Thoughts on Gigabyte P35X v6?

To all P35X v6 owners or ex-owners out there, could I have some input on your experience with this model?

I'm already leaning towards getting this notebook among others due to its many good features. Two things are holding me back though. 1. I've read that it could have an overheating issue (due to how slim it is) and 2. Build quality is sub-par (I want my notebook to last for quite a while). My question is, will the temperature of the CPU and GPU of this laptop (when gaming) be a major issue along the way such that it would just be better to get something else? (I'm also considering the Clevo P650rs and GS63 but my problem with those models is battery life) And is the build quality of this laptop as bad as they say?

Other comments about what you love or hate about this model is welcomed as well. Thanks!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

I've had a P35Xv6-PC4K4D for about a week, upgrading from an earlier version of the P35X. It's the first time I've really considered a laptop as a full desktop replacement, due to the CPU and GTX1070's performance, ample storage, and ability to upgrade.

When I bought it, I was taking a bit of a chance, since I knew that for previous P35X versions, the Optimus implementation routed all of the video output through the integrated graphics. This makes VR usage problematic and prevented me from using nVidia 3D Vision functionality. Good news is that for the P35Xv6, the DisplayPort and HDMI outputs are directly connected to the GTX1070, so while you lose Optimus on those outputs, 3D Vision/Play is possible as well as VR support. I've successfully run my Rift CV1 on it without any issues whatsoever. I'm glad they implemented it this way, as I can still get good battery life by using integrated graphics on the LCD panel. It seems that the non-Optimus/G-sync GTX10 series laptops are really suffering with battery life.

The 4K display is gorgeous. The DVD-RW drive it comes with is essentially useless for me, so I swapped it with a Blu-ray burner - you can do this without opening the unit. You can also swap the optical drive with a 2.5" drive using an included drive tray.

Never had a problem with the build quality, other than the known P35X chassis issue with the keyboard tray (the keyboard isn't completely level around the 'F' key - you can fix this by loosening a screw on the bottom, but at the cost of additional keyboard flex).

Upgrading the unit requires removing 14 screws from the bottom, even for RAM upgrades (unlike my earlier P35X, the RAM upgrade panel on the bottom of the P35Xv6 does not actually open as far as I can tell). However, once the cover is off it is very easy to upgrade the m.2 and 2.5" storage as well as both RAM slots. Not sure of what happens to the warranty in case of user upgrades but I normally don't concern myself with that.

The unit does get pretty loud and hot above the keyboard and near the back vents when under load, but no more than my earlier P35X. I can't speak to throttling right now.

All in all, I'm very satisfied.

 

Thanks for this! I'm a bit more assured now of my decision to make the purchase.

Have a good one!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the info! I've been considering this laptop as well, due to the battery life. I know people rant about Optimus and I know it has issues, but I really do need a slim light laptop for travel, with at least 4 1/2 hours of life at medium brightness and a moderate load, which seems to require Optimus. I'm not too thrilled about the lack of Thunderbolt 3, but USB-C should be enough for anything besides eGPU TBH.

How many monitors can you drive with this thing? I've been thinking of doing a 3-monitor setup and it would be good to know if this machine can do it.

 

Good review by kpziegler, like him I have this beast too but the only different is that my one is the FHD version. About the heat yes it heats up that is just physics, a laptop this powerful yet slim and small will heat up fast, the heat has to go somewhere but it seems that the chassis which made up of metal (not sure) helps dissipate the heat. I got it up to 90c on the area above the keyboard; yeah it is that hot but the heat doesn't reach the keyboard area where your finger is; one thing to note is that the laptop also cool down fast, like a 5 or 10 mins break will bring this laptop to normal room temp again.
The fan is loud but not annoying you can deal with it, for it seems that the fans and their cooling system are working well because the temp never goes above 90c and that is good. I really love this laptop probably the best decision I've ever made when buying a gaming laptop **COUGH** Alienware **COUGH**, I really like the low profile design, the portability, the power, the ports (holy ****!), oh don't forget the CD drive, yes it is old school but you can always swap it for an extra storage, a BlueRay or a weight-saving module*. The best ways to describe this laptop is that it is a jack of all trade, it got many traits but none of it stands out but then again doesn't that make it unique? Hmmm. All I can say is that this laptop and Gigabyte is underrated, if you gonna get this laptop then you've made the right choice but expect the heat during intense gaming.

My uses: Daily web browsing, Hardcore gaming, 3D modeling, Animation, Coding, Making music.

 

My experiences are the exact opposite. I had a Gigabyte and the heat was killing the battery within months, it became too hot, it throttled in prolonged gaming sessions and I did not like the build quality. THen jumped ship to alienware. Got only temps around the 65~70C under load now, lower fan noise and a battery that lasts.

