Gigabyte Aorus 15 XA review: Roaring fast
The Aorus 15 may not be the slimmest, lightest or prettiest notebook around, but it sure is fast.
By HardwareZone Team -
Note: This article was first published on 9 September 2019.
Blazing fast performance
The Aorus 15 was designed with raw performance in mind. You can think of it as the spiritual successor to the X5 v8 (the last we've reviewed in this series is the X5 v6), at least until Gigabyte chooses to release the X5 v9 or its equivalent.
Gigabyte's Aero series of gaming laptops have shifted to focus more heavily on content creators, leaving the Aorus notebooks to take up the gaming mantle. Compared to the X5, the Aorus 15 makes some trade-offs in order to achieve a far more palatable price. It is not one of those super slim and light laptops that have you paying a premium for advanced materials, design, and performance.
Instead, it's quite frankly pretty chunky, but it makes up for that with excellent gaming performance.
Here's an overview of its specifications:
- 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 240Hz IGZO display
- Intel Core i7-9750H processor (2.60GHz, 12MB L3 cache)
- 16GB DDR4-2666 dual-channel RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
- Intel SSD 760p 512GB + Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD
- 62Wh battery
- Dimensions: 361 x 246 x 24.4mm
- Weight: 2.4kg
It'll cost you S$2,999, which is a really attractive price for its specifications. Plenty other GeForce RTX 2070 or 2070 Max-Q laptops cost closer to S$4,000, so you're getting quite a bit of performance for your dollar.
If you don't particularly need a super svelte and portable gaming machine, the Aorus 15 is shaping up to be a good pick. Is there a catch to this tempting package? We delve deeper in the next few pages.
What's the design like?
The Aorus 15 isn't the most elegant notebook around, but it sure runs fast.
The Aorus 15 isn't the most sleek or elegant laptop around. While laptops like the Razer Blade and ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX531 feel pretty refined, the Aorus 15 is almost clunky. It's fairly thick and heavy and features aggressive vents and a prominent angled gap between the screen and the base. The front corners of the notebook even project some light onto your table, a unique, but kind of gratuitous feature.
The black metal chassis doesn't exhibit excessive flex and is reasonably well put together. However, there's just something about it that feels a little rough around the edges, but that is probably to be expected given its relatively affordable S$2,999 price tag and positioning as a mid-range gaming laptop.
At 24.4mm thick and a hefty 2.4kg, the Aorus 15 feels like a literal brick, especially after I've gotten used to the slim and light Max-Q laptops being pumped out by just about everyone today. The Aorus' dimensions and weight aren't particularly egregious, but it's just that portable gaming laptops today have become so commonplace that it doesn't take much anymore for a laptop to be considered, well, chunky.
The Aorus logo is framed by two prominent design accents.
Fortunately, the bezels on the display are pretty slim on three sides, which helps the Aorus 15 feel slightly less unwieldy.
However, given the girth of the notebook, Gigabyte is also talking up the laptop's cooling system. The Aorus 15 comes with a GeForce RTX 2070 Max-P, so it has a higher 115W TDP, compared to the 80W or 90W on the GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q. In addition, it is outfitted with higher clock speeds, featuring a 1,215MHz base clock and 1,440MHz boost clock. Although that isn't as highly clocked as the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX502, the Aorus 15 still needs a robust thermal solution to stay cool, and the good news is that gaming performance was excellent throughout, so thermal throttling doesn't seem to be an issue.
The laptop will project a streak of light onto your table as well.
However, the fan only supports two different modes, Normal and Max speed, and there's no way to create a custom fan curve in the Control Center unlike on the Aero 15. The amount of noise that the fans put out at full speed is quite simply insane – the Aorus 15 actually sounds like it's getting ready to take off – so I'd really suggest just sticking to Normal mode. This might actually be the loudest gaming laptop I've encountered in a while, and it's so loud that you can hear it even if you're in the next room.
One issue I encountered at first was that the fans would inexplicably start running at full speed, even when I wasn't doing anything particularly taxing. Simply launching the 3DMark app or even just Microsoft Edge would kick the fans into high gear, and they stayed that way throughout my initial gaming benchmarks.
However, I soon discovered that updating the laptop's BIOS and Microsoft Azure AI version seemed to fix the issue, and the Aorus 15 no longer kept trying to ramp the fans up. It also became significantly quieter even when gaming, and the fans were reduced to an audible but perfectly bearable whir. BIOS version FB08/F005 and 19.08.20.01 for Azure AI appeared to be the solution, so make sure to check for updates when you get the laptop.
