NEW Gigabyte P34 V2

I also received mine this past Wednesday and the screen doesn't reflect at all. I bring it to my very well florescent lighted office and angle the screen back and still no issues with reflections.

 

It is Maxwell. GB doubled the VRAM on it to match the 4gb on the Kepler parts as well.

 

How is the touchpad on the v2? does it support multi touch gestures - 2 finger click and scroll, 3 finger swipe? Does it have dedicated buttons?

I was originally considering the p34, but held off and now the new v2 is out I would rather get that. The other option is the razer blade but costs $700 more and while the display seems awesome, I don't need the touchscreen and would prefer the extra 1tb hd.

 

I also was originally considering the P34g v2, but the "cheap-looking thing" and bad build quality of gigabyte laptops brought me towards other brands. Given that I have to spend such a big amount of money for my new notebook, I pretend at least good built quality and materials that are not so cheap.
This is my opinion.

Inviato dal mio SM-N9005

 

The pad is pretty good. I like the feel of the pad itself and response seems fine so far. It has buttons separate from the pad but they are on a rocker. It supports multi-touch, both 2 and 3 finger scroll/swipe. I wish I could set a different command for 3 finger swipe. On my lenovo I can set that to browser forward/back navigation. It is set to only page up/down on the V2. I used keytweak to sent up a key binding so I can still use 3 finger swipe for navigation as a work around.

I feel the same way about the razor. I wanted a small form factor with decent power and discreet GPU as well but I could not swallow the razor blade's price tag. This is a good value IMO. Touch screen was not needed for me either. I bought an ultra book with it thinking I may get some use out of it on Win 8. But other than the novelty and the rare random swipe or button press on the screen I never ever use it.

Another thing to note for US buyers is this was listed as only coming with the Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 802.11 a/b/g/n. I doubled checked where I bought it (XoticPC) and Gentech and they both list only the dual band 7260 b/g/n card. But it actually came with the 7260 AC card.

 

very nice to hear that , how is the fan loud ? louder than other laptop ?

 

It is not that loud so far. Occasionally it will spin up when doing a driver install or big DL but it quiets back down. And never gets obscenely loud like the video that has been posted around with the 1st gen model. I haven't played any games too intense yet. Probably ESO with ultra settings would have been the extent so far other than some indie games on steam. I would not call it loud for a gaming laptop at all. Most of the time it is pretty silent.

 

Very promising that they turned a weakness in the fan noise and profile from the previous version and turned it into a positive!

 

It supports gestures but the trackpad itself sucks. Like on most Windows laptops. They're cheap and nasty, nothing like the touchpad on a Mac.

No wonder touchpads gets such a bad reputation, I could play any game on my Mac with a touchpad (on bootcamp) and it was really responsive. This one's pretty horrible. For Skyrim I can't consistently aim and shoot with a bow on this trackpad as it only reacts after ever 2nd/3rd click, I never had this problem before.

It's easily the weakest point of the laptop for me

 

But how is the touchpad for non-gaming things? I do alot of typing (text selection, double tap and drag) as well as a lot of drag and drop and folder selection. Is it average, slightly better then average? Thanks

 

For non gaming it's acceptable

But even then...

Two finger scrolling isn't anywhere near as smooth as the one I was used to using (Macbook Air), it's very unresponsive at times or it seems to stutter. I can take a video if you want to see what I mean. It's probably the worst within the Steam app itself - trying to scroll through 600 games was fine before, now it jitters up/down until I let go

 

Compared to an Apple track pad everything is rubbish. I'd just compare it to other Windows notebooks.

 

I thought I did

 

I have a question about the Fan Tweak feature:

How loud is the Turbo Mode mode?

 

This corresponds exactly to my experiences so far! I've tested some windows notebooks so far and in comparision to my Macbook Pro, the Touchpads are so much worse.
People always look at me surprised, because i never use an external mouse on my macbook, even for Photoshop or other programs. And i even played Crysis 2 until the end with my trackpad
The apple trackpads are very responsive and reliable and additionally meanwhile i am quite used to it
But on my new notebook on which i am very interested in the gigabyte p34g v2, i am going to use an external mouse (at least for games and graphic programs ).

Back to topic: Thanks Coflash for loading up so many photos and reporting and answering so many questions about your new laptop!

I'am very happy, that the fan noise seems to be significantly better than on the p34g (v1). :thumbsup:

What about the sound quality, especially in comparison to your Macbook? (I like the sound quality of my Macbook Pro, although it's not the best on the notebook market for sure...)

At last, could you tell us a little bit about the fan noise under medium load, like picture-/videoediting, maybe a 3d modeling tool like blender etc.
My Macbook stays very quiet even with blender, skype, photoshop and firefox open...
Would love it, if the gigabyte wouldn't be too much more loud on such tasks...

