Gigabyte Aero 15 X Gaming Notebook With GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q Graphics

[OCdude]

Dave 2D review of the refreshed 15x:

 

[Shinoke]

Yeah just watched that coincidentally.

What concerns me are some comments made by others about the cooling.

Wasn't aware of the new MSI offering in the MSI GS65
That apparently has much better cooling (more fans and heat pipes)

I was put off by the previous MSI offering - the MSI GS63 - because of the potentially low build quality, and small battery.

Then discovered the Gigabyte Aero last year, which I wasn't even aware of.

But the MSI GS63's battery is larger than before, albeit not as large as the Gigabyte Aero, and it looks decent.

 

[OCdude]

Yeah just watched that coincidentally.

What concerns me are some comments made by others about the cooling.

Wasn't aware of the new MSI offering in the MSI GS65
That apparently has much better cooling (more fans and heat pipes)

I was put off by the previous MSI offering - the MSI GS63 - because of the potentially low build quality, and small battery.

Then discovered the Gigabyte Aero last year, which I wasn't even aware of.

But the MSI GS63's battery is larger than before, albeit not as large as the Gigabyte Aero, and it looks decent.

From what I've read, the updated 15x is actually louder than the old one. Not sure how much that would bother me...

I might wait to see how the X5 stacks up and then make a decision. MSI is also a viable option, but I'm not sure if they have 2x M.2 slots... which I definitely need.

 

[Atom80]

Hi @Atom80 - very useful to see a Gigabyte Rep posting on forums! I've had a DELL XPS 9560 at work for the last year but will be moving to Australia in May. I had originally planned to get the new XPS 9570 before someone brought the Aero 15X to my attention and I realised it blew the DELL out of the water with its specs. The 1070 GPU vs the 1050Ti is a massive thing because I'll no longer have a desktop and need a laptop on which I can play games and also edit 4K footage etc.

Literally the only thing giving me concern is this; what is Gigabyte's policy around the international warranty? I'll be buying the laptop through Overclockers but will then be moving to Australia. OC Sales Rep seemed to think that if I needed a repair in the warranty period - I would have to send it back to the UK at my own expense and then pay for it to get sent back to Australia. Given there is a Gigabyte Service Centre in Australia, would I just be able to send it to them if it needed repaired?

Thanks in advance for any help as I'm practically hovering over the Add To Basket option

Hi @Mark Keiller - Sorry for the confusion with the information provided to you. To confirm, buying from OCUK, and then travelling to Australia wont impact on your warranty support. The Warranty is International, and yes because there is a Service Centre in Australia, you would be able to access this under your warranty.

Hope that clarifies the situation and gives your the assurances you need.

Best Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[Atom80]

Hi zaxbysauce - sorry for the delay - we will feed this straight into our R&D contacts and see what we can find out for you. Taiwan is on public holiday until Monday, so please give us a few days to come back to you.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

@Atom80 I have a question about my 15x that I've been crawling the internet for since I got it several months ago. Can the model that does not come with a RAID array pre-configured have an array made later? I am a systems engineer with a dozen years of industry experience and I still can't quite figure this out. I have also called Gigabyte Tech Support and was told the engineering team would be looking into my issue and get back to me but that was over 2 months ago. I have 2 1tb NVMe drives installed, I flip the BIOS over to Intel RST, but as soon as I do the BIOS only sees 1 NVMe drive and RST manager in Windows shows nothing at all under storage. However, both drives are seen normally by Windows and perform perfectly fine as two separate entities when the BIOS is set to either AHCI or Intel RST Premium. I just do not like managing two separate storage pools and would much prefer one large 2tb space instead of two 1tb spaces. Any help would be much appreciated and thanks in advance.

HI again @zaxbysauce,,,,,

Have had reply to confirm that it is possible to do what you want,,, here is the advise:

• User should enter BIOS setup utility again after they switch storage controller mode to Intel RST.
• They will find a RAID controller option in advance tab not exist in AHCI mode.
• Use that function to build RAID storage they want.

