Help wanted - quiet, small, powerful gaming laptop

[PaulfromtheHill]

I'm currently running a Gigabyte P34-W3 with a 970m graphics card. Great little laptop, temperature management not great which means I have to drop settings to stop throttling. The noise of the fans drive me mad.

I am in a position whereby I can upgrade, budget not really an issue but would ideally be <£2k. In an ideal world, this would get me a 1070 max-q with a QHD screen. I understand the Max-Q cards to be quieter on the fans due to a lower power draw, the QHD screen is a sweet spot for me between FHD and 4K. It needs to be something around 15" and something that is slim, not a brick would be ideal.

Unfortunately there is nothing that comes in at that sort of specs and the compromise is either on the graphics card or the screen resolution. I've looked at the Gigabyte Aero x15 - nice, but the compromise is on the screen (FHD, not QHD), availability is also an issue which means whenever I've been close to pulling the trigger, there are none available. The Asus GX501 Zephyrus looks great, has a better graphics card but is still only kicking an FHD screen which at the price point I just can't get my head around. The Aorus X5-V7 ticks all of the boxes, however is slightly larger and has a full 1070 card - great for performance however I am concerned that the fan noise will be no better than my P34.

Am I missing anything? I haven't looked at machines with a 1060 as I'm not convinced that there is a significant performance gain over my 970m if running at QHD on the Gigabyte Aero 14's (i.e. could it power games at the higher resolution at high / ultra settings?) - is this correct?

I didn't see anything coming out of CES suggesting range refreshes over and above what is out there at the moment so not sure I would gain anything by waiting. Any thoughts / options that you could add to my thinking would be appreciated.

 

[MiSJAH]

Hey @PaulfromtheHill

With your present P34 have you tried using WhisperMode in Geforce experience? (In effect this does something very similar to Max-Q, downclocks the card to improve thermals and noise).

The middle ground of all the notebooks you mention is the AORUS X5;

X5 V6-CF1 - This is a WQHD+ 2880x1620 with a full fat GTX 1070. I have the X5V6 1080p @ 120Hz, but for size and performance but it's hard to beat.

For the best temps/noise I would suggest an undervolt on GPU/CPU and using WhisperMode for the best results.

 

[PaulfromtheHill]

Hi MiSJAH, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I don't think WhisperMode is available on the 9 Series (1060 onwards). The thermals on the P34 are so bad, anything that slows the fans is likely to cause even more throttling.

I am completely torn - having thought it through further, as I travel a reasonable amount decided to put a pre-order down on a 15x Aero and take the hit on the screen due to size and weight. I haven't been able to get a view as to when stock is arriving though, impatience may get the better of me and cause a switch to the X5 (although I did also manage to get a pretty good price quoted on a Zephyrus as well yesterday!).

 

[PaulfromtheHill]

Impatience won. No ETA on the Aero 15X stock - should be receiving a lovely new X5-V7 CF3 tomorrow

 

[MiSJAH]

Impatience won. No ETA on the Aero 15X stock - should be receiving a lovely new X5-V7 CF3 tomorrow

Very nice. Enjoy!

 

[PaulfromtheHill]

It's fantastic.......maybe a little larger than I wanted. The performance and display are absolutely stunning though (and compared to the P34, it's quiet - very quiet !).

 

[MiSJAH]

It's fantastic.......maybe a little larger than I wanted. The performance and display are absolutely stunning though (and compared to the P34, it's quiet - very quiet !).

Yeah AORUS as a brand and as a physical machine are outstanding.

 

[SSS777]

The zephyrus looks amazing especially with the 1080 max q a powerful beauty.

 

[PaulfromtheHill]

I couldn't agree more - just very expensive........ Had it been the same price as the X5, would have been a no-brainer. Still very pleased with my choice (despite the fact it's now £100 cheaper than I paid for it, with a free rucksack !).

 

[MiSJAH]

The zephyrus looks amazing especially with the 1080 max q a powerful beauty.

If the Max-Q 1080 had better performance than the non Max-Q 1070 in the X5 I would have considered it.

 

[Atom80]

I couldn't agree more - just very expensive........ Had it been the same price as the X5, would have been a no-brainer. Still very pleased with my choice (despite the fact it's now £100 cheaper than I paid for it, with a free rucksack !).

Hi @PaulfromtheHill - thanks for choosing AORUS, and "ouch" re price and bundle with rucksack that was activated this week.

Although we can't control the price paid, as a goodwill gesture we would like to provide you with the AORUS rucksack

Therefore, can you please post your invoice ref, so we can access address details through OCUK and get one shipped out to you FOC.

Alternatively, please TRUST message us with your address details and invoice ref, and we can do that way.

Hope that's OK.

If the rucksack is not needed, still do the above and we will send you some AORUS gifts with a value equal to the rucksack (£99).

Look forward to hearing back from you and glad that you are enjoying the machine.

Regards,

Team AORUS

 

[PaulfromtheHill]

@Atom80 that's an amazing gesture, many thanks. Another reason to be very pleased with my purchase!

I've sent you a Trust message.

 

[Atom80]

@Atom80 that's an amazing gesture, many thanks. Another reason to be very pleased with my purchase!

I've sent you a Trust message.

Received, thanks Paul.

Regards,

Atom80

 

[pigeonguyuk]

I couldn't agree more - just very expensive........ Had it been the same price as the X5, would have been a no-brainer. Still very pleased with my choice (despite the fact it's now £100 cheaper than I paid for it, with a free rucksack !).

that's what 14 day DSR periods are for. Regardless of the company, tell them you want to send back for full refund so you can rebuy at reduced price. 9/10 times they will be like don't send back, we will refund/recharge at lower price and refund the difference. This avoids them costs in the RMA/returns process

 

[PaulfromtheHill]

@pigeonguyuk that's one way of dealing with it. Having worked in retail, I know how these things work and wouldn't want OC to take any kind of hit. I love their service and offer and want them to prosper and trade in the future - behaviour like the above eats into their margin and we'll only have mega- traders left. I knew what the price was when I bought it (OC price matched a competitor) and accepted it at the point of transaction - despite the offer, remained over the moon with my purchase.

In this instance, I am delighted that @Atom80 stepped in on behalf of the manufacturer (who are likely to be behind pricing offers) and without asking, did everything he could to rectify the situation. I received a sack (yes sack, not bag) full of goodies through the post earlier in the week that more than compensated a situation that required no compensation.

I'm a very happy customer, both of OC and Gigabyte/Aorus.