GIGABYTE AORUS 17X (2023): Extreme power in a state-of-the-art equipment

The GIGABYTE AORUS 17X (2023) represents one of the most important renovations that the Taiwanese giant has made in its catalog of laptops, and from the moment I saw its specifications it was clear to me that it had such a good configuration that could become the most powerful laptop I’ve tested to date, and as you know during all these years I have been lucky enough to analyze “a few”.

When designing and configuring a laptop, it is essential that the person responsible, GIGABYTE in this case, be clear about the goals you want to achieve with that team, who knows what they want to prioritize and what not, and who is capable of carrying out an execution that lives up to all the goals it has set. Believe me, on paper it looks easier than it really is.

In the case of the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X we have a team that clearly prioritizes power and user experience over mobilitybut it marks some red lines that it does not cross to avoid falling into extremes that would be unacceptable, and that in the end would mean giving up that few users would be willing to accept.

On this we will delve into this analysis, but I already anticipate that one of them is the weight, and that this team has not exceeded the red line of 3 kilograms, a strip from which to move a laptop, even from the living room to the bedroom, becomes a cumbersome and annoying task. It has also known how to make very good use of the space to create an outstanding user experience that goes beyond raw power, and has shaped a laptop that, to be honest, I really liked.

First contact and external analysis of the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X

As I told you in the introduction, the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is a device that prioritizes performance and user experience, and this is evident in its size. We are before a 17.3 inch laptop that makes wise use of the available space, but at the same time avoids crossing, as we said, the red line of three kilograms of weight. The model we have received has one of the best possible configurations and has a weight of 2.8 kilograms.

Both for hardware specifications and for design and build quality, we can say without fear of being wrong that the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is a top-of-the-range laptop, and that fits well into the premium category. Its chassis is made of aluminuma material that offers a fantastic balance between weight, cost and resistance, and that obviously transmits very good sensations to the touch.

Using an aluminum chassis in a laptop like the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X brings three big advantages. One is structural strength that this material achieves, and that is noticeable in all the key parts of the equipment, including the central area that separates the touch pad and the keyboard, which is usually one of the most conflictive. Secondly, we must rule out that aluminum is a lightweight material, and that this helps to reduce the weight of the equipment, and finally we have that premium sensation that this material transmits to the touch when we interact with the equipment.

Right out of the box it is clear that it is a large device and that it has a considerable weight, but we also noticed from the first moment an excellent construction quality. With the equipment closed we find a very careful design that combines sharply angled lines with an aesthetic that presents a minimalist base quite sober, finished off by clearly distinctive elements of mecca style that generate a very attractive contrast with said base and that, as more than one of our readers will have guessed, are a nod to the mascot of the GIGABYTE AORUS series.

On the back we can also see the AORUS logo, and at the bottom, just above the connectors, we have a bar with RGB LED lighting customizable and AORUS screen printing. the feeding system connects right at the rear, a location that personally seems more comfortable than the classic lateral intake, especially when we want to continue using the equipment while charging.

We open the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X and it welcomes us a huge keyboard with number padand just below it we haveIt’s a large glass-topped touchpad to improve the touch and slip that also has the AORUS logo. The first touches I gave to the touchpad confirmed a superb smoothness in the glide of the fingers.

That is why I have told you that GIGABYTE has known how to take advantage of the space to improve the experience, for how well it has integrated the keyboard and touchpadalthough we still have other keys to see later in this regard.

Returning to the keyboard, we must highlight its excellent presentation, both for size and for the generous space between its keys, comes with customizable RGB LED lighting, features full N-Key Rollover anti-ghosting, and its keys have a stroke per stroke of 2 mm, which means that it transmits good feedback with each press that and that the typing experience is very good. GIGABYTE has also incorporated a very curious detail, and that is that when we activate the secondary press of the function keys, the LED lighting changes to white.

The 17.3-inch screen mounted on the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X has quite contained frames, and on the upper edge we can see a camera with 1080p resolution and infrared that is compatible with Windows Hello, and that we can use as a facial recognition system. The configuration process will not take you more than a few seconds, and the truth is that it is very easy and comfortable to use.

On the left side we have the rest of the connectors, and all around the base of the equipment we can see the different openings that GIGABYTE has used to create excellent airflow. This is very important, because the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is an extremely powerful computer, as we will see below, and for this reason it needs a good cooling system.

