Gigabyte launches Aorus 15P for eSports professionals

Gigabyte has expanded its Aorus 15 series by adding a 'Professional' model. Yes, this is a gaming laptop so the professionals in the crosshairs are eSports pros. Gigabyte's Aorus gaming arm worked closely with the likes of G2 Esports to tailor this new 15-inch portable and make it fit its billing of "the ultimate gaming platform that satisfies the high standards of professional players".

I'm not exactly sure how the Aorus 15P is so different from other gaming laptops that have edged towards 'Ultrabook' territory previously, so let's take a closer look. Key specs of the new design are as follows:

• A 15.6-inch 144Hz FHD display with anti-glare coating
• NTSC 72 per cent IPS panel with 3mm bezels
• Up to a 10^th gen (14nm) Intel Core i7-10875H (2.3GHz~5.1GHz) 8C/16T processor
• Up to an Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Max-Q design with 8GB GDDR6, other RTX 20 and GTX 16 options available (Optimus GPU/iGPU switching)
• 2‎x DDR4 2666MHz/ DDR4 2933MHz slots for up to 64GB RAM
• 2‎x M.2 SSD slots (Type 2280, supports 1x NVMe PCIe & SATA/ 1x NVMe PCIe)
• Island style RGB Fusion 2.0 backlit keyboard
• 3‎x USB 3.2 Gen1 (Type-A), 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 (Type-C), 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x mini DP 1.4, 1x 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone Combo Jack, 1x UHS-II SD Card Reader, 1x DC-in Jack, 1x RJ-45
• Up to 8 hours battery life (Li Polymer 94Wh)
• 2‎x 2 Watt Speaker, Microphone, HD Camera with physical privacy shutter
• LAN:10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet, Wi-Fi :Intel AX200, Bluetooth V5.0 + LE
• 23mm thick and 2.0kg
• Windows 10, Microsoft Azure AI Auto Optimize

Often gaming laptops have problems cooling the heat generating high performance components inside. In this case we have the 45W Core i7-10875H and the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q (up to 90W). With this being a relatively thin and light portable gaming laptop the cooling system will have to be very well designed.

Gigabyte touts its WindForce Infinity Cooling System (video link) with dual 71-blade fans, five heatpipes, and four exhaust vents as being very much up to the job. In its product pages it says that this cooling solution is 30 per cent more efficient than its previous designs, and that it will allow the Aorus 15P to run at 100 per cent CPU and GPU "remaining quiet and stable at the same time". I think it is best to wait for independent third party reviews to verify this.

Aorus 15P laptop models are already listed on Gigabyte's US online store with the RTX 2070 Max Q GDDR6 8GB, 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4, M.2 PCIe 512GB SSD model priced at $1,699. If an RTX 2060 version suits you, you could save $100.