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

@Atom80 Just about to create USB backup to attempt a fresh windows 10 home install and Windows defender reports a trojan found and quarantined from Gigabyte Smart Update Software!!! Needless to say this is quite alarming. I've not yet done any significant browsing nor have I installed anything from a dubious source. In fact, discord, World of Tanks, Steam and Far Cry5 from within Steam are the only things aside from the supplied Gigabyte software.

Trojan:Win32/Fuery.D!cl

Alert level: Severe
Status: Quarantined
Date: 23/04/2018

Recommended action: Remove threat now.
Category: Trojan
Details: This program is dangerous and executes commands from an attack

Affected items:
file: C:\Program Files\Smart Update\temp\Smart_Update_v3.9.5.exe
 
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JimboJet said:
Just realised the right shift key backlight doesn't work at all, the Tab key is very feint
Click to expand...

Mine is the same. I'm not convinced it's that the backlight doesn't work as well; it looks to me like the keys' texts are deliberately more opaque. An odd design decision but one that doesn't bother me at all.
 
Edit, laughing. Tried to fix the errors in this message but it got quoted before I could, so to hell with it ...


Mark Keiller said:
Any opinions on opting for the 4K model with an extra 512Gb Samsung Pro Evo SSD, or do I just go with the 1080 (144Hz) model and not only get the extra SSD but also an extra 16Gb of RAM?
Click to expand...

I reckon that's a personal preference thing. Once I knew the SSD and memory was extendable, that became a non-issue. It's all down to the screen choice. For me, I've had a QHD laptop for years and haven't really liked it. I end up setting the scale to 200% and using it just like an FHD screen. Until I run across one of the many apps that doesn't support scaling. Then I'm screwed.

In addition, I have a super-wide monitor on my desktop for gaming, and I have to come down from the maximum settings on some games (despite a 1080GTX card). More pixels means more work for the powerful card you have in these laptops.

Everything's a compromise and I chose to not push the video card harder. I'd rather have realistic reflections on water than more pixels. But I wouldn't judge anyone who chose the other compromise.
 
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YeWhoEnter said:
I reckon that's a personal preference thing. Once I knew the SSD and memory was extendable, that became a non-issue. It's all down to the screen choice. For me, I've had a QHD laptop for years and haven't really liked it. I end up setting the scale to 200% and using it just like an FHD screen. Until I run across one of the many apps that doesn't support scaling. Then I'm screwed.

In addition, I have a super-wide monitor on my desktop for gaming, and I have to come down from the maximum settings on some games (despite a 1080GTX card). More pixels means more work for the powerful card you have in these laptops.

Everything's a compromise and I chose to not push the video card harder. I'd rather have realistic reflections on water than more pixels. But I wouldn't judge anyone who chose the other compromise.
Click to expand...

Yeah for those reasons I ended up going with the 1080p model + a Samsung Evo 500Gb SSD and another 16Gb of 2666mhz RAM to match the stock RAM.

Should have it this afternoon :)
 
I said I'd report back to this thread when I've used the laptop a bit more. Used it a lot for coding and image editing this weekend and I'm super-happy. Getting used to the keyboard and trackpad (to the point where I used my old laptop this morning and had to enter the password 5 times). The switches on the keyboard are a delight and I'm not feeling any wear on my hands after a lot of typing (my previous laptop was constantly bottoming out). It's fast and I can read the screen without straining, in a wide range of lighting situations.

After a few hours, the Aero 15X was running quieter and cooler (on my lap, on a hot day, on "Normal" fan configuration) than my old Lenovo Yoga, which came as a pleasant surprise. I've read a few complaints about gaming laptops still running warm and loud when you're not gaming. I can't speak for other gaming laptops, but this one certainly doesn't.

Took it off power for about 2.5 hours (from "Standard" charging setting) and the battery was still comfortably above 50%. This is about where I need it to be, if I go down the pub -- errm, I mean coffee shop -- to work for an afternoon, or travel somewhere and use it on the train. I rarely use a laptop off-power for any other reason. It may have been slightly throttled, but not so much that it would irritate me.