 

What was your model? Because the battery placement for this one is below the keyboard near the touch pad, while the heat source is above the keyboard at the rear of the laptop. Yes this one become a toaster but it is slim and light weight while the AW is bulkier and heavier but wont get hot, it is a trade off you cant have your cake and eat it too. The reason I had bad experience with AW is how they market their laptop; the base model is bad no matter what; you have to get the tier 3 or upgrade it which cost ever more than it was. This one is the base model and I got everything I ever wanted, and I'm still baffled by how the AW 15 and 17 still dont have a num pad. BTW check your AW for key-ghosting because my one the AW 13 (2015) has it; which is a big middle finger by AW.

 

I had the aw15r1 and have the aw15r2 now. i dont like numpads so yeah for me that is not an issue. the 17 has it though. the batteries in de gigabytes do get hot because the small chassis. it comes indeed with the territory. key ghosting has not been an issue for me tbh with both brands.

 

No I'm asking about your old gigabyte model. The P35 V6 doesnt have key ghosting however my old AW does which mean that the keyboard is poorly build. You wont have any issue with it on daily uses but when you play FPS games like TF2 or Overwatch you will wish you dont have key ghosting. Even an indie game like binding of Issac you wont be able to play with key ghosing, because let say you need no move diagonally (W+D) and shoot (arrow key), the third key wont register.

 

I play 90% of my time first person shooters on a heavy base. There is only 1 key sequence that causes ghosting. Pressing A+W and the arrow left+ up arrow keys at the same time (Seems to occur for people that play soccer games, something which I do not). So fo rmy last 2 laptops I did not have ghosting issues and I also did not have those with my old Gigabyte. But I doubt it is also totally ghost free. Most keyboard manufacturers only prevent ghosting in key areas by the way since it is very costly to make every key combination ghost free with membrame keyboards.

BUt laptop longevity is seriously an issue with these GIgabyte models and after 6 revisions they still did not improve the chassis.

 

This is my first gigabyte so I hope that my battery will last long, will have to come back to this post after a couple of years to give update.

 

allow me to share my thoughts about Gigabyte. the reason why I consider the brand is because they have the body specs that I was looking for and also the hardware specs like GPU, CPU, RAM and also I like it's mod configuration/setup for upgrade. I'm not saying that you cannot upgrade with other brands because they have that option. although what I like the best is the removable empty tray dock that you could use to add a storage drive or a CD drive. and additional internal empty docks for HDD/SSD. which I think would allow you to have 3-4 drives inside your machine.

the only weaknesses that I heard and read from the brand is the build, materials, heat management and pasting are on the subpar side. for me personally, if those are also your concern, you are better off with an ASUS which is also great but the size and cost might be problematic. if you don't mind having a 17", that would be fine as those are on the cheap side.

 

Which Asus? The GL502VS has serious heating issues.

I recommend the Clevo P650RS instead as it actually can stay cool. The Gigabyte is usually only a better option if you really need the super thin form factor.

 

that's interesting. can you elaborate? specs and situations? so far, I have never experienced that with Asus gaming laptops. although Clevo is also a great alternative. too bad they are not that mainstream yet globally which would have been nice.

 

Asus gaming laptops have a lot of problems... The best right now I would say is the GL502VM which seems all around solid. The VS version has like 50% of the users here reporting temps in the 90s which I find unacceptable when the Clevo P650RS is thinner and runs significantly cooler.

Other models have had USB issues like G751 series (for like 4 years) and in general Asus support is one of the worst.

Clevo is huge actually, you just don't hear about them. They are sold under tons of brands, but are even more popular outside the U.S. especially in Asia.

Buying a Clevo through a good reseller will get you far better support, and many of the builders will quality test for you to make sure you get a working product with no defects.

 

Clevo is not that huge at all. but they do build better laptops than gigabyte.

 

Well they are much larger in Asia... They are the fourth largest exporter from Taiwan which is pretty large from such an export heavy country.

And yeah... Aorus should just take over them or something. Though the styling of like the P35X is nice compared to some of the flashier Aorus models. (Get rid of the stupid bird on the trackpad what is that?)

 

Thats mainly because they also manufacture laptops for other big brands like in the past alienware to third party specifications. but the own models are more niche. but they offer some nice alternatives.

I would like to see the p35 withiut that stupid drive bay and a heavily upgraded chassis with a larger battery and more cooling.

