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Battlefield V 1920 x 1080, frame quality: highest DX12 option, opening theme – 99FPS RTX 2060 NVIDIA DLSS option, – 89FPS Monster Hunter: World 1920 x 1080, 3D effect set to highest, opening theme – 50 FFPS (55 FPS) FAR CRY 5 Resolution 1920 x 1080, set 3D effect to very high Built in benchmark tool – rendering frames 4939 (5088) opening theme – 75 FFPS PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS 1920 x 1080 3D effect set to highest, start character in lobby - 152 FPS Tom Clancy's The Division 2 1920 x 1080 3D effect set to highest, opening theme – 67 FFPS Although RTX 2060 adds ray tracing and DLSS technology, but not many games which supported currently. Basically, the performance difference between 1660Ti and 2060 in most 3D games is not too big. However, it can be seen from the above that the 1660Ti performs well in 1080P game resolution. If the price for a laptop with RTX 2060 is not affordable to you, A laptop with 1660 Ti, which the price and performance were both decent. Ambient temp. 24˚C, proceed Intel Core i7 9750H cooling test. Run the LinX 0.7.1 at full speed, 67~74˚C, maxima up to 91 ˚C. The heat dissipating of AORUS 7 performance is not bad, so use LinX which is Intel platform with very high loading to burns in temp. test. i7-9750H in the burn in process, it showed TDP is under 50W and most of the clock rate is 3.99GHz. If the power increased up to 60~80W, most of the clock rate is 3.09GHz. The heat dissipating performance of AORUS 7 beats the DELL Alienware M17 with i7-9850H. FurMark mainly for GPU GTX 1660Ti burn in test. GPU 1320MHz / MEM 6000MHz Run FurMark got idle of 47˚C and full speed 69˚C With FurMark burn in test, keyboard upper side around 34~37˚C, left & right side vents 33~45˚C Back side vents 30~51˚C, D side air intake vent 30~40˚C, so the rear right side vent got higher temp. The AORUS 7 equipped with WINDFORCE 2X cooling system. It was very satisfied about the cooling on both CPU and GPU. You won’t hear much noise when both the loading environment and fan speed is low. In situations like idle, web-surfing and documenting files. The mid-low frequency noise level and volume won’t let you feel uncomfortable, while playing high-loading games or using high fan speed. On the battery life, Windows 10 power option set to balance, battery option set to battery save mode. Used Wi-Fi link to internet and playback YouTube video at DVD 480P format, 1 hour with 83% left, 2 hours with 65% left, 4 hours with 26% left, estimated up to 5 hours before shutdown. That means the battery life performance is above the standard. Summarized the strengths of AORUS 7 SA (i7-9750H/GTX 1660Ti 6G) 1. The WINDFORCE 2X cooling system is capable of supporting the high level performance of CPU and GPU. 2. The resolution of the webcam is one of the finest equipment that I have ever used in recent two years. 3. The combination of a detachable battery and an exquisite adaptor enhances the portability of laptops. 4. 15 different LED colors were provided by the RGB backlit keyboard, and a precise touchpad was equipped with laptops. 5. SAMSUNG DDR4 2666 DRAM, a high level and compatibility memory. 6. The exclusive Control Center 3.0 software and the Nahimic 3D sound software functions are great. 7. 17’’ IPS panel from the Better LG 144Hz refresh rate and ultrathin bezel. 8. The ultrathin bezel design effectively reduces 14% of the 17’’ laptops’ volume. The points for future improvement listed. 1. The A side is normal at the first glance. To draw customers’ attention, creativity should be implemented more on the A side. 2. The price is higher compare to competitors, because of better branded components. 3. Current noise occurs somewhere around the keyboard when the fan speed is low. However, the noise disappears when the fan speed is high. Performance Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 Material Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Specification Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 ID design Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 80/100 Cost Performance Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 “Gaming laptop” is too lavish for grasping customers’ attention in recent years. The term was applied to some $700 USD laptops merely with discrete graphics. It should have more gaming element and higher performance for the $1,000 to $1,400 gaming laptops. Better 3D graphics is necessary, and more gaming elements such as display, keyboard, sound system, cooling system and Wi-Fi card. Building a gaming laptop with upscale features will create a different marketing position, which separates the customers of general laptops. The AORUS 7 might be differs in the GPU level, where GIGABYTE provides GTX 1050, 1650, 1660Ti, and RTX 2060. However, GTX 1660Ti is the only option in Taiwan. Compare to the competitors’ GTX 1660Ti gaming laptops, AORUS 7 is slightly higher in price. The AORUS 7 got high-end components such as LG 144Hz display, Dual-channel Samsung DDR4, Intel 760P SSD, Killer 1550 chipset with higher costs. However, the plain appearance is a weakness for AORUS 7. I would recommend GIGABYTE make more effort on designing the chassis. All other features match its value of AORUS 7. Outstanding cooling system, fine resolution webcam and exquisite sound quality were not common in other moderate level laptop. Thus, I would claim that the AORUS 7 is a great entry-level gaming laptop with overall comprehensive performance. Please visit my Facebook if you like “windwithme” review article and want to receive more updates. Your comment and like is my fuel for moving forward! PS: Spyder is used for generating color-tuning files on this AORUS 7. Please leave a message in my Facebook if you need more information about it.

Geekbench 5 Single-Core Score => 1160 Multi-Core Score => 6117 FRYRENDER Running Time => 2m 52s (3m 07s) x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 43.04FPS (35.8FPS) PCMARK => 4568 The speed clock of Intel 9 i7-9750H was 300 to 400MHz higher than the previous Intel i7-8750H. In summary, the i7-9750H was superior in terms of performance. In addition, the AORUS 7 equips a high-level cooling system. This is how AORUS 7 CPU test pretty easier to get the high performance and this is an advantage in the entry-level laptops. DRAM performance test - DDR4 2666 AIDA64 Memory Read - 37492 MB/s In term of the 9th generation platform with DDR4 2666 dual channel bandwidth, AORUS 7 has achieved high standards performance. It equipped the higher-priced Samsung DRAM, and it is better for the stable and compatibility of laptops. The storage system could install up to two M.2 SSDs and one 2.5” SATA storage. AORUS 7 SA equipped with Intel 760P M.2 PCIe 512G SSD. SSD test part–CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 2972.1 MB/s，Write - 1518.8 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark – 3042 Seq Read - 2675.17 MB/s，Write - 1378.68 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read -882.63 MB/s，Write - 998.86 MB/s This Intel 760P of read speed up to 3230MB/s, write speed up to 1625MB/s The price is higher in the SSD market, but also because of the reliable brand and warranty be trusted by consumers. AORUS 7 equipped with higher quality components even it positioned in the regular level laptops. Here comes 3D performance test. With GeForce GTX 1660Ti DDR6 standard version. Will also attached previous tested result of RTX 2060 for comparison. 3DMARK Fire Strike => 13277 (14615) 3DMARK Time Spy => 5670 (6031) UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 10853 (11465) FINAL FANTASY XIV ： Shadowbringers 1920 X 1080 HIGH=> 10518 (14238) Apex Legends 1920 x 1080, Video setup to highest Practice mode start theme –127FPS

The D side design, the upper right is battery location and vents are mainly in the center. The both sides below are speaker hole and four yellow lights are in the center, that is in front end of the C side. AORUS 7 got Control Center 3.0 software, was divided into four main functions: Power Modes、LED Keyboard、Flexyikey、FAN Speed Control. LED Keyboard light setup page, built in 15 colors and others detail setting. Fan speed control setting with power saving, quiet, performance and entertainment modes. Users could depend on different use environment to set the better fan speed mode. In terms of entry-level laptops, I give full marks to this fan speed control page for detailed setting. AORUS 7 equipped with WINDFORCE 2X cooling system and owned large dual fans. With 3 heatpipes to pump out internal hot air, the actual heat dissipating performance will be tested as below. Nahimic 3D sound software Recent years tested many MSI gaming laptop all used this software. Other gaming laptops have also begun to follow suit, the most dramatic example is AORUS. The homepage mainly applied four sound stages, with three type to make it richer sound effects. The microphone page got chat and conference mode, with 3 function to adjust. Below is AORUS 7 speaker sound experience, this is subjective. When the speaker is adjusted to maximum volume, it was very loud which means no common problem with the volume is too low. High frequency: Not too sharp, very rich detail and very high-quality present. Middle frequency: Overall clear and brilliant, human vocal is a bit thin. There is still much to be desired. Low frequency: Low frequency drum sound present pretty clean, subwoofer not too turbid. But woofer of bass sound is too weak. The overall performance of the speaker sound in sound mode is good. However, the sound stage is a bit weak and the mid-bass not rich enough. As far as the $1,000 to $1,400 price range, this sound quality is still pretty good and worthy. AORUS 7 equipped with Intel Core i7-9750H, 6 Cores 12 threads, basic clock 2.6Ghz and single core up to 4.5GHz. Fan Speed default setting is “entertainment”, about 2800~4000rpm to test CPU performance. It would be compared to the data in back parentheses which are Intel Core i7-8750H 2.2~4.2G results. CPUZ 1.91.0 Single CPU => 475.7 (450.8) 6C12T multi CPU => 3412.9 (3388.2) Fritz Chess Benchmark => 45.63 / 21901 (43.67 / 20960) CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1234 cb (1155 cb) CPU(Single Core) => 183 cb (167 cb) CINEBENCH R20.0 CPU => 2840 cb (2556 cb) CPU(Single Core) => 435 cb (408 cb)

