers i've owned. whether tn or ips it is a definite leap from the aorus x7 v1 and v2. just pre-ordered GTA5 just so i can play it on this device in a couple of months. unless somebody releases a better laptop in the next 23 days or so (how long i have on my return option). titan is somewhat tempting, but don't see me luggning it to my office for work and lunchtime play.

 

At work sermonizing this morning but somebody send me a pc app to look up my display Id info and I will let you know what the display is.

 

So what's the final temperature after the repaste? I think you forgot to post it. I'm interested more in the CPU temp since it was hitting 90C. Also, where did you buy it from? I'm scared to death about the customer support that might be non-existent.

 

Customer support: I owned the v1 aorus x7 and my sli stopped working. They replaced the system board and I got it back, but took a month or so. But support does exist.

 

running display at 75hz btw

 

Hi Johnnobts,

How long did the SLI last before it stopped working? How was the RMA process? Was it easy? Did you have to pay for shipping? if so how much was it? Should be quite expensive since it's a heavy laptop? No?

 

I can't blame Aorus for the SLI defect, that was my error but won't get into specifics. The RMA went fine, but I had to pay to have it shipped out to them ($30 shipping maybe?). the only reason it took a long time is because they didn't have the components to repair in the US at the time. never had a problem with the laptop before I mucked it up. I complained about the delay and they almost sent me a brand new one with the 860m instead... almost. But as soon as it was fixed they overnight mailed it back to me for free. so can't complain too much about support, other than they didn't have the replacement parts in stock at the time and had to wait for them to arrive from China or wherever.

BTW, its an LG IPS display, same one the Asus G771JW uses.

From some website:

The panel is quite good, although not great. It covers 92% of the sRGB, 69% of the NTSC and 71% of the AdobeRGB gamuts and you can find its main features below (measured with a Spyder4 Elite bundle):
•measured gamma: 2.0 ;
•max brightness in the middle of the screen: 302 cd/m2;
•contrast at max brightness: 690:1;
•white point: 7400 K;
•black on max brightness: 0.44 cd/m2;
•average DeltaE: 2.65 uncalibrated, 1.46 calibrated

 

Grr, Watchdogs crashed. First game I've played to do so. Everything on max settings but now AA at all. Pretty sure its from using Intel Xtreme Tuning that caused it, had it undervolted too much I bet.

 

Thanks for doing some of the readings. Number's look way off though. The Spyder4 in my testing caps out around 600 contrast readings, so I think this is why. I really need to do a profile with my i1Pro.

Anywho,

I just read thru the threads! Glad that comet is gone, and people here are now loving the laptop.

I posted it somewhere in the thread. It's really hard to get good accurate readings because I don't really have an accurate thermometer to measure my ambients.

That said, doing a re-paste dropped my GPU temps by around 5-8C. CPU temps didn't go down too much, but they stayed quite bit more consistent under heavy load. I'm guessing this is because the GPU's are now dissipating more heat into the heat pipes thus the CPU has less thermal headroom to work with.

In most cases with a very cheap cooler pad, I can never get my CPU to thermal throttle. I ran Heaven benchmark at 1080P Ultra 8X AA with Prime95 running on 4 cores. I got the CPU to thermal throttle like 5% which means it dropped from 3.0Ghz down to 2.8Ghz. Not bad at all. ( This is after 3 hours with high auto fan, and no cooling pad )

Again, Prime95 is SUPER hard on haswell chips, so it's not a good judgement.

 

those weren't my readings on the display, just copied and pasted from some website. I don't have a way of measuring anything. if you come up with a good custom profile, please do share with us. I haven't repasted the CPU or GPUs, don't mess with any of that unless I'm keeping something more than 30 days (return window). My CPU hasn't hit 90 degrees, yet, just 89.

 

which fan profile are you using? The high fan profile really only ramps up past 70C. The low fan profile ramps up around 85C I believe.

Cool. I'll run a profile tomorrow then. I'm still uncertain on how to get dispcal to display an adobe RGB gamut, so I can't measure total gamut. Maybe i1Profiler can.


That said, has anyone noticed how bad the anodizing is on the Aorus? It irks my OCD at how there's random different shades of black on the exterior, and how you can easily cause the black finish to look way off. The keyboard is the same too, looks like the keycap materials just absorb regular skin oils

 

Hi guys, how's the Intel AC7260 wireless adapter? I know it's quite notorious, any of you has issues with it?