The Alienware m17 R4 is still our Editors’ Choice selection for a premium 17-inch gaming laptop. It has excellent technical specs, but its average gaming performance falls short of the high standard set by the Alienware m17 R4. ..
The Gigabyte Aorus 17G is one of the first RTX 30-series gaming laptops from Nvidia to hit the market. It has a powerful graphics card and a long battery life, making it perfect for those who are looking for a powerful laptop that can last long.
Gigabyte’s Aorus laptops are designed with gaming in mind. They come with the fastest graphics and CPU, as well as 300Hz refresh rates on the displays. They’re also backed by G2 Esports, one of the top CS:GO teams in the world. ..
Design
The Aorus 17G is a powerful laptop that feels like it could take on any game you might want to play. It has a large, chunky design that makes it feel like a powerful truck, but the weight is worth it because of the great performance this laptop delivers.
If you’re looking for a laptop that can be taken anywhere, the lighter options are available. However, this laptop is still an option if you’re willing to carry around its close to six pounds of weight. ..
The Gigabyte Aorus 17G is a powerful and durable computer that has a build quality that is impressive. The chassis is made of CNC-milled aluminum, which resisted warping or flexing in any area where we applied pressure, including close to the ventilation found above the keyboard.
This keyboard is small and fits into a small space, but it has all the essential functions of a regular keyboard. It is unquestionably one of the best laptop keyboards we’ve ever used. ..
Despite their limited space, OMRON mechanical switches still manage to have a 1.6mm actuation distance and produce a satisfying click. The laptop doesn’t have an overtly aggressive gamer design, but when it is opened, RGB lights can be seen shining through the Gigabyte logo on the lid and all over the keyboard.
This laptop is plain in comparison to other products that are currently on the market. The rainbow lights make it stand out from the rest.
The aluminum case on our test model is very resistant to fingerprints and wipes down easily, so it feels like it could take some punishment if you’re concerned about buying a more delicate device.
Keyboard and touchpad
The Gigabyte AORUS 17G is a gaming laptop that has one of the best mechanical keyboards around. The OMRON switches provide a crunchy tactile feel that is perfect for games like first-person shooters and MOBAs, as well as an auditory click when we press down on a key.
The mechanical switch produces a more satisfying sensation because it never has to be questioned whether a key has hit its actuation point. The downside is the noise it makes. ..
The laptop’s keys are so loud that we advise against using it in the workplace unless you’re okay with your coworkers hating you. We also had some other issues with the keyboard. First, entering passwords is a complete nightmare because there is no on-board CAPs lock light indicator. Second, there are some unexpected restrictions on RGB lighting in Gigabyte’s Aorus Control Center. ..
The Razer Synapse allows you to add more than two colors to the board at once, putting products like the Razer Synapse several steps ahead. You may create a red ripple RGB effect or a blue wave pulsating under your fingertips. The Control Center allows you to establish macro keys, albeit it’s more difficult to configure than the Razer.
The trackpad is responsive and easy to use. However, if you want to play games, you should use a special gaming mouse. The fingerprint scanner is included which makes logging into Windows much simpler.
Gigabyte Aorus 17G review: Display
The Aorus 17G’s 300 Hz IPS-level display is yet another significant advancement, in addition to its GPU. We put this screen through two different tests. We used it to play Overwatch after first watching a Wandavision trailer. Although we were impressed by the color richness and even the depth of the blacks in Wandavision, we discovered that viewing angles and reflections were major issues. Although the screen’s image washed out whenever we moved more than 45 degrees away from it horizontally, viewing angles up and down were nearly complete. ..
Despite the glare, Overwatch was still a great game. Our image would still reflect back at me, so we had to make sure that our screen was oriented away from light. We had fallen in love with Overwatch and were unsure if 144 Hz refresh rates could actually improve our performance in a professional esports game.
We found that the 240 Hz display on the Aorus was responsive and showed a good response to our input, but we didn’t feel that it was as smooth as the one on the previous model.
Our Aorus 17G gaming laptop falls short of the competition in terms of color coverage. Its highest score is 79%, falling short of the Scar 17’s 88.5%, the Razer Blade Pro 17’s 84.1%, and the massive Alienware m15 R4’s 149.5%.
Gigabyte Aorus 17G review: Audio
The two bottom-firing speakers on the Gigabyte Aorus 17G create accurate sound but struggle with volume. We put these speakers to the test by playing Olivia Rodrigo’s Driver’s License, and the song wasn’t heard until we reached about 30% volume, and it didn’t get comfortable until we reached about 55 to 60% volume. This was the most obvious problem we experienced.
Our office music test showed that even at full volume, the music was not too loud or tinny. However, the sound quality was muffled throughout the test, as if the laptop were having trouble pushing it out.