Recent 2 years GIGABYTE goes forward and aggressive to Mid-High level laptop market. The part of their Gaming is dominated by the AORUS series, and the part of Creator is dominated by the AERO series. And the AORUS series recently launched the brand new flagship product–AORUS 17 got the highest exposure. This time we got the entry models of the AORUS high-level gaming laptop series, named as AORUS 5, AORUS 7 with 15” and 17” design. The character of this article is the AORUS 7 with a bigger 17” display. Dimension is 399(W) x 282(D) x29.2(H)mm, weight about 2.5kg. Actual weight is 2543g, and the detailed model name is AORUS 7 SA. The thin bezel design makes the appearance smaller than the regular 17” laptop, and slightly larger than the regular 15” one. The AORUS eagle image Logo in the center of A cover, and the sharp lines on the both sides design increase the speedy style. This one is positioning in the regular laptops market, so it’s a pity that none of these 3 areas equipped some light bar design. It is smoother when you touch the A side with fingerprint, it will be better if there are some pattern or more colorful light bar. However, the special design on both side of back vents behind the A side is a plus to the appearance. Open the AORUS 7, the B side and C side placement design. The hinge located at both sides of the chassis body, the maximum open angle of the display is around 130 degree. The assembling quality is solid. Although the case was made by plastic, you won’t feel much unstable while opening the display. Thin bezel design is the most common feature in the gaming laptops market on 2019, was implemented at the B side. Three edges of the AORUS 7 display possess 6mm thin bezel. The webcam placed above the display, it will be more convenient for users. The 17.3’’ LG IPS 4ms anti-glared display owned FHD resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. Face tracing technology was used in the HD webcam, the smoothness and resolution were both outstanding. Overview of the C side, there is full-sized keyboard with numpad, and the key travel is 2.0mm. The keystroke feedback is better than the laptops’ keyboard at this price range, but the feedback is still slightly soft overall. It equipped single-zone 15 colors RGB backlit keyboard, and separated the left and the right key of the touchpad to make more accuracy. The touchpad area supports Windows® Precision Touchpad technology and have a few touch gestures. The left side of I/O port From left side, vent / USB 3.1 Gen1 / USB 2.0 / microphone jack / Earphone jack. The right side of I/O port From left side, USB 3.1 Gen2 / MINI DP 1.2 / SD Card reader / vent. The back side of I/O port The both right and left side are vents, and USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C / HDMI 2.0 RJ45 are in the middle of back side. Killer Wireless-AC 1550 LAN chip of RJ45 port. Here are the accessories be included packaging. From left, Li Polymer Battery(48.96Wh), warranty card, SD slot protection card, manual, power code and 180W adapter, and the big plus is the small and portable adapter. In addition, the design of detachable battery has not been seen for several years. Laptops are designed to have a built-in battery for thinness or integration. There are some troubles for replacement and extra expensive cost at built-in battery for most consumers. Furthermore, the detachable battery can also provide two for self-use and easy to take it out for gaming or working.

PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS 1920 x 1080 3D effect set to highest, start character in lobby, - 393FPS (386FPS) Apex Legends 1920 x 1080, Video setup to highest Practice mode start theme – 245FPS (234FPS) RTX 2060=>119FPS，RTX 2080 Max-Q=>147FPS Monster Hunter: World 1020 x 1080, 3D effect set to highest, opening theme – 95FFPS (91FPS) RTX 2070=>75FPS，RTX 2080 Max-Q=>71FPS FAR CRY 5 Resolution 1920 x 1080, set 3D effect to very high Built in benchmark tool – rendering frames 6918 (6766) RTX 2070 rendered frame 6784, 2080 Maxx-Q rendered frame 5654. Battlefield V 1920 x 1080, Graphics setup Auto: Max Fifelity DX12 and NVIDIA DLSS option, opening theme – 171FPS (164FPS) 2080 Max-Q=>138 FPS AORUS 17 only with RTX 2080 support dual adaptor design. With game test could see, single adaptor performance some are the same, some with performance gap less than 5~10%. With single 330W adaptor, under heavy 3D games might loaded up to 320W Dual adaptor will become half power consumption for each, 2nd adaptor could be the backup or used for extreme performance usage. Not like some top level notebook need to plug on 2 adaptor to insure the highest performance. AORUS 17 only need to being 1 out, make dual adaptor more flexibility for users. Highest version with RTX 2080 is the top of notebooks, all comes with extreme performance on 3D benchmarks or gaming, Some game play present are big gap from 2080 Max-Q, even mush stronger than 2070. Burn-in Temp. test. Ambient temp. 27˚C, proceed Intel Core i9 9980HK cooling test. Fan speed set to full speed, about 4500~4600rpm Run the LinX 0.7.1 at full speed, 52~65˚C, maxima up to 83. The fan speed up to 4500rpm with CPU burn in test, the fan noise up to maxima status. LinX burn in is often to see 2 clock of 3.89GHz-1.08V and 2.4GHz-0.83V Core Temp. showed TDP is 58W, the AORUS 17 cooling seems still got enough power. Suggest the BIOS could adjust a bit to drive higher speed clock and TDP to gain more performance. FurMark mainly for GPU RTX 2080 burn in test. GPU 1485MHz / MEM 7000MHz Run FurMark got idle of 58˚C and full speed 73˚C With FurMark burn in test, keyboard side around 28~31˚C, upper side 32~36˚C, left & right side vents 46~51˚C Back side vents 42~57˚C, D side air intake vent 33~50˚C, so the rear side vent got higher temp. If set fan to normal mode, used for internet, video or songs, speed around 2000rpm, less noise. Fan speed over 3000rpm will get higher noise, and 4500rpm will even higher. The noise level closer to mid-low frequency got less uncomfortable feeling, could wear headset or use speakers if needed. On the battery life, Microsoft Azure AI set to “Battery Save Mode”. Used Wi-FI link to internet and playback YouTube video at DVD 480P format, dual GPU switch GPU mode test. Set on “dGPU” mode with RTX 2080, 1 hour with 67% left, 2 hours with 30% left, 2h25m with 8% left. Switch to iGPU to use Intel UMA and Optimus, 1 hour with 77%, 2 hours with 59%, 3 hours with 39%, 4 hours with 19%, 4h40min with 6% left. Support GPU switch mode did have better flexibility for longer battery life. Summarized on AORUS 7 (I9 9980HK/RTX 2080 8G) Key features and advantages: 1. Solid chassis, assembling quality, ID design achieve the top-level notebook quality. 2. Top nVIDIA RTX 2080 of highest 3D performance version, with Graphic Switch function. 3. First mechanical keyboard notebook with OMRON switch, high durable and high quality type feedback. 4. YA version attached AUO FHD 240Hz display, 3 side ultrathin bezel. 5. Each notebook display with X-Rite Pantone color calibration from factory side, and fulfill the high standard of Delta E<1. 6. AORUS Control Center and Nahimic 3D sound software got rich functions. 7. ESS Sabre Hi-Fi DAC high-level sound chip make higher level headset sound experience. 8. WINDFORCE Infinity with dual 12V fans, 5 heatpipes, 4 vents of high level cooling. 9. Support Microsoft Azure AI auto adjust to get higher efficient and performance. 10. Outstanding WINDFORCE Infinity cooling system performance, dual 330W adaptors are more flexible. Need to be enhanced or improved 1. A side metallic chassis if under strong lights, easier to get fingerprint image. 2. WebCam got lower resolution and quality, hope it could be improved. 3. The biggest CPU power up to 58W, could make it higher to raise up 9980HK performance. 4. If the 5 zones of surround chassis lights could have full RGB colors will be more beautiful. Performance Rating ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Material Rating ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Specification Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 ID design Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Cost Performance Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 80/100 GIGABYTE is gearing up to make better features products and tracing in the mid-high level gaming notebooks. Besides of Ultrabook, also the first thin bezel & high performance laptop AERO 15. This year they launched new version of AERO 15 OLED, provide creator markets with more unique features to users. AORUS 15 of 2019 version goes to thin bezel and lighter design, for mid-high level gaming market. And this article comes with latest top level Gaming Notebook AORUS 17, it’s the most featured gaming notebook. On this kind of top level gaming notebook SPEC. with ultrathin bezel and mech. Keyboard with OMRON switch, could reduce the size and weight and very outstanding. GIGABYTE designed in the ultrathin bezel and slimmer chassis with very high quality detail on recent AORUS and AERO series. Hope that GIGABYTE could have more series for Mid-High level notebooks, to enhance the weakness or improve the weakness. If could offer same SPEC. or same level notebook market more competitive price, this will be another good choice on top-level notebook market. If you like my article, please come to below link windwithme FaceBook click like You will get to know my latest review product status. Your reply and like still be my power to moving forward!

AORUS 17 with Intel i7-9750H and i9 9980HK This YA version with 9980HK, 8 Cores 16 threads, basic clock 2.4GHz and single core up to 5GHz. Fan Speed set to “Normal”, about 2000~4000rpm to test CPU performance. CPUZ 1.90.1 Single CPU => 523.5 8C16T multi CPU => 4592.3 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 56.74 / 27236 CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1703 cb CPU(Single Core) => 198 cb CINEBENCH R20.0 CPU => 3754 cb CPU(Single Core) => 472 cb Geekbench 5 Single-Core Score => 1290 Multi-Core Score => 6511 FRYRENDER Running Time => 2m 17s x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 52.14FPS PCMARK => 6745 Below i9 9980HK test progress of power consumption, system idle about 90W If its full Cores test, it’s about 180W more, so single 330W is enough. Around CPU test process it’s quiet, full speed will not be too noise. AORUS 17 already delivered full performance of i9 9980HK, not like many slim type notebook will drop a bit of CPU performance. I did test DT replacement Dell Alienware Area-51m with i9 9900HK, only about 10% higher on the CPU performance. AORUS 17 with 9980HK on performance, power consumption, noise and temperature with very good balanced quality. High light the only All Intel Inside components, and very rare of “Made in Taiwan” Used Intel CPU, WiFi card and Intel 760P SSD. AORUS 17 could install 2x M.2 SSDs and 1 2.5” SATA storage. SSD test part – CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 3088.5 MB/s，Write - 1600.4 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark - 3057 Seq Read - 2708.30 MB/s，Write - 1546.10 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 879.27 MB/s，Write - 1027.30 MB/s This Intel 760P of read speed up to 3230MB/s, write speed up to 1625MB/s If compared to PCIe x4 of M.2 SSD performance, Intel 760P is mid-high level. Intel SSD take most advantage from stability and good quality, if comes with other higher SSD will be better. Here comes 3D performance test. With GeForce RTX 2080 GDDR6 standard version. Test result used dual 330W adaptor, single 330W adaptor results in the bracket for comparison. Besides also attached previous test result reference from other high-level notebooks. Installed NVIDIA GeForce 441.41 Driver. Win10 updated to 1909 version. 3DMARK Time Spy => 10422 (10149) RTX 2070=>9102，RTX 2080 Max-Q=>7509 UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 19461 (19084) RTX 2070=>15193，RTX 2080 Max-Q=>14942 FINAL FANTASY XIV : STORMBLOOD 1920 X 1080 HIGH=> 20021 (19786) RTX 2070=>17832，RTX 2080 Max-Q=>15638