Let us know if that works for you.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team,

 

[Mark Keiller]

Hi @Mark Keiller - Sorry for the confusion with the information provided to you. To confirm, buying from OCUK, and then travelling to Australia wont impact on your warranty support. The Warranty is International, and yes because there is a Service Centre in Australia, you would be able to access this under your warranty.

Hope that clarifies the situation and gives your the assurances you need.

Best Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

Thanks @Atom80 I noticed an Australian retailer that mentions Gigabyte offer a pick up and return service for any repairs under warranty. Would I also be entitled to this if I had bought the laptop in the UK?

I could just order the laptop from them and save a few hundred £ because of the exchange rate (would just have it delivered to my partner over there in Sydney), but I'm not moving until May 19th and could really use the laptop in advance of going over there.

 

[Shinoke]

@Atom80 Can you let us know how often Gigabyte refresh their laptops?

As The GTX 11 series is expected in June/July, with the laptop variants shortly after I believe.

So the GTX 1170 for example should be avaiable for Gigabyte to offer in the Aero 15X around the time of the year the Aero 15 was first released.

NVIDIA seem to be on a roll with their mobile GPUs, and the 12nm process of the 11 series should see major performance and efficiency improvements?
So we could have similar performance but better thermals or similar thermals with quite a performance increase it seems.

Not sure how regularly the mobile GPUs get refreshed, and how regularly Gigabyte add new processors and graphics cards to their laptops - but ignoring Max-q the current cards are a couple of years old now? So waiting 4-6 months for the new card could make sense.

Or anyone else got any thoughts?

You can always wait for the newer tech, but certain times do make sense - e.g. this year with the new Intel processors already included, and the new NVIDIA GPUs expected later this year.

 

[Atom80]

Thanks @Atom80 I noticed an Australian retailer that mentions Gigabyte offer a pick up and return service for any repairs under warranty. Would I also be entitled to this if I had bought the laptop in the UK?

I could just order the laptop from them and save a few hundred £ because of the exchange rate (would just have it delivered to my partner over there in Sydney), but I'm not moving until May 19th and could really use the laptop in advance of going over there.

Hi @Mark Keiller - the warranty should be supported in the same way, "collect and return" courier covered by Gigabyte to the local support centre.

Which product is it you are looking to purchase, and maybe we can advise on accurate ETA which will help with your decision.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[Mark Keiller]

@Atom80 it’s the Aero 15X (4K) model I’m wanting to order. That would be perfect if the warranty includes ‘collect and return’ to the local Gigabyte Service Centre - I’ve had lots of differing information about this so would appreciate 100% clarification that I would be covered in Australia for that service even if I had bought the laptop in the UK.

I logged a ticket on the Gigabyte support center asking the same thing but they just said:

“For AERO 15X (i7-8750H), GIGABYTE Global service will be 1 year from the date of purchase. Users will have to register the product online by filling in the online registration form. We will not provide global warranty if users do not register the product online completely. Please be aware.”

Thanks for your help!

 

[Mark Keiller]

@Atom80 - retailer in Australia (affordablelaptops.com.au) said:

“You may need to clarify this through Gigabyte but as far as I am aware, if you purchase the laptop in Australia with a receipt for warranty then the pickup and return service is for that country only.

It does have international warranty but you have to take it in to that service centre if you are overseas from the country that you purchased the laptop from.”

 

[Atom80]

@Atom80 it’s the Aero 15X (4K) model I’m wanting to order. That would be perfect if the warranty includes ‘collect and return’ to the local Gigabyte Service Centre - I’ve had lots of differing information about this so would appreciate 100% clarification that I would be covered in Australia for that service even if I had bought the laptop in the UK.

I logged a ticket on the Gigabyte support center asking the same thing but they just said:

“For AERO 15X (i7-8750H), GIGABYTE Global service will be 1 year from the date of purchase. Users will have to register the product online by filling in the online registration form. We will not provide global warranty if users do not register the product online completely. Please be aware.”

Thanks for your help!

@Atom80 - retailer in Australia (affordablelaptops.com.au) said:

“You may need to clarify this through Gigabyte but as far as I am aware, if you purchase the laptop in Australia with a receipt for warranty then the pickup and return service is for that country only.