Nearly half of the laptop's bottom panel is given over to intake vents, and hot air is then expelled from the sides and back of the notebook. The two 12mm intake fans are paired with six heat pipes that channel heat away from the CPU and GPU.
A peek at the laptop's innards.
One good thing about the notebook is that the memory and storage slots are easily accessible once you crack open the bottom panel, so upgrades should be a breeze.
Does it have any unique features?
The Aorus 15 comes with the same Microsoft Azure AI feature that we've seen on recent Gigabyte notebooks like the Aero 15 OLED XA. In a nutshell, Azure AI is supposed to make it so you don't have to manually switch between different power modes for gaming or web browsing.
To hear Gigabyte tell it, Azure AI can learn and automatically implement the correct power settings for the CPU and GPU for different apps, in this way cutting down on heat and noise generated. However, I don't think that's borne out in our testing. For one, I've never noticed a significant performance improvement that can definitively be attributed to Azure AI, and while there have been a few frame rate increases in select games, they're generally still within the normal variances you'd observe between different benchmark runs and are hardly game-changing. It might perhaps require a longer run-in time to effect more insightful improvements, but don't hold your breath.
The AI widget sits in the top right corner of the screen, and you can pick between disabling it and three other modes. Edge Learning is the one you'll probably end up using the most. It runs offline and gives you limited access to Microsoft's database, but it'll keep memorizing your settings.
The widget lives in the top right corner of your screen.
Furthermore, with the Aorus 15, I noticed that Azure AI was the one responsible for incessantly ramping up the fan speeds even when I wasn't running any game. Disabling Azure AI stopped the fans from creating a din every time you open an application, but as I mentioned earlier, updating the AI seems to solve the problem as well.
On top of that, unplugging the Aorus 15 from a power outlet will automatically put it in battery saving mode. The AI cannot function on battery power, so the widget will just let you choose between different power modes.
The AI cannot function when the laptop is unplugged.
How are the display, keyboard, and speakers?
Given the Aorus 15's focus on pure performance, it's no surprise that it also comes equipped with a speedy 240Hz IGZO display. You probably won't be able to maximise the refresh rate on more demanding AAA games, but you might come close with less taxing esports titles like CS:GO and Overwatch. There's no support for G-Sync, but I don't think that's much of a loss with such a high refresh rate panel.
The bezels on the Aorus 15 are thankfully pretty thin.
However, the display was a little on the dim side, and it could really use a brightness boost. That said, colours were pleasant and I couldn't observe any obvious bias toward either the warmer or cooler end of the spectrum. Overall, it's more than good enough for gaming.
The keyboard offers decent key travel distance and feedback, but the quality of the RGB backlighting leaves a lot to be desired. There are only two different brightness levels to choose from, and even the highest setting was too dim. I could barely see the RGB illumination under bright overhead lighting in an office environment, which was pretty disappointing.
The keyboard backlight could really be a lot brighter.
Furthermore, there is no support for per-key RGB customisations, and the keyboard is simply segmented into three configurable zones. And for some reason, the blue zone was a lot more visible than the red and green zones in the left and center.
The RGB backlighting is still barely visible in this close-up shot.
The Precision touchpad feels responsive and accurate, and features integrated left- and right-click buttons for a cleaner look. However, I'm not a fan of the silver rim around the touchpad, and there's some noticeable rattle when tapping on it lightly without clicking.
Finally, the dual 2W speakers are your average laptop speakers. They get loud enough, but clarity generally feels somewhat lacking and the low-end lacks weight.
What ports and connectors does it have?
When it comes to connectors, the Aorus 15 has one USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-C, three USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A, one HDMI 2.0, one Mini DisplayPort 1.3 output, an audio and microphone combo jack, and a microSD card reader. There's also a dedicated Gigabit Ethernet port onboard as well. In addition, the USB-C connector supports output over DisplayPort 1.3, so you can link the Aorus 15 up to three external displays.
The microSD card slot is located on the left.
There's not a lot more you can ask for, except maybe support for Thunderbolt 3, but I think that isn't much of an issue considering that this is more of a mid-range laptop than a flagship model. Also, it's made for gamers than for content creators who would generally have more used for the Thunderbolt 3 port.
Here's a look at the ports on the right.
Wireless connectivity is handled by a Killer Wireless-AC 1550i module that supports a maximum throughput of up to 1.73Gbps and an E2500 Gigabit Ethernet controller.
The power connector is located at the back, along with all the display-output ports.
Test setup and performance
Here's a full list of the notebooks we're looking at:
- Aorus 15 XA
- ASUS ROG Strix Scar III GL531GW
- Acer Predator Triton 500
- Lenovo Legion Y740
I picked a mix of GeForce RTX 2070 and 2070 Max-Q laptops to show how the Aorus 15 stacks up against the closest competition.