The back side Both right and left side are vents, IO port from left side is HDMI 2.0 AORUS 17 YA version with dual AC power input, 330+330W Killer Ethernet E2600 LAN chip of RJ45 port D side design Emphasize the fighter jet, exotic car, and phoenix element shapes. The vents on bottom side with phoenix image style, even D side comes with special art design. With their latest WINDFORCE Infinity cooling technology, thermal efficient up to 37% enhancement. Buit-in dual 12V of 51 blade fans, 5 heatopies, 4 airflow vents and Vapor Chamber. Display open angle up to 125 degree, with Li Polymer 94Wh battery. CPU and GPU main difference is i7 9750H or i9 9980HK, RTX 2060, RTX 2070 or RTX 2080 graphics. The RTX 2070 models with 1 330W adaptor, and RTX 2080 support dual 330W adaptor. Below is the AORUS 17 and dual 330W adaptor compared image AORUS Control Center software Open the software, main page “Smart Dashboard” Mainly for system monitor, hardware condition and hardware working status. On right top side is their AI interface, through Microsoft Azure cloud data to calculate and analysis. AI could analysis the program and user behavior, to adjust CPU and GPU power consumption. In the simple way that AI to optimize hardware performance, and make better software working experience. Manager page looks like mobile phone interface. Mainly show the function status and instant on/off. The very rare design of “Graphic Switch” function, let user could use Discrete GPU or with NVIDIA Optimus for Intel UMA function. Fusion C side chassis with 5 lighting zone, with 8 main color type and colorful brightness adjust design. Keyboard light adjust page, built in 10 more lights shining mode. Full range color light, support RGB Fusion 2.0 Fan speed control with silent, normal, gaming mode, also with deep control mode. User could depends on preference to set any fan speed at any temperature. Besides, the fan speed up to 4700rpm Nahimic 3D sound software Recent years tested many MSI gaming notebook all used this software The interface and function already revised many versions, comes with lots features. Mainly apply 4 sound stages, with 3 type to make it richer sound effects. Microphone page got chat and conference mode, with 3 function to adjust. Below is AORUS 17 speaker sound experience, this is subjective. High frequency: Not too sharp, very rich detail, very high quality present. Middle frequency: Overall clear and brilliant, human vocal is rich but still a bit thin. Low frequency: Low frequency present clean, not turbid, woofer of drum sound is a bit weak. Overall the built in speaker did achieve top level gaming notebook quality, if the detail could adjust will be better. External speaker designed with ESS SABRE Hi-Fi DAC, up to 24bit/192KHz data rate. Enough to push 16~600ohm mid-high level headsets, it’s a really good benefit for headset oriented users.

Recent 2 years GIGABYTE launched many Mid-High level laptop, want to gain more market share. Now the hottest series are Gaming and Creator market The AERO series for Creator market, designed with 15” and 17”, with many HW combination models. AORUS is for Gaming series, mainly with 15” and 17” design. This time we got GIGABYTE AORUS 17, the brand new design with highest SPECs. Many brand like DELL, ASUS, MSI, they all separate Gaming notebook with 2 categories. One is slim type with mid-high level Hardware, another is larger muscle notebook with highest Hardware SPECs. AOTUS 17 is the 2nd type muscle book, but with thin bezel and slimmer chassis. It’s kind of combination of both advantage of slim and strong power. A side metallic chassis, with AORUS eagle Logo and dual lines to create speedy style. The backside extend part is small, center stripe and both side airflow exhaust comes with LED light bars. Dimension of this 17” NB is 396(W)x 293(D)x 38(H)mm, weight about 3.75kg Actual weight is 3780g, compare its solid chassis and top level hardware, the size, thickness and weight all smaller than the previous review of Dell Alienware Area-51m. B side and C side chassis design AORUS 17 comes with 3 version of WA, XA and YA, YA is the top level. It depends on CPU, Display and GPU combinations difference. This article is TA version, comes with Intel Core i9-9980HK and GeForce RTX 2080 The C side 17.3” display, YA version with AUO FHD display. Refresh rate is 240Hz, 3ms response time, match the top gaming display format. Each notebook display passed the color calibration of X-Rite™ Pantone from factory. Delta E <1 is very close to original color display, it helps a lot for many user environment. 3mm ultrathin bezel design, very rare design even on other ultrathin notebooks. The HD resolution on the bottom side, the dark noise is higher, but still very smooth. C side material is most important for user, because it will touch by fingers and palm rest. The touchpad is very sensitive with high level NB quality, left & right holes for speakers. Left down side showed “Made in Taiwan”, right down side is feature label. AORUS eagle image power bottom, showed white light when boot up. Back left and right side of vents design with style shape, comes with straight line colorful light for gaming style. In front of C side with 2 zones light control, support RGB Fusion 2.0 Keyboard is the most special design, high light as world’s 1st OMRON switch slim mechanical keyboard. Key Switch cap is round design, to make the LED light more balance, the light is more beautiful. The key press up to 15Millions times lifecycle, 2.5mm slim key distance. The 1.6mm trigger point is better than other top-level laptops of membrane keyboard. Compared with Cherry keyboard switch still have some difference on feedback and click sound, that depends on personal preference. According to my 10 years experience of Cherry switch keyboards, use OMRON switch keyboard shall not have big difference. This design make the 17” muscle design of top level gaming notebook could be slimmer. The right side From left side, USB3.1 Gen1(Type-C) / UHS-II SD Card Reader 2x USB3.1 G1(Type-A)/ chassis vents. The left side From left, vents, / DP 1.4 & USB3.1 (Type-C) Thunderbolt3(Type-C) / USB3.1 Gen1(Type-A) Microphone jack / Headphone jack (Support Hi-Res Audio and SPDIF)

Next, we tested DirectX, a technique most of the game titles apply. The following () is the AORUS 5 (Core i7-9750H/ GTX 1660Ti) benchmark 3DMARK Fire Strike => 17516 (7997) FINAL FANTASY XIV ： Shadowbringers 1920 X 1080 HIGH=> 15948 (10518) FAR CRY 5 Resolution: 1920 X 1080/ Graphic setting: Ultra We use its built-in performance test, FPS: 5878 (3187) GTX 1660Ti can run most titles using 1080p, medium graphic setting; and RTX 2080 Max-Q can run 1080p at Ultra. If you are running UHD 4K resolution, we recommend you to apply medium or lower setting. RTX 2080 is the most powerful you can get on AERO 15 OLED, there’s also a more affordable “SA” with 9750H and GTX 1660Ti. Based on the test results above you may learn the difference between different GPU models and the most expensive one may not be the best choice for you especially if you don’t have such high budget. One more thing for your information, NVIDIA recently update the 436.02 driver which optimizes more new titles. You should update it if you play these titles. Burn-in Test Room temperature: 31°C, running Intel Core i9-9980HK cooling test. Fan mode: normal (runs at 3800~4100 RPMs when CPU running at full speed) CPU temperature: 79°C~90°C, highest temperature: 95°C, running LinX 0.7.1 at system’s full speed. Fan speed is 2600~2800 RPMs when standby, at this stage you can barely hear the fan; the speed will raise to 3800~4100 RPMs and the fan noise becomes noticeable. Comparing to other models we’ve tested, this is not too bad. 9980HK’s TDP is 45W, and AERO 15 OLED’s cooling system is capable of handling more power. Most of the time the CPU frequency is around 3.9~4.1G, TDP is about 55~58W; when TDP gets close to 60W, the wattage will drop to 0.8V and the clock speed is 2.4~2.6G. Please note that LinX is very demanding for CPU, actual usage such as game would not use that much power. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the CPU clock sped should be around 3.9~4.1G. Furmark is a GPU burn-in test. GPU 1000MHz / MEM 6000MHz Temparature: Standby: 55°C/ Full speed: 77°C We cannot get the precise GPU clock speed, but we compared the result to MSI GS75 which we previously tested. Though both is running the same RTX 2080 Max-Q, the MSI model can only reach slightly above 870MHz. While running LinX burn-in test, the center of the keyboard temperature is 32~36°C, upper side of it is 36~42°C, the rear side, air exhaust vent, is 38~48°C, and the bottom side, air intake vent, is 33~45°C. The fan noise rose when running at full speed, but it’s not too bad and we think it’s acceptable. You can barely hear the fan when you are surfing the Internet, watching videos or playing music. About the battery life, GIGABYTE claims 8.5 hours of usage, which may only happen when handling simple tasks such as web browsing. We tested it with Wi-Fi on, Microsoft Azure AI Battery Save Mode, playing 480p videos on YouTube, and the result is not quite as GIGABYTE claims but still exceptional. After 1 hour: 85%/ 2 hours: 69%/ 3 hours: 56%/ After 5 hours: 21%/ After 6 hours: 8% The left is AERO 15 OLED with Samsung AMOLED display; the right is AORUS 5 with LCD IPS. When the brightness is about the same, we can see the difference in details, such as the upper left, the ripples, or the left side on the AERO logo, the grass. AMOLED performs better on both image details and color saturation. Besides the advantages mentioned above, AERO 15 OLED’s display is color calibrated by Xrite Pantone, hence the photo shown on the laptop looks very similar to the real object, meaning the color displayed is very close to actual color. To sum up, GIGABYTE AERO 15 OLED YA(i9-9980Hk/RTX 2080 Max-Q) has the following advantages: 1.ID design is not “gaming” but ore professional, and the overall build quality is great. 2.It carries the most high-end display that is available now: Samsung 4K AMOLED, has 3-side ultra-thin screen bezel and is color calibrated by Xrite Pantone. 3.It is equipped with 8C16T Intel 9th gen Core i9-9980HK and the performance is improved. 4.Thin& light but carries NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q, currently the most powerful mobile graphics. 5.Useful GIGABYTE Control Center and Nahimic audio software. 6.Microsoft Azure AI can dynamically adjust hardware settings and increase efficiency. 7.Advanced dual fan+5 heat pipes+11 intake/exhale vents GIGABYE cooling design: Supra Cool 2 thermal system. 8.Per-key RGB backlight keyboard; membrane keyboard but offers great tactile feedback. 9.Killer AX1650 supports 802.11AZ (Wi-Fi 6). 10.Thoughtful design of camera cover for extra privacy; with great performance as well as portability thanks to its 94Wh battery. 11.Besides the most premium “YA”, GIGABYTE also offers more entry-level models. Things we think could do better: 1.The glossy display can be reflective when the ambient is bright. 2.Webcam has low resolution. 3.Speakers performs poorly on subwoofer and sound field. 4.It’d be better if the AMOLED also comes in matte finish so that customers get to choose. Performance ★★★★★★★★★☆ 93/100 Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Hardware Spec ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 ID Design ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Price/Performance ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 75/100 AERO 15 OLED starts from about 1,800 to 3,000 dollars, this product line covers most GPUs. The price varies according to hardware specs and the most expensive one is YA, then XA, WA, SA and NA. The latest version carries Intel 9th gen Core i7-9750H or i9-9980HK, as for the graphics it has RTX 2080 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Max-Q, or RTX 2060. The same ID also comes in with Sharp 240Hz FHD IGZO matte display, offering options from GTX 1660Ti to RTX 2070. The newest AERO 15 has minimum “professional” look, great build quality and feels premium. There are 2 different types of panels and both of them have ultra-thin screen bezel, color calibrated display and a keyboard that has exceptional tactile feeling. The price varies according to the parts inside, the product line covers different level of performance for you to choose from, from “gaming performance” RTX 2080 Max-Q to more entry level GTX GPUs. Personally, I’d choose AERO over normal gaming laptops if the hardware spec is similar. In the future we hope to see a webcam supporting higher resolution and stronger speakers. So, this is my review on the latest AERO 15 OLED, wish this information is helpful If you like my article, please like & follow my facebook fanpage to receive the latest updates To know my personal test and review status, your Reply and Like still my best momentum to moving forward the works.