Graphic and gaming
Nvidia has set a maximum TGP for the GeForce RTX 3000 graphics core, which determines the actual performance of the laptop. In the case of the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU, Gigabyte has continued to choose a lower end of possibilities with a TGP of 105 watts (90 watts + 15 watts of Dynamic Boost).
The 3DMark scores for the RTX 3080 laptops we have tested so far are lower than average, and the GeForce RTX 3070 laptop is not as good as the MSI GP76 Leopard 10UG, which is equipped with the purported weaker GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. The higher TGP more than makes up for the technical shortcomings of the RTX 3080 in comparison to the RTX 3070.
The latest games run smoothly on the supplied hardware, with the highest quality setting and full HD resolution possible. The GPU can handle resolutions higher than Full HD, though sometimes at a reduced quality setting (a compatible monitor must be connected for this). The 17G performs comparably to the RTX 3080 laptops tested up to this point, offering average to slightly subpar frame rates. ..
Gigabyte Aorus 17G review: Performance
The Gigabyte AORUS 17G (2021) is one of the most intriguing gaming laptops we’ve tried in a while. It has a powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU and a 32GB RAM, making it one of the most powerful laptops on the market. ..
We ran a series of benchmark tests on the laptop to see how it performed. The Aorus Control Center allowed us to maximize the CPU and GPU, which resulted in better performance than some of the other laptops we tested. The Geekbench 5 results were not as good as some of the other laptops, but they were still good. ..
The 3DMark Timespy results show that the integrated RTX 3070 is even more potent than the RTX 2080 Super that drives the AORUS 17G. In order to confirm this performance carried over to contemporary AAA video games, we also used in-game benchmark tests. The average performance for both was more than 80 frames per second with the AORUS 17G. When using 1080p resolution and “extreme” graphical settings, Horizon Zero Dawn and Borderlands 3 are recommended. That marks a higher mark than any other gaming laptop we’ve examined before. ..
The AORUS 17G is a fast gaming laptop that averages about 150 frames per second in Apex Legends and Dirt Rally. This is good news for competitive players because it means the laptop can handle intense gameplay. The RTX 3080 GPU provides advanced capabilities like ray tracing and DLSS, which makes the laptop even more powerful. ..
DLSS can improve the frame rate of compatible games, while advanced lighting and shadow effects can be displayed.
Gigabyte Aorus 17G review: Battery life
The Gigabyte Aorus 17G gaming laptop has a really good battery life, allowing you to last six hours without a power supply. This is better than competing products like the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733, which only managed four hours and 43 minutes in our home battery test.
Our gaming time held up as well, with multiple Rust sessions easily averaging five hours and twenty minutes. Given that a typical gaming session lasts between three and five hours, you shouldn’t be concerned about playing away from a wall socket despite the fact that gaming laptops aren’t known for being able to run on battery for extended periods of time.
This laptop is best suited for people who are looking for a portable gaming laptop that is lightweight and has a powerful graphics card.
Gigabyte Aorus 17G review: Heat
The Aorus 17G laptop was able to keep its cool temperature even when streaming video. The touchpad, which had a temperature of 71.4 degrees Fahrenheit (21.89 degrees Celsius), was the coldest touchpoint, while the Centre of the keyboard (between the G&H keys) had a slightly higher temperature of 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius).
The laptop’s bottom typically reached 81.9 degrees Fahrenheit (27.72 degrees Celsius), but the center, which is immediately below the vents, did reach 85.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Configuration options
The Gigabyte Aorus 17G is a budget laptop that is currently on sale for $2,099, £2,199, or AU$3,599. This laptop is hardly a cheap option, but if you have the money to spend, you can upgrade to the more powerful RTX 3080 model for the pitiful amount of $2,699, £2,699, or AU$3,999.
This laptop is a great option for those who are looking for a powerful and cost-effective laptop. It has a similar spec build as the Alienware m17, but it starts at $2,149 (roughly £1,570, AU$1,770). Additionally, it is more cost-effective than laptops like the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733 at $2,999.99 / £2,499 (roughly AU$3,900) or the Razer Blade Pro 17 ($2,399.99 / £2,24).
The laptop has two M.2 slots for storage and two DDR4 slots for RAM upgrades, giving you some flexibility to add more hardware if necessary. The back can be opened with a screwdriver to reveal two M.2 slots for storage and two DDR4 slots for RAM upgrades, giving you some flexibility to add more hardware if necessary.
Conclusion
The Aorus 17G is a gaming laptop that sacrifices performance in favor of quiet. This is depending on the game being played. Games with high GPU- or CPU-bound demand will cause the Aorus 17G to suffer, while games with lower GPU- or CPU-bound demand will not.
The RTX 3080 for content creation apps, including GPU-based rendering or computing, is much less powerful than the 155-watt RTX 2080. That means that it can’t handle tasks that require a high level of performance, such as gaming or video editing. Even today, the Gigabyte Aorus 17G is one of the fastest gaming laptops available, and it is also far from being the noisiest.