GIGABYTE AORUS 17X Specifications

chassis and screen

• Chassis made of aluminum.
• 17.3-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, 16:9 format and a 240 Hz refresh rate.
• It incorporates G-Sync technology, which eliminates stuttering (image stuttering) and tearing (image breakage) problems.
• TÜV Rheinland certification that guarantees eye care, flicker-free and low blue light emission.
• It reproduces 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, which means it’s a very capable panel even with professional applications.
• NVIDIA Advanced Optimus and Dynamic Display Switch (DDS) for efficient use of the integrated GPU and dedicated GPU.

Processor, graphics, memory and storage

• Intel Core i9-13900HX processor with 8 high-performance cores (Raptor Cove) up to 5.4 GHz (turbo mode, one active core) and 16 high-efficiency cores (Gracemont) up to 3.9 GHz ( turbo mode). It adds 32 MB of L2 cache and 36 MB of L3 cache, and is manufactured on the Intel 7 node. Its TDP is 55 watts.
• GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile graphics card with a 175-watt TGP that scales dynamically based on temperature, as well as workload. It has 9,728 shaders, it reaches 2,040 MHz in turbo mode, it has 304 texturing units, 304 fourth-generation tensor cores, 112 raster units, 76 third-generation RT cores, it has 64 MB of L2 cache, it has a 256 bits and comes with 16 GB of 18 GHz GDDR6 memory. It includes all the innovations that NVIDIA has introduced with Ada Lovelace, accelerates ray tracing, and supports DLSS 3 and frame generation.
• Integrated Intel UHD 770 GPU with 256 shaders, 16 texturing units and 8 raster units. It reaches 1.55 GHz in turbo mode.
• 32 GB of dual-channel 5600 MHz DDR5 memory with CL46 latencies.
• Two high-performance 1TB PCIe Gen4 x4 SSDs each with a maximum peak performance of 7GB/s sequential read.

Connectivity, battery and cooling system

• Wired connectivity: Thunderbolt 4 port, three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A connectors, 3.5mm headphone and microphone jack, HDMI 2.1 output, mini DisplayPort 1.4, and RJ45 connector
• Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E triple band (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.2.
• 99 Wh battery compatible with fast charging (up to 50% maximum autonomy with only 30 minutes of charging).
• High performance WINDFORCE Infinity cooling system with full coverage vapor chamber, and with increased thermal conductivity to accelerate heat transfer. It has four fans with blades that are only 0.2 mm thick to reinforce the entry of cold air and the exit of hot air to the outside. The radiator is made of copper, and has a huge density of fins (324 in total) with a thickness of 0.15 mm.

Keyboard, touchpad, operating system and others

• Full island-style keyboard with number pad. It has a 2mm keystroke, features RGB LED backlighting, and features N-Key Rollover anti-ghosting technology.
• Large glass-topped touchpad to improve glide.
• Front camera with 1080p resolution and infrared compatible with Windows Hello (facial recognition).
• Integrated microphone array.
• Two 2.5-watt speakers, compatible with DTS:X Ultra Audio.
• Windows 11 Pro as the pre-installed operating system.
• GIGABYTE Control Center software that allows us to easily control different settings and customization options.
• Measurements and weight: 39.6 x 29.3 x 2.18 cm, 2.8 kilograms.
• Price: from 3,579 $ with a 1 TB SSD drive.

Tuning and user experience

As soon as the equipment is turned on, it welcomes us careful RGB LED lighting in the keyboard area. This also extends to the rear, as I have already told you about in the external analysis section, since we found a line with this type of lighting together with the AORUS screen printing. By default, the color pattern that is applied is of the rainbow type, but we can easily customize it through the GIGABYTE Control Center.

The quality of the RGB LED lighting is very good, and from the moment we started the process of basic configuration of Windows 11 Pro we also realize the “chevrons” that the screen has. This equipment mounts a 17.3-inch IPS panel with QHD resolution that reproduces 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, and all this data translates into excellent pixel density per inch, perfect viewing angles at 178 degrees and in a reproduction of vivid color and very rich in nuances.

Can expand the attached gallery to check the quality of the screen and the viewing angles it offers from four different positions.

The Windows 11 Pro setup process is not a mystery, but it serves as our first interaction with the team. In a few minutes we arrive at the desktop and the GIGABYTE Control Center appears, notifying us of some updates that it would be advisable to carry out, especially at the driver level. Frankly, it seems to me quite a success since this centralizes almost all key updates in one place, and we can leave it working while we do other things.