*The following () are scores of i7-9750H (6C12T, 2.6~4.5G) CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1477 cb (1123 cb) CPU(Single Core) => 189 cb (183 cb) CINEBENCH R20.0 CPU => 3212 cb (2208 cb) CPU(Single Core) => 446 cb (305 cb) CPUZ 1.89.1 Single Thread => 512.8 (479.6) 8C16T Multi Threads => 4070 (3476.2) Fritz Chess Benchmark => 47.81 / 22948 (42.97 / 20624) Geekbench 4 Single-Core Score => 5514 (5278) Multi-Core Score => 27592 (21049) FRYRENDER Running Time => 2m 28s (3m 13s) x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 45.88FPS (37.05FPS) PCMARK10 => 5253 We can find the difference between Intel 9th gen mobile CPUs (6C12T vs 8C16T). The creator laptop aims to accelerate video preview and rendering or image/ 3D model processing. 2D image processing requires a lot of CPU power, including how the frequency and number of cores can help accelerate the process. The benchmarks above includes CPU multitasking and media editing results for your reference. As for the storage, there are 2 built-in SSD slots and this model is equipped with 2 Intel 760P M.2 PCIe 512G SSD. SSD benchmark: CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 2417.0 MB/s，Write - 1560.1MB/s AS SSD Benchmark - 2773 Seq Read - 2233.79 MB/s，Write - 1489.70 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 878.31 MB/s，Write - 811.00 MB/s Most of the premium models tend to use Samsung or Toshiba SSD, however, GIGABYTE choose to use Intel’s solution. This Intel 760P SSD supports 3230MB/s read speed and 1625MB/s write speed, which is goof for an M.2 PCIe SSD, plus Intel’s brand image and its SSD product line good reputation, that’s why GIGABYTE decides to go for Intel SSD and marketing is as “All Intel Inside” – the usage of more Intel components than competitors to provide a more reliable system. Recently NVIDIA announced its new “RTX Studio laptop”, solutions that’s optimized for creatives. The RTX studio laptops support “Studio driver”, which can accelerate more than 40 creative applications. Here are some RTX 2080 Max-Q 3D rendering performance. Driver: NVIDIA STUDIO DRIVER 431.70 SPECviewperf 13 Resolution: 1080p Resolution: 2160p tested results We can see from the SPECviewperf 13 result, you can gain more performance while applying 1080p resolution. SPECworkstation 3.0 Resolution: 3840 x 2160/ GPU: RTX 2080 Max-Q Geekbench 4 OpenCL Score => 26205 Creator laptops usually need OpenGL or CL performance while running 3D content editing software. The benchmarks we ran (shown above) are mainly testing OpenGL or CL performance, you might heard some of these apps before.

I/O ports on the right. From the left: 2x USB3.1 Gen1/ Thunderbolt 3/ SD Card Reader (UHS-II)/ DC-in/ Thermal Vent AERO has a built-in SD card reader that supports a higher transmitting speed of up to 300 MB/s. The rear side Between the 2 hinges is the thermal vent as well as a small “AERO” tag. The thermal system is called “Supra Cool 2”, which carries dual 71-blade fans, 5 heat pipes and 11 inhale and exhale vents. According to GIGABYTE the overall cooling performance is 30% better than the former generation. A huge part of the bottom side consists of a unique shaped cooling vent. On the both side of the lower part are the speakers. The 94Wh battery is attached to the laptop, not a detachable design. This thin and light model is equipped with 8C16T i9-9980HK and NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q high-end components. Here we will go through all the benchmarks. On the right is the Chicony 230W adaptor, the weight is 722 g. Due to its high-end performance of i9-9980HK and NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q, the AERO needs more power of a big adaptor. It’s big but is till portable. The laptop comes with a backpack that looks more “business”. It has a large capacity and lots of pockets for your personal belongings. GIGABYTE Control Center The first page “Smart Dashboard” shows the hardware specs and helps you monitor the system. On the upper right of the desktop is an AI icon. The Microsoft Azure AI function can detect what app is running and dynamically adjust CPU and GPU’s power settings by accessing/learning the data on Microsoft Azure’s cloud server in order to optimize the hardware usage and make the whole system work more efficiently. “Manager” is shortcut page where you can turn to other most used functions. The RGB Fusion 2.0 Per-key backlit keyboard supports 16.7 million colors. You can turn it off when you are not gaming. As mentioned before, the tactile feedback is very nice. Besides quiet, normal, gaming and customize, there’s also “deep” setting for the system fans. The “deep” mode allows user to assign different fan speeds to individual temperature. The fan speed is up to 6000 RPMs. “Smart Utilities” is where you can find update info, system backup, product description, FAQs… GIGABYTE Control Center is basically the same as AORUS Control Center. Although it’s functional and easy to use, we think AERO should have the control center in AERO’s own style. Nahimic Audio Driver There are lots of MSI laptops applying this software. This software has been updated a few times and now carries many functions: it mainly provides 4 different sound fields along with 3 more detailed settings. AERO 15 OLED comes in with 2 different CPU, i7-9750H and i9-9980HK. The one with “YA” carries RTX 2080 Max-Q and “XA” is RTX 2070 Max-Q. In this article we are going to test the “XA”: with i9-9980HK, 8 cores, 16 threads, TDP 45W, 2.4GHz base frequency and 5.0GHz max turbo frequency. This frequency is a single core highest frequency. Here are some benchmarks with AI functioning and other default settings. We compared it to the AORUS 15, i7-9750H/ GTX 1660Ti.

There are 2 of GIGABYTE laptop brands, AORUS and AERO. AORUS, the premium gaming brand, is focusing on “gaming enthusiasts”;on the other hand, the AERO series laptops are targeting at content creators. AERO 15, launched last year 2018, was the first laptop targeting at creatives which has high performance as well as ultra-thin screen bezel. In 2018, the biggest laptop trend is thin bezel, and this year, 2019, the biggest highlight has to be the OLED display which is launched by only 3 brands by now. In this article we will take a look at one of these 3, AERO 15 OLED, the latest model from GIGABYE AERO series. First thing we saw was the packaging. With the new “AERO” logo, black and orange color combination, the packaging looks very stylish. The AERO 15 OLED comes in 2 different colors, black and silver. The one we got is a black one. This chassis is made of aluminum with a technique called CNC. Most part of it is matte, and there’s a V-shaped decoration with a satin finish below which makes the whole design doesn’t seem too boring. The AERO logo on the cover will light up when the laptop is on. The dimension of 15.6” model: 356(W) x 250(D) x 20(H) mm, and the weight is around 2229g. Considering its solid build quality, the AERO 15 OLED did very well on keeping a portable form factor. AERO 15 OLED B and C side design. The 2 hinges are on the left and the right. The biggest opening angle is around 130 degree. The hinge and overall build quality feels very solid. The cover will close automatically when the opening angle is less than 30 degree. B side (display) is one of AERO 15 OLED’s most attractive features. This 3-side ultra-thin bezel design is the only design currently available that is closest to bezel-less. There’s a rubber bumper attached to the bezel that protects the display from rubbing against keyboard. The Samsung AMOLED panel AERO adapted is the high-end spec available now. AERO 15 OLED is certified with VESA Display HDR 400 True Black as well as Xrite Pantone color calibration certification. Each and every AERO gets Xrite Pantone color calibration before it leaves the factory to provide you the most accurate colors of Delta E<1. This display also has TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification. All these functions are added to AERO in order to offer best visual performance no matter colors or details. Dell, Razer and AERO are the first 3 brands that launched OLED laptops. Since these laptops are very new, customers may concern about the burn-in issue. The AERO 15 OLED applies a special cover on the back of the panel to decrease the using temperature so as to lower the chance of burn-in. From this we can tell GIGABYTE is a brand that very much focuses on details. As for the finish, a glossy display may cause noticeable reflections but is able to produce more intense and saturated colors; on the other hand, a matte finish may look plain but certainly not going to reflect. GIGABYTE goes for the glossy one in order to show the nice details of AMOLED. Besides the keyboard, on the C side the AERO uses the same matte black aluminum as the cover. The island style keyboard supports GIGABYTE RGB Fusion 2.0 and per-key RGB backlight. This keyboard is collaboration GIGABYTE and world’s largest keyboard provider Sunrex. Considering it’s a membrane keyboard, It acrually offers a nice tactile feedback. Comparing to GIGABYTE’s other laptop – AORUS 15, this keyboard feels better, almost like the one on Alienware’s high end gaming models. The webcam is beneath the display, shooting from a lower angle but not too much focusing on your chin… The camera works smoothly but the resolution could be improved. GIGABYTE designs a cover for it which is rare on laptops and is able to help keep the user’s privacy. Further beneath the camera is the power button, on its left and right sit the thermal vents. Below the keyboard is the touchpad which works accurately. On the upper-left there’s a fingerprint sensor. There are also stickers for features and hardware specs here. The one on the left says this laptop is made in Taiwan and the one on the right is about AERO 15 OLED’s features. These stickers are thick and easy to remove. I/O ports on the left. From the left: Thermal vent/ HDMI 2.0/ DP1.4 & USB3.1 Gen1/ Audio combo jack/ RJ45 Ethernet port (which supported by Killer Ethernet E2600 and Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650. The AX1650 supports the latest 802.11AX, Wi-Fi 6, that can achieve up to 2.4Gbps.

