Need some advice on Aero 15

I am a gamer but nothing hard core. I'm a wow gamer, occasionally I'll do Overwatch or Guild Wars 2. I also stream on Twitch. Now my current machine is a 17.3" Sager heavy big honkin' thing. It's 1 year old with the following stats:

- 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Processor ( 6MB Smart Cache, 2.60GHz)
- 17.3" Full HD IPS Matte Display with G-SYNC Technology (1920 x 1080)
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6GB GDDR5 Video Memory
- 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 SDRAM at 2400MHz - 2 X 8GB
- 256GB SanDisk X400 M.2 SSD - as an OS Drive (Primary Drive C)
- 1TB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
- Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 M.2 AC Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Module

It handles everything I need it to and it does a great job with it. I can play, get good frame rates and stream no problem. It barely gets steamy and I'm playing right now and seeing temps around 69 degrees F after 6 hours of being on. During my raid, it barely broke 60. I get 140 FPS in non populated areas and in busier areas I get to 35-80 depending on what's going on. Why do I want to replace it? It's too big. Seemed like a great idea at first but I started traveling more and taking it around is a chore not a luxury anymore. It's a real pain to lug around through TSA and to plop on the couch with. The battery is about 2 hours which for travel is not that helpful. On my desk, it's a dream.

So after 8 months of deliberating which machine to get that's smaller, lighter to carry, has the same or better horsepower to play and stream I decided on a Clevo 1070 MaxQ. It's perfect.... on paper. I get over 4 hours of battery life, it benches better than my 1060, it's easy to take with me... total dream! Within the first month of purchase, I managed to have keyboard issues where some keys stop working and won't register being pressed. After about a week + of screwing around with software, it's concluded it can't be a software problem. So next, in WoW same in game settings, computer settings, I would stand in the same open place I had 140 FPS and got 40ish. I never really saw above 65 FPS ever. In busy spots and raid bosses, I was getting 8-18 FPS and my CPU is cranked up hard. That's without streaming! There's no way I can stream when I can barely get through the fight without dying to lag. For a machine that goes through tests and benches better than the old machine, it doesn't even come close to my lesser machine in performance and I regret the purchase. Now I'm not sure if I'll be able to even return it without a hassle and losing almost $400 in restocking fees on a machine that's defective and I can't use.

I'm trying to decide on what to do. I keep coming back to the Gigabyte Aero 15. I just love this machine on paper and while it's not an "upgrade" per se, it's what I'm looking for in light, easy to take places and strong enough to game with. But I want an opinion of someone who has this machine. Can it handle what I'm looking to throw at it without coming to a screeching halt like the Clevo?

Thanks for reading this far. I appreciate anything you have to offer.

 

Considering a Clevo with a 1070MQ is most likely going to have 7700HQ CPU or better, I would probably try and figure out why you were able to stream and play fine on your 6700HQ laptop, and not on your Clevo.

Logically, it doesn't make any sense that a machine with better hardware should perform worse than a machine with worse hardware.

Some questions that immediately spring to mind are:
1. Was it thermal throttling?
2. How much RAM did you have?
3. Was there any software running in the background taking up CPU cycles?
4. Were any of your settings on your streaming program different?

The truth is, that if your software was configured *identically*, there is literally no way the Clevo should have performed worse than your 17.3 inch laptop assuming all else was equal (temperatures, resolution, RAM, etc.)

My first guess is some kind of software issue, or thermal throttling as to the performance difference.

Now, regarding the Aero 15. I don't think buying another laptop is exactly the answer to your quandary here, because you need to know what was causing the lackluster performance in the first place. Otherwise you risk just reproducing it on the Aero.

I'm an Aero 15 user and I am very pleased with my laptop. I'm not a hardcore gamer (the most demanding game I play is BF1 and I don't play it competitively) and so the laptop suits my needs marvelously. It's light for a 15-incher, portable, and beyond a stiff keyboard, I really have no complaints.

With that said, if you're looking for supreme portability in a small package, you could take a look at the Aero 14 or Aorus X3 which are 14" devices and have a smaller footprint while still having the 7700HQ/GT1060 performance profile.

 

Could also check out the MSI GS43VR.