With the updated equipment I started tinker a bit with the different configuration and adjustment options offered by the GIGABYTE Control Center, and the truth is that it is a very complete application and it is full of possibilities. Through the different sections that it integrates, we can configure the work profile, choosing between creative mode, turbo mode, gaming mode, meeting mode and energy saving mode.

We can also customize RGB LED lighting, panel color, AI improvement applied to the GPU, brightness, charging mode, monitor fans and create custom profiles, change the effect of RGB LED lighting, monitor CPU and GPU temperatures and workload, as well as battery and power status. useful life of storage units, among others. If you click on the attached gallery you can take a visual walk through said application.

Performance with Windows 11 Pro is seamless, as expected. The response of the operating system is instantaneous and the fluidity is total, something totally understandable since the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is a laptop that mounts high-performance components. The most important thing is that, during this first contact with the equipment, I felt very comfortable, both for the quality of the screen and for the level of the keyboard and the touch pad.

In this sense I have to emphasize that the size of the keyboard and the generous travel of its keys make a clear difference in any type of interaction. Both when we play and when we type, the keyboard measures up, and is clearly above the smaller solutions with less travel that other models mount. The touchpad also deserves an individual mention because it’s wide, has a very smooth ride, and it offers perfect tracking and registration of both finger swipes and clicks.

front camera accurately captures our face and works perfectly with Windows Hello, in fact, the configuration process will not take us more than a few seconds, although we must have it well aligned with the position of our face so that there are no problems. In terms of image quality it complies, and it’s good enough to use for video calls and any online event with friends and coworkers. Not bad for a “home” solution.

The sound system also complies, although I must say that not up to the rest of the components. This was already coming from the moment we discovered that the specification description indicated the presence of only two 2.5-watt speakers, although considering the type of user this laptop is aimed at, it is not a problem. , since I am sure that this one will have its own headphones to get the most out of it.

In general lines my first contact was very positive. Typing and browsing with the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is a very satisfying experience both for its performance and for the quality of the keyboard, touchpad and screen, but also because of how quiet it is.

When we perform such basic tasks we can configure the energy saving profile and the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X will be extremely quiet. This is important because, with that mode, we can use it without problem in public spaces where silence is a dutyand also in work spaces where noise can affect concentration and productivity.

The GIGABYTE AORUS 17X It is a gaming laptop, but due to its power and features it is also an excellent team for different professional profiles, ranging from designers and streamers to those involved in rendering, animation, content creation, and video and photo editing. Remember that the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile that it mounts has a lot of potential in numerous professional applications, thanks to the excellent support provided by the NVIDIA Studio drivers, and that we can switch between these and Game Ready drivers with a simple click.

GIGABYTE AORUS 17X Performance in Professional Applications and Synthetic Tests

We start the round of performance tests with CPU-Z, a true classic that also allows us to see important details, such as the configuration of the processor and RAM memory. The results achieved by the Intel Core i9-13900HX that mounts the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X they are so good that it overwhelms a Ryzen 9 5950X in single thread, and even surpasses it in multithread. There is no doubt that we are facing one of the most powerful processors in its class.

CPU-Z Performance

Performance in Cinebench R23

We are now going with Cinebench R23, a test that is very useful to measure the performance of a processor in both single-thread and multi-thread. With the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X set to maximum performance mode we have obtained a very good score in both single thread and multi thread. There is a substantial difference compared to the Intel Core i9-12900HXespecially in multi-threaded performance, and this is mainly due to the increase in the number of high-efficiency cores, from 8 to 16.

Performance in Blender

In Blender the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile mounted on the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is so powerful that manages to outperform even the results of a desktop GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. This is impressive because the first has a TGP of 175 watts, and the second sits at 285 watts. This excellent performance confirms that the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is a laptop capable of delivering an optimal experience even with demanding professional applications.

V-Ray Performance

In the V-ray rendering engine, an extension compatible with platforms of the caliber of Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya, among others, the results remain at superb levels. With hardware acceleration enabled (RTX mode) the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile that mounts the it exceeds 3,554 “vrays”, and in CUDA mode it reaches 2,588 “vpaths”. Again, it outperforms the desktop GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, and puts a distance against the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile.

3D Mark CPU Performance

Now let’s dig into CPU performance using for this the 3D Mark CPU Profile test, which measures the performance, frequencies and temperatures of a processor under different workloads. The Intel Core i9-13900HX is a high-performance processor that has 8 P cores and 16 E cores, so it has a total of 24 cores but can handle 32 threads thanks to HyperThreading technology.