FINAL FANTASY XIV : STORMBLOOD 1920 X 1080 MAXIMUM => 12017 2080 MAX-Q=15638 Apex Legends Hero 1920 x 1080, Video quality set to Highest Practice Mode start theme – 119FPS 2080 Max-Q = 147 FPS Battlefield V game 1920 x 1080, image quality: Ultra DX12 and NVIDIA DLSS enable, into the practice mode start theme – 76 FPS Monster Hunter: World 1920 x 1080, 3D effect adjust to highest, the game start theme – 47 FPS 2080 MAX-Q=71 FPS Farcry 5 Resolution 1920 x 1080, set 3D effect to Ultra Mode Built-in performance test function, rendered 4639 frames, start theme – 64 FPS 2080 Max-Q rendered 5654 frames, start theme – 75 FPS PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS 1920 x 1080, 3D effect to highest preset, character setup Lobby – 89 FPS This RTX 2060 model present very good performance in some 3D test themes. Maybe because of the clock is higher, the 3D present in some software test did not to far from 2080 Max-Q. It’s pity that I have to wait till my next test on Dell Alienware Area-51M to test RTX 2070 graphics performance, not able to make more GeForce RTX comparison here. AORUS 15 designed with pure Discrete Graphics, so it could output 3x 4K display with Surround Mode. The main design theory is for gaming performance, to avoid some software or games running with UMA graphics. The advantage is 3D performance will be better, the weakness is the battery life will be shorter if only use for office works or internet surfing. Ambient temperature is 31˚C, test CPU and nVIDIA RTX 2060 of cooling performance. Fan speed is around 4500rpm as normal mode. CPU Clock at 3891MHz, running on LinX 0.7.1 to make system at full speed, -73~82˚C, maxima up to 95˚C. If used some bad cooling design notebooks, I might use AIDA64 to make burn-in test, Because the loading is lower and temperature will not raise to ultrahigh status. But since cooling is the advantage of AORUS 15, so used ultra loading of LinX test. We could see that even with heavy loading burn-in test. i7-8750H still could achieve around 3.9GHz. Through the software to check fan speed, if CPU around 90 more degree, the fan will speed up 500 more rpm, not to drop the CPU clock, it’s more user friendly. FurMark mainly to burn in on GPU of RTX 2060 graphics, GPU 1140MHz / MEM 7161MHz. Runs the FurMark to get idle 53˚C and full loading 83˚C. (If turn the fan speed to highest about 7200rpm, GPU full speed temp. will drop to 73˚C) With FurMark burn-in test, the keyboard side is about 39~41˚C, left and right side airflow exhausts about 49~51˚C, back side and D side airflow exhausts is about 59~63˚C, it seems back side and D side temp. will be a bit higher. Go more detail about fan speed an noise, idle or internet usage runs quiet around 2000~2500rpm, if the loading getting higher, it will add 500rpm more per stage, start to have noise over 3500rpm. If set with Normal/Mid-level fan speed, the highest speed only able to get 4500rpm, and a bit higher noise, similar as many gaming notebook full speed fan noise, but mid-high frequency of noise will be more annoying. If set fan at Full Speed will achieve 7200rpm, this rare speed will get much higher noise than most of gaming notebooks. But the cooling is also become higher level to make GPU drop 10˚C, recommend to use headset to play games for this setup is better. About battery life, Windows 10 power option set at balanced, battery mode set to power saving. Actual test WiFi internet to broadcast Youtube 480P video, 50% left after 1 hour, up to 2 hours mostly. Of course I could check the longest time with boot up and idle, but it’s useless for gamers, so I prefer to test actual user experience ways. Because AORUS 15 did not have UMA graphics, so the battery life will be lower. The AORUS 15 (i7-8750H/RTX 2060 6GB) Pros: 1. Solid chassis, assembly quality, ID design all very high quality at this price range. 2. nVIDIA RTX 2060 is higher C/P ratio for the 3D working/gaming users. 3. Big brand LG 15.6” IPS display, with 144Hz refresh rate and 3 side thin bezel. 4. Use higher quality and cost of SAMSUNG DDR4-2666 memory. 5. Support 2 M.2 NVMe SSD and 1 2.5” SATA3 slot. 6. Good function of AORUS Control Center and Nahimic 3 sound software. 7. Cooling system used high performance dual fan + 6 heatpipes + 9 airflow exhausts. 8. Unique Microsoft Azure AI dynamic control the power consumption and efficiency. 9. RGB Zone backlit keyboard with nice force feedback. Cons to improve: 1. A side metallic cover if put it under brighter lights, the finger print will be more obviously. 2. WebCam resolution and quality is lower, hope this could be improve. 3. Non UMA switch design, full time RTX 2060 graphics will drop the battery life. 4. Not recommend to use full speed of fan setup if did not use headset, because 7200rpm is too noisy. 5. Speakers of low frequency effect and sound stage could be improved Performance Rate ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 Material Rate ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86/100 Specification Rate ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 ID design rate ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Pice/Cost rate★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 On the internet data the AORUS 15 was made by Quanta, design ID and chassis quality is really impressive, last year shared similar model of HP Pavilion Gaming 15, that quality is not even close to AORUS 15. So far in the market the different version comes with i7-8750H with RTX 2060, i7-9750H with GTX 1660Ti, CPU part the 9750H is about 10% higher, GPU part the RTX 2060 is 7%~20% faster compared to different games. The price of i7 9750H with GTX 1660Ti is a bit higher, recommend to choose depends on your request. Besides that, higher level with RTX 2070 got i7-8750H and i7-9750H both models in the market, the price gap is about $200USD. Of course you could take it as on sell the 8th Gen CPU models, but when choose notebook, SPEC. and price also have bigger gap. AORUS 15 from material and SPEC. side is very competitive in the market as many brands, of course every notebook have its Pros and Cons, this article already have detail analysis and comparison for reference. Hope the AORUS gaming notebook could keep improving to make it more competitive and higher value, let consumers have 1 more better choice. After this article should be Alienware Area-51M review, hope to see more new evolution products. Desktop is looking forward to AMD Ryzen 3000 series, might have first timing review. If you like windwithme review articles please welcome to my fans club to Like. To know my personal test and review status, your Reply and Like still my best momentum to moving forward the works.

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CINEBENCH R20.0 CPU => 2556 cb CPU(Single Core) => 408 cb CPUZ 1.88.0 Single Core => 450.8 Multi Core => 3388.2 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 43.67 / 20960 Geekbench 4 Single-Core Score => 5023 Multi-Core Score => 21859 FRYRENDER Running Time => 3m 07s x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 35.8FPS Intel 9th Gen i7-9750H just in the market, the clock about 26GHz~4.5GHz, it’s about 300~400MHz, in fact the performance gap is small. Current 8th Gen CPU platform still popular in the market, and the price already dropped to lower range. Basically pick 8750H is more efficient and lower cost. AORUS 15 got stronger cooling system, so it’s easy to have higher score on CPU tests. In previous tests some notebook because of slim design but higher level SPEC., so they might need to boost their fan speed to higher level and test more times to have higher score. DRAM performance test – DDR4 2666 AIDA64 Memory Read - 37260 MB/s Base on 8th Gen architecture with dual channel DDR4 2666 bandwidth, AROUS 15 bandwidth speed already at high level, with higher cost SAMSUNG DRAM, the compatibility and overclock speed is outstanding, if they could open Overclock options, it could be more unique as a gaming notebook. For storage part, this could install dual M.2 SSD and 1 2.5” SASA3 Used Intel 760P M.2 PCIe 512GB SSD + 2TB HDD 5400rpm combination SSD test part – CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 3061.1 MB/s，Write - 1516.3 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark - 3098 Seq Read - 2636.31 MB/s，Write - 1485.31 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 876.00 MB/s，Write - 1031.23 MB/s Since most high level notebook used SAMSUNG or TOSHIBA SSD, but Intel 760P got 3230MB/s of read speed, 1625NB/s of write speed. As a single NVMe M.2 SSD, the performance of 760P is already very good, with Intel long term branding image and SSD product line with good quality, it also fits AORUS 15 keep their All Intel Inside strategy with more Intel components. Got a Transcend RF9 USB3.1/UHS-II Card Reader, just fit my test to compared built-in card reader. Used SanDisk Ultra microSD UHS-I 128GB to test. We could see that AORUS 15 built-in card reader also good present, Compared to the comparison external Card Reader, the performance gap is not big. Then take a look on 3D performance test, this model comes with nVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Will also attached previous test of GTX 1070 and RTX 2080 Max-Q for comparisons. 3DMARK Fire Strike => 13860 GTX 1070=14668，2080 MAX-Q=17188 3DMARK Time Spy => 6020 2080 MAX-Q=7509 UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 11465 GTX 1070=13537，2080 MAX-Q=14380

Back side IO From left, heat exhaust / NB Lock / USB3.1 Gen2 Type-C (Charge, Display) Mini DP 1.3 / HDMI 2.0 / AC connector / heat exhaust This photo could see the D side deign, half of the surface design with cooling holes, D side on the left and right could see speaker out hole, use stereo dual channel design. AORUS 15 mainly with 3 type of version Entry level with GTX 1660Ti / LG 144Hz IPS FHD display / 180W adaptor This test model with RTX 2060 / LG 144Hz IPS FHD display / 180W adaptor Highest level with RTX 2070 / SHARP 240Hz IGZO FHD display / 230W adaptor At this high level hardware SPEC., the adaptor is light and easy to carry. AORUS Control Center unique software Open up at first page is Smart Dashboard Mainly for hardware monitor, hardware SPEC., and hardware status The AI software on the right top side, it used Microsoft Azure with cloud and learning Use database to learn user experience on the programs, dynamic adjust CPU and GPU power consumptions. In a easy way is to use AI to optimized hardware performance, to have higher efficient on programs. Manager is similar as mobile phone interface Mainly to show the function status and quick open program AORUS Fusion technology, support highest up to 1677M colors of RGB Zone backlit keyboard. Left and right down side could see the aside project lights, could adjust lights. Smart Utilities About hardware update info, system backup, product intro, FAQ and register function. AORUS Control Center unique application got rich functions, Interface also improved a lot, looks like AORUS motherboard software UI But I think the interface and UI design still could be improved. Because windwithme used lots of many brands of high end gaming notebooks for years. So far I think Dell Alienware Command Center is the best, 2nd is MSI Dragon Center 2. Nahimic 3D sound software These years tested many MSI gaming notebook models all used this software The interface and function already updated many versions, it’s useful software Mainly support 4 sound scenario, with 3 functions to make it richer detail setup. Mic page have 2 type for conversation or meeting, also have 3 functions to adjust. Sound tracker is good for FPS gaming, it’s useful for in game experience. Here is the AORUS 15 sound experience, this part is subjective part High Freq. – No too sharp sound, rich detail, high quality present. Mid Freq. – Overall clarity is outstanding, human vocal not strong enough, still have room to improve. Low Freq. – Low frequency drums is clear, mid-low sound is not bad, but the woofer power is too light. Speaker might be the weakness on AORUS 15, the overall present is above the average. Because of the sound stage and mid-low sound is a bit weak, if you have higher sound quality request, recommend to use external speakers. The external headset AMP is good and brings outstanding headset sound detail at this price range. It benefits the gamers who like to use headset. AORUS 15 embedded i7 8750H with 6 Core 12 Thread, basic clock 2.2GHz and up to 4.2GHz. Fan Speed set to middle, about 2500~4500rpm to test CPU performance. CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1155 cb CPU(Single Core) => 167 cb