Take note that the ASUS ROG Strix Scar II GL531GW is equipped with single-channel memory out of the box, but for more equal footing comparisons against most other dual-channel memory configuration notebooks, we've got a special set of results from this ASUS notebook after running it with dual-channel memory and that's what we've chosen for comparison in this review.
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I ran the notebooks through the following benchmarks:
- PCMark 10
- AS SSD
- 3DMark
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- Far Cry 5
- Metro Exodus
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Tom Clancy's The Division 2
How good is it for work?
PCMark 10 Extended evaluates systems based on workloads that can be categorized into four distinct groups, comprising Essentials, Productivity, Digital Content Creation, and Gaming. This includes tests such as app start-up times, web browsing, word processing and spreadsheets, photo and video editing, and rendering and visualization tasks. Finally, gaming performance is evaluated using the Fire Strike benchmark.
The Aorus 15 has a good showing in PCmark 10, handily beating the other notebooks in the Productivity, Digital Content Creation, and Gaming benchmarks. In terms of overall scores, it was ahead of the ROG Strix Scar III by around 10 per cent, despite the latter also being equipped with a GeForce RTX 2070 Max-P.
What's the storage performance like?
The Aorus 15 ships with a 512GB Intel SSD 760p as its OS drive and a secondary Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD. The Intel drive fell somewhere in the middle of the pack for all the AS SSD benchmarks, although its sequential write performance lagged behind the rest.
How fast is it in games?
The Aorus 15 showed itself to be a top performer in our gaming benchmarks, consistently taking the lead most of the time.
Taken as a whole, the GeForce RTX 2070 Max-P has a clear lead over its Max-Q counterparts. For example, the Aorus 15 was nearly 13 per cent faster than the Legion Y740 in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and 11 per cent quicker in Tom Clancy's The Division 2.
I tested the Aorus 15 again after updating the BIOS and Azure AI to see whether there was any performance difference with the quieter and less aggressive fan curve, but there didn't appear to be any significant differences.
How good is the battery life?
I tested the battery life using PCMark 10's new Modern Office and Gaming battery life benchmarks. All the notebooks were set to 100 per cent display brightness and had Wi-Fi enabled. The keyboard backlight was disabled.
Unsurprisingly, the GeForce RTX 2070 Max-P and small-ish 62Wh battery pack on the Aorus 15 didn't bode well for battery life. It lasted just under an hour in the Gaming test and less than two hours in the Modern Office benchmark, a pretty abysmal result. The power consumption numbers also show it to be significantly more power hungry than the other notebooks, which is probably due to the higher clock speeds on the GeForce RTX 2070 Max-P and the absence of any Max-Q efficiency optimisations.
Its middling battery life, chunky dimensions, and hefty weight also combine to drag it down in our portability index. Our index takes into account things like battery life, weight, and dimensions, so the Aorus 15 ranked right at the bottom.
But to be fair, the Aorus 15 was also never trying to be a super portable system, and given its relatively affordable price, I can't really complain too much about it not being as sprightly as other pricier laptops.
Is the cooling performance good?
The Aorus 15 turned out to be pretty toasty, posting the highest CPU and GPU temperatures of the lot after 40 runs of 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme's stress test. This was on the Normal fan profile, and cranking things up to maximum drops the temperatures by over 10°C. However, as I mentioned earlier, the maximum fan profile is stupidly loud, and I can't imagine anyone putting up with the din for extended periods of time.
Surface temperatures were decent, and I think the laptop does a pretty good job of keeping the palm rests cool, which is arguably what's really important.
A beastly 15-inch notebook
You don't buy the Aorus 15 XA because it's pretty or slim. You buy it because it's really, really fast. Better still, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, at least relative to the competition and the specifications it offers. At S$2,999, the Aorus 15 is faster than laptops that cost between S$3,500 and S$4,000, which sounds like quite a good deal to me.
The trade-off is a bulky chassis and poor battery life, so this definitely isn't the best laptop if you intend to frequently bring your machine out with you. But if portability isn't a priority, the Aorus 15 should be a rather attractive option.
It checks a lot of the right boxes from a performance standpoint, comprising a speedy GeForce RTX 2070 Max-P, 16GB of dual-channel RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 2TB HDD. It also has a 240Hz screen, which means a butter-smooth gaming experience.
The laptop has a few niggling issues that might turn away more picky buyers. Build quality is just average and the RGB backlighting is lacklustre. The fans are also ridiculously loud at max speed. Ultimately, the Aorus 15 is for someone who cares mainly about performance. Forget about portability and design be damned.
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