• With an active thread the processor has a maximum frequency of 5.28 GHz, and reaches a maximum temperature of 86.94 degrees.
• With two active wires this chip clocks in at 5.38 GHz and has a peak temperature of 89 degrees.
• With four active wires It is capable of stably maintaining 5.18 GHz frequency, and has a maximum temperature of 88.97 degrees.
• With eight active threads It also moves at 5.18 GHz and has a maximum temperature of 85 degrees.
• With sixteen active threads it is capable of reaching peaks of 5.34 GHz and its temperature is 80.46 degrees C.
• With all threads active it worked at 4.98 GHz and had maximum temperatures of 66 degrees.

It is important that you take into account that 3DMark CPU pass the ones that involved using a higher number of cores and threads first, which means that the amount of heat accumulated in the CPU increased with the execution of each of those tests, and that it was greater in those that used fewer threads. This will help you better understand the temperature data we have seen.

The important thing about this test is scoreswhich confirm that the Intel Core i9-13900HX is one of the most powerful processors around, and frequency scaling based on the total number of active nuclei. To assess the temperatures it is better that you stay with the data that we will give you later, since they are more realistic.

3D Mark performance with and without DLSS 3

Since the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X mounts a GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, the 3D Mark benchmark with and without DLSS 3 (frame generation) could not be missing. As we can see in the attached images, which you can enlarge by clicking on them, the difference that DLSS 3 makes with active frame generation is so great that the performance goes from 64.71 FPS to 202.13 FPS, that is, performance is tripled.

PassMark Performance

This test is, despite its small flaws, very useful for understanding and assessing the potential performance of any particular piece of equipment or component. In this case, the results obtained by the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X are excellent, but there was a small conflict when measuring 2D performance that caused PassMark to use the integrated GPU instead of the dedicated onethat is why the score has been 94% instead of 99%.

CrystalDisk Mark

This test allows us to see the keys of the SSD drives and their performance in different tasks. As we can see, the two SSDs that the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X mounts offer excellent performance, since Approaching 7 GB/s on sequential read and overwhelmingly exceed the 5.5 GB/s maximum reached by the award-winning PS5 SSD.

GIGABYTE AORUS 17X performance in games with and without ray tracing

The GIGABYTE AORUS 17X has obtained outstanding results in tests with professional and synthetic performance applications, and this makes it, as we have said before, a very solid option for demanding professionals, But is he capable of maintaining the level in games? Keep reading, we are going to find out right now.

We start with Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a game that does not represent any challenge for the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X, since as we see it is capable of moving it at 171 FPS on average with maximum quality in 1440p resolution. If we use DLSS 2 in quality mode we approach the 200 FPS range.

When activating ray tracing in maximum quality, performance suffers, that’s clear, but even so we have an average of 120 FPS, which means that the fluidity is excellent. If we activate DLSS 2 in quality mode, the average performance goes up to 155 FPS.

Destroy All Humans 2 was one of the first games to support DLSS 3, and for that reason it is an indispensable title in this type of tests. As we can see, the difference between running it natively and with DLSS 3 and frame generation is huge, since we went from an average of 131 FPS to 211 FPS.

We are now going with one of the most demanding games of the current generation. Dying Light 2 uses ray tracing applied to lighting, reflections, and shadows, and requires very powerful hardware even under rasterization. At 1440p the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X achieves 114 FPS on average, and with DLSS 3 activated we have an average of 157 FPS.

Turning on ray tracing slows down noticeably, as you’d expect, but those 57 FPS equate to a totally smooth experience. If we activate DLSS 3 the performance goes up to 95 FPS, a huge difference that will not force us to make any sacrifices in terms of sharpness and image quality.

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition requires a ray-tracing graphics card to work, and it’s one of the games that makes the best use of this technology. In native mode, with maximum ray tracing, we see that the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X It is so powerful that it achieves an average of 91 FPS. With DLSS 2 in quality mode the performance goes up to 150FPS.

Microsoft Flight Simulator was another early game to support DLSS 3 and frame generation. This technology helps to overcome the bottleneck that this game suffers at the CPU level, and as we can see, it makes a huge difference in performance, since it makes the average FPS rate go from 69 to 138. We’ve doubled the performance.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a “next-gen” game, and this makes it very demanding even without ray tracing. All in all, the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X moves it without any problem in maximum quality and native mode, since it registers 124 FPS. Enabling DLSS 3 in quality mode gives a slight performance boost.