Recent years many laptop brands came out more and more gaming notebook in the red sea market, The GIGABYTE gaming laptops is rare to see in the market before. But these 2 years they start to have more products for gaming style design With the positive market competitions, the gaming laptops become much better on design and price range. GIGABYTE got its own gaming brand AORUS with gaming laptops, AORUS series is simple, only got AORUS 15, AORUS 5,7 series in 2019 This simple way might make lower awareness in the market. Let?s get back to the AORUS 15; A cover used metallic design, Black matted coating with high quality. Looks might be a bit of finger print on it. Most of the current matted metal coating notebook chassis had this status. AORUS designed their Eagle shape logo with lines on both side to create speedy style. The Logo and lines will have white lighting when notebook boot up, it will be more fancy if comes with RGB lights. I tested around 2225g, it?s a bit lighter than their formal data. A side and back side heat exhaust sink holes, looks similar as HP Pavilion Gaming 15. Many high level gaming notebook had this kind of design, but AORUS 15 is most outstanding as my user experience. Open the AORUS 15, B and C side design The hinge design closer to the middle on both left and right side, the biggest open angle around 130 degree, because the chassis assembling quality is solid, so it didn?t easily shake when open up the screen. B side designed with thin bezel frame that thin gaming notebook often used since 2018 The AORUS 15 with 6mm thin bezel on 3 sides. Webcam still on the top side, is more convenient and outstanding. 15.6? matted display with IPS panel, with Full HD resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. HD Webcam, work with face tracing function, it?s smooth but image quality could be improved. C side use matted aluminum metallic chassis besides of keyboard. This part is same as A side. Designed with membrane full color backlit keyboard, support RGB Fusion technology. Although the thin membrane keyboard is easy to be soft, but this one is good on feedback. There are branding stickers aside the touchpad, if the sticker is too big will impact the beauty of the ID design, recommend to make it smaller and simplified, or put it under D side is also a way. Touchpad used larger surface design, looks wider on left and right side. This makes more convenient using experience, the pointing is very accurate when moving. In my personal experience, high accuracy touchpad appeared on higher price products mostly. The power button with white light when boot up, the left and right side aside the corner have LED project lights for gaming ambience. On top of C side is power button, it?s same icon as A side image. Align the button it designed with cooling holes with special shapes to give it streamline style. On the upper right side of keyboard key with fan icon, used Fn+Fan key to adjust fan speed. Left side IO From left, heat exhaust / RJ-45 LAN port / USB3.1 (Super Charge) / Micro SD reader Storage light / Power light. The heat exhaust hole design is really good looking and quality. Right side IO From left, headset port / 2x USB 3.1 / heat exhaust The USB 3.1 all Gen1 Type-A format This machine of cooling system used dual 7cm high speed fan, 6 heatpipes, 9 in & out airflow exhausts, it should have very good present on cooling power. The analysis is coming soon.

For many years the Computer Industry into mature stage, many people might think the Computex did not brought big change recently. Of course it’s not like new blue sea product lines that make people amazing, but still a must that keep improving every year. Many brands generated creativity or new design style to make our life richer. Still can see some new concept or creative design at Computex show, its worth to look into them. If you are expecting new revolution generation products, that might be AI or 5G wireless applications. Below was made by windwithme, I took 2 days to study more products and some photos sharing, please reply to support me if you like this article. I don’t want to put to many photos in a article, some SG photos will post on my personal fans FB. If you like windwithme articles, please come to below link to give me a like. That also could know my latest testing models and status. Your reply and like will always cheer me up to make new stuff. Windwithme WWM - 3C all with me！

EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti K|NGP|N version Co-branding with 3DMARK World champion level famous person, used water cooling design. Brand PC assembled with many EVGA products. EVGA got Nu Audio card, it’s software setup UI in the photo. Shuttle Classic System PC brand, demoed many SFF PC systems. XPC Nano X1 for Gaming, built-in GTX 1060 graphics. These years coming more and more smart digital life products, Combined the hardware and capability for SFF PC, designed out many usages on facial recognized, virtual meeting business systems. Bar Type D230, after recognized sexual and ages, recommended 4 products. Intel Core i9-9900KS 8C16T all cores at 5GHz Live Demo Intel Core i7 8565U GPU => Average FPS 13.0 Intel Ice Lake GPU => Average FPS 26.5 Show Girls is also important for Computex report every year, this year seemed getting less. I was told this is Little Snow from 17 Live Streamer.

Main and Second displays made people impressive, also ASUS latest design concept. BIOSTAR Motherboard and Graphics card is core business, also have more product lines. Racing X570GT8 Chipset with fan enhance cooling, it’s normal design on many brands of AMD X570 chipset MBs. Maybe it’s because Ryzen 3000 series supported PCIe 4.0 tech. that makes chipset with higher TDP. SSD series also become their main product line, the test result on right side are the highest level of the speed. Wish to have PCIe 4.0 higher speed M.2 SSD in the near future. Thermaltake launched WaterRam RGB DDR4-3200 in the beginning of 2019. This time they got new ToughRam RGB DDR4-3600 The unique software interface looks much better. Overclocker P1t1 made Live Demo OC on DDR4-4800 Teamgruop Launched TFORCE XTREEM DDR4-4800 High level product M.2 SSD with new Water Cooling thermal pad, made it more colorful. GALAXY M.2 SSD Supported PCIe 4.0, used PHISON E16 Controller Seq Read 4800 MB/s，Seq Write 4000 MB/s As I knew CORSAIR and AORUS have same level products.

This year some famous IT companies did early launch event before the show, that made the Computex more different than before. For sure the new products need to be attractive, that will be better to the pre-show launch event. Attractive enough to catch international buyers, media and consumers’ attention. One of the most typical launch is AMD announced Ryzen 3000 series and Navi GPU. Back to the Computex show, many brands still focus on Gaming products. Used RGB scenario lights to build up many types of computers and gaming gears. First look on Notebook market, after Gaming with RGB lighting, this year most popular design is thin bezel, DELL from US also make Alienware M series for slimmer design. According to the display size named m15 and m17, with brand new ID design. I’m working on the Alienware Area 51M tests, the highest level thick one. The XPS 13 series for many years, many brands still copy its thin design style. The new version of XPS 14 put Webcam on top of the screen, it’s more convenience. GIGABYTE notebook used AORUS for gaming, also launched New AERO series. AERO series designed for creators, AERO 15 silver white looks more elegant. Display came with X-Rite Pantone color calibration, they made calibration for every model in the factory. SAMSUNG AMOLED and Precise Color is their unique feature. AERO 17 Display SPEC and Hardware combinations did not show in the VIP room. AORUS 17 Higher level for Gaming segment, the ID design also very special. New AERO 15/17 series comes with Core i9 and RTX graphics. New AORUS 17 will build up with RTX 2080 high performance version. MSI GE65 Raider with SHARP IGZO 240Hz display GT76 Titan with i9 9900K and Overclocked Full Cores at 5GHz. CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 2155 cb

