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Review: Gigabyte Aero 14W v7

by Parm Mann on 6 February 2017, 16:00

Tags: Gigabyte (TPE:2376), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaddxd

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Test Methodology

Comparison Laptops - Part One

System Name
Form Factor
13.9in
15.6in
15.6in
15.6in
CPU
Intel Core i7-4710HQ
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
Intel Core i7-6820HK
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
CPU Base Frequency
2.5GHz
2.6GHz
2.7GHz
2.6GHz
CPU Turbo Frequency
3.5GHz
3.5GHz
4.0GHz
3.5GHz
CPU Cores / Threads
4 / 8
4 / 8
4 / 8
4 / 8
CPU TDP
47W
45W
45W
45W
Memory
16GB DDR3 (2x8GB)
32GB DDR4 (4x8GB)
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
8GB DDR4 (1x8GB)
Memory Speed
1,866MHz at 10-10-10-32-1T
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T
2,400MHz at 16-16-16-39-2T
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T
Integrated GPU
Intel HD 4600
Intel HD 530
-
Intel HD 530
Dedicated GPU(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 6GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M 2GB
Display
13.9in QHD+ LCD (3,200x1,800)
15.6in SHP1436 4K UHD IPS (3,840x2,160)
15.6in MEI96A2 WQHD+ IPS (2,880x1,620)
15.6in CMN15C4 Full-HD TN (1,920x1,080)
Battery Capacity
73Wh
73Wh
94Wh
48Wh
Wireless
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
Killer Wireless-AC 1535
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
Network
Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet
Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet
Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet
Primary Storage
2 x 256GB LiteOn LMT-256L9M mSATA SSDs in RAID 0
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD
256GB SK hynix M.2 SSD
Secondary Storage
-
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD
Optical Drive
-
-
-
DVD writer
Power Supply
150W External
200W External
200W External
120W External
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit
Dimensions (W x D x H)
330mm x 264mm x 22.9mm
390mm x 272mm x 22.9mm
390mm x 272mm x 22.9mm
384mm x 256mm x 35.1mm
Weight
1.9kg
2.5kg
2.5kg
2.6kg
Standard Warranty
Two years
Two years
Two years
One year
Date Reviewed
February 2015
April 2016
September 2016
February 2016
Price When Reviewed
£1,799
£2,200
£2,100
£875

Comparison Laptops - Part Two

System Name
Form Factor
14.0in
15.6in
15.6in
15.6in
14.0in
CPU
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
Intel Core i7-4720HQ
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
CPU Base Frequency
2.8GHz
2.6GHz
2.6GHz
2.6GHz
2.6GHz
CPU Turbo Frequency
3.8GHz
3.5GHz
3.5GHz
3.6GHz
3.5GHz
CPU Cores / Threads
4 / 8
4 / 8
4 / 8
4 / 8
4 / 8
CPU TDP
45W
45W
45W
47W
45W
Memory
16GB DDR4 (1x16GB)
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
16GB DDR3 (2x8GB)
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
Memory Speed
2,400MHz at 17-17-17-39-2T
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T
2,400MHz at 16-16-16-39-2T
1,600MHz at 11-11-11-28-1T
2,133MHz at 13-13-13-35-2T
Integrated GPU
Intel HD 630
Intel HD 530
Intel HD 530
Intel HD 4600
Intel HD 530
Dedicated GPU(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 3GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 3GB
Display
14.0in LGD049A QHD IPS (2,560x1,440)
15.6in LGD040E Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080)
15.6in SHP1436 4K UHD IPS (3,840x2,160)
15.6in SDC4852 4K UHD IPS (3,840x2,160)
14.0in LGD046D Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080)
Battery Capacity
94Wh
76Wh
76Wh
53Wh
45Wh
Wireless
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
Killer Wireless-AC 1525
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
Network
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet
Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet
Primary Storage
512GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD
128GB Toshiba THNSNJ128G8NU M.2 SSD
240GB Kingston SSDNow M.2 SSD
Secondary Storage
-
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD
1TB WD Blue 2.5in HDD
Optical Drive
-
DVD writer
Blu-ray writer
-
-
Power Supply
150W External
200W External
230W External
150W External
180W
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit
Dimensions (W x D x H)
335mm x 250mm x 19.9mm
385mm x 270mm x 20.9mm
385mm x 270mm x 20.9mm
390mm x 266mm x 19.9mm
349mm x 247mm x 25.4mm
Weight
1.9kg
2.4kg
2.4kg
1.9kg
2.0kg
Standard Warranty
Two years
Two years
Two years
Two years
Three years
Date Reviewed
February 2017
December 2015
December 2016
May 2015
March 2015
Price When Reviewed
£1,800
£1,700
£1,999
£1,500
£999

CPU Benchmarks

HEXUS PiFast Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU.
Cinebench Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible.
HandBrake Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores.

Memory and Storage Benchmarks

AIDA64 Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency.
CrystalDiskMark Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds.

System and Gaming Benchmarks

3DMark DX11, default Fire Strike test.
Gaming A selection of modern titles are tested at various resolutions.

Miscellaneous Benchmarks

Display Datacolor's Spyder 4 Elite professional monitor analyser is used to return a quantitative assessment of display quality.
Power Consumption Noted for system idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Dirt Rally.
Temperature Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Dirt Rally.
Battery Life Measured while looping a high-definition movie clip with 50 per cent screen brightness and flight mode enabled.

Notes

In the interests of full transparency, readers should note that our Aero 14 review sample arrived with a single 16GB stick of DDR4 memory and Windows 10 Home as the default operating system. As such, memory read and write bandwidth was recorded as just 18,146MB/s and 17,695MB/s, respectively.

Gigabyte has since confirmed that our sample was shipped in a hurry and that the £1,800 retail model will in fact be equipped with Windows 10 Pro and dual-channel (2x8GB) memory as standard. Our memory benchmarks have therefore been excluded, but it is fair to assume that a retail unit will deliver bandwidth in the region of 36,000MB/s.