Activating ray tracing in maximum quality is when the magic of DLSS 3 is really noticed. As we can see in the attached graph performance drops from 55 FPS to 116 FPSthat is, we have more than twice the performance thanks to this technology, and the generation of frames.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is another of the classics to measure the performance of any team in games. Configured with maximum quality, without optimizing, we see that the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X can with it while maintaining an average of 100 FPS. Activating DLSS 2 in quality mode gives us a slight performance improvement, but it is not worth going any further because the bottleneck at the CPU level, a consequence of the lack of optimization of the game itself, limits the scaling of said technology.

We end with Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most technically advanced games that exist today, and one of the most demanding. In ultra quality it works with total fluidity, since we have an average of 97 FPS, although it is worth activating DLSS 3 in quality mode, since this will make the performance go up to 152 FPSand will allow us to take better advantage of the 240 Hz screen of the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X.

When we activate ray tracing in insane mode, performance suffers noticeably and drops to 42 FPS, but only by activating DLSS 3 in quality mode we almost tripled the frame rate per second, which amounts to 120 FPS.

Temperatures, autonomy, frequency scaling of the GPU consumption

The performance data is impressive. In both professional testing and gaming the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X has made it clear that it is one of the most powerful laptops out there to this day, but we already know that this usually means that temperatures can be too high. Is this the case? Let’s see it.

There is no doubt that GIGABYTE has done an excellent job with the cooling system, since it has managed to tame even the powerful Intel Core i9-13900HX, a processor that, as we see in the attached graph, stays at 76 degrees in games and registers a maximum peak of 92 degrees. They are totally safe values.

We now turn to see the temperature of the dedicated GPU which, as we anticipated, is a powerful GeForce RTX 4090 configured with a TGP of 175 watts. Again, we have fantastic temperature values, since it registered a maximum peak of 71 degreeswhich means that it stays at an optimal level and can easily develop an aggressive turbo mode to maximize performance.

Regarding consumption, we see that the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile mounted by the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X exceeds its maximum TGP of 175 watts, but it is something that I have only been able to confirm in Cyberpunk 2077, it happened temporarily and only lasted for a moment. Consumption fluctuates a lot depending on the game usedand it can also vary considerably depending on the configuration, but half round the 168 watts.

Now it is time to talk about the scaling of frequencies at the GPU level. The attached graph perfectly illustrates the values ​​recorded by the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile mounted by the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X, and confirms what we had already told you when talking about the working temperatures, that this graphics card can scale seamlessly and fully optimally through turbo mode.

Regarding autonomy, it is clear that the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is not a laptop that seeks to stand out especially in this aspect, and neither in mobility, since as we have said, it gives priority to raw power and performs wonderfully in that sense. In my tests I have registered an autonomy of up to 5 hours and 30 minutes with a full battery charge, playing a video in high quality via Youtube, keeping the screen brightness at 15% (a very low level), disabling RGB LED lighting and activating energy saving mode.

Final Notes: The Most Powerful Laptop I’ve Tested So Far

I think the title is pretty clear, the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is the most powerful laptop I’ve been lucky enough to test to date. The Intel Core i9-13900HX and the 175-watt GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile form such a powerful duo that They are capable of delivering performance on a par with a high-end desktop PC.

In terms of power the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X is simply perfect in every way, and this means that this laptop is capable of delivering a fantastic experience with both games and professional applications. The quality of the keyboard and touchpad is also an important added value, and in terms of design and build quality GIGABYTE has managed to live up to the mix.

The screen also deserves a special mention, which offers outstanding image quality and has a 100% reproduction of the DCI-P3 color space, which reinforce that professional side about which we have talked so much. Its 1440p resolution is perfectly balanced both by pixel density and by performance and refresh rate, and G-Sync technology makes a clear difference in games by eliminating stuttering and tearing.

Taking a joint assessment, the GIGABYTE AORUS 17X it’s also one of the best laptops in its class and in its price range. It is a team that prioritizes power over mobility, but as we have said it remains within 2.8 kilograms, and it has a fairly competitive price if we take into account what we can currently find on the market. Recommended, especially for those who want to have a laptop capable of offering an experience similar to that of a high-end desktop PC, but without having to deal with the mobility problems that equipment weighing more than three kilograms usually causes.