In recent years, MSI has established a strong reputation for its industry-leading gaming notebooks and also offers a robust Workstation series for professionals. With the recent exhibiting of the PS42 at Computex 2018 in Taipei, MSI now sets its sights on providing premium laptops for those who prioritize portability without a sacrifice in performance. At just over a kilogram with a chic metal chassis as well as a gorgeous narrow bezel design, let’s delve into a closer look at the PS42. The PS42 belongs to the Prestige series and is a newly-designed model. The silver hair-brushed metallic chassis is not only classy but also less susceptible to fingerprints. Its dimensions are 322 x 222 x 15.9 mm at a weight of only 1.19 kg with a discrete graphics card (MX150). The electronic scale weighs the PS42 to be 1203 grams, though this is likely due to systematic error. While this is very light for a 14-inch notebook, there are other models that are even lighter. However, the PS42’s metallic chassis is strong enough that, when pressed, does not give; the PS42 achieves a balance in weight and durability. An MSI Dragon Shield Logo on the A-side painted in an understated silver. Exhausts are towards the rear on both the left and right sides of the chassis; the PS42 contains 2 fans and 3 heat pipes. The rotating shafts are on the left and right edges of the A side, allowing a large opening angle. The B-side is mainly black while the C-side is silver like the A- and B-sides. The webcam is below the B-side screen, similar to the design on the DELL XPS 13. The webcam’s angle isn’t optimal, though at 30fps@720p, its video isn’t choppy. The upper, left and right sides feature the narrow-bezel design at only 5.7mm. The 14 –inch, IPS-level matte screen sports a resolution of 1920 x 1080; the screen ratio is approximately 80% The C-side is predominantly dedicated to the keyboard. Each key has a white backlight which can be turned on or off. The power button is centered above the keyboard while the small holes arranged horizontally are designed for the cooling system. The keyboard feedback is slightly soft but it is above-average in terms of thin laptops. The touchpad has excellent sensitivity. The scissor-switch design requires a harder press for precise response. The black rectangle to the upper-left of the touchpad is for fingerprint identification, a function that is only available on higher-end business laptops. With Windows Hello, unlocking your laptop is highly convenient. I/O ports on the right. Left to right: Kensington lock / SD card reader / USB3.1 Gen1 Type-C / 2 X USB3.1 Gen1 Type-A. I/O ports on the left. Left to right: power input / HDMI / USB3.1 Gen1 Type-C / Audio Combo. Three indicators: power, battery, and Wi-Fi. The PS42 can be opened to a maximum degree of 180. Sharing images and information in a meeting is easy. Take a look at D-side, the internal cooling module is aided by a large area of ventilation to improve heat dissipation. The stereo speakers are located at the left and right sides below the touchpad. Five rubber feet are evenly distributed at the bottom with enough thickness to benefit heat dissipation. The 4-cell battery is built-in and non-removable, running at 50Whr. The power adapter charges at 65W; compact at only 213 grams, it is easily portable. The PS442’s single DDR4 slot supports up to 16GB – this is a design shared by many ultra-thin models. MSI's exclusive software in its Gaming series is among its strength; lately, it has experienced customization. The Prestige series with its exclusive software has been anticipated. The PS42 adopts the latest version of Dragon Center 2.0, with the color scheme now black and white instead of the black and red in the Gaming series. The desktop can be seen through the translucent software window; the System Monitor displays the current hardware status. The System Tuner page is the same as that on gaming notebooks. The adjustment page for DPI, hardware performance, fan speed and screen color settings. There are 4 sets of original environment settings as well as 2 sets of user-defined settings for the user to adjust the settings according to his preferences. Shift has four performance modes: Turbo (GPU overclocking), Sport, ECO, and Power options. Fan Speed has the modes of Auto, Basic, Advanced, and Cooler Boost. A wealth of options is offered for both performance and cooling, so the PS42’s appeals not only in its business look but also in its performance adjustability. MSI True Color This feature is also available on the Gaming series and is mainly used to adjust screen colors. I feel that the accuracy of screen colors may be more important for business purposes. True Color provides six modes which can each be slightly adjusted. Users with high requirements for drawing and image processing, can not only save their money on a color-calibration device but also utilize more functions. The PS42 supports Nahimic 3 technology and also offers MSI's own audio software interface. Although many thin laptops are weak in terms of audio and related software, MSI employs its expertise in gaming, extrapolating great sound to the PS42. The following describes my personal listening experience and is subjective. I compared the PS42 to the Ultrabook. When the speaker is turned up to 60%, the volume is somewhat above-average. When it is turned up to 100%, the volume is decently loud. High frequencies – excellent detail though lacking in punch Middle frequencies - The resolution is very good. When listening to songs, fullness is lacking; the overall performance is still above standard Low frequencies - low frequency sound is clear; heavy bass is booming If I compare this PS42 to some Ultrabooks that I've shared before. Inserting a premium speak system into a thin laptop is challenging. The overall audio experience on the PS42 is excellent among the light and thin models. More fullness on the middle frequencies as well as a wider sound field would great improve this system. The microphone also has more features than most of the thin and light notebooks. It is more convenient for users who have video conferencing or business needs. In the high-end gaming notebook market, other than DELL Alienware’s exclusive software, I personally think that a program with rich features and an exquisite layout is MSI’s Dragon Center 2.0. The PS42 also supports Dragon Center 2.0, and the added value will be much better than similar-level products. After personally testing many DELL notebooks and HP Ultrabooks, the software support for those models is much weaker than that for the PS42. MSI PS42 equipped with Intel 8th gen. Core i7-8550U, TDP 10~25W. The base clock is 1.8Ghz, and the maximum overclocking can reach 4.0Ghz (this performance can be achieved with a single core). The following is the multifaceted performance test of PS42: CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 534 cb CPU (Single Core) => 162 cb CPUZ 1.86.0 Single Core => 397 6C12T Multi Core => 1653 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 21.71/10421 Geekbench 4 Single-Core Score => 4733 Multi-Core Score => 11643 FRYRENDER Running Time => 6m 27s x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 18.71 FPS PCMARK => 3786 Unti and including the 7th generation, Intel’s i7 processors for ultra-thin notebooks consist of 2 cores and 4 threads. Since the 8th generation, the i7 processors on Ultrabooks have consisted of 4 cores, 8 threads. Audio and video purposes such as conversion and editing have experienced great performance improvements. I have previously tested the Ultrabook featuring the i7-8650U – the higher clock speed pushes its performance a little higher. However, the MSI PS42, equipped with the i5-8550U, has good performance and renders the price more affordable. The storage device is a 512G M.2 PCIe Gen.3 SSD slot And the SSD that this PS42 is equipped with is SAMSUNG MZVLB512HAJQ AS SSD Benchmark - 3547 Seq Read - 2418.72 MB/s，Write - 1798.45 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 1059.46 MB/s，Write - 1238.36 MB/s CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 3340.5 MB/s，Write - 1900.2 MB/s This SSD model is PM981, which is also the new SSD of SAMSUNG. Temperature and performance performs well. Most of the power saving options of BIOS can be turned off, so 4K performance will be lower. In the field of notebooks, PM981 is a very efficient M.2 SSD. In addition, many notebooks of other brands have different SSD models for different regions, periods or versions. The PS42 may also have other SSDs of other brands, and the speed will vary from specification to specification. The difference between the two versions of PS42 is the NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5. Except for that, other hardware configurations are almost the same, of course, the price will be different. This article is the NVIDIA MX 150 standard edition which we used to test 3D performance. 3DMARK Fire Strike => 3235 UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 2465 Dota2, this game has been purchased around 2012, and there are still some people playing this game. 1920 x 1080, all the setting is best, begin with the character setting - 152 FPS Get into the game at the beginning - 71 FPS League of Legends 1920 x 1080, all the 3D setting is pretty high, get into the game at the beginning - 211 FPS PAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 1280 X 720, 3D setting is medium, begin with the character setting - 48 FPS Add, 3D setting is ultra, begin with the character setting - 31 FPS The NVIDIA GeForce MX 150 is close to the GeForce GT 1030 and is capable of dealing with all kinds of entry 3D games. Some games that require mid-level or higher 3D performance need to lower resolution or decrease special effects. But there is also a chance to have the smoother experience. Compared to the Intel UHD Graphics 620, in most scenarios, the MX 150 is about 60-200% higher in 3D performance, making the PS42 more capable. If you have the need for 3D modeling or drawing, it would be better to choose the MX 150 version. And if you have the sufficient budget, it is recommended to directly go for the MX150 version to avoid that Intel Graphics 620 occupies the memory. Because in the long-term, if Intel Graphics 620 occupies too much of the memory, the smoothness will drop. Burn-In test, the power setting is balance, the temperature is about 28 degrees Celsius. We turn on the Cooler Boost to run LinX 0.6.5, when the CPU really kicks into overdrive, the temperature is about 72-74 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature is 85 degrees Celsius for a moment. And if we turn down the Cooler Boost to run LinX 0.6.5, when the CPU really kicks into overdrive, the temperature is about 78-81 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature is 86 degrees Celsius for a moment. Although the Intel CPU will be much lower at the full clock, the CPU temperature performs well. Turn off the Cooler Boost at full speed, the noise is a bit high-pitched, but the volume is quite low. Turn on the Cooler Boost at full speed, the noise increases, but compared with other models, the volume of noise is only a bit louder. When we run FurMark and turn on the Cooler Boost, the highest temperature is 87 degrees Celsius once. When we turn off the Cooler Boost and run FurMark, the highest temperature could be 92 degrees Celsius once. According to the comparison above, we can see the difference between with MSI Cooler Boost 3 and without it. The temperature performance of the CPU is quite satisfied, and the GPU is quite good in terms of thin and light models. Especially the noise volume, people will be amazed that the volume isn’t loud, but it will be better, if the pitch of the noise could be mid- or low frequency. During the burn-in test, the exhausts on the C-side are about 38-40 degrees Celsius, and the highest temperature of the exhausts behind is about 42 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature of the exhausts on the D-side is about 52 degrees Celsius, the temperature performance of PS42 is pretty good in terms of thin and light models. In terms of the battery lifetime, the power setting is set to be balance mode, and battery setting is set to save power. Officially advertises that the battery lifetime of the PS42 is up to 10 hours, but that may be only under the circumstances like some paperwork or online browsing. Summarize all the features and advantages parts of MSI Prestige PS42 8RB 1. The appearance is designed with metallic hair-brushed, and that helps in improving the texture and aesthetic design. 2. 14-inch with narrow bezel design could make PS42 roughly as small as the other 13-inch laptops, and a discrete graphics card within a 1.2 kg laptop. 3. The 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8550U Processor has the 4 cores, 4 threads architecture that allows multiplex performance to be much better than the 7th Generation Intel i7 Processors with the 2C4T architecture. 4. The performance of MX150 graphics card in 3D modeling is much better than the Intel UHD 620 graphics. 5. The interface of Dragon Center 2.0 is very fine, the functions plus the ability of software integration are great as well. 6. The MX150 version with Cooler Boost 3 which has two fans on both right- and left side plus 3 heat pipes. 7. The exclusive Nahimic 3 sound software has more sufficient functions than the thin and light notebooks of other brands. 8. It’s pretty ingenious to put a fingerprint sensor which is usually seen in the mid- and high-end business notebooks on the touchpad. 9. The 65W transformer is small in size and light in weight, improving the convenience of carrying out. The part that can be improved in the future 1. It will be more convenient if the webcam is at the top of the screen. 2. Although the noise of the fan is not loud, it will be better if it is a low frequency. Performance ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Material ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Price ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86/100 Cost–performance ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100 Finally, MSI launches the mid- and high-end thin and light laptop. Besides PS42, there’s the P65 which is lately launched. MSI also applies the concept of gaming to the PS42, which has more features than many thin and light laptops of other brands. There are quite a number of laptops which price is between $1,000-1,300 on the market. Consumers need to compare more while choosing. The narrow bezel design in14-inch with thin and light chassis, it’s only around 1.2kg, and have a MX150 graphics card get to choose. In terms of chassis design, the PS42 is really great, of course, there are still some flaws needed to be improved. And if compared with 13-inch thin and light laptops that I’ve shared, like DELL Latitude, XPS 13 or HP Spectre 13. PS42 is quite great actually. Moreover, the prices of the three laptops above are higher. If the budget is sufficient, and you happen to need a mid-and high-end ultra-thin, business purpose, image drawing, film transfer, that can be easily carried. Then MSI PS42 should be a worthwhile option to be in the purchase list. This article also shared on my personal Facebook -Windwithme WWM If this article helps you to know more about this product, please feel free to click like to encourage me.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Siege 1920 x 1080，GRAPHICS preset Ultra In Game Theme - 146 FPS Previous test with GTX 1060 got 110 FPS，GTX 1070 got 167 FPS The same game theme – 153FPS, add 4.8% after overclocked. PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS 1920 x 1080, set 3D effect at Highest, Lobby character setup theme – 78FPS Lobby character setup theme – 85FPS, add 8.9% after overclocked. The Turbo Mode that overclocked GTX 1070 Max-Q Core/VRAM over 200MHz, benchmarks could raise up 10% performance, in game FPS around 4.8~8.9% depend on different games. That made the GTX 1070 Max-Q overall 3D performance closer to GTX 1070, also more fun at overclock feature. Because the GS series designed with Ultra Slim type, it’s critical limitation to put GTX 1070 Max-P version on thermal, power consumption and size. The GS65 with much optimized interior design to achieve the highest performance inside. The room temperature is about 31°C, tested the GPU of GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q with its cooling capability. Try FurMark test, idle at 49°C, full speed at 87°C Shift set at Sport and Fan Speed Auto of GPU burn-in test status Keyboard surface around 30~41°C, top side and aside of airflow exhausts was about 42~48°C. The noise level present is outstanding, even the GPU temp. was not as low as GS63 at 83°C, but the noise level reduced a lot. Enable Cooler Boost Mode made higher noise level, it’s better to use headset to play, but the temperature from 87°C dropped to 78°C. CPU default clock from 2.2GHz~4.1GHz, battery mode set to High Performance. Tested with LinX 0.6.5 at full loading speed, around 82~90°C, maxima up to 93°C. Enable Cooler Boost for reference, 80~86°C, maxima up to 91°C. Intel high level Core i7 from 1~7th Generation all came with 4C8T architecture, the 8th Gen. become 6C12T, since it enhanced a lot on multi-task works, but more challenge to high level notebooks, the cooling surface was very limited, and slim notebooks even more challenge of thermal design. Last GS63 with 4C8T of Core i7 CPU presented 88~92°C with same burn-in test apps. Seems the GS65 temperature even a bit lower than GS63 with Core i7 8750H, the cooling design really improved. C side just around 31~38°C when CPU at full loading speed, the up side and left-right side airflow exhaust is abour 41~47°C. No matter on CPU or GPU burn-in temperature, GS65 was getting lower temperature than other brand of same high level gaming notebooks. About battery life, set Windows 10 power option at balanced, battery option set at power saving mode. System Tuner to Theater Mode to playback DVD video; still got 55% power after 4 hours playback. 8% left after 8 hours playback with disable the WiFi connection. But still more than 6 hours even enable WiFi. So when you go out to use for entertainment usage, proper setup could extend the outstanding battery life for GS65. Summarized on the GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF Pros & Advantage: 1. Golden edge line ID design, the lightest 15.6” narrow frame gaming notebook. 2. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q graphics with Turbo mode, made ultra-slim notebook with higher 3D performance. 3. 8th Gen Core i7 with 6C12T architecture that enhanced multi-tasks working performance. 4. Matted IPS-Level of 144Hz/7ms display and narrow bezel, and applied True Color 2.0 color calibration technology. 5. Dragon Center 2 interface become more elegant with rich control and features. 6. Cooler Boost Trinity of thermal module designed with 4 heatpipes & 3 fans to become more powerful than previous design. 7. Keyboard feedback is outstanding, SSE3 app handle the Per-Key back light management, Macro keys and Gaming Mode for gamers. 8. Headset output embedded with ESS SABRE HiFi DAC, support up to Hi-Res Audio format sound quality. 9. Dynaudio sound speakers with Nahimic 3, presented much better sound around all ultra-slim notebooks. 10. New 180W adaptor even smaller than previous 150W design, more convenient for carry out. Cons & Enhancements 1. A side cover is easier to attached finger print, very obvious under brighter environment. 2. WebCam only got 720p resolution, and image quality is not good enough under darker environment. 3. If press the chassis will feel a little softy feedback, this happened very often on slim notebooks. 4. Recommend the Dragon logo on A cover to use 3D material; that will make it looks higher value, B side black MSI logo is not clear, it will be better if use golden color logo. Performance Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Material Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Specification Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Aesthetics Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86/100 Price-Value Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 Did mention there were 2 brands launched same type of 15.6” narrow bezel slim gaming notebooks, if pick them with Core i7 8750H, GTX 1070 Max-Q and FHD 144Hz display as a standard. These 3 models came at same price range included MSI, so consumers should compared the material and design to choose. GS65 8RF designed with DDR4 32GB, and 512GBx2 NVMe M.2 SSD Other 2 brands at same price range comes with DDR4 16GB RAM and single 512GB SSD, although it’s all 144Hz FHD display, but GS65 showed IPS level panel and 7ms response time. Furthermore with SABRE HiFi headset DAC, Cooler Boost Trinity thermal design, MSI own design APPs are more outstanding, the main Dragon Center 2 with more elegant UI and rich functions, True Color 2 with sRGB and 6 mode adjustment and Nahimic 3 audio enhancer, put all high level features on notebooks. Frankly speaking, if a notebook only compared on top level hardware SPEC., many brands are able to put hardware into a notebook body. But included ID design with own style, cooling solution, functions and features, software and usage, better user experience, those detail took long time evolution on products for years. In before the DELL Alienware was great on these points, but recent years MSI did catch up even exceed to higher level in some ways. The GS65 maybe not 100% perfect but already got really high score, it’s a great balanced on hardware, features and software combination of ultra slim gaming notebook although still have some small part could be improved. If you like the product review articles by windwithme, you are welcomed to my FB fans club and give me a like. You could get faster noticed about my latest review status. Your feedback and like always the great momentum for me to move forward on the reviews!

