Same same but different

Here is a full list of notebooks that we will be comparing the Aero 15 OLED XB with:

• Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XA
• ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
• Acer Predator Triton 500

Choosing the previous Aero 15 OLED XA and the Acer Predator Triton 500 was easy, as both are spec-ed with previous generation processors and graphics. I have also included the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 to provide an idea of how the best mobile processor offering from Intel’s eternal rival stands up to it.

Test notebooks compared

	Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB	Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XA	ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401V	Acer Predator Triton 500
Launch SRP	From S$4199	From S$3799	From S$	From S$3198
Processor and Chipset	Intel Core i7-10875H (2.3GHz, 16MB L3 cache)	Intel Core i7-9750H (2.6GHz, 12MB L3 cache)	AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS (3.0GHz)	Intel Core i7-9750H (2.6GHz, 12MB L3 cache)
Operating System	Windows 10	Windows 10	Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10
System Memory	16GB DDR4-2933 dual-channel RAM	16GB DDR4-2666 dual-channel RAM	16GB DDR4-3200 single-channel RAM	16GB DDR4-2666 dual-channel RAM
Video & Display	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q 15.6-inch 3,840 x 2,160-pixel AMOLED display	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q 15.6-inch 3,840 x 2,160-pixel AMOLED display	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 144Hz IPS display
Storage	Intel 760p 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD	Intel 760p 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD	Intel M.2 NVMe PCIe 1TB	512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
Optical Drive	None	None	None	None
Connectivity	Killer Ethernet E2600 Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 Wireless Network Adapter Bluetooth 5.0	Killer Ethernet E2600 Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 Wireless Network Adapter Bluetooth 5.0	Intel Wi-Fi 6 with Gig+ performance (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.0	Killer E3000 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Killer Wireless-AC 1550i Wireless Network Adapter Bluetooth 5.0
Audio	Built-in stereo speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	2 x 2.5W speakers with Smart AMP technology 2 x 0.7W tweeter, Array Microphones With Dolby Atmos technology	Built-in stereo speakers
I/O Ports	3x USB 3.1 (Gen1) Type-A 1x Thunderbolt 3 1x HDMI 2.0 1x DP 1.4 & USB3.1 (USB Type-C) 1x 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone Combo Jack 1x UHS-II SD Card Reader 1x DC-in Jack 1x RJ-45	3x USB 3.1 (Gen1) Type-A 1x Thunderbolt 3 1x HDMI 2.0 1x DP 1.4 & USB3.1 (USB Type-C) 1x 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone Combo Jack 1x UHS-II SD Card Reader 1x DC-in Jack 1x RJ-45	1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1 x HDMI 2.0b 1 x 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack 1 x Kensington lock	3x USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A 1x Thunderbolt 3 1x HDMI 2.0 1x Mini DisplayPort 1.4
Battery Type	94.24Wh	94.24Wh	76Wh	84Wh
Dimensions	356 x 250 x 20mm	356 x 250 x 20mm	324 x 222 x 19.9mm	358.5 x 255 x 17.9mm
Weight	2kg	2kg	1.7kg	2kg

Here is the list of games and benchmarks that I will be using:

• PCMark 10
• 3DMark
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• Metro Exodus
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Tom Clancy's The Division 2

Just for good measure I have also included SYSMark 2018, which I have also managed to run it on the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 but not the Aero 15 OLED XA and Predator Triton 500 as these units were returned to the manufacturers a while back.

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. 

Unsurprisingly, the Aero 15 XB with superior processor and graphics chips, outperforms the older Aero 15 XA especially in Digital Content Creation, where the gap is widest. It also holds sizeable ground against the ROG Zephyrus G14, which is based on the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS mobile processor and a lower end RTX 2060 GPU.

What about gaming?

While synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark still shows the Aero 15 OLED XB taking the lead across all tests, the results are more interesting with real-world gaming benchmarks. As we can see, at 1080p (High) resolution all notebooks except for the Zephyrus G14 seems to have hit a performance ceiling. It is only when the detail levels were increased, or when running games at a resolution higher than 1080p, then do we see the 2070 Super Max-Q on the Aero 15 OLED XB edging out the rest of the pack convincingly.