 

Ditch the drive bay, ditch the SATA drive, go full m.2 SSD, improve cooling and put a 1080 in there, BOOM ! Razer Blade Pro "Ghetto Edition" XD

 

I don't have experience on those models mentioned, but so far Asus gaming laptops have never failed me when it comes to reliability and heating problems. brands that I would remain skeptic are Acer and MSI. also, Clevo is not huge but they do build or sell builds to other brands which is practically the same stuff and only a few modifications. so far, I haven't heard much complaints about them.

 

I dunno, I'm one of the few that would prefer a drive bay. although the battery and cooling could use some improvement like better heat management. on the otherhand, how does the GTX1070(mobile) perform against the GTX980m? performance and battery life?

 

Anecdotal evidence is not a good basis to make purchasing decisions with.

Battery life isnt too different. Performance is nearly double though, around 980m sli level.

 

The 1070 is indeed twice as fast than a 980m. really a huge difference. battery life is similar. but it does run more hot.

 

that sounds good for future-proofing and upcoming games. but I think the GTX980M could last atleast 2-3 more years of optimal gaming at 1080p. although it could survive longer at medium settings let's say 5 years, depending on game development and switch to 4K.

 

depends on what definition of anecdote you are referring. on the otherhand, these are also actual evidence, not heresay and pretty much the same you are doing.

 

What?

Not sure I understand what you mean. My point was saying you owned a good laptop is anecdotal evidence. But saying the dozens to hundreds of owners of the laptop here don't have issues is not anecdotal evidence.

This is the definition I'm referring to (just google anecdotal):

(of an account) not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.

 

Thats very optimistic . i give it a year from now.

 

well, one can only hope.

 

and because of that, you just categorize a brand to be bad because of those? come on now, atleast have some decency that you are being "ANECDOTAL" !

 

I don't think you are understanding what I'm saying...

For example the G752 had left side USB port issues for years. Thats not anecdotal evidence.

 

How bulky is the PSU and how much does it weight. That info is never on any laptops spec. what good is a thin and light 15.6" when you have to carry a large PSU and another 2 lbs when you travel with it.

 

This is for a V3, but I imagine it has not changed.

 

Thanks, do you know how much it weights? I think I'm about to pick this over the Aero 14. I know the weight difference is less than 1 Lb if I ditch the DVD for the weight saver. I can probably drop it below 5 lbs if I also ditch the 1TB HDD and put in a 1TB M.2 SATA or 2.5" SSD. I can live with the 3/4 lb weight difference for the getting the UHD, 1070 and an extra M.2 slot. I just hope that I can keep the whole package under 6 lbs with the PSU.

 

I am not sure, can't seem to find any info online. I too am wanting to buy this guy...

I think now that pascal (P35X V6) is out, it could replace my desktop (i5 4690k, 970 gtx, 16gb memory). My concerns are,
How well does it dock to 2 1080p monitors? I will not be using the attached 15.6 while 'docked'.
How good is the screen for gaming, FPS games? 5ms25ms?, IPS/TN?
How hard is it to attach some IC compound, or better thermal paste? I have built many computers, so I am not afraid of taking it apart to do it myself. Does it void warranty? Are there better heat pipes to help with thermals?

 

Dual monitor should be no problem with a DP, VGA and an HDMI 2.0 port and from all review, both the FHD and UHD display is high quality IPS. check on the main owner thread. I think someone have already taken apart the previous version. should be very similar. there's a fairly detailed review here;

http://www.computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/gigabyte-p35x-v6

Update: I just placed my order for the top package, should arrive by end of next week.

 

Can anybody share temperatures with the P35V6 and throttling?

Has anybody tried undervolting the CPU, and if so, what kind of temp reduction did you get?

 

Mine just came in but won't be able to do much today till after lunch then leaving office early for Movie and dinner. I also have to dig up my thermal sensor so I can check the temps. I don't have any sound measuring equipment but I'll try to make a video so you can get an idea how loud the fans are compare to a normal speaking voice.

 

Did you read the computershopper review.

 

I did, yes, One thing I was concerned about is this paragraph, emphasis mine:

- http://www.computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/gigabyte-p35x-v6

Further, I read this Bit-Tech user review which talks about throttling, emphasis mine:

- http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=310222

However, none of these reviews talk about the effect of undervolting on temps, or combined loads for both CPU and GPU, which is why I'm very interested to hear how you find things thermally.

Thank you for doing all of this, the data is very much appreciated

 

Got home late. Doing Windows update atm. I did manage to take some pictures before I left the office.