It does have international warranty but you have to take it in to that service centre if you are overseas from the country that you purchased the laptop from.”

Hi @Mark Keiller - really sorry for the confusion caused.

We are looking into why you have been given incorrect details from Gigabyte, and have also let AU team know that re-seller also supplying incorrect details.

to clarify:

• Warranty is full 2 Year International Warranty on all Gigabyte and AORUS products
• Buying in UK, and then moving to Australia doesn't affect warranty in any way - you have the same support and access as in the country you made the purchase - ie if your unit required service / repair locally in Australia, you have the same terms as in UK - Collect and Return to service centre is covered by our warranty

Could you please let us know exactly where (post link) you logged the question with Gigabyte and received the above information.

Sorry again for the confusion, hope that clears it up for you.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[Mark Keiller]

That's great @Atom80 thank you for taking the time to check and clarify!

More than happy to proceed with ordering the laptop through OCUK now - did you guys have a better idea of availability date?

The ticket was logged through the Gigabyte eSupport site, and they actually just replied echoing what you said as well:

"We are sorry that after double checking with relevant parties, AERO 15 (I7-8750H) has 2 years globe warranty. If after-sales service needed in Australia, you may please contact directly with our Australia service center as the information below for the warranty service.

GIGABYTE Australia Branch
Address: Unit 1, 19-23 Clarinda Road, Oakleigh South, VIC 3167, Australia
TEL: 61-3-8561-6288
Note:
1. Pick Up and Return Service for notebook/ netbook covered by warranty in Australia is provided. Please contact GIGABYTE Australia Branch for details.
2. Please do NOT take any action (send out the product or visit our service center directly) before contact our service center. If you do not contact our service center to get further information, our staff will not be able to proceed the case. We appreciate your cooperation.
3. Before sending the laptop for repairing, make sure you have backup files in advance."

 

[dreamcat4]

Hi Gigabyte Rep (atom80). - Whilst you are onto this particular aspect (and can be so easily reached about this same matter), i happened to notice that another major UK retailer (s**n, sorry I cannot say who they are due to the OCUK forum rules). Well they also have a misprint as such. And are also not correctly advertising the RTB period of the warranty. It is showing over there as 14 month (instead of the full 24 months). So you might also want to let them know over there too. To ask them to make a similar type correction. You have to click the 'Warranty' tab on their aero15x product page to see it. Have a nice day.

 

[Shinoke]

Having talked on live chat to the retailer above I'd never use them anyway.

I asked them about dead pixels and they said if there are any below Gigabyte's policy you'd have to return the £2k laptop at your own cost within 14 days as a change of mind.

Gigabyte's pixel policy seems to be a full cluster of 5 pixels, which seems pretty poor.

Can anybody shed light on how one could expect a single or two dead pixels to be handled by OC or Gigabyte?

There's no way any dead pixels are acceptable when spending £2k+, and having to pay to return if you find one isn't good enough either really.

My understanding is that Dell will refund/replace for a single dead pixel.

 

[zaxbysauce]

Hi @Atom80,

I appreciate the quick response and elevation to the engineering team, however, there seems to be a disconnect between what is expected to occur in the current BIOS vs what I am seeing locally. I have tried all 3 BIOS versions currently available and none of them display any ability to create a RAID array at the BIOS level. I have attached screenshots of all the relevant BIOS screens here. Let me know if you need anything further and again I really appreciate the help. Standard Gigabyte tech support has been very limited help so far. As you can see below, there is no option to create, modify, or do anything with a RAID array. I have also tabbed out of the splash screen on boot and verified there are no prompts for array creation there. Thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/pTMc27p.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tXfRLFR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ptXNkBl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0wFtqMh.jpg

 

[MiSJAH]

Hi @Atom80,

I appreciate the quick response and elevation to the engineering team, however, there seems to be a disconnect between what is expected to occur in the current BIOS vs what I am seeing locally. I have tried all 3 BIOS versions currently available and none of them display any ability to create a RAID array at the BIOS level. I have attached screenshots of all the relevant BIOS screens here. Let me know if you need anything further and again I really appreciate the help. Standard Gigabyte tech support has been very limited help so far. As you can see below, there is no option to create, modify, or do anything with a RAID array. I have also tabbed out of the splash screen on boot and verified there are no prompts for array creation there. Thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/pTMc27p.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tXfRLFR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ptXNkBl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0wFtqMh.jpg

In the BIOS.