 

Yep; it's a shame you can't pay more to get a better touch pad. I've *kill* for a Mac one on this thing. Even my wife's crappy $500 ASUS laptop has a better touch pad. I guess they just stick with the majority who say they're no good for gaming. I wish more people could experience them over a period of time, I became ridiculously good with that thing, it was much better than a gamepad for shooters.

Sound quality via the speakers is very bad, it's also too quiet even at max volume, but I only use it with headphones anyway

I've been playing Fallout NV (heavily modded, graphically), Xenoblade on an emulator and some more ACIV - I still don't have any fan issues. I never had a P34Gv1 either, but I can say with all certainty that it's NOTHING like that infamous Youtube video.

It might sound like I'm being negative because of the touchpad + speakers, but they're things I can get around, the laptop is the best gaming laptop I've owned to date. I can't believe what they're able to cram into such a thin laptop. I'll never own one of those bigger monstrosities ever again.

 

keep talking about fan noise ^^ like max loud = other max loud other laptop ?

 

I've been in Deus Ex 3 for around 2hrs now and it's not even hitting the medium fan noise I was referring to earlier

 

nice
i want to buy it
so its never become loud ? just meduim

 

Thanks for answering questions coflash. How long does the battery last under normal use (web browsing, etc)? That's the model with the bigger battery right?

Sent from my RM-877_nam_att_205 using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, I would love to get some accurate battery tests with the normal and extended batteries.

 

anyone else has the new p34g v2 ? who can give us other information of this experiance

 

Generally I use a wire less portable mouse and the touch pad every now and then. At first it seemed OK, but after further use I would agree it has issues. Hopefully it is something a driver update could fix if they ever release one. The response can be a bit whacked. I will touch and scroll but the page goes the opposite direction. So I have to let up and do it again. Or it will get confused and just shake back and forth until I stop scrolling or lift my finger. It is workable but over all not what I would expect from a laptop of this price and tier.

As for the fan sound when set to auto it does not get that loud even when gaming. It will ramp up in speed but not too over bearing. But if set to turbo it can get pretty loud. If you generally don't use headphones I could see it being a problem if you want to set it on turbo for max cooling.

 

Thank you, Genki, for your short feedback about the p34g v2.
Can you tell us a lil bit more about your general impressions about your new notebook? (Build quality, sound quality, temps under load (gpu & cpu) and so on)

I really don't understand the sense of an adjustable fan control.
I mean, a notebook should be able to automatically handle the temps in every situation and should always just cool down the device how it's needed, not more, not less. As quiet as possible, as loud as needed to cool down the device properly...

Genki, did you already measured gpu and cpu temperatures (with HWMonitor for example) while gaming with fan set to automatic? Does it cool down the components properly (as it should) ? As i wrote above, i don't see any sense in manual fan control, whereas the system should be able to handle that automatically. On automatic the fan noise is acceptable without headset?
What about fan noise under different (work) loads, like office, web browsing, picture/videoediting, rendering and so on?

@ Coflash: You have your device for a week now. Still be pleased with your purchase?

Thanks guys, for sharing your experiences with us!

 

Yep I'm pleased. I still haven't had the fan go very loud.

The build quality is crap (again comparing to my old Macbook), but the price of it is cheap enough that it makes sense.

You don't need to adjust the fan control, but they've got a tool where you can put it on it's max setting and it goes nuts.

 

Hm, that's disappointing. I know the touchpad is bad, are there any other glaring issues?

 

Just wondering, how is the trackpad surface? How smooth is it compared to a mac? I expect it to be nearly identically smooth as both are brushed aluminum. Thanks

 

Nothing glaring, it just feels like plastic

It's smooth, but the tracking is very bad. I was showing people in the office yesterday and they couldn't believe how buggy it felt to just try and move the cursor around. It also seems to be only able to track either the keyboard or touchpad at any one time which is what makes it extra crappy for games (trying to aim and run).

 

But is the finish as smooth as the macbook. Im talking strictly about the material finish.

 

Yeah, it's smooth

I tried Dark Souls II today and it runs quite terribly :/

Even on medium with AA + all blur presets disabled

On low it feels as smooth as DS1 did maxed out

 

Hmm, actually, it may have been defaulting to the Intel chip - if anyone here tries it make sure you do that in the nVidia Cpanel.

 

That definitely isn't correct. My 675M that is significantly slower runs it ok.

 

Just ordered mine
Bought from Xotic PC, they are offering a FREE 4GB ram upgrade (bringing total to 12gb).
I am a very techy-guy; I will be posting review video, game performance video's, overclocking of the GPU etc the week I get it. Stay tuned

 

Just an FYI, the GTX 860m is roughly the same performance as the GTX 770m and the GTX 680m. This laptop carries serious power. Here is an example of the GTX 860m playing battlefield 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfz-wKh_CW8

There is a small different between BF4 on high and ultra; personally I play on high to "guarantee" 60fps.

 

Nevemind...

 

Nevermind Part 2....