Today I think I'm going to try some gaming.

(Disclaimer: none of this commentary is benchmarked, because I found benchmark comparisons intimidating and confusing when I started down the path of buying a new laptop. All gaming laptops are powerful, each seems to excel at different things, but they're pretty much all good enough for most people. My commentary here is "How does it feel to me, a normal user, who chose this particular laptop as a good all-rounder?")
 
YeWhoEnter said:
I said I'd report back to this thread when I've used the laptop a bit more. Used it a lot for coding and image editing this weekend and I'm super-happy. Getting used to the keyboard and trackpad (to the point where I used my old laptop this morning and had to enter the password 5 times). The switches on the keyboard are a delight and I'm not feeling any wear on my hands after a lot of typing (my previous laptop was constantly bottoming out). It's fast and I can read the screen without straining, in a wide range of lighting situations.

After a few hours, the Aero 15X was running quieter and cooler (on my lap, on a hot day, on "Normal" fan configuration) than my old Lenovo Yoga, which came as a pleasant surprise. I've read a few complaints about gaming laptops still running warm and loud when you're not gaming. I can't speak for other gaming laptops, but this one certainly doesn't.

Took it off power for about 2.5 hours (from "Standard" charging setting) and the battery was still comfortably above 50%. This is about where I need it to be, if I go down the pub -- errm, I mean coffee shop -- to work for an afternoon, or travel somewhere and use it on the train. I rarely use a laptop off-power for any other reason. It may have been slightly throttled, but not so much that it would irritate me.

Today I think I'm going to try some gaming.

(Disclaimer: none of this commentary is benchmarked, because I found benchmark comparisons intimidating and confusing when I started down the path of buying a new laptop. All gaming laptops are powerful, each seems to excel at different things, but they're pretty much all good enough for most people. My commentary here is "How does it feel to me, a normal user, who chose this particular laptop as a good all-rounder?")
Click to expand...


Hi @YeWhoEnter - thanks for sharing your feedback with the forum, and we are delighted to read that the product is delivering for you.

Please be sure to not spill any beer, I mean coffee on the little bad boy,,, they don't enjoy a tipple, in or outside of "working" hours !

Thanks for choosing Gigabyte :)

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team
 
JimboJet said:
@Atom80 Just about to create USB backup to attempt a fresh windows 10 home install and Windows defender reports a trojan found and quarantined from Gigabyte Smart Update Software!!! Needless to say this is quite alarming. I've not yet done any significant browsing nor have I installed anything from a dubious source. In fact, discord, World of Tanks, Steam and Far Cry5 from within Steam are the only things aside from the supplied Gigabyte software.

Trojan:Win32/Fuery.D!cl

Alert level: Severe
Status: Quarantined
Date: 23/04/2018

Recommended action: Remove threat now.
Category: Trojan
Details: This program is dangerous and executes commands from an attack

Affected items:
file: C:\Program Files\Smart Update\temp\Smart_Update_v3.9.5.exe
Click to expand...



Hi @JimboJet - We have busy with R&D since spotting your post.....

Smart Update was confirmed safe before it was released yesterday. However each security protector has different ways to check for threats. We will be checking this situation with Microsoft asap, however you can get an updated version of Smart Update that our R&D just provide me from link below.

Smart_Update_v3.9.6

This updated version is safe and confirmed with BitDefender. You can reference the scan log HERE.

Hope that clarifies and gives peace of mind.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team
 
qiYcG


23 hours after ordering and I received my Aero 15X first impressions are great! No regrets about opting for the 1080p/144Hz model instead of waiting for the 4K screen. Having used a 4K screen on my work Dell XPS 9560 for the last year, I was a bit concerned I wouldn’t take to dropping back to 1080p - but this screen is absolutely amazing. Pin sharp, plenty bright and I can instantly see the difference with the high refresh rate.

I haven’t played any games on it yet but have tried editing some 4K footage in Adobe Premiere and it’s a breeze.

Smart Update software made it very easy to make sure I had all the drivers/firmware up to date.