Advanced > SATA And RST Configuration - will give you the options of RAID array.

 

[Atom80]

That's great @Atom80 thank you for taking the time to check and clarify!

More than happy to proceed with ordering the laptop through OCUK now - did you guys have a better idea of availability date?

The ticket was logged through the Gigabyte eSupport site, and they actually just replied echoing what you said as well:

"We are sorry that after double checking with relevant parties, AERO 15 (I7-8750H) has 2 years globe warranty. If after-sales service needed in Australia, you may please contact directly with our Australia service center as the information below for the warranty service.

GIGABYTE Australia Branch
Address: Unit 1, 19-23 Clarinda Road, Oakleigh South, VIC 3167, Australia
TEL: 61-3-8561-6288
Note:
1. Pick Up and Return Service for notebook/ netbook covered by warranty in Australia is provided. Please contact GIGABYTE Australia Branch for details.
2. Please do NOT take any action (send out the product or visit our service center directly) before contact our service center. If you do not contact our service center to get further information, our staff will not be able to proceed the case. We appreciate your cooperation.
3. Before sending the laptop for repairing, make sure you have backup files in advance."

Hi - yes there has been a few internal emails, so I thought you might have had replies from different parts of our organization - should now be consistent and also it brought to light some text on web-sites that has now also been updated - so thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Regarding ETA for the UHD version - it should be here in the next couple of weeks, but if it doesn't tie in with your date to travel to Australia, you will obviously be able to purchase over there.

Thanks again,

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[Atom80]

Hi Gigabyte Rep (atom80). - Whilst you are onto this particular aspect (and can be so easily reached about this same matter), i happened to notice that another major UK retailer (s**n, sorry I cannot say who they are due to the OCUK forum rules). Well they also have a misprint as such. And are also not correctly advertising the RTB period of the warranty. It is showing over there as 14 month (instead of the full 24 months). So you might also want to let them know over there too. To ask them to make a similar type correction. You have to click the 'Warranty' tab on their aero15x product page to see it. Have a nice day.

Hi @dreamcat4 - thanks for spotting this mistake, we have notified the re-seller and expect it to be corrected very soon,

Our favorite time,,,, listing new products at the beginning of the cycle

Thanks again.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[Mark Keiller]

Hi - yes there has been a few internal emails, so I thought you might have had replies from different parts of our organization - should now be consistent and also it brought to light some text on web-sites that has now also been updated - so thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Regarding ETA for the UHD version - it should be here in the next couple of weeks, but if it doesn't tie in with your date to travel to Australia, you will obviously be able to purchase over there.

Thanks again,

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

Awesome thanks again @Atom80 Another UK retailer has it listed as April 19th but I've submitted by email on the OCUK page so I get notified when it becomes available instead of pre-ordering just in case.

Do you anticipate stock issues in terms of a delay if you didn't pre-order?

 

[Atom80]

Hi @Atom80,

I appreciate the quick response and elevation to the engineering team, however, there seems to be a disconnect between what is expected to occur in the current BIOS vs what I am seeing locally. I have tried all 3 BIOS versions currently available and none of them display any ability to create a RAID array at the BIOS level. I have attached screenshots of all the relevant BIOS screens here. Let me know if you need anything further and again I really appreciate the help. Standard Gigabyte tech support has been very limited help so far. As you can see below, there is no option to create, modify, or do anything with a RAID array. I have also tabbed out of the splash screen on boot and verified there are no prompts for array creation there. Thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/pTMc27p.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tXfRLFR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ptXNkBl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0wFtqMh.jpg

Hi @zaxbysauce - is it possible for you to send me TRUST message and I will hook you up directly with my R&D contact in HQ.

If you can send email address or even better skype address and we can support you that way to solve the problem

Let us know,

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team