Gaming Laptops

[RedViking]

R36k
This is my first foray into gaming laptops, and wanted to try and get something that would last 5yrs. There is a notable voice urging people to shy away from Intel and move to the superior AMD processors (3rd and 4th gen). If you plan on using any gaming laptop for productivity, AMD is a clear winner. For gaming, the difference is not large.

That being said, the 15P is reasonably cheaper than any other 3070 laptop I've seen so far.

I do agree on Windows.... I am not sure how licensing at Gigabyte/ASUS/MSI etc works, but perhaps that is where a couple thousand was saved?

I don't think it is bad. The notebook I am looking at is 50-70K. It won't replace my Desktop though, but would be awesome to be mobile again.

Another thing a must have for me is min. 3 years ONSITE warranty. Dell wins hands down then.

I also don't want anything that has to do with Part Serve. Not sure who does Gigabyte.

Battery. If you want to keep it 5 years, battery is first to go. So you look at replacing the battery at least once. So you would want to make sure you can easily get stock of the OEM battery.

For that I will just consider getting a warranty extension on a Dell. Batteries are not cheap. So 5 year onsite warranty. That is if it includes battery?

So when you look at buying a high end notebook, there is more to consider than the specs.

 

[mr_norris]

I'll be more cautious around the opening/closing of the lid anyways.

I treated my laptop like a queen and pray to the hinge Gods every time I'm about to open it. It didn't help at all Maybe, just maybe, they have improved things with their design.

 

[RedViking]

I treated my laptop like a queen and pray to the hinge Gods every time I'm about to open it. It didn't help at all Maybe, just maybe, they have improved things with their design.

Maybe you are just a little bit... unhinged.

 

[InvisibleJim]

I treated my laptop like a queen and pray to the hinge Gods every time I'm about to open it. It didn't help at all Maybe, just maybe, they have improved things with their design.

Did you sacrifice a virgin? If not, that's probably where you went wrong.

 

[PhreeMe]

For that I will just consider getting a warranty extension on a Dell. Batteries are not cheap. So 5 year onsite warranty. That is if it includes battery?

So when you look at buying a high end notebook, there is more to consider than the specs.

Very much the case.
As such, one of the most important things to me is thermals. Cooler running in theory should mean better lasting so I bought a cooler pad just to try and help.

They don't seem to make the largest difference, but where reviewers did thermal testing with and without the cooler, there was some help. This was during stress tests, so I doubt I'd see the same "saving", but I'll keep an eye out anyways.

 

[PsyWulf]

I don't think it is bad. The notebook I am looking at is 50-70K. It won't replace my Desktop though, but would be awesome to be mobile again.

Another thing a must have for me is min. 3 years ONSITE warranty. Dell wins hands down then.

I also don't want anything that has to do with Part Serve. Not sure who does Gigabyte.

Battery. If you want to keep it 5 years, battery is first to go. So you look at replacing the battery at least once. So you would want to make sure you can easily get stock of the OEM battery.

For that I will just consider getting a warranty extension on a Dell. Batteries are not cheap. So 5 year onsite warranty. That is if it includes battery?

So when you look at buying a high end notebook, there is more to consider than the specs.

Some machines allow you to leave the battery less than maximum charge to lessen the stress it takes of charge/discharge cycles. Obviously that cuts your available power though
(my MSI is set to 80%)

 

[RedViking]

Very much the case.
As such, one of the most important things to me is thermals. Cooler running in theory should mean better lasting so I bought a cooler pad just to try and help.

They don't seem to make the largest difference, but where reviewers did thermal testing with and without the cooler, there was some help. This was during stress tests, so I doubt I'd see the same "saving", but I'll keep an eye out anyways.

Yeah, cooler pads don't do a thing. Might save your legs or desk. These notebooks run HOT

 

[PsyWulf]

Yeah, cooler pads don't do a thing. Might save your legs or desk. These notebooks run HOT

Depends ofc where the heat is situated and the cooler design

For my Gigabyte the coolpad I had was difference between crash and stable
Current one is like a fuzzy aluminum heatsink with fans,judgement out on that but the theory is sound

 

[L-Dog]

Anyone evey heard of Mythic gaming? They appear to build their own laptops like wootware

Mythic Ultra – Mythic Gaming

mythicgaming.co.za

 

[e4et]

Never heard of them but that's a pretty sweet price for a 2070 super.