1st impression. Coming from a P34G. This thing is huge and quiet a bit heavier. The P34G weight in at 3.79lbs with a 0.93lbs PSU while the P35X comes in at 5.44lbs with optical and 5.2lbs with weight saver and a 1.5lbs PSU. So we're looking at a 6.7lbs (maybe 6.5lbs if I replace a HDD with a SSD) vs 4.72lbs complete package and a 2lbs (43%) weight gain. But then I saw that Gentech just did a review on the Aero 14 (my initial choice) and it looks like the Aero 14 comes in at 4.13lbs with a 1.31lbs PSU or a 4.44lbs package so the difference is just a bit over 1lb. Here's a few pictures in comparison to the P34G:


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The stock PSU is about as thin and light as you can make a 180w one. Here are pics compared to a 330w and to a 100w one. The smallest one works with a sleeve for those times when you are traveling light and do not need to use the 1070 GPU much (like for surfing, work or just playing movies). It weighs roughly half as much as the stock one.

http://imgur.com/TJ7yP3C
http://imgur.com/TJ7yP3C
http://imgur.com/JbdpEiW
http://imgur.com/uoP9GiG

 

OK. 1st bit of slight disappointment. Gigabyte shipped the unit with a M.2 SATA drive, not a NVMe. It's the same LiteON CV1 that's in the Aero 14. Guess i should not be surprised. Well, I did manage to pickup a Intel 600P 512GB cheap from Egg's sale before thanksgiving. Not as fast as the Samsung but good enough so I'll be cloning the boot drive over and put the LiteOn in the 2nd M.2 slot.

 

@Wiz33 yeah I really think Gigabyte need to fix their product specifications because they seem to never ship the NVME.

Really looking forward to your review! Do you find the size difference to be very noticeable when using the laptop compared to the P34G?

 

Luckily, I came from a 15.6' laptop (ASUS) before my P34G so my laptop bag is geared for a 15.6" so that's not a problem, will have to get used to the weight but since it's only be 1lb heavier than the Aero 14. I can live with it. Only brought it from office to home so the bulk have not been a problem. Finished with windows update and doing all the Gigabyte update atm. Did play some fairly big 1080p movie files and music and the screen is beautiful and bright even at 50% while indoor, the color is a bit on the cool size so may need to do some color calibration later. I read a review that said the speakers were weak but I find that not to be true. In a quiet room, I only need to have volume at about 35% for music playback and for laptop speaker, they sounded pretty good not tiny like the ones on the MSI GS43VR I had earlier. Vocal is actually no bad.

I have not find my thermal sensor gun at home yet but I have temperature measuring probe at work so worst case I'll stick a probe in the keyboard and fan exhaust area and see what it looks like when I'm back at office on Monday.

 

OK . Some early results. Play Armored Warfare @2560x1600 very high setting in a window so I can see CPUID results and both the CPU and the GPU peaked at 87C. This is with the laptop on a laptop stand which tilted it by about 40 degree. I was using the WASD keys on the keyboard and while it's warm, it's not hot. Fan noise is really noticeable but I still did not have to get past 50% volume to hear everything going on in game. The only drawback is that if I try to game on this thing in Airline lounges, it's going to draw a lot of attention due to fan noise.

Actually more interesting to me is that I managed a Blue Star (top score) while running the game in a window on a 15.6" screen using a keyboard that is inclined at 40 degree and without my normal gaming mouse with these old eyes.

 

Have you tried a repaste to get those temps down? Any chance you could record the noise levels from a phone/camera? I am curious how loud it actually is while running full speed.

 

Will do that tomorrow back at the office and should also have some temp profile for varies part of the laptop while under load. not going to bother doing a re-paste till I open it up and take a look inside. i do have some artic silver floating around the office somewhere.

 

Am definitely interested to hear of your gaming experiences full-screen to see temps. I can't tell what size that gaming window was, but it looks smaller than 1080p?

Thanks for posting your experiences!

Edit: Oh wait I just read you have a 4k screen. If that's the case, then that window mode does look at least 1080p right?

Edit2: Oh man I'm such a boob, you posted your resolution! Sorry about that, thanks that helps puts temps into more perspective.

 

Cool, would love to hear it in a video, and if you repaste :thumbsup:

 

The video will be delayed. Forgot that I'm changing internet service at home today and had an installer in the house all morning. Just got back to office and need to catch up on work so most likely tomorrow.

Update:
The changeover to Fibre to CO was a bust., They thought they were almost done when I left for the office since they got the modem to sync and connect but just can't get on the web. Thought they just need to get the office to re-provision. well they spent the rest of the afternoon and still can't get it to work so I spent last night connecting everything back to Fusion DSL. then today was super busy at office so the video is further delayed.

Update 2:
Still busy today but I did manage to find my thermal sensor and I found a DB noise measuring app for my phone. Should be able to do the video and show temperature and noise level on varies part of the laptop while under load tomorrow afternoon.