Thanks @Atom80 for your help - think I’m going to love this laptop.
 
Mark Keiller said:
qiYcG


23 hours after ordering and I received my Aero 15X first impressions are great! No regrets about opting for the 1080p/144Hz model instead of waiting for the 4K screen. Having used a 4K screen on my work Dell XPS 9560 for the last year, I was a bit concerned I wouldn’t take to dropping back to 1080p - but this screen is absolutely amazing. Pin sharp, plenty bright and I can instantly see the difference with the high refresh rate.

I haven’t played any games on it yet but have tried editing some 4K footage in Adobe Premiere and it’s a breeze.

Smart Update software made it very easy to make sure I had all the drivers/firmware up to date.

Thanks @Atom80 for your help - think I’m going to love this laptop.
Click to expand...

Hi @Mark Keiller - really great news, thanks for posting your initial thoughts, glad the screen has met your expectations, and your first impressions of the machine are "great"

We trust you will be happily in "love" with it long into the future :-)

Thanks for choosing AERO15 from Gigabyte :-)

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team
 
I have to echo Mark's comments. It really is a fantastic machine. Doing a clean install as we speak before I go any further with it. The ssd reports 479gb available in the main partition before windows installed, I can see myself having to invest in a 2nd m2 drive fairly quickly :( Hopefully I will be able to find all the relevant drivers without too much trouble!
 
JimboJet said:
@Atom80 Just about to create USB backup to attempt a fresh windows 10 home install and Windows defender reports a trojan found and quarantined from Gigabyte Smart Update Software!!! Needless to say this is quite alarming. I've not yet done any significant browsing nor have I installed anything from a dubious source. In fact, discord, World of Tanks, Steam and Far Cry5 from within Steam are the only things aside from the supplied Gigabyte software.

Trojan:Win32/Fuery.D!cl

Alert level: Severe
Status: Quarantined
Date: 23/04/2018

Recommended action: Remove threat now.
Category: Trojan
Details: This program is dangerous and executes commands from an attack

Affected items:
file: C:\Program Files\Smart Update\temp\Smart_Update_v3.9.5.exe
Click to expand...

Just to be sure is it possible another device on your network is infected and it spread from there before the installation of Windows on the laptop was patched with latest updates? it is a common attack vector for some variants of that threat.
 
Played quite a lot of XCOM 2 on the Aero 15X last night. Visually, it is spectacular. No regrets buying the HD screen; there is very little need for more pixels on a 15" screen and the high refresh rate, in conjunction with the graphics card and processor makes everything smooth as silk (I had one judder in a landing-party cut scene, but XCOM 2 does that on most machines, in my experience).

Of course, most of that is going to be true of any new-gen gaming laptop. The cooling system is what matters here. I tried running it on my lap for over 2 hours on both Normal and Gaming fan modes.

On Normal, the fans are obviously very audible, but not exceptionally loud. It's not going to disrupt other people in the room's enjoyment of the TV or anything like that. The laptop does run hot but it's less-than-comfortable but not unbearable. And the heat is mostly focused at the back of the kit. You're not going to burn your hands on the keyboard or trackpad after a while. One caveat: it does get warm (not really hot) either side of the trackpad, where the ball of your hands often rest.

Switching to Gaming, the fans went really quiet for a short period, which made me think I'd done something wrong. But, when they crank up, they are loud. I could hear it quite clearly a room away, with a washing machine running; this is definitely likely to irritate people around you. On the other hand, it does the job. The hand rests go from warm to cool; the back of the case goes from hot to warm. And, while loud, there's no whining noise underneath, like you get from some fans. It's more like having a Dyson Air fan than sitting in the cabin of a plane.

So I guess you pays your money and make your choice, which can only be a good thing. When I'm on my own, I'd rather run the machine cooler. If other people are around, particularly if I can put it on a table, I'd rather run it quieter. For me, those two settings are perfect; if you want to customise it more finely, there's an option to do that too.

Special shout-out for the speakers too. I intended to switch over to headphones after a while, but didn't see much point in the end. The sound is way better than your average laptop and the positioning somehow makes stereo effects work.