 

See my post after that one... for the following games it uses the default Intel chip for some reason: Deus Ex 3, Skyrim and Dark Souls II. Also the Dolphin emulator.

I have since set it to 'High performance nVidia' and DSII runs ridiculously smooth now, maxed out at 1080p

I just tested it and the fan actually gets the loudest in Skyrim, though my mods probably don't help (Vurt's flora overhaul for example)

Why would it ever opt to use the Intel chip on a Steam game?

 

It happens from time to time with some games. Shrug.

 

Optimus is funny that way; no big deal really (I set the profile for each game I have, takes all of 5 minutes). Also in the Nvidia control panel, set it to "prefer maximum performance". Significant fps boost as well.

 

I'm sure it only takes 'all of 5 minutes', but if you're not aware of that to begin with, it takes more than 5 minutes to figure out what the hell is going on

 

Oh for sure, on my first "gaming" laptop (with separate nvidia GPU) I was confused as hell as to why battlefield 3 only got 15 fps on low(gt 540; runs bf3 at 40fps on medium).
I'll be sure to mention that "setup" in the video :thumbsup:

 

I'm wondering how feasible a QHD screen replacement is. HP has an Envy 14 inch with 3200x1800, and the new 14 inch Razer Blade is also 3200x1800. I believe the envy is 30-pin eDP as well, though I can't seem to find a source for the panel (laptopscreens dot com is out of stock).

Has anyone done any testing on the screens gamut/brightness etc? This laptop looks like the right one for me, but I'm a bit concerned about screen quality. Also, 1920x1080 on 14 inches seems like no-mans land: too low to quarter it when necessary (a 14 inch 3200x1800 resolution can be used at 1600x900 just fine) but too high for reading native reading (my 15.6 panel is 1920x1080, and it is just on the edge of comfort). How does text look, and how do you manage to read it (increasing font size, magnifying glass etc).

Finally any thoughts on the battery life of a 43wh one? 7.0h*48wh/63wh gives me an estimate of 5.3 hours of light use, which seems decent.

 

I use 1920*1080 on my surface pro (10.1 inch screen) and have no problem with it. I do have good eyes though. I honestly think resolutions over 1080 on screens under 32 inch is a waste. You must also remember the fact that few GPU's can smoothly run games in 4k. If 1920*1080 on 14 inch is to small, try scaling. Right click on desktop->screen resolution-> "make text or other items larger or smaller" -> try 125% or 150%; works very well.

Try it right now on your PC!

As for battery, nobody can answer that but you. What do you prefer? Extra battery or extra storage (personally, extra storage wins; modern games are huge in size). Also keep in mind gaming on battery is terrible due to GPU downclocking. You will likely be near a plug most of the time anyway

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm not very interested in gaming (I do game, but not as much as I used to), but I need a decent GPU for computation (I work mostly in OpenCL but am considering trying out CUDA for a bit, and it seems nVidia is going to update their OpenCL to 1.2 soon as well). I'll give the scaling a go and see how I like it.

The reason I mentioned the QHD display being quartered was for gaming: you can run a QHD display at a quarter of its resolution (half 3800 and half 1800) and it will behave like a 1600x900 display, which is perfect for a 14 inch gaming laptop. I agree with you about the space though: I'd rather have the extra space overall, though a 256g mSSD would be enough for me (which the 63wh version can come with, but at an 1800 dollar price point).

 

where do you have the 1800 USD pricepoint for the 63Wh/256SSD version from? last time I tried to get some prices for this notebook I couldn't find a version which was explicitely advertised with the bigger battery anywhere.
Any sources for reliable Euro prices? My assumption so far is that the base model (with 48Wh battery + SSD/HDD combo) which comes at 1500 USD will get to Europe for 1299€, but that's just my best guess....

 

So this is my first post here. I have been lurking for a while trying to decide on a new laptop that would provide both utility for work and portable gaming power since I do travel a good bit. Reading through the various threads I ultimately I decided on the P34G v2 and pulled the trigger last week with XoticPC. I should have the laptop by Wednesday of next week and am looking forward to getting my hands on it.

I have to admit I am not a super tech savvy guy but with detailed instructions can usually handle most tasks on my own. Reading the posts here are super useful and this forum is an awesome resource.

@Coflash - thanks for pointing out the system issue defaulting to the intel chip. That would probably have taken me forever to figure out.

@Sebi97 - I am looking forward to your review. If you get a chance to include any other good tips in dialing this machine in I would welcome your input.

 

Did you get the 4gb free update ?

 

Of course! :thumbsup:

 

Nice, but then it'll take 9-16 days for them to ship :/
thats what they told me

 

I was told that as well but it didn't take that long. I placed the order on 4/17 and it shipped out yesterday. I didn't have anything fancy added to it though .. everything was stock except for IC thermal compound. The ground shipping is kind of a bummer though, basically adds another week onto the order.