 

[PhreeMe]

Quick writeup for any concerned.
I got my Aorus 15P XC on Friday. I don't have much in the way of games to test the hardware, but here's my experience so far:

Star Trek Online -> 150 - 180 fps -> Maxed settings
Genshin Impact -> 60 fps (locked sadly) -> Maxed settings
Cyberpunk 2077 -> 62 fps -> Ray Tracing Ultra setting

The 0.1% low for Cyberpunk was 39.

These numbers could be better if I chose a more aggressive profile for the CPU, but wanted to see what the stock numbers would be out the box. Out of the tested games, Cyberpunk was the only game where I actively monitored temperature. On default settings the GPU averaged 75°C and the CPU 78°C. Leaving my CPU profile the same but creating a more aggressive fan curve brought the CPU and GPU to 73°C. Comparing this to numbers I've seen from other laptop reviews with the same specs, this is actually very respectable.

That being said, I feel like the heat shield on the keyboard side could use some work. In the first games tested, it was warm to the hand but in a more demanding title like Cyberpunk it got hot - not to the point I could hold my hand anywhere on my pc but you KNOW it is hot. The area above the two internal cooling fans was quite cool fortunately, so gaming is comfortable as the WASD section is covered.

Gigabyte could use some pointers when it comes to their monitoring software in my opinion. Showing temperatures on a gaming laptop shouldn't be a luxury, however I had to resort to MSI Afterburner's overlay to get meaningful info - that includes GPU and CPU frequencies.

Pros:
It's a beast
Can run quite cool
Clear and colourful display (pantone certified)
Buttery smooth refresh rate (240 hz)

Cons:
Centre of the keyboard side of the laptop gets hot when being pushed
Software has glaring omissions
No HDD LED indicator
Battery life is not great (2 hours) if left on anything other than power saving

I'll answer anything else I can if there are any questions.

 

[L-Dog]

Nice what is the weight like ? Did you get a local or imported version? Full specs

 

[PsyWulf]

Anyone evey heard of Mythic gaming? They appear to build their own laptops like wootware

Mythic Ultra – Mythic Gaming

mythicgaming.co.za

Well Woot didn't build so much as Oem/Rebrand but those machines were good

I've seen Mythic on FB,specs looked decent for price

 

[PhreeMe]

Nice what is the weight like ? Did you get a local or imported version? Full specs

Got it from Wootware, so local.
I haven't weighed it, but it's heavy... I'd estimate around 2.5kg - 3.0kg

Specs:
i7 - 10870H
32gb DDR4 2933MHz
RTX 3070 115w - the nVidia control panel lists it as 130w, so includes the 15w dynamic boost.
512gb NVMe SSD - 1 spare NVMe port for expansion.
1080p 240hz panel

1 x USB type C - not Thunderbolt
3 x USB 3.2

Not sure if there was anything specific you were looking for?

 

[Hamster]

MacBook Air M1 8GB RAM

WoW

Max settings with reduced shadow and water quality
30-60 FPS depending on what you do

Switch it to medium settings
40-60 FPS.... heat, what heat?


Now I know it's not a gaming laptop but considering it's size, the absence of fans and dedicated GPU it's pretty impressive.

/runs from all the overpriced "gaming laptops" that will be redundant in 2 years time

 

[Arzy]

MacBook Air M1 8GB RAM

WoW

Max settings with reduced shadow and water quality
30-60 FPS depending on what you do

Switch it to medium settings
40-60 FPS.... heat, what heat?


Now I know it's not a gaming laptop but considering it's size, the absence of fans and dedicated GPU it's pretty impressive.

/runs from all the overpriced "gaming laptops" that will be redundant in 2 years time

/chuckles

 

[Arzy]

Hoping to get my beast early next week. Unless they let me know on Friday or Saturday that is there at which point I go fetch it.

 

[PsyWulf]

MacBook Air M1 8GB RAM

WoW

Max settings with reduced shadow and water quality
30-60 FPS depending on what you do

Switch it to medium settings
40-60 FPS.... heat, what heat?


Now I know it's not a gaming laptop but considering it's size, the absence of fans and dedicated GPU it's pretty impressive.

/runs from all the overpriced "gaming laptops" that will be redundant in 2 years time

Don't worry,at least those laptops will still be able to run up-to-date apps in 5 years,while the macbook will be a potato with outdated OS,spyware,and become relegated to kids-puter

 

[Hamster]

Don't worry,at least those laptops will still be able to run up-to-date apps in 5 years,while the macbook will be a potato with outdated OS,spyware,and become relegated to kids-puter

I'm not poor. Trade it in every 2-3 years

 

[PsyWulf]

I'm not poor. Trade it in every 2-3 years

Bit of a "redundancy" moot point then innit
How do you never have a redundant PC?
Just replace it before the dust settles