Gaming Laptop Review: GIGABYTE AERO 15X (Thin and Light)

 Here is my own personal review of the Gigabyte Aero 15X (i7-8750H,  1070 Max-Q NVIDIA, 32GB RAM, 1TB 970 Pro SSD, 1080p 144Hz Screen). Bought on: July 20, 2018
From: Amazon ($2599) Pros:  

• Gigabyte seems to take the feedback from the early adopters and  straightening out all the kinks: no back-light bleach, no glitches  opening Windows Explorer, no glitches with the graphics cards switching  or the battery life, the Windows 10 comes with little to no bloatware  except for the absolute necessity (Smart Manager, Smart Update, etc)
• Battery is huge and last forever.
• Blazing fast at its original setup without any modification (adding RAM, repaste, new SSD)
• Very quiet for normal office usage, no very much so with 4k video editing or watching
• Professional exterior, no fancy logo nor flashy stickers on the back. The light up Gigabyte logo is subtle and professional.
• Durable: full metal body. When I open the laptop to repaste, the  inside is very well made and no loose parts. Thermal pads are plenty,  more than any other laptop I have seen.
• Speakers: Decent for its size, louder than an average laptop. The upper range is good; the bass is mediocre.
• Screen is gorgeous. I got the 1080p 144Hz one (in favors of longer battery life)
• The X-Rite Pantone profile is now extractable and downloadable from  Smart Update app. Which means I can reinstall Windows 10 and still be  able to transfer the X-Rite Pantone profile to the new OS
• Keyboard RGB color is fun to play with.

Cons:  

• Due to the metal chassis, the laptop is a finger-print magnet and easily getting dirty on the surface.
• Does get loud when under higher load. After the repaste, the loudness got away.
• The cooling is great, but this laptop is not comfortable to put on my lap. Too powerful and too hot that it will hurt my balls.

The modification I have made to the laptop after buying it:  

• Adding: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM from Kingston website; this is the same one already came with my laptop.
• Adding: 1TB Samsung 970 Pro NvMe SSD (I use this one as the primary  hard drive with Operating System on it, use the original Toshiba SSD as  the secondary hard drive)
• Replacing: Network card with the newer Intel 9260 (no vPro) Bluetooth and wifi card (** Note: download the new driver on Intel page. Otherwise the performance is fluctuating with Smart Update driver)
• Repaste: I repaste with Grizzly Kryonaut and not liquid metal  because I want to find a compromise between durability and cooling  capability. Based on my research, the liquid metal seems to oxidize with  cooper over time. I plan to use this laptop for 6-10 years like my  previous Gigabyte U2442f so much prefer the cooper plate is not  corroding after a few years. After repaste with Kryonaut, I could not  hear the laptop fan anymore.
• Replacing: Thermal pads with Fuji thermal pads 17kW. I also put the  Artic MX4 on the controllers surrounding the CPU and GPU instead of  normal thermal pads.
• Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro to use the BitLocker encryption and TPM. Reinstall Windows 10 Pro
• Adding: Yubikey 4 Nano for extra security
• Adding: Glass Screen protector/matte

Recommendation: Definitely get this laptop, the  thing is in its own class. Its competitors are the Acer Triton 700, the  Asus Zephyrus, and the Razer Blade Pro. Each has its own pros and  strength, but if you want something that works both in a professional  setting while still be able to play games at home, get this laptop. 

Best Gaming Laptop Under £1,000 in the UK (2018) 

Gigabyte did listen to the early adopters and straighten out most of  the kinks we complained about back in April-May (buggy software,  bloatware, backlight bleach, overheat, keyboard malfunction). When opening my laptop, I saw it was produced in April 2018, but the  final software update and modification are in July 2018, right before I  got it. My guess is Gigabyte holding up the release of its laptop after  receiving negative feedbacks from reviewers and online forums. They  worked out the bugs, and that lead to the back-order status on many  retailers.

 Get The GIGABYTE AERO 15X from Amazon 

SOURCE: https://www.laptopspark.com/gallery/personal-review-gigabyte-aero-15x-laptop/