I continue to be impressed. You wouldn't believe it, reading my messages in this thread, but I'm generally easily irritated.
 
Reinstall of win 10 completed, and i have to say it was probably a waste of time - The bloatware that I had problems with being on the machine from the factory before was part of windows 10, not Gigabyte's and I didn't see a custom option for the win 10 installer. The drivers are fully up to date now and the machine is working well so far. Driver downloads from Gigabytes support site are pain free and reasonably quick and easy to perform.

One issue I do have with the gigabyte software is that there is a popup window asking for permission for Gigabyte to collect configuration data from your machine with only a "yes I agree" checkbox or the close window X, meaning it pops up every time you boot unless you accept. I don't want to allow this, so give me the option to remove it, in its present state it's highly annoying. - I'm sorry but i've forgotten the name of this software "Gigabyte X style" maybe?


As a side effect of the intake fan positioning and keyboard design, under load I've noticed you actually get cool airflow through the keys to your fingers, its a nice touch and really allows the the keyboard to stay at very modest (relatively cool) temperature. In fact your wrists get a little warmer than this as the metal chassis design conducts the heat to this area too.

Presently, the power cord enters at the right hand side of the machine into the mouse area (right handed users!) . It's a minor point but still significant, for future designs it would be way better to have the power cord with a 90 degree bend type plug to direct the cord away to the rear (which is where everyone will send it anyway!) from the side and would also reduce stress on the PCB power connector which is a frequent source of failure with notebooks.

Further info: just did a quick benchmark in FarCry 5 with all graphics settings ultra/maximum and resolution multiplier at 1.2 for added quality and I got 54 min/62 average/73 Max fps, V-sync off. (1920x1080)
 
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JimboJet said:
I have to echo Mark's comments. It really is a fantastic machine. Doing a clean install as we speak before I go any further with it. The ssd reports 479gb available in the main partition before windows installed, I can see myself having to invest in a 2nd m2 drive fairly quickly :( Hopefully I will be able to find all the relevant drivers without too much trouble!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback JimboJet, appreciated.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team
 
JimboJet said:
Reinstall of win 10 completed, and i have to say it was probably a waste of time - The bloatware that I had problems with being on the machine from the factory before was part of windows 10, not Gigabyte's and I didn't see a custom option for the win 10 installer. The drivers are fully up to date now and the machine is working well so far. Driver downloads from Gigabytes support site are pain free and reasonably quick and easy to perform.

One issue I do have with the gigabyte software is that there is a popup window asking for permission for Gigabyte to collect configuration data from your machine with only a "yes I agree" checkbox or the close window X, meaning it pops up every time you boot unless you accept. I don't want to allow this, so give me the option to remove it, in its present state it's highly annoying. - I'm sorry but i've forgotten the name of this software "Gigabyte X style" maybe?


As a side effect of the intake fan positioning and keyboard design, under load I've noticed you actually get cool airflow through the keys to your fingers, its a nice touch and really allows the the keyboard to stay at very modest (relatively cool) temperature. In fact your wrists get a little warmer than this as the metal chassis design conducts the heat to this area too.

Presently, the power cord enters at the right hand side of the machine into the mouse area (right handed users!) . It's a minor point but still significant, for future designs it would be way better to have the power cord with a 90 degree bend type plug to direct the cord away to the rear (which is where everyone will send it anyway!) from the side and would also reduce stress on the PCB power connector which is a frequent source of failure with notebooks.

Further info: just did a quick benchmark in FarCry 5 with all graphics settings ultra/maximum and resolution multiplier at 1.2 for added quality and I got 54 min/62 average/73 Max fps, V-sync off. (1920x1080)
Click to expand...


Hi again @JimboJet- thanks again.

We will ask the question about the software pop up....

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team
 
Atom, is there any way to disassemble the screen?

I want to replace the internal panel but I can't figure how how to get the display assembly apart. I can't find any discussion of this online.
I don't mind if it voids warranty, but is it even possible?

Thanks.
 
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