Shootouts

Third Strike: Aorus X7 Pro and Gigabyte P35X V3 gaming notebooks tested!

By Salehuddin Bin Husin - 23 Dec 2014

Overview

The Gigabyte P35X (left) and the Gigabyte Aorus X7 Pro (right).

Gaming is serious business. It may be weird to think of it as a business, but the manufacturers and developers are in it for the money, not for entertainment's sake. Viewing it from that angle, it's not unexpected to have constant product refreshes or upgrades, especially in a fast moving industry like the PC gaming. With the coming of DirectX 12 API next year and the proliferation of AMD's Mantle technology, older graphics engines like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700M and 800M on notebooks are being phased out for top of the line units from the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900M series, the 970M and 980M. Of course, in the future, even these top GPUs will be replaced by even better ones. But as of now, it seems like everybody's racing to get the NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 900M series into their gaming machines. That's exactly what Gigabyte and Aorus (Gigabyte's gaming notebook brand) have done.

Neither machines models are exactly new, though their internals have gone through a massive upgrades. Gigabyte's P35 series first emerged in the second half of last year. The model is not even two years old, but it is already on its third refresh. The first model, the P35K was released in late 2013. It came with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M graphics before the P35W came out a few months later and got its graphics upgraded to NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 870M (among other things). Now, we're getting yet another update, and like MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro, this one's coming with NVIDIA's top of the line GeForce GTX 980M GPU.

Same goes for the Aorus X7 Pro. While the third iteration added the Pro moniker at the end, it's actually the third version of the Aorus X7. Unlike the Gigabyte machines, the X7 isn't even a year old yet. It originally launched early 2014 as the Aorus X7 with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M in SLI, then got refreshed later in the year (becoming the Aorus X7 V2) with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M, again in SLI. Now Aorus is back with their third version of the X7, this time with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 970M in SLI mode.

Our handy table below will give you a clearer picture of how both these powerful gaming machines stack up:-

Test Notebooks Compared
  Gigabyte Aorus X7 Pro Gigabyte P35X V3
  Gigabyte Aorus X7 Pro Gigabyte P35X V3
Processor and Chipset
  • Intel i7-4870HQ (2.5GHz)
  • Intel HM87
  • Intel i7-4710HQ (2.5GHz)
  • Intel HM87
Operating System
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 8.1
System Memory
  • 16GB DDR3L
  • 16GB DDR3L
Video & Display
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M (2 x SLI)
  • 17.3 inch Full HD Matte LCD
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
  • 15.6 inch WQHD+(2880 x 1620) LCD
Storage
  • 512GB (256GB x 2, RAID 0) SSD + 1TB HDD
  • 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Connectivity
  • Integrated 802.11ac
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Killer LAN
  • Integrated 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth V4.0
  • Gigabit LAN
Audio
  • 2x 2 Watt speaker
  • 2x Woofer speaker
  • 2x 1.5 Watt speakers
  • 1x Woofer speaker
  • Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater
I/O Ports
  • 3x USB(3.0)
  • 2x USB(2.0)
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x mini DisplayPort
  • 1 x D-sub
  • 1 x Headphone jack
  • 1 x Microphone jack
  • 1 x Ethernet port
  • 1 x S/PDIF port
  • 1 x SD card reader
  • 2 x USB(3.0)
  • 2 x USB(2.0)
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x mini DisplayPort
  • 1 x D-sub
  • 1 x Mic-in
  • 1 x Earphone-out (SPDIF)
  • 1 x Ethernet
  • 1 x SD Card Reader
  • 1 x DC-in Jack
Battery Type
  • 73.26Wh (Li-Polymer, fixed)
  • 75.81Wh (Li-Polymer, fixed)
Dimensions
  • 428 x 305 x 22.9 mm
  • 385 x 270 x 20.9 mm
Weight
  • 3KG
  • 2.3KG (with battery)
Optical Drive
  • DVD Super Multi

Two gaming notebooks, both on their third revisions. Which one is best for you? Continue on to find out.

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