PCMARK10 => 5103 Storage designed with dual M.2 PCIe Gen.3 SSD slot, and 1 slot supported M.2 SATA interface. This GS65 8RF used 2 SAMSUNG MZVLB512HAJQ with RAID0. CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 3501.5 MB/s，Write - 3256.0 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark - 3426 Seq Read - 2908.68 MB/s，Write - 2960.23 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 1061.38 MB/s，Write - 967.93 MB/s This SSD should be PM981 512GB, above are the performance with RAID0. But the chipset support up to PCI-e Gen3 x4 bandwidth limitation, not like SATA3 RAID to double the performance. So the Max. performance is up to 3500+ MB/s around, plus the storage of 4k test will be lower because the notebook power saving technology is not able to manual disable. But if we consider in the notebook field, PM981 of RAID0 already the highest speed level of M.2 performance. Embedded with 2 kinds of GPU, one is Intel Core i7-8750H of built-in HD630 graphics. The 2nd one is nVIDIA Geforce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 VRAM of Max-Q versions. Below numbers all based on GTX 1070 Max-Q tests, same software with 2 types of preset and score Up: Shift Sport + Fan Speed Auto Down: Shift Turbo + Fan Speed Cooler Boost 3DMARK 11 => 16105 3D MARK 11 => 17297, improved 7.4% after overclocked. 3DMARK Fire Strike => 12785 3D MARK Fire Strike => 14067, improved 10% after overclocked. UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 10171 Compared GTX1060 => 7902, GTX1070 => 13537 UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 11217, improved 10% after overclocked. Assassin's Creed Syndicate 1920 x 1080，GRAPHIC preset ULTRA HIGH In Beginning Theme - 49 FPS Previous test with GTX 1060 was 37 FPS，GTX 1070 was 59 FPS The same game theme – 53FPS, add 8.2% after overclocked.

D side has bigger difference, besides of larger surface of holes for airflow, the based robber came with bigger size and taller, that helps more for airflow to reduce the heat more effectively. Built-in 4-Cell battery with 82Whr, larger than GS63 as well. Application is also a very important point that could enhance user experience for convenience, the Dragon Center is MSI own design APP, 2.0 version with brand new interface and enhanced a lot on the features. The UI showed it’s transparent image to see through your desktop. System Monitor showed current hardware working status. System Tuner About DPI, hardware performance, fan speed or display color adjusts setup. Original with 4 preset, and 2 user define profile could save by user’s own preference. Shift mode got Turbo (GPU OC), Sport,ECO, Power Options of 4 types. Fan Speed got Auto, Basic, Advanced and Cooler Boost modes. No matter on performance wise or cooling mode, it all applied many modes that made GS65 more advanced usages with fun. Gaming Mode You could see few hottest game titles supported here, like this GS65 already installed PUBG, users could through here to launch the game with MSI apps to change the keyboard backlit for the game hot keys. MSI True Color, display colors adjust The Display Software was rare at NB products market, True Color comes with 6 modes for user to adjust with favors. MSI formal preset is sRGB mode, but users could still make more detail adjustment on each of the 6 modes. The sound enhancement APP kept on Nahimic 3, become Microsoft Market Place APP, it’s more convenient to use, the UI changed a lot, rich features, with sound stages adjustment, mic enhancement, gaming stereo and other detail setup. Here was my GS65 sound experience; this part might be more subjective point of view, compared with other high level gaming laptops. High Frequency – No over-sharped tone, rich of detail, presented high level quality. Mid Frequency – The sound detail was outstanding, strong vocal over average, but still could be better. Low Frequency – It presented good with clear drum sound, but it could be more powerful. Within this slim chassis design and narrow bezel frame, the speakers only got very limited space. With 2x 2watts speakers, turn on the maxima volume is really loud when play games in the room. The authentic sound detail is the most outstanding part, it’s really good no matter FHD video or play games. Headset output designed with ESS SABRE HiFi DAC, supported up to 192kHz/24bit as Hi-Res sampling rate. When use Hi-Res Audio headset to listen, the sound quality could compete the top level DELL Alienware products. Keyboard APP is Steelseries Engine 3 Applied with general backlit management, rich of Macro-keys setup and multiple virtual keyboards for any different usage. Some of the lighting mode was preset inside that user could use, with Per-Key RGB function that could make the color modes become very fancy. The default with golden light made the dual wave from middle to aside, it really fits the color and style of GS65. GS65 came with 2 GPUs first, the 8RF with GTX 1070 and 8RE with GTX 1060 versions. Also got different DDR4 and M.2 SSD capacities inside, that comes with different price range. Here came the GS65 8RF of top level hardware test, CPU used Intel Core i7 8750H, use Sport mode with Auto fan set to test, it’s the most balanced at performance and noise. CPUZ 1.85.0 Single Thread => 470 6C12T Multiple Thread => 3222 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 41.67/19999 CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1124 cb CPU(Single Core) => 177 cb FRYRENDER Running Time => 2m 22s x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 34.36 FPS The Intel 8th Gen. Core i7 8750H core clock is 2.2~4.1GHz, the core architecture is 6C12T, compared to last Gen. same level of Core i7 7700HQ clock at 2.8~3.8GHz, core numbers only 4C8T. The Core i7 8750H single Core got about 8% performance enhancement, multi-Core with full speed will have 52%~65% performance enhancement depends on the usages. It’s really great help on high quality video editing, image or artwork designs, which really needs more CPU Cores to speed up. Besides of gaming enhancement, the 8th Gen architecture could also make the video clip